Top Papers: What’s the Connection Between Cholesterol and Mental Health?

Author(s):

Since the 1980s, there have been growing concerns that chronic cholesterol depletion may actually increase noncardiovascular deaths by suicide and violence-related deaths.

It has long been known that total cholesterol levels are consistently lower in severely depressed patients. Since the 1980s, when national attention began to focus on reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease with statins, there have been growing concerns that chronic cholesterol depletion may actually increase noncardiovascular deaths by suicide and violence-related deaths.

In the next 10 minutes or so, Dr James Lake will take you through 2 decades’ worth of studies that have investigated the link between cholesterol and depression. That research culminated in 2 recent studies. . . studies that Dr Lake has nominated as his “Top Papers of the Year.”^1,2

Please join us as Dr Lake explores a topic he believes is a very important one--but one that is mostly under the radar of most clinical psychiatrists and psychologists who aren't aware of the esoteric research journal literature....or its practical clinical implications.

A transcript of Dr Lake's podcast can be read by clicking here.

Dr Lake's Top Paper of the Year: The Connection Between Cholesterol and Mental Health

References:

1. Shrivastava S, Pucadyil TJ, Paila YD, et al. Chronic cholesterol depletion using statin impairs the function and dynamics of human serotonin(1A) receptors. Biochemistry. 2010; 49:5426-5435. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/205217632. Marie-Laure Ancelin, Isabelle CarriÃ¨re, Jean-Philippe Boulenger, et al. Gender and genotype modulation of the association between lipid levels and depressive symptomatology in community-dwelling elderly (The ESPRIT Study). Biological Psychiatry. 2010;68(2):125-132. http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(10)00393-8/abstract