Bacteraemia is common following dental procedures and it was believed that this could lead to bacteria endocarditis a severe infection of the lining of the chambers of the heart with a high mortality rate. Until 2008 when National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that antibiotics were not required guidelines in many countries [read the full story…]
Mood disorders include schizoaffective, dysthymia, rapid cycling, unipolar and bipolar disorders. People with mood disorders have a 30 times higher risk of suicide than the general population. Recent Mental Elf blogs have summarised the data on suicide risk and bipolar disorder, and shown that one key treatment is lithium which appears to have a robust evidence [read the full story…]
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…]
People affected by trauma present in a number of different settings (Solomon et. al., 1997), sometimes immediately after the trauma, and sometimes much later when they are experiencing the effects of traumatic stress, depression, anxiety or other mental health difficulties. When trauma leads to an individual developing a post traumatic stress reaction, there is not [read the full story…]
With the increasing popularity of dental implants and the difficulties of managing infections around them it is important to know whether the use of prophylactic antibiotics is beneficial or not. This review is an update of a Cochrane review originally published in 2008 and last updated in 2010. The aim of the review was to [read the full story…]
NICE has just published a new technology appraisal recommending aripiprazole as a treatment for bipolar disorder in young people. Technology Appraisals are systematic evaluations of the effectiveness of health technologies. They do not have the broad scope of guidelines, which focus on topics rather than technologies, but they do give guidance for clinical practice on the [read the full story…]
Dental implants are being used increasingly and some implant failures may be due to bacterial contamination at insertion. Prophylactic antibiotic regimens have been proposed to minimise infection. The aim of this review was to address the question, does the use of antibiotics, when compared with a control group, reduce the frequency of implant failure and [read the full story…]
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have long been suspected to – paradoxically- increase suicidal behaviour in adolescent and pediatric patients. Consequently, national watchdogs started issuing black label warnings for all SSRIs to educate physicians and patients about associated risks. While clearly curbing the amount of antidepressant prescriptions, concerns have been voiced that this step has [read the full story…]
Introduction This study, carried out in Scotland, is relevant to commissioners and general practitioners, as it demonstrates why there are variations in prescribing practice, and how these can be managed. The authors have noticed that there is “significant variation in the quality of prescribing” and they have carried out an ethnographic study into why [read the full story…]
This ADA-EBD critical summary looks at a systematic review from the same group that conducted the review that we highlighted yesterday (Sgolastra et al 2012). This time the question was whether the use of amoxicillin/metronidazole (AMX/MET) as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP) was more effective than SRP alone in the treatment of [read the full story…]
