Some high blood pressure medications also help with serious mental illness

Help medicines for high blood pressure in mental illness?

Mental illness continues to increase today. Researchers have now discovered that low-cost medicines that are commonly used to combat physical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or to reduce cholesterol can also be used to treat people with severe mental illness.

Researchers at University College London found in their current research that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be treated with high blood pressure medicines and high cholesterol medicines. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "JAMA Psychiatry".

Mental illness is a major burden for those affected, which at worst lead to self-harm or suicide attempts. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

Data from 142,691 patients were evaluated

The study evaluated the health data of 142,691 patients with severe mental illness. The experts focused on cholesterol lowering drugs, also known as statins, as well as on medicines for hypertension and medicines for diabetes (such as metformin). These data were examined for so-called self-injury and psychiatric hospitalizations. So the experts wanted to determine whether these incidents occurred during a period in which patients took the prescribed medication or in times when this was not the case.

What did the experts say??

The study found that periods of medication use were associated with fewer psychiatric hospitalizations compared to periods when patients did not take such medications. It was found that there was a reduced self-injury when patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia took the studied drugs. In patients with non-affective psychosis, attempts to injure themselves by taking anti-hypertensive medications, the physicians explain.

The treatment of serious mental illness is complicated

"Severe mental illnesses, including bipolar disorders, are associated with a high level of morbidity and are difficult to treat," explains study author Dr. Joseph Hayes of University College London in a press release. Many widely used drugs, such as statins, have long been identified as a potential target for the treatment of these disorders. "This study is the first to use large population datasets to compare patient exposure to these commonly used drugs and the potential impact on people with severe mental illness," adds the expert.

Further research is needed

The research provides further evidence that certain medications may improve the treatment of people with severe mental illness. Because these medications are already commonly used and known to doctors and medics, they should be further investigated as a medicine for psychiatric symptoms. All drugs studied are known to affect the central nervous system, but the mechanism of action needs to be better understood, the experts say. A clearer understanding of the mechanism of action could lead to new drug development that would benefit people with severe mental illness.

Results were independent of the use of antipsychotics

All three drugs studied in the study are globally approved, widely used, cheap and relatively safe. They are therefore ideal candidates for treatment, say the scientists. The study could have a significant impact on clinical practice and drug development. The effects of drugs on patients were independent of whether or not they were used to treat their mental illnesses (for example, antipsychotics or mood stabilizers). (As)