Denmark Epidemiological Data

Lithium Long Term Effects and the Danish Psychiatric Central Registry

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A series of studies providing the best data on the long term effects of lithium has been coming out of a large database of healthcare use and diagnoses called the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register. Because healthcare is nationalized in Denmark, this register covers a huge population (everyone who ever received psychiatric treatment) and it extends back to 1970. Studies …

B Vitamins and Depression and Cognition

Peter ForsterPhysical Conditions and Health, Treatments of Depression

We ran across a Q&A from Consumer Lab on the role of B vitamins in depression which sparked us to update and expand this section of our page on nutritional supplements. ConsumerLab.com Answers   Question: I’ve heard that having low B-12 or B-6 can cause depression. Is that true? Answer: Yes, being deficient in vitamin B-12 or B-6 can cause …

Common Over the Counter Medications Linked to Dementia

Peter ForsterBest Practices, Insomnia Treatment

Common over-the-counter medications may increase your risk for dementia. That is the startling finding of a recently published journal article which used a number of approaches to examine the possible risk of using medications that have anticholinergic effects. This includes many psychiatric medications as well as many common over the counter antihistamine medications, medications for sleep, and for GI problems: …

Benzodiazepines and Dementia

Peter ForsterInsomnia Treatment

High use of benzodiazepines is not associated with an increased risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease according to a large prospective study published in the British Medical Journal. Previous research had suggested that there might be a link and we all know that single doses of benzodiazepines impair cognition and memory so it made sense that there might be such …

MIND Diet Prevents Cognitive Decline

Peter ForsterPhysical Conditions and Health, Self Care

Researchers at Rush University have developed a diet (the MIND diet) that appears to be associated with significantly reduced cognitive decline in aging. The diet was developed from three sources of information: the Mediterranean diet (as elsewhere on this blog), the DASH diet for the prevention of hypertension, and a review of the literature on the effects of specific dietary …