Suicide is rarely far from the headlines these days, but the last week has seen a number of high profile stories in the mainstream media. First there was the tragic death of the much loved footballer Gary Speed, which has been followed by a huge amount of press coverage. Then on Saturday The Sun newspaper [read the full story…]
In November 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration required that black box warnings be placed on all antidepressant medications warning they may result in increased risk of suicidal tendencies in children and adolescents. It is now considered good practice that patients of all ages who initiate antidepressants should be monitored for clinical worsening or [read the full story…]
People with an interest in the absolute risk of suicide, and how suicide relates to other mental health conditions, will want to read more about this new Danish cohort study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. This prospective study involved 176,347 people who were followed up for as long as 36 years from the [read the full story…]
Benzodiazepines are most commonly prescribed for the management of anxiety and insomnia. They can also be used for sedation or amnesia before medical or surgical procedures, treatment of seizure, treatment of alcohol or sedative withdrawal, or acute agitation. Known side effects include drowsiness, fatigue and ataxia (the loss of full control of bodily movements). Opioids [read the full story…]
A systematic review has identified 106 potential risk factors to be associated with the prevalence or incidence of dental caries in primary teeth. The aim of this study was to describe the development of new caries over 2 years and to identify risk factors that can predict new caries development. A random sample of preschool [read the full story…]
The Department of Health have published an updated guide summarising the health harms of drug and alcohol misuse, which is aimed at supporting non-medical practitioners working with substance misuse issues. The document updates the 2003 “Dangerousness of Drugs” guide. It’s an 80-page PDF report and it outlines acute and chronic problems associated with each substance, [read the full story…]
Some of the risk factors for suicide are well known. Research shows that mental illness is the most significant risk factor and we also know that gender plays a big part (men are at greater risk). However, some of the other potential risk factors are less well study, such as the impact that serious physical [read the full story…]
The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the relationship between education and dementia. The authors from the University of Southern California searched PubMed and PsycInfo for published studies examining the relationship between education and dementia listed from January 1985 to July 2010. The inclusion criteria were a measure of education and a dementia [read the full story…]
Childhood sexual abuse is a strong predictor of schizophrenia in later life, a leading psychiatrist has told the International Congress of the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2011. It is a contributing cause of 17 per cent of cases of psychotic illness including schizophrenia, Professor Paul Bebbington, Head of the Department of Mental Health Sciences at [read the full story…]
This cohort study conducted by the Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme (IMMP) in New Zealand, set out to determine more accurately the rates of nocturnal enuresis in patients on clozapine and other atypical antipsychotics (olanzapine, quetiapine and risperidone). Prescription data for clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine were returned from pharmacies throughout New Zealand directly to the [read the full story…]
