People with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) often fail to achieve remission (recovering fully from their disease) despite standard treatments. This systematic review examines the efficacy and tolerability of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) for generalised anxiety disorder as either: augmentation therapy, i.e. using it alongside other treatments monotherapy, i.e. using it as a stand-alone treatment The reviewers [read the full story…]
Aripiprazole (brand names Abilify and Aripiprex) is an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat a number of mental health disorders including schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. This new guidance has been written by a group of Pan-European experts who have come together to review new clinical guidelines for the management of mania and the role of aripiprazole [read the full story…]
Adherence to drug treatment is a constant challenge for mental health practitioners, so any research that explores why patients stop taking their medication is usually of interest. There are many published studies that look at the reasons why people decide to stop taking their antidepressants, and these range from finding it difficult to cope with [read the full story…]
The authors of this review set out to provide a comprehensive, critical review of the clinically relevant literature concerning depression in Down syndrome (DS) focusing on epidemiology, potential risk factors, diagnosis, course characteristics and treatment. The search was carried out in January 2011 and excluded review articles not adding new information and single case reports. [read the full story…]
The aim of this study was to establish the relative safety and balance of risks for antidepressant treatment in older people. The cohort study included 60,746 patients aged 65 years and over diagnosed with depression. The study was based in 570 general practices in the UK supplying data to the QResearch database. The study objectives [read the full story…]
Antipsychotics are frequently used in the treatment of people with learning disabilities, but little is published in the literature concerning their metabolic and endocrine side-effects. The researchers in this observational study set out to compare indices of obesity, glucose, lipids and prolactin between 138 people with learning disabilities who were treated with antipsychotic medications and [read the full story…]
It’s a sad fact of life that as people get older they sometimes find themselves living a lonely lifestyle; cut off from stimulating social networks and all of the activities and benefits that friendships entail. Social exclusion and a lack of frequent interaction may predict impaired cognition in the older members of the population. Researchers [read the full story…]
Challenging behaviour in people with learning disabilities can be highly disruptive for the person and those who provide them with support. This review set out to evaluate the evidence base for massage therapy, used with people with challenging behaviours to induce relaxation. The review aimed to identify whether massage therapy was effective in reducing the [read the full story…]
Intrathecal Baclofen Therapy (IBT) is used in the management of severe spasticity in the body which cannot be adequately treated by oral means. The treatment is administered through an implantable infusion system, introduced into the space under the arachnoid membrane of the brain or spinal cord. This study set out to explore the impact of [read the full story…]
With a lifetime prevalence of about 12% and a 12-month prevalence of around 4%, social anxiety disorder is the most prevalent anxiety disorder and one of the most common psychiatric conditions. This systematic review conducted by researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, aimed to assess the effectiveness of different second [read the full story…]
