New research suggests that weight gained in the first 12 weeks of antipsychotic treatment is the biggest driver of long-term obesity in psychosis.
[read the full story...]Can we predict and prevent weight gain in early psychosis?
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Should you start metformin whenever you start antipsychotics?
Guidelines say metformin can help prevent weight gain from antipsychotics like olanzapine, but this large UK study shows it’s rarely prescribed. What’s stopping us?
[read the full story...]Clozapine and infection risk: new evidence from Hong Kong’s 20-year cohort study
Clozapine is described as the gold standard treatment for schizophrenia but a new cohort study suggests it is associated with an increased risk of infections, particularly in older patients, further solidifying the case for holistic care.
[read the full story...]Lithium is best at decreasing the risk of depression-related hospitalisation in bipolar disorder, according to new cohort study
This Swedish cohort study, blogged by Duncan Swiffen, is yet more evidence for lithium as an excellent treatment for people with bipolar disorder. This time it comes out on top in terms of preventing depression-related hospitalisation.
[read the full story...]Just how good are antipsychotics at preventing relapse? Bridging the efficacy-effectiveness gap
Samei Huda summarises a new network meta-analysis in the Lancet Psychiatry on the efficacy and effectiveness of antipsychotics for schizophrenia in research settings, such as randomised controlled trials, versus real-world and clinical settings.
[read the full story...]Do different groups of people with schizophrenia respond differently to different antipsychotics?
Murtada Alsaif considers a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Lancet Psychiatry exploring the response of different subgroups of patients with schizophrenia to different antipsychotic drugs.
[read the full story...]Sexual function matters to people living with serious mental illness
Rudiger Pittrof and Elana Covshoff from SHRINE (Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, Inclusion and Empowerment) explore a recent review, which looks at the impact of severe mental disorders and psychotropic medications on sexual health and its implications for clinical management.
[read the full story...]Antipsychotics for acute treatment of first episode schizophrenia
Elwira Lubos writes her debut blog on a recent systematic review with pairwise and network meta-analyses, looking at antipsychotic drugs for the acute treatment of patients with first episode schizophrenia.
[read the full story...]Antipsychotic efficacy measured by real-world observational study
Tracey Roberts examines whether a retrospective observational study accurately investigates the effectiveness of second and first generation antipsychotics.
[read the full story...]Schizophrenia, antipsychotics and quality of life: measuring the important things
Samei Huda mulls over a recent RCT on the effects of older and newer antipsychotics on quality of life in schizophrenia. The study finds a different result to the 10-year old CUTLASS trial; namely that second generation antipsychotics may be superior to first generation antipsychotics in terms of improving quality of life for people with schizophrenia.
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