Cardiovascular screening for people with severe mental illness: still missing the full picture

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Only 35% of people with severe mental illness received all six cardiovascular risk factor checks within one month in this UK primary care study. Financial incentives temporarily increased comprehensive screening but effects were uneven and short-lived. Young men of non-White ethnicity were most likely to miss screening, highlighting persistent inequalities.

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Doubling of respiratory deaths in people with severe mental illness

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People with severe mental illness are more than twice as likely to die from respiratory disease than those without. This new systematic review highlights the scale of the problem and why action on public health and social inequality is just as vital as stop-smoking advice.

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The genetic link behind sleep problems, cognitive dysfunction, and neuroticism in ‘treatment-resistant depression’

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A big new study suggests that certain genetic traits—like insomnia risk and neuroticism—may make depression harder to treat, while protective traits include education and cognitive ability.

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The genetic relationship between ADHD and depression

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Tim van der Es discusses a recent paper that investigates whether ADHD causally increases the risk of subsequent major depression diagnoses. The study findings underscore the need for effective treatment and assessment of ADHD and a requirement for a deeper understanding of the potential causal mechanisms linking ADHD and depression.

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Is anxiety a gateway to other mental health problems? Comorbidities with depression and other anxiety disorders

Results from the current study largely replicated findings from the NESDA dataset in demonstrating that those with comorbid anxiety and/or depression have more severe presentations that anxiety or depression alone.

Nina Higson-Sweeney summarises a study using data from the UK-based GLAD and COPING NBR cohorts to investigate factors associated with anxiety disorder comorbidity with anxiety and depression.

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Is persistent anxiety and depression in childhood a one-way road to adverse outcomes in adulthood?

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In her latest blog, Laura Hankey summarises a longitudinal study using ALSPAC data that explored associations between anxiety, depression, and comorbid anxiety/depression in childhood and adverse outcomes in young adulthood.

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Smoking and bipolar disorder: the physical and mental health impact of tobacco cessation

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Hannah Walsh explores the clinical and research implications of this French cohort study on bipolar disorder and smoking status, and how risks differ for current, former and never smokers.

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Psychotherapeutic approaches and treatment efficacy for comorbid BPD and PTSD

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Natalie Kashirsky summarises a systematic review on optimising treatment for comorbid BPD (borderline personality disorder) and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

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Neurodevelopmental conditions and mental health research: it’s time to #EmbraceComplexity!

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In her debut blog, Suzi Sapiets summarises a review exploring psychological treatment of depression in young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, which finds very limited evidence to help neurodiverse individuals. She also tells us that it’s time to #EmbraceComplexity and encourages people to join the Embracing Complexity Research Network.

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In search of the sweet spot: the links between dysglycaemia and first episode psychosis

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Ben Perry publishes his debut blog on a recent systematic review of impaired glucose homeostasis in first-episode schizophrenia.

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