Depression and cancer: Lancet papers on prevalence and integrated collaborative care

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Kirsten Lawson highlights a trio of Lancet papers on the prevalence of depression in cancer patients and the efficacy of a new treatment programme called ‘Depression Care for People with Cancer’.

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Collaborative care for adolescent depression: new RCT shows promise

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Jennifer Laidlaw writes her debut blog on a recent RCT in JAMA about collaborative care for adolescent depression in primary care. The trial concludes that collaborative care is both feasible and effective in improving outcomes, but Jennifer highlights a number of limitations and questions for future research.

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Cognitive therapy plus antidepressants for depression

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams highlights a new large-scale RCT of combined cognitive therapy plus antidepressants for major depressive disorder. The trial finds that this combination is effective, but only in patients with severe non-chronic depression.

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Antidepressants for depression in pregnancy: new systematic review says the jury’s still out

Nikki Newhouse summarises a recent US health technology assessment of antidepressants for depression in pregnancy and the postpartum period, which concludes that the evidence remains inconclusive about the benefits and harms of antidepressants for depression in pregnancy.

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Tricyclic antidepressants for ADHD in children and adolescents: Cochrane review finds no evidence to support prescribing

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Helge Hasselman summarises a Cochrane review of tricyclic antidepressants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents, which finds low quality evidence and no justification for prescribing these drugs in this group of patients.

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Are autism and ADHD associated with antidepressants or maternal depression? The debate continues…

 

Amy Green summarises a retrospective observational study that finds prenatal antidepressant exposure is associated with risk for ADHD, but not autistic spectrum disorders. She considers this complex topic and works out what it all means for pregnant women with depression.

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Prenatal SSRI exposure and autism risk: a dilemma for mums-to-be with depression

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Amy Green summarises a population-based study of young children which looks at prenatal exposure to SSRI antidepressants and the social responsiveness symptoms of autism.

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Placebo for depression: are some sugar pills better than others?

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Joe Judge revels in a new network meta-analysis looking at placebo for depression published in BMC Medicine, which has been supplemented by a series of commentaries and blogs. Thought-provoking stuff!

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Interpersonal therapy and imipramine may be effective at reducing suicidal ideation in depression, but more research needed

Susie Johnson considers how effective conventional depression treatments are at reducing suicidal ideation in depression. The new study she summarises concludes that interpersonal therapy and antidepressants can also reduce suicidal ideation.

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Mental disorders after critical illness: depression, PTSD and functional disability in survivors of intensive care

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The BRAIN-ICU prospective cohort study published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine looks at mental health outcomes and functional disabilities in a general ICU population. It explores the hypothesis that depressive symptoms after discharge are more often somatic (i.e. bodily complaints) than cognitive-affective (i.e. thought-related and mood-related complaints).

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