Hope for Treating Mental Illness:

On January 9, 2019 the BBC reported a new study about medicine used widely for heart health and diabetes offer hope for treating mental illness.

Researchers analyzed lifelong medical records of 142,000 people in Sweden who had mental illnesses. Their paper suggested up to a 20% reduction in the number of hospitalizations when patients were on anti-cholesterol drugs, blood pressure drugs, and a type II diabetes drug, metformin.

Step one for people with mental illness or mood disorders would be to have a full physical examination by their primary care physicians. Patients who would benefit from a statin for the health of their heart may also have benefit for their mental health.

Further studies on people at different stages in life or degree of their disorders needs to be done, but it is exciting to find another way for people suffering hopelessness to see some hope for healing.

For more information you can read the full report here: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46809517