Elly O’Brien summarises a recent RCT of folic acid for depression, which explores whether mood disorders can be prevented in young people at familial risk. The trial finds no evidence that folic acid supplementation reduces the incidence of mood disorders compared to those taking placebo.
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To date there has been little research on vitamin D deficiency in people with learning disabilities. In this debut blog by Brant Cebulla, we look at a new case control study which sets out to answer some key questions and consider areas for further research.
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Andrés Fonseca summarises the findings of a recent systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of sensory, psychological and behavioural interventions for managing agitation in dementia.
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Can we encourage patients to continue taking complementary and alternative (CAM) treatments for antenatal depression or should we be firmly discouraging them from doing so? We already know from surveys that 11% of primary care patients with anxiety and depression are taking complementary or alternative therapies, which is around the same proportion of people who [read the full story…]
In the Woodland we all enjoy a good sing-a-long, but can this actually be therapeutic? Music therapy has a growing database with regards to its use in helping to treat a variety of mental health disorders. It is thought of as a systematic intervention that uses music experiences (active or receptive) and the relationships that [read the full story…]
Herbal medicines often represent a cheaper alternative, or a low-cost complement, to standard pharmacotherapy. As a result, improved cost-effectiveness is often touted as a likely benefit of the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Many, myself included, have been openly critical of CAM research, while others have suggested ways in which CAM research could [read the full story…]
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies are often perceived to be as effective as conventional treatments, more “natural”, less expensive, have fewer side-effects and are easily available without a prescription. But do these perceptions match up with the reality? Can CAM therapies be helpful additions to conventional treatments? This alludes to an interesting sociological question [read the full story…]
The question of what role nutrition plays in mental health has been the sauce (ahem) of research interest in recent times. As covered previously by oursElves in relation to dementia, the majority of this research has looked at individual nutrients like Omega-3 fish oil and other minerals, with the broader area of diet receiving less [read the full story…]
In the Woodland we have previously looked at musical interventions for agitation in dementia and depression. In June 2013 the Cochrane Collaboration published a systematic review of musical interventions for preoperative anxiety. As may be expected, people awaiting surgical procedures often experience high levels of anxiety. This anxiety is important as it can result in [read the full story…]
Symptoms associated with schizophrenia are often classified into two categories. The classical indicators such as hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder make up the ‘positive’ category whilst apathy and problems with concentration are ‘negative’ symptoms. These negative symptoms have previously been linked to decreased folate levels (Goff et al. 2004) and there is some evidence that [read the full story…]
