Oral proliferative verrucous leukoplakia and the rate of malignant transformation

Leukoplakia , Verrucous

This review of the evidence on the malignant transformation of oral proliferative verrucous leukoplakia included 17 mainly retrospective observational studies. The overall estimate for malignant transformation was 43.87% (95% CI; 31.93 to 56.13) but only 4 studies were at low risk of bias.

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Joining the dots: how can we support all young people to seek help for their mental health problems?

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In her debut blog, Vanessa Bennett looks at a systematic review which examines barriers, facilitators and interventions for help-seeking in adolescents, and describes her Emerging Minds placement on characterising peer-support via the Childline online message-boards.

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Enhancing primary care support for informal carers

An informal carer refers to someone who, “provides unpaid help and support to a partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour who could not manage without this help” (Beesley, 2006). Comparatively, people who choose to be carers have a higher quality of life than those who provide care as it is expected of them. Though health [read the full story…]

Tooth loss during long-term periodontal maintenance

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This review evaluating risk factors / predictors of tooth loss in patients with periodontitis having periodontal therapy and long-term periodontal maintenance (PM) included 33 studies only 3 of which were prospective. There findings suggest that patients having long-term PM suffer the loss of 1 tooth per patient every 10 years.

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The Care Ecosystem: telephone support to help people with dementia and their carers

Woman on the phone

A UCL MSc group of students review a US randomised controlled trial of the ‘Care Ecosystem’; collaborative care for dementia delivered by telephone and internet, which suggests improvements in quality of life and caregiver well-being, and reductions in health service use.

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Suicide risk in transgender and gender diverse people

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Talen Wright explores trends in suicide death risk among transgender people by drawing on findings from the Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria Study.

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Orthodontic retainers and periodontal health

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This review comparing the effects of vacuum-formed retainers (VFR) and Hawley retainers (HR) on periodontal health included 6 RCTs. While the findings suggests a statistical benefit in favour of HR in the short term the studies are small, short-term and most ( 5) were considered to be at high risk of bias.

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Inpatient care: identifying factors that influence the length of stay

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In her debut blog, Sophia Pillai looks at a recent retrospective case-cohort study on patient and service-level factors affecting the length of inpatient stay in an acute mental health service.

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Head and neck soft tissue sarcomas

Sarcoma. fibrosarcoma

This review of the distribution of histological subtypes, treatment and overall survival (OS) rates of head and neck sacomas included 8 studies from 6 countries. Meta-analysis (5 studies) found the 5-year OS = 74%(95%CI; 63 to 84%)

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Quality of life for people with multiple sclerosis: new systematic review looks at risk, protective factors and psychological interventions

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Elena Marcus summarises a recent systematic review on quality of life in adults with multiple sclerosis, which identified a range of promising psychological interventions for improving quality of life.

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