Antidepressants can help adults with major depression

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André Tomlin reports on a new network meta-analysis that brings together the best available evidence comparing the efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressants for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder.

This groundbreaking review of 522 trials is the largest ever meta-analysis in psychiatry, and finds that antidepressants are more effective than placebo for short-term treatment of acute depression in adults.

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Silver diamine fluoride for caries in primary teeth

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This review of the effectiveness of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) in arresting caries included 11 studies with 4 contributing to a meta-analysis showing it to be more effective than other active agents and placebo.

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Taste disturbances- zinc supplements may have some benefit

There are lots of reasons to eat healthily, but for the time being, it's not clear whether good food can help prevent depression

10 RCTs were included in this update of a Cochrane review of interventions for the management of patients with taste disturbances. VEry low quality evidence suggest that zinc supplementation my be beneficial but further high quality research is needed.

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Mental health apps for young people: an evidence-free zone?

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Natalie Nelissen from mHabitat publishes her debut elf blog on a recent systematic review of mental health apps for young people, which highlights the current dearth of reliable research to support the efficacy and safety of mobile apps.

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Antidepressants for bipolar depression: weighing up the benefits and harms

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Murtada Alsaif considers a recent systematic review on the safety and efficacy of adjunctive second-generation antidepressant therapy with a mood stabiliser or an atypical antipsychotic in acute bipolar depression.

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Risperidone versus placebo for people with schizophrenia

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Joanne Wallace summarises the recent Cochrane systematic review on risperidone versus placebo for schizophrenia, which concludes that the best available evidence does not show that the benefits of risperidone outweigh the harms.

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Periodontal treatment: effectiveness of intra-pocket anaesthesia

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This review of intra-pocket anaesthesia for patients having scaling and root planing included 11 trials and demonstrated a benefit over placebo.

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People’s experiences of taking antidepressants

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Alison Faulkner reflects on the findings of a qualitative study from New Zealand that explores users’ diverse experiences of taking antidepressants.

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Infraorbital nerve block for postoperative pain following cleft lip repair in children

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This Cochrane review of Infraorbital nerve block for postoperative pain after cleft lip repair includes 8 trials providing low to very low quality evidence that infraorbital nerve block with lignocaine or bupivacaine may reduce postoperative pain more than placebo

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Does the placebo effect inflate the effectiveness of psychotherapy?

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Sarah Knowles reviews a recent meta-analysis about the effects of blinding on the outcomes of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for adult depression.

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