Family doctors do not hand out antidepressants 'like sweets'

Posted: Published on June 17th, 2013

This post was added by Dr P. Richardson

Finally, and contrary to common perceptions, antidepressants probably work better than psychological therapies.

The situation, in short, is not as alarming as it might appear which is reassuring for all concerned.

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There is yet more to the phenomenon of the apparently fit and healthy being diagnosed with diabetes than as mentioned in this column last week the recent switch from the commonsensical criterion of a raised blood-sugar level to the obscure (if supposedly more sensitive) measurement of glycated haemoglobin.

This week, Dr Aleesa Carter and colleagues at Toronto General Hospital, in a major study of almost half a million patients, confirm that the current epidemic of diabetes is also, at least in part, medically induced (or iatrogenic), caused by the mass prescription of cholesterol-lowering statins.

This is almost certainly a biological problem attributed to their adverse effects on the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas with the risk of diabetes rising with the dose and potency of the type of statin prescribed. The absolute risk remains small, but, with seven million people currently taking statins in Britain, adds up to a staggering 27,450 additional cases of diabetes over a four-year period.

The phenomenal scale of this unintended adverse effect (predictably, a particular hazard for older persons) is without precedent in the history of medicine. It would seem only sensible for those who have been diagnosed with diabetes, subsequent to being prescribed statins, to discuss with their doctor whether discontinuing their medication might result in a cure.

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The iPad may rank as one of the great technical innovations of our age, but for a reader from Brighton, it proved to be the hidden cause of severe and recurrent headaches.

She suspected they might be due to the low-energy bulbs in the school library where she works until she realised that their onset coincided with the acquisition of an iPad. Up to 36 hours after having used one, her headaches would go only to recur promptly when she picked it up again.

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Family doctors do not hand out antidepressants 'like sweets'

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