Weighing the risks: new review ranks antidepressants by their physical health side effects

Drug,Abuse,Icon,With,Pills,,Outlined,Design

Antidepressants can help millions of people recover from depression and anxiety, but how do they affect physical health? Out today, a review in The Lancet compared 30 antidepressants to see which ones are most (and least) likely to increase our risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes etc.

[read the full story...]

Does a diagnosis of severe physical illness elevate suicide risk?

Light,At,The,End,Of,The,Tunnel,Vector,Concept.,Symbol

Dona Matthews reviews a retrospective cohort study of 47 million people exploring the risk of suicide after diagnosis of severe physical illness, such as low-survival cancers, chronic ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and degenerative neurological conditions such as Huntington’s disease.

[read the full story...]

Can treating periodontitis help prevent heart disease?

heart attack

Periodontal disease is associated with cardiovascular disease. This Cochrane review looks at whether treating periodontal disease can prevent further heart disease. Unfortunately the available evidence is limited to a single trial at high risk of bias.

[read the full story...]

Is this toothache or am I having a heart attack?

heart attack

Pain from cardiac ischaemia can have a range of presentations. This can include chest, arm, shoulder pain, face or jaw pain.  While sudden chest pain that may travel down the arm is a typical presentation classic teaching is that cardiac ischemia can present with tooth, jaw, or facial pain as its sole symptom.  The aim [read the full story…]

Gum disease does not cause heart disease

heart attack

Links between gum and heart disease have been noted for over 100 years, but  in recent years there has been a surge of interest in this topic as evidenced by the increasing numbers of papers published since the late 1990s. A selection of some of the reviews published since 2000 is listed below.  The aim [read the full story…]