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Library Services do not currently have access to this journal, but you can request a copy of the article online and we will try to get a copy to you: http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Pharmacological treatments for agitation and aggression in patients with Alzheimer’s disease have shown limited efficacy. The authors assessed the heterogeneity of response to citalopram in the Citalopram for Agitation in Alzheimer Disease (CitAD) study to identify individuals who may be helped or harmed. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
Editorial. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
Combining antidepressants (ADs) for therapy of acute depression is frequently employed, but randomized studies have yielded conflicting results. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at determining efficacy and tolerability of combination therapy. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
Library Services do not currently have access to this journal, but you can request a copy of the article online and we will try to get a copy to you: http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
There are huge volumes of drug trials published, and for clinicians it’s clearly difficult to keep up to date with the latest evidence.
It is also clear that huge volumes of medicines are routinely prescribed, at a considerable cost to health services worldwide. For example, in the UK we spend £14.4bn per year on prescriptions, and most of this spend focuses on common conditions.
The aim of this recent meta-analysis by Leucht and colleagues (2015) was to explore the efficacy of 20 commonly prescribed medicines.
Adherence to medicines has been identified as a key issue by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain,1 the WHO2 and, most recently, by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.3 Estimates of adherence vary widely but are often reported to be as low as 50%.4 When a patient does not take their prescribed medicines as intended, they may not derive the expected outcomes. As well as implications for the individual patient, this can result in increased costs associated with patient hospitalisations or avoidable escalation in other costs of care.3 It may also result in unused medicines, the cost of which is estimated at £300 million per year in England alone.3 To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Debate surrounding assisted outpatient treatment has mostly focused on issues of due process, cost-effectiveness, and efficacy as measured by readmission and incarceration rates. Less attention has been paid to whether long-term use of antipsychotic treatment is supported by sufficient evidence to warrant its compulsory use in assisted outpatient treatment programs. The authors examine the rationale and evidence for long-term use of antipsychotics, noting the pervasive belief within the psychiatric community that psychotic illness, especially schizophrenia, requires lifelong medication. They argue that although antipsychotics are clearly indicated for patients in the acute phase of psychotic illness, the evidence for long-term use is less convincing and may not justify compulsory long-term use. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Approximately 6.2 % of women in the USA and 3.7 % of women in the UK, use Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) during their pregnancies because of depression and/or anxiety. In the Netherlands, this prevalence is around 2 %. Nonetheless, SSRI use during pregnancy is still controversial. On the one hand SSRIs may be toxic to the intrauterine developing child, while on the other hand relapse or recurrence of depression during pregnancy poses risks for both mother and child. Among patients and professionals there is an urgent need for evidence from randomized studies to make rational decisions regarding continuation or tapering of SSRIs during pregnancy. At present, no such studies exist.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be treated with stimulant medication such as methylphenidate. Although effective, methylphenidate can cause serious side-effects, including suppressed appetite, growth retardation and sleep problems. A drug holiday is a deliberate interruption of pharmacotherapy for a defined period of time and for a specific clinical purpose, for example for appeasing side-effects. While some international guidelines recommend introducing drug holidays in ADHD treatment, this is not practised routinely. Our aim was to examine the views and experiences of planned drug holidays from methylphenidate with adults who have responsibility for treatment decisions in children and adolescents with ADHD. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Aims and method To identify training needs of the next generation of psychiatrists and barriers in prescribing first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs). We have surveyed psychiatry trainees in East Anglia with regard to their training experience, knowledge and attitudes to the use of oral FGAs as regular medication.
Despite evidence for their comparable efficacy, psychotherapy faces a dramatic decline relative to pharmacotherapy in psychiatry. A deep ideological reason for this decline centres on the belief that psychotherapy is a psychosocial treatment whereas pharmacotherapy is a biological treatment. Modern cognitive neuroscience demonstrates that this distinction is a myth.Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
A new systematic review published last week in BMJ Open by Eiring and colleagues aimed to investigate patients’ preferences for outcomes associated with psychoactive medications.
The study was a randomised trial to see if clonidine decouples stress-related cocaine and heroin administration in patients maintained on buprenorphine. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Opioid antagonists (eg, naltrexone) and positive modulators of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (eg, alprazolam) each modestly attenuate the abuse-related effects of stimulants. A previous study demonstrated that acute pretreatment with the combination of naltrexone and alprazolam attenuated a greater number of the subject-rated effects of D-amphetamine than the constituent drugs alone. This study tested the hypothesis that maintenance on the combination of naltrexone and alprazolam XR would attenuate the reinforcing and “positive” subject-rated effects of methamphetamine to a greater extent than the constituent drugs alone. Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai