Chris Sampson summarises a review on the cost-effectiveness of mental health workplace interventions, which presents up-to-date evidence on the different things that employers can do to help those in their workforce affected by mental health problems or substance misuse.
[read the full story...]Have the EAGLES landed? Safety of varenicline, bupropion and NRT in smokers with and without mental illnesses
Paul Christiansen presents the results of the EAGLES RCT into the neuropsychiatric safety and efficacy of varenicline, bupropion, and nicotine patches in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders.
[read the full story...]Pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in severe mental illness
Andrew Jones reports on a recent systematic review and network meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerability of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in severe mental illness, which finds a promising but low quality result for bupropion and varenicline.
[read the full story...]Smoking and chronic mental illness: what’s the best way to quit or cut down?
Meg Fluharty considers the findings of a BMJ State of the Art review, which looks at the evidence for smoking cessation in people with chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia, unipolar depression, bipolar depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD.
[read the full story...]Smokeless tobacco – do behavioural and pharmacological interventions help users quit?
Dominic Hurst looks at the recent Cochrane review of interventions to help smokeless tobacco (ST) users quit. ST use is linked to oral cancer, precancer and periodontal disease, so dentists have an important role in encouraging users to quit.
[read the full story...]Little differences among antidepressants regarding sexual dysfunction, but bupropion performs best
Antidepressant treatment is associated with a variety of side effects, including emotional changes, weight gain or fatigue. As pharmaceutical treatment has evolved, clinicians have become increasingly aware of another major adverse effect of modern antidepressants: sexual dysfunction. Current figures estimate that up to every second patient will, at some stage, experience reduced sexual function, which [read the full story…]
Combination of treatments may improve smoking cessation
Smoking is a major cause of morbidity and mortality across the world and accounts for over 60% of deaths in people who do smoke. The World Health Organisation estimates that tobacco kills almost 6 million people per year, with 5 million as a result of direct tobacco use. Innovative treatment approaches aimed at improving smoking [read the full story…]
Using adaptive treatments for smoking cessation may prove effective
Around 20% of adults in the UK smoke cigarettes regularly. Smoking was the primary cause of approximately 462,900 hospital admissions and 79,100 (18%) deaths in adults over the age of 35 last year. Therefore, smoking cessation represents a serious (and costly!) clinical challenge on an individual and global level. Many smoking cessation aids are available, [read the full story…]
Cochrane review finds bupropion is the best treatment to help people with schizophrenia give up smoking
People with schizophrenia are 2-3 times more likely to smoke tobacco than the rest of the population, so helping them quit is a significant public health issue. The evidence for smoking cessation interventions in the general population is fairly well defined. We know quite a bit about what works and we have a range of [read the full story…]