Weekly Q&A - Lithium for Dementia? / Dr. Russell Barkley

Join me for my Weekly Mental Health Recap and Q&A!

Livestream every Tuesday at 10:00am West Coast USA / 1:00pm East Coast USA / 7:00am Hawaii / 7:00pm Central European

Videos released this week:

- Lithium for Dementia?

- Dr. Russell Barkley - A Tribute to a Career in ADHD Research

After a 1 minute recap of each video, I’ll be available for questions on these topics or any other related to Mental Health.

- Lithium for Dementia?:

Lithium has been widely used for bipolar disorder for half a century, but a new Harvard based study builds a compelling case that it may also be useful in treating and warding off dementia. The lithium used in the recent rat and human studies is a different formulation, and at a much lower dose, than that used for treating bipolar disorder.

- Dr. Russell Barkley - A Tribute to a Career in ADHD Research:

For more than 50 years neuropsychologist Russell Barkley has been conducting rigorous research on ADHD, and educated the public with lectures, books, and videos. He recently announced his retirement, but his contributions to our knowledge about ADHD will persist, particularly the role of executive functions as the core of ADHD, the inclusion of emotional dysregulation as a common feature of ADHD, the role of ADHD scales and "testing", the importance of the family's role in contributing to ADHD, and the existence of cognitive dissociative syndrome,

And the previous week (since there was no Q & A last week):

-Taking Stimulants Without Having ADHD

-Serotonin Syndrome

Taking Stimulants Without ADHD:

The scientific literature purports to show that stimulants don't help with concentration, cognition and performance in individuals without ADHD. But most of this research focused on fixed dose treatment, with a very narrow range of tasks and individuals. Millions of anecdotal experiences seem to counter the research claims.

Serotonin Syndrome :

Too much serotonin flooding brain receptors can lead to confusion, seizures, hypertension, nausea, and even death. But millions of individuals manage to combine multiple serotonin- promoting drugs simultaneously, particularly trazodone as an aid to sleep, with SSRI or SNRI antidepressants. Although serotonin syndrome is real, it remains relatively rare.