Probiotics for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

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Mary Butler explores a recent randomised controlled trial of probiotic formulations for patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

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Lithium is best at decreasing the risk of depression-related hospitalisation in bipolar disorder, according to new cohort study

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This Swedish cohort study, blogged by Duncan Swiffen, is yet more evidence for lithium as an excellent treatment for people with bipolar disorder. This time it comes out on top in terms of preventing depression-related hospitalisation.

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Quetiapine may pip lithium to the post for augmentation in ‘treatment resistant depression’: results from the LQD study

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Kirsten Lawson and Douglas Badenoch review the new randomised controlled trial by Cleare et al, published today in The Lancet Psychiatry, directly comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of lithium and quetiapine as augmentation treatments for patients with ‘treatment resistant depression’.

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Continuing antipsychotic medication during pregnancy associated with reduced risk of schizophrenia relapse

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Shuichi Suetani and Sarah Thomas highlight new research from Korea which suggests that antipsychotic medications do seem to help reduce the relapse of schizophrenia in pregnant women.

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The role of the gut microbiome in treatment-resistant schizophrenia

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Nuala Murray explores a recent Australian case-control study that looks at the associations between changes in gut microbiota and schizophrenia diagnosis, treatment resistance, and clozapine response.

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Psychotropic medication during pregnancy: new umbrella review finds no convincing evidence of adverse health outcomes for the baby

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Flo Martin summarises a recent umbrella review which finds that we still have limited knowledge about the safety of psychotropic drug use in pregnancy.

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Cognition and heterogeneity in first-episode psychosis before antipsychotic treatment

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Ana Veic looks at an updated systematic review which suggests that patients with psychosis display cognitive difficulties very early in the disease process, and concludes this variation in cognitive function should prompt individual clinical assessments to optimise care.

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Antipsychotics and risk of violence and suicide in people diagnosed with personality disorders

Newer antipsychotics are not necessarily superior to older drugs.

A group of MSc students from UCL summarise a study examining the links between antipsychotics, risk of violent crimes and suicidal behaviour in people diagnosed with a ‘personality disorder’.

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Predicting treatment-resistant psychosis using routine clinical measures

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Lorna Staines summarises a recent study on predicting treatment-resistant psychosis, which suggests that future risk prediction efforts should seek to consider routinely collected data.

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Optimal antipsychotic dosing in first-episode schizophrenia: how much is too little, too much, or just right?

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Joe Pierre reports on the first published study exploring the relationship between antipsychotic dose and risk of relapse in first episode schizophrenia, which suggests that standard antipsychotic dosing is best for relapse prevention.

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