Statins as an adjunct to periodontal treatment?

This well conducted Cochrane review found no evidence that statins

This review of the adjunctive effect of statins on mechanical periodontal therapy included 15 studies 12 of which were RCTs. The findings suggest a positive effect on probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, and intrabony defects but the overall quality of evidence is considered to be low.

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Statins as an adjunct to scaling and root planing

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11 RCTs were included in this review of statins as an adjunct to scaling and root planing. The findings suggest improvements in pocket depth and clinical attachment levels with statin use.

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Scaling and root planing: Do adjunctive statins improve effectiveness?

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10 randomised trials were included in this review of he adjunctive use of statins with scaling and root planing for treatment of chronic periodontitis . The findings suggest additional benefits with their use regardless of health or smoking status.

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Dementia in Down syndrome: Are we ready for a clinical trial?

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Leen Vereenooghe summarises the TOP-COG study (Towards Onset Prevention of COGnitive decline in adults with Down syndrome). This pilot RCT highlights the need to educate people with learning disabilities and their carers about the importance of research participation.

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Statins for dementia prevention: well-tolerated, but Cochrane highlight lack of evidence

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Rosalyn Nelson summarises a recently updated Cochrane systematic review of statins for dementia prevention, which finds no evidence to support their use.

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Gingivitis: anti-inflammatory agents may be beneficial suggests review

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A new review of anti-inflammatory agents for the management of gingivitis identified 14 studies. While the various anti-inflammatory agents showed benefit, the majority of the studies were at high risk of bias, so the results should be treated with caution.

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Medication in advanced dementia: how can we judge what is appropriate?

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Caroline Struthers appraises a recent US cross-sectional study of the use of medications of “questionable benefit” in nursing home residents with advanced dementia. She concludes that all medications are of questionable value if they have side effects which might have a negative impact on quality of life or are likely to cause harm.

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Statins have no beneficial effect on cognition in dementia, but can cause serious side-effects

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This updated Cochrane review on statins for the treatment of dementia contains worrying adverse effects data, but Caroline Struthers has to do a significant amount of digging to root it all out.

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Do interventions proven to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes work for individuals with severe mental illness?

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Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) have shortened life expectancies compared to the general population. This is partly down to higher rates of chronic physical illness. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among patients using mental health services. It is assumed that interventions used to reduce CVD are similarly effective in patients with [read the full story…]