Categoría: Depression,Psyquiatry
Etiquetas: #dementia, #studies, alzheimer, medication
More content you may find interesting
Antidepressants are NOT associated with an increased risk of developing dementia.
What DOES have a clear association with an increased risk of developing dementia is depression itself.
In particular, early life depression (or depressive symptoms) has been associated with MORE THAN DOUBLE the risk of developing dementia later in life and many studies indicate this. Here is one of them and freely available on Pubmed.
Back to to antidepressants:
Despite rumours, and some conflicting studies, this retrospective cohort study has just been published whose results show that taking antidepressants in middle age is NOT associated with an increased risk of later Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (ADRD). Full article here.
IN SUMMARY: If you have depression, TREAT IT! Antidepressants, physical exercise, psychotherapy, developing a good social support network, getting enough sleep, sunbathing (with UV protection)… all help.
And if you don’t know how to do it, make an appointment with an accredited mental health professional.