The aim of this systematic review from the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group was to assess the effectiveness of oral health advice in reducing morbidity, mortality and preserving the quality of life in people with serious mental illness. A number of studies have found links between mental health problems and poor oral health and we have highlighted [read the full story…]
Medically unexplained symptoms are physical symptoms that have no currently known physical pathological cause. They are common (accounting for as many as 1 in 5 of new primary care consultations) and can impair function and cause significant distress to patients. This longitudinal cohort study conducted by researchers from London set out to understand these presentations [read the full story…]
General practices in the UK sometimes offer counselling to people with mental health or psychosocial problems. This is an alternative to standard GP care or the conventional treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy or antidepressants. However, recent guidelines have not been able to recommend the use of counselling because the evidence-base remains weak in comparison [read the full story…]
People with an interest in the absolute risk of suicide, and how suicide relates to other mental health conditions, will want to read more about this new Danish cohort study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. This prospective study involved 176,347 people who were followed up for as long as 36 years from the [read the full story…]
A new systematic review conducted by a research team from Leicester suggests that psychiatrists are failing to carry out physical health checks for metabolic complications common in patients with mental illness, in particular those who are prescribed antipsychotics. Many hospitals now have guidelines in place to ensure that patients on antipsychotics are monitored to check [read the full story…]
Readers interested in preventing alcohol misuse in young people will find these two new systematic reviews from the Cochrane Library worth looking at in more detail. Both reviews have been conducted by researchers from Brookes University in Oxford, who searched for randomised controlled trials including school aged children up to 18 years old. The first [read the full story…]
The Department of Health and the Alzheimer’s Society have today launched a new TV advert and leaflet to encourage people to look out for the early warning signs and symptoms of dementia. Aimed at encouraging more people to seek an early diagnosis of dementia, the campaign targets the family and friends of people at risk [read the full story…]
This cross sectional study uses data from the Health Survey for England to explore the relationship between poor mental health and low income. The research team from Exeter University included 94,870 adults in the study (1997-2006) which used the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess happiness, symptoms of anxiety or depression and sleep disturbance [read the full story…]
The Centre for Social Justice has published a new report on the mental health strategy entitled ‘Completing the revolution: Transforming mental health and tackling poverty’ The decision more than 30 years ago to close big mental hospitals and treat patients in the community has failed to help the most vulnerable, according to a major new [read the full story…]
The Department of Health has published the latest annual reports on the level of investment in mental health services. The National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services provides details of the level of investment in mental health services for working age adults (aged 18-64) in England for 2010/11 and compares it with the [read the full story…]
