Marjorie Wallace | Find Me A Cure

Antipsychotic Drug ‘Stroke Risk’

More people than previously thought could be at higher risk of having a stroke caused by their antipsychotic drugs, say UK scientists.

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Antipsychotic drugs are given to people with schizophrenia and dementia

Previous research suggested only some types of the drug increased the risk, particularly for people with dementia.

However a study published in the British Medical Journal says all forms of antipsychotics boost the risk, in all patients.

A mental health charity said patients on the drugs must be closely monitored.

“This is another warning that all antipsychotics should be prescribed with great thought and care”…says Marjorie Wallace Sane

Antipsychotic drugs are generally used to control psychotic symptoms in patients with disorders such as schizophrenia, and some severe forms of depression.

They are also thought to be widely used to control symptoms of dementia such as aggression, leading to accusations they were being used unnecessarily as a “chemical cosh” in some circumstances.

They fall into two types – newer “atypical” and older “typical” antipsychotics.

When the first concerns were raised in 2002, these focused on the “atypical” drugs.

These worries led to a recommendation from drug safety watchdogs in the UK that they not be given to people with dementia, and the government has been urged to strengthen this in England in its forthcoming dementia strategy.

The latest findings, from researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, confirm the fears over dementia patients, but raise wider concerns.

They identified 6,700 patients from a GP database, all with an average age of 80, and concluded that there was more than a tripling of risk for dementia patients taking any sort of anti-psychotic drug.

Patients without dementia taking any sort of antipsychotic had a 40% increase in risk.

The researchers repeated the recommendation that patients with dementia should not be prescribed these drugs.

‘Last resort’

Neil Hunt, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said that doctors now needed to heed these warnings.

“The over-prescription of antipsychotics is a serious breach of human rights, these drugs should only be a last resort.

“The forthcoming National Dementia Strategy is a crucial opportunity to stop this dangerous over-prescribing and we look forward to its launch in the autumn.”

Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said that while the drugs were capable of transforming lives, different patients reacted differently to their side-effects.

“This study should remind us all that antipsychotics are powerful drugs which can both be essential for some people, while carrying other risks.

“This is another warning that all antipsychotics should be prescribed with great thought and care and be subject to rigorous follow-up.”

Sources: BBC NEWS:30Th. AUG.’08

Depression Risk ‘Highest In 40s’

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Life may begin at 40, but research suggests that 44 is the age at which we are most vulnerable to depression.....CLICK & SEE..

CLICK & SEE->.Realistic aspirations may be the key to happiness

.Data analysis on two million people from 80 countries found a remarkably consistent pattern around the world.

The risk of depression was lowest in younger and older people, with the middle-aged years associated with the highest risk for both men and women.

The study, by the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in the US, will feature in Social Science & Medicine.

The only country which recorded a significant gender difference was the US, where unhappiness reached a peak around the age of 40 for women, and 50 for men.

Previous research has suggested that the risk of unhappiness and depression stays relatively constant throughout life.

However, the latest finding – of a peak risk in middle age – was consistent around the globe, and in all types of people.

Researcher Professor Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, said: “It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children.”

He said the reason why middle age was a universally vulnerable time was unclear.

Count your blessings
However, he said: “One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations.

Another possibility is that a kind of comparison process is at work in which people have seen similar-aged peers die and value more their own remaining years. Perhaps people somehow learn to count their blessings.”

Professor Oswald said for the average person, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year.

Only in their 50s do most people emerge from the low period.

“But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old.

“Perhaps realizing that such feelings are completely normal in midlife might even help individuals survive this phase better.”

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: “This study raises intriguing questions about the processes that lead to depression in mid-life, as well as indicating what a common experience it is worldwide.

“Depression is a complex and challenging condition that remains poorly understood, with as many as one in ten people with severe depression taking their own life.

“We welcome any scientific contribution to our understanding of this illness, particularly if the research can aid the development of better treatments, both therapeutic and pharmaceutical.”

Andy Bell, of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, said mental health problems were extremely common – but he stressed they could occur at any time in life.

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“One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations”
By Professor Andrew Oswald
University of Warwick

“Depression is a complex and challenging condition that remains poorly understood ”
By Marjorie Wallace
SANE

Sources: BBC NEWS, 29TH. JAN’08

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