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"We weren't aware that the beneficial effects ofantidepressives were so powerful," says Jari Tiihonen,professor of clinical psychiatry at Karolinska Institutet'sDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience. The study followed 2,588 Finns who had recently developedschizophrenia from the time of their initial admission to hospitalfor an average of four years. By accessing the Finnish registers,the researchers were then able to ascertain the effects ofdifferent drug combinations on the mortality risk within the group. A total of 160 people died in the study, most commonly fromexternal causes such as drowning, poisoning or violent crime,something that affected 57 people. Thirty-five of these cases weresuicide, which made it and cardiovascular disease the two maincauses of death. The researchers found that when taking bensodiazepines, theparticipants ran a 91 per cent higher risk of early death than attimes when these drugs were not used. By far the most common causeof death was suicide, and most deaths occurred with patients whohad been taking their bensodiazepines for longer than four weeks. "The increased suicide risk for patients with long-standingbenzodiazepine use may be partly attributable to the possibledevelopment of withdrawal symptoms when the drugs run out,"says Professor Tiihonen. "These symptoms, which can be severesevere anxiety and insomnia, might have affected some of thepatients' decisions to commit suicide. It's therefore extremelyimportant that bensodiazepines are discontinued gradually ratherthan abruptly over a period of weeks or months and in consultationwith a doctor." "The temporary acute use of benzodiazepines is justifiable ifthe patient is suffering a great deal of anxiety," hecontinues. "But benzodiazepines should be discontinued withina month according to psychiatric recommendations, which doctorsmust start following and respecting." During the periods the participants took antidepressive drugs, theyran a 43 per cent lower mortality risk than during the periods whenthese drugs were not used. Antipsychotics had no effect onmortality if the patients were on multiple prescriptionssimultaneously. "People think that it's dangerous to treat patients withschizophrenia with more than one antipsychotic drug, but there isnothing to back that up, says Professor Tiihonen. "I believethat most doctors prescribe several antipsychotics if theirpatients are not helped by just one kind, and our study finds nolink between this and increased mortality during a four yearfollow-up. But it does mean more adverse effects, such as the riskof weight-gain, which also impacts the health in the long run, sothe recommended attitude is still one of restraint." The study was financed by EVO funding from the Finnish Ministry ofSocial Affairs and Health and pharmaceutical company Janssen-Cilag. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Shock Absorber for Cars , China Damper Shock Absorber for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Damper Shock Absorber.
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