On 2014 Aug 20, Peter Gøtzsche commented:

This meta-analysis, which was based on observational studies, found that a history of depression doubled the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. The authors speculate that vascular disease and inflammation may be risk factors for both diseases. Nowhere in the paper do they alert their readers to the most obvious explanation. Virtually all people with a history of depression have been treated with antidepressant drugs and it might very well be the drugs that cause dementia.

We know for sure that antipsychotics cause permanent brain damage, and many of us suspect that this is also the case for other psychotropic drugs. Animal studies have been particularly worrying in this respect. However, the psychiatrists have learned from the drug industry never to blame the drug but always to blame the disease (1-4). There are countless studies in depression and countless statements by official bodies representing psychiatry about how dangerous untreated depression is, about visible deterioration on brain scans, etc, when in actual fact these opinions are built on studies of patients who were treated with antidepressant drugs (3). This makes no sense.

Peter C Gøtzsche Professor and Director, DrMedSci, MSc, MD Nordic Cochrane Centre Rigshospitalet Copenhagen

Conflicts of interest: none.

1. Healy D. Let Them Eat Prozac. New York: New York University Press; 2004.

2. Whitaker R. Anatomy of an Epidemic. New York: Broadway Paperbacks; 2010.

3. Raven M. Depression and antidepressants in Australia and beyond: A critical public health analysis. PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, Australia; 2012 (http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3686/, accessed 13 August 2014).

4. Gøtzsche PC. Deadly medicines and organised crime: How big pharma has corrupted health care. London: Radcliffe Publishing, 2013.

On 2014 Aug 20, Peter Gøtzsche commented:

This meta-analysis, which was based on observational studies, found that a history of depression doubled the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. The authors speculate that vascular disease and inflammation may be risk factors for both diseases. Nowhere in the paper do they alert their readers to the most obvious explanation. Virtually all people with a history of depression have been treated with antidepressant drugs and it might very well be the drugs that cause dementia.

We know for sure that antipsychotics cause permanent brain damage, and many of us suspect that this is also the case for other psychotropic drugs. Animal studies have been particularly worrying in this respect. However, the psychiatrists have learned from the drug industry never to blame the drug but always to blame the disease (1-4). There are countless studies in depression and countless statements by official bodies representing psychiatry about how dangerous untreated depression is, about visible deterioration on brain scans, etc, when in actual fact these opinions are built on studies of patients who were treated with antidepressant drugs (3). This makes no sense.

Peter C Gøtzsche Professor and Director, DrMedSci, MSc, MD Nordic Cochrane Centre Rigshospitalet Copenhagen

Conflicts of interest: none.

1. Healy D. Let Them Eat Prozac. New York: New York University Press; 2004.

2. Whitaker R. Anatomy of an Epidemic. New York: Broadway Paperbacks; 2010.

3. Raven M. Depression and antidepressants in Australia and beyond: A critical public health analysis. PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, Australia; 2012 (http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3686/, accessed 13 August 2014).

4. Gøtzsche PC. Deadly medicines and organised crime: How big pharma has corrupted health care. London: Radcliffe Publishing, 2013.