The US National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association have published a new set of guidelines for diagnosing dementia and mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. All of the papers from the Alzheimer’s and Dementia journal are available online in full-text: Jack CR Jr, Albert MS, Knopman DS, McKhann GM, Sperling RA, Carrillo MC, Thies [read the full story…]
There’s a nice review in this week’s BMJ for primary care professionals who haven’t had much time this week to think about the mental health awareness week topic – sleep. The authors provide a short summary of the key points: Insomnia affects a third of people and is a common cause of consultation in primary [read the full story…]
Researchers from Shahid Beheshti University in Iran have been studying the efficacy of a novel intervention for reducing suicidal behaviour. For a year, they have been sending postcards to people who self poison in the hope that it will reduce their suicidal ideation and attempts. Their randomised controlled trial published in the British Journal of [read the full story…]
The BMJ have published an up to date guideline on the treatment of depression with drugs and physical interventions. It provides a good overview of the effectiveness and safety of antidepressants, electroconvulsive therapy, exercise, lithium augmentation, pindolol augmentation, and St John’s wort. The authors found 88 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies and performed a [read the full story…]
The Health and Social Care Information Centre have published Statistics on Alcohol for England 2011. The yearly report includes data on drinking behaviour among adults and children, knowledge and attitudes to alcohol, drinking-related costs, ill health and mortality. The widely reported headline from the data is that the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England [read the full story…]
The debate about antidepressant use and suicide in young people rages on. A new meta-analysis of placebo-controlled paroxetine trials has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry by a research team at GlaxoSmithKline (the company who make the drug also known as Aropax, Paxil and Seroxat) in Pennsylvania. This kind of drug company conducted [read the full story…]
Researchers in Hong Kong have published a systematic review that explores suicidal behaviour in old age. They found 22 gender-specific quantitative studies and revealed a range of risk factors for different socio-demographic groups. Unsurprisingly for a team of suicide researchers, they concluded that further exploration of gender-specific issues in suicide was needed. They also said: [read the full story…]
The Mental Health Foundation have added a new podcast to their excellent collection. It’s called progressive relaxation for better sleep and it supports the mental health awareness campaign they are running this week to promote the importance of sleep and relaxation. There are now 14 podcasts in the series, which have been produced over the [read the full story…]
NICE have published a new guideline today with the usual collection of supporting documents. Here’s the blurb from their website: This clinical guideline offers evidence-based advice on the care and treatment of adults who have common mental health disorders, with a particular focus on primary care. It brings together advice from existing guidelines and combines [read the full story…]
Patients with coronary heart disease are susceptible to depression and this comorbidity makes cardiovascular outcomes worse. Using antidepressants to treat depression in patients with other health conditions is sometimes quite controversial. This meta-analysis looked at the health effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) versus placebo or no antidepressants in patients with coronary heart disease [read the full story…]
