Mental illnesses may be treated with common somatic drugs

Written by Ebony Torrington (Future Science Group)

Researchers have identified medication commonly used to treat physical health diseases may also reduce rates of psychiatric hospitalization and self-harm in individuals with serious mental illness. Joseph Hayes, lead author from University College London (UK), and a multidisciplinary team conducted within-individual cohort studies of 142,691 patients from Sweden, with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or nonaffective psychosis. The results were published in JAMA Psychiatry. “There has been a lack of new drug development for these devastating disorders, but there is some research suggesting that a number of drugs already licenced for other indications may have positive effects on psychiatric symptoms,” explained Hayes....

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