Elena Marcus presents the findings of an updated Cochrane review on antipsychotic combinations for schizophrenia.
[read the full story...]Antipsychotic combinations for schizophrenia: safe and effective?
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Should people with schizophrenia be offered depot antipsychotics as first line treatment?
Murtada Alsaif reports on a new nationwide Swedish cohort study that explores the real-world effectiveness of oral and depot antipsychotics for people with schizophrenia.
[read the full story...]Risperidone versus placebo for people with schizophrenia
Joanne Wallace summarises the recent Cochrane systematic review on risperidone versus placebo for schizophrenia, which concludes that the best available evidence does not show that the benefits of risperidone outweigh the harms.
[read the full story...]Trends in antipsychotic prescribing in autism
Angela Hassiotis and James Dove summarise a recent meta-analysis of antipsychotic prescribing and use trends in US youth with autism spectrum disorder and/or learning disabilities.
[read the full story...]Aripiprazole for treatment-resistant depression in older adults
Sarsha Wilson publishes her debut blog about a recent RCT on the efficacy, safety and tolerability of augmentation pharmacotherapy with aripiprazole for treatment-resistant depression in later life.
[read the full story...]Switching antipsychotics in schizophrenia: the OPTiMiSE RCT
Tracey Roberts summarises a recent paper that reviews the existing literature concerned with switching antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia, and goes on to present the ongoing OPTiMiSE RCT in this field, which is due to be published in 2016.
[read the full story...]Quetiapine for schizophrenia: more transparency needed in clinical trial reporting
Andrew Shepherd reports on a recent systematic review, meta-analysis and reappraisal of Quetiapine for schizophrenia, which concludes that Quetiapine IR has a small beneficial effect on psychotic symptoms, but also leads to weight gain and sedation.
[read the full story...]What should we prescribe for neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease?
Psychiatrist Andrés Fonseca considers how his clinical practice should change, after reading a systematic review and meta-analysis of drug treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease
[read the full story...]Spoilt for choice? Four new Cochrane reviews on antipsychotics for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a crippling condition characterised by psychotic experiences such as delusions and hallucinations. It can be hugely debilitating for the patient and their family and it can also be an enormous challenge for psychiatrists and other health and social care professionals who are responsible for providing care and support to the service user. Currently, [read the full story…]
Lithium is less expensive than olanzapine in treatment-resistant depression, but has unclear clinical benefits
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) still represents a challenge to psychiatric practice. Since patients have usually failed at least two antidepressants, drugs originally prescribed for other conditions are often tried as an augmentation (Souery er al., 2006). Amongst them, lithium (a mood-stabiliser used in the treatment of bipolar disorders) as well as atypical antipsychotics (AAPs, indicated for [read the full story…]