Antipsychotics Increase Mortality Risk in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

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A new study in JAMA Neurology finds that the use of antipsychotic drugs more than doubled the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s...

Still Mistreating the Elderly with Psychiatric Drugs: Antipsychotics

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The percentage of seniors in the United States prescribed potentially deadly antipsychotic drugs increases with age. A new study reveals that in the face of serious risks of strokes, fractures, kidney injuries, and death, over seventy-five percent of seniors given antipsychotics do not have a diagnosis for a mental disorder.

The Mind-Expanding Ideas of Andy Clark

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In this piece for The New Yorker, Larissa MacFarquhar profiles the philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark, whose work argues that our minds are inseparable...

Drugs and Dementia

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This week, JAMA Internal Medicine published online an interesting paper, “Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergics and Incident Dementia: A Prospective Cohort Study.” They found that exposure to anticholinergic drugs significantly increased the risk of developing dementia. This study has important implications for those who prescribe and take psychiatric drugs.

Training Nursing Home Staff in Understanding Needs Can Reduce Antipsychotic Use

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A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the largest study of its kind, has shown it is possible to reduce the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes, by engaging their staff in a training program designed to target residents’ strengths and their unmet needs.

Why Nutritional Psychiatry is the Future of Mental Health

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From The Independent: The role that nutrition can play in improving our mental health is often overlooked. Research suggests that we should devote more resources to dietary...

Antidepressant Use Linked to Higher Dementia Risk

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From The Telegraph: A major new study has found a strong association between long-term exposure to antidepressants and risk of dementia. "Researchers warned there may be...

Antidepressant Use May Increase Risk of Hip Fractures in Older Adults

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Study finds antidepressant use is linked to increase in hip fractures in community-dwelling older adults with and without Alzheimer’s disease.

The Foods That Can Help and Harm Your Brain

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From The Guardian: Nutrition can have a major impact on the health of our brains, including our risk for dementia and cognitive decline. Here is...

The Never-Ending Misuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes

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From Health Affairs: Although the problem of antipsychotic misuse in nursing homes has been raised to policymakers numerous times over the past six decades, the...

Music Therapy Interventions Reduce Depression Symptoms in Dementia

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Therapists can use music to meet the emotional and social needs of individuals with dementia.

Benzodiazepines Linked to Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s: Causation or Not?

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According to a study in the British Medical Journal, benzodiazepine use is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Some experts...

Veterans with both PTSD and Dementia More Likely to be Prescribed Antipsychotics

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Researchers found that veterans with both conditions had higher odds of being prescribed second-generation antipsychotics than those presenting with just PTSD.

Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes Causing Many Adverse Effects in Elderly

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A literature review found that the extensive off-label use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes is causing many adverse effects and providing limited benefits.

How Loneliness Affects Our Health

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From The New York Times: The potentially harmful impact of loneliness and isolation on our health and well-being have been well documented over the past...

“Their Brains had the Telltale Signs of Alzheimer’s. So why did They Still Have...

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Sharon Begley for the STAT examines new research which raises “doubts about conventional approaches to diagnosing and finding treatments for Alzheimer’s.” Article →

Antidepressant Use Associated with Brain Atrophy and Lesions in Elderly

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In a study of 630 elderly Manhattanites without dementia, researchers from the Netherlands found that antidepressant use was associated with significantly more brain atrophy,...

The Drug Being Pushed on Nursing Home Residents

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From Next Avenue: The drug Nuedexta has only been approved for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the maker of...

Turns out Action Video Games Really can Harm Your Brain

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From Global News: According to a recent Montreal study, habitually playing action video games can lead to grey matter loss in the hippocampus, which is...

Assessing Increased Mortality Risks of Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers in Dementia

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An article in January's American Journal of Psychiatry weighs the relative risk of mortality associated with various antipsychotics and mood stabilizers used in the treatment of...

Do Benzos Deserve a Major Role in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders?

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Researchers at the University of Milan and King's College, London thoroughly reviewed the literature available on Medline and Cochrane regarding the use of benzodiazepines...

“Does Air Pollution Cause Dementia?”

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-Mother Jones examines the growing body of research implicating air pollution in dementia.

Not an Onion Study: Underpowered Analysis Of Poor Quality Data Finds Antipsychotics Actually Aren’t...

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University of Groningen researchers analyzed only small, short-term clinical trials of generally poor quality to determine that antipsychotics are not linked to increased risk of death in elderly people with dementia.

Cognitive Enhancement With Yoga

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From Psychiatric Times: A recent study suggests that Kundalini yoga may be at least as effective as memory training in improving cognitive resilience in older adults with...

PTSD, Psychotropic Medication Increase Dementia Risk

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From Healio: Researchers recently found that veterans diagnosed with PTSD and prescribed antidepressants or atypical antipsychotics are at a higher risk for dementia than veterans...