Treating periodontitis to prevent heart disease – evidence unclear

heart attack

Only 1 trial at high risk of bias was included in this recent update of a 2014 Cochrane review of periodontal therapy for preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) providing insufficient evidence to support or refute whether periodontal therapy can prevent the recurrence of CVD in the long term in patients with chronic periodontitis.

[read the full story...]

Sleep bruxism: risk factors

shutterstock_150706244

This review of risk factors for sleep bruxism identified 9 studies involving a total of 12,454 patients. Strong associations were found for sleep bruxism, GERD and a gene related to serotonergic neurotransmission.

[read the full story...]

Antibiotics as an adjunct to the non-surgical periodontal treatment of smokers

Smoking man

Mark-Steven Howe looks at a systematic review of the effectiveness of adjunctive antibiotics in smokers undergoing non-surgical periodontal treatment. While a statistical benefit was noted it was not considered to be clinically relevant.

[read the full story...]

Severe mental illness in offspring may not be linked to smoking during pregnancy

baby-2022446_1280

Andrew Jones considers a recent cohort study that looks into the associations between maternal smoking during pregnancy and severe mental illness in offspring.

[read the full story...]

Smoke-free policy in psychiatric hospitals associated with reduction in physical violence

smoking-2369203_1280

Olivia Maynard reports on a new study in The Lancet Psychiatry that explores the effect of implementing a smoke-free policy on physical violence in a psychiatric inpatient setting, which has some surprising findings.

[read the full story...]

Tobacco smoking, cognition and first episode psychosis: time for a rethink?

42633638_21844f3143_b

Marcus Munafo appraises a recent cross sectional study of tobacco smoking and its association with cognition in first episode psychosis patients.

[read the full story...]

Nicotine reverses hypofrontality in animal models of addiction and schizophrenia

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 17.02.56

Marcus Munafo looks at a complex and sophisticated series of experiments that provide further insight into the relationships between genetic risk, cigarette smoking and schizophrenia.

[read the full story...]

NICE one? Is NHS guidance on substance misuse fit for purpose?

4182510875_ea2905d0bf_o

Ian Hamilton explains why the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have missed a trick by not updating their 2007 guidance on psychosocial interventions for substance misuse.

[read the full story...]

OCD risk may increase following perinatal complications

photo-1475178278683-8c225ae5ec3e

Alan Underwood summarises a population based cohort study of 2.4 million Swedish children, which highlights links between perinatal risk factors such as smoking during pregnancy, and later development of obsessive compulsive disorder.

[read the full story...]

Oral Clefts and maternal smoking associated suggests review

shutterstock_91019771 Clefts

This review examined the link between maternal smoking and oral clefts. 29 studies ( 6 Cohorts & 23 case control studies) were included and a positive association has noted. No quality assessment of the included studies was presented.

[read the full story...]