Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]
The reduced life expectancy (15-20 years less) often faced by many people with schizophrenia is frequently a result of cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle choices (smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet) can increase the risk of these diseases, but people who take antipsychotic drugs often have the additional problem of weight gain that is caused by [read the full story…]
The Department of Health have commissioned the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO) to produce a high level report to provide information and evidence for policy makers, public health staff and commissioners to use in developing preventative approaches to violence. The report entitled ‘Protecting People, Promoting Health – A public health approach to violence prevention [read the full story…]
Fissure sealants have been available since the 1960’s and a 2008 Cochrane review by Ahovuo-Saloranta et al highlighted their effectiveness for preventing occlusal caries noting that their effectiveness is obvious in high caries risk children. The aim of this new study by Muller-Bolla et al, was to assess their effectiveness in a school-based dental sealant [read the full story…]
When the keep-fit Elf was on holiday recently her replacement introduced us to a new exercise. We all enthusiastically participated in the ‘power lunges’ (more like wobbling really) but over the next few days the front of my knee hurt climbing stairs, kneeling or bending down. What was wrong? Would exercising make it worse? How [read the full story…]
Saturday 20 October is World Osteoporosis day raising awareness about osteoporosis and fragile bones. In a previous blog The Musculoskeletal Elf discussed Best risk assessment advice for people with fragility fractures. However, despite the availability of effective treatments it appears that the majority of people presenting with a minimal trauma fracture (also known as ‘osteoporotic’, [read the full story…]
There is a tendency to focus on the prevention of dental caries in children yet is it is a problem that continues to affect old and young alike. While considerable time and effort is spent on preventive programmes for children far less consideration to adults. The American Dental Association Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry has published [read the full story…]
The prevalence of depression goes up sharply in mid-adolescence and it’s estimated that by age 19 up to 20% of people will have suffered from at least one episode of clinical depression. So it makes sense that prevention programmes should be targeted at young people in schools, and indeed, published research has shown that classroom-based [read the full story…]
An increasingly elderly population have benefited from improvements in oral health care resulting in the retention of an increasing number of natural teeth. This brings the challenge of maintaining these teeth and their replacements in good disease free condition. However, studies indicate that oral health in this group is often poor. The aim of this [read the full story…]
The aim of this trial was to test the use of motivational interviewing (MI) as an approach to control caries in indigenous children. This cluster-randomised trial was conducted in Cree communities in Quebec. Cree women who recently had given birth or were between the 12th and 34th weeks of pregnancy were recruited. Mothers allocated to [read the full story…]
