Schizophrenia is considered a chronic long-term debilitating condition, affecting about 1% of the population. There has been considerable debate about which of the anti-psychotic medications are the best treatments. The debate has usually been structured around typical (older) and atypical (newer) anti-psychotic medications. The revised NICE guidelines (2009) moved towards a more neutral stance between [read the full story…]
Introduction The quality and outcomes framework was set up in 2004 to incentivise aspects of clinical practice within general practice in the UK. Two standards which are incentivised in depression are DEP4 (the percentage of patients who have had assessment of severity at diagnosis using a tool validated for use in primary care (PHQ-9, BDI-II, [read the full story…]
Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) have shortened life expectancies compared to the general population. This is partly down to higher rates of chronic physical illness. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among patients using mental health services. It is assumed that interventions used to reduce CVD are similarly effective in patients with [read the full story…]
It is reported that around 13% of upper canines can be displaced, the majority of these being palatally displaced. Controversy exists on whether a closed techniques of moving a canine into its correct position beneath the palatal mucosa (closed technique) is preferential to an open technique which involves moving the canine into its correct position [read the full story…]
Lower rates of cervical and breast cancer screening have been reported in women with learning disabilities when compared to the general population. The researchers in this Canadian Study set out to look at whether there were any differences in the rates of cervical and breast screening between women with learning disabilities and those without. As [read the full story…]
One of the major complaints of people on antidepressant medication is the effect it has on their sex lives. It does this in three main ways – it affects sexual desire, the ability to achieve and sustain an erection in men and alters the sensation of orgasms and ejaculation. These side effects are one of [read the full story…]
People affected by trauma present in a number of different settings (Solomon et. al., 1997), sometimes immediately after the trauma, and sometimes much later when they are experiencing the effects of traumatic stress, depression, anxiety or other mental health difficulties. When trauma leads to an individual developing a post traumatic stress reaction, there is not [read the full story…]
Patients presenting to their GP with a mental health problem are likely to be offered medication, in the form of antidepressants, and/or a ‘talking therapy’, such as counselling or CBT. This is because we know that both those broad categories of treatments (drugs and psychological therapies) are effective in reducing symptoms. However, it’s less clear [read the full story…]
The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) had just made available its new draft guidance on the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. The Scope of the guidance is to assist and support primary care dental teams in providing appropriate care for patients both at risk of and with periodontal diseases. The guidance aims to [read the full story…]
Today we feature a blog from our good friend, The Dental Elf, whose remit includes Head and Neck cancers. The psychological impacts of such cancers can be devastating, so we were interested to see a systematic review looking at the impact of psychosocial interventions on anxiety, depression and quality of life. Unfortunately, the bottom line [read the full story…]
