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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Antipsychotics versus CBT in first episode psychosis: some answers, more questions

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Joe Pierre summarises two recently published and widely reported RCTs, which suggest that antipsychotic medication might not offer an advantage over psychotherapy in broadly-defined first episode psychosis.

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Risperidone and aripiprazole: genotype, metabolism and dosage

CYP2D6 genotyping before starting treatment might be valuable in clinical practice for individualising risperidone and aripiprazole treatment.

Dolly Sud writes her debut elf blog on a recent retrospective analysis, which compares dose changes of risperidone and aripiprazole with patients’ individual genotype.

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Higher doses of antidepressants “not optimal”, according to new review

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Jonathon Tomlinson considers his options as a GP supporting people with depression and complex needs, after reading a new systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis, which suggests that higher doses of antidepressants bring maximum side effects with only marginal gains.

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Low dose Amisulpride for very late onset schizophrenia-like psychosis: the ATLAS study

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Elwira Lubos summarises the recent ATLAS RCT of antipsychotic treatment for very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis, which provides evidence for the effectiveness of a very low dose of Amisulpride (100 mg).

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Non-surgical periodontal therapy – which antibiotic regime?

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This review of amoxicillin & metronidazole as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment included 18 trials . A small benefit was seen with antibiotic use but no clinically meaningful difference between different doses or duration of amoxicillin-plus-metronidazole at 3 months post-treatment.

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Do you need more psychotherapy to get better? New study suggests no relationship between number of sessions and improvement

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Sarah Knowles appraises a recent study of UK routine practice, which looks at the effect that duration of psychotherapy has on recovery and improvement rates.

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Dose equivalents of antidepressants: standardising prescribing between different drugs

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Andrew Shepherd summarises a meta-analysis, which looks at the dose equivalents of antidepressants by bringing together data from 83 trials of 23 different antidepressants.

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