New Cochrane review points to best psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder

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The NICE guideline on borderline personality disorder (BPD) tells us more about what not to use to treat the condition than it does really help to recommend proven therapies. The guideline recommends the following: “Do not use brief psychological interventions (of less than 3 months’ duration) specifically for borderline personality disorder or for the individual [read the full story…]

How to create a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games?

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The London 2012 Paralympic Games open today and it is estimated that the cumulative television audience of the Paralympics across the 10 days of competition will tally a record four billion worldwide. Following the success of Team GB in the Olympic Games the excitement and interest has risen across the UK and people are looking [read the full story…]

Health Literacy in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Disease

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I was catching up with a colleague at a conference last week and was very interested to hear that she is involved in a project about Health Literacy and musculoskeletal conditions. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make [read the full story…]

New systematic review looking at emotional perception and social functioning in schizophrenia

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People with schizophrenia often find it hard to do many of the day-to-day things that everyone else takes for granted. Simple tasks like eating healthily and washing can be challenging and more complex needs like developing relationships with other people and finding and holding down a job can seem like mountains to climb. Researchers refer [read the full story…]

Are school teachers at a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders?

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As teachers across the UK have been recharging their batteries over the summer break are they also taking the opportunity to rest their weary bodies? Musculoskeletal disorders have a huge impact on work related absences. For example in the UK, in 2007/2008, on average, each person suffering from an upper-limb disorder took an estimated 13.3 [read the full story…]

Low back pain longer than 6 weeks? Try physiotherapy functional restoration rather than advice

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Have you ever had low back pain lasting longer than 6 weeks? I know a few elves who have. Did you know it is estimated that 28% of people will experience disabling low back pain (LBP) sometime during their lives and that 80% to 90% of attacks of low back pain resolve in about 6 [read the full story…]

Supporting carers with anticipatory grief for a loved one with dementia: systematic review

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Caring for someone close to you with dementia can be a long and rocky road. Family carers often focus on the needs of their loved one and forget about their own health and wellbeing, which can make it harder to cope as time goes on. The relationship between the carer and the recipient of care [read the full story…]

More research is needed for cognitive behavioural therapy to help men who commit domestic violence

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Men who physically abuse their partners are often treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Men sometimes sign up to these treatment programmes voluntarily, but are also sometimes obliged to participate by a court order. CBT can help change behaviour and also break established thinking patterns and beliefs, but is there any reliable evidence that this [read the full story…]

Weak evidence shows small effect of splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome: a new Cochrane Review

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Did you know that the prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in developed countries is about 50 -160 cases per 1000? It affects women more than men and typically develops between 50 to 54 and 75 to 84 years. It is also common during pregnancy  affecting up to 50% of pregnant women, the good news for [read the full story…]

Osteoarthritis of the hip or knee and work participation: a systematic review

All stakeholders should be involved using a worker support approach

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee joints is a very common condition amongst the elderly; however, what is often forgotten is that its onset is often while people are still in paid employment, which may lead to perceived difficulties in performing work tasks. We Elves are very hard-working individuals, so I asked myself, in [read the full story…]