Researchers from a Taiwanese study report that an increase in the risk of miscarriage is associated with benzodiazepine use during pregnancy, after adjustments for cofounders. The findings appeared on Dec. 27, 2023 in JAMA Psychiatry. “These findings underscore the necessity for health care professionals to meticulously balance the risk-benefit ratio when considering the use of benzodiazepines to treat psychiatric and […]
Up to 1.7 million people could be living with dementia in England and Wales by 2040 – over 40% more than previously forecast – finds a new UCL-led study. Previous studies, based on data up to 2010, showed that dementia incidence had declined in high-income countries. However, the new research, published in The Lancet Public Health, indicates that dementia incidence started […]
Researchers have developed a new way of improving diagnosis of bipolar disorder that uses a simple blood test to identify biomarkers associated with the condition. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used a combination of an online psychiatric assessment and a blood test to diagnose patients with bipolar disorder, many of whom had been misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder. […]
Although several medications are approved to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), some individuals experience limited benefits from the drugs or develop side effects from their use. A recent clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), has demonstrated that the drug solriamfetol may be an effective alternative […]
Researchers have announced preliminary results of using wearable technology to measure electrical impulses in the skin and other physiological biomarkers which might be associated with mood changes in bipolar disorder. The work is at an early stage, but they hope that they will be able to build on these patterns to detect mood swings in bipolar disorder sufferers, so helping […]
New research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that antipsychotics are likely overprescribed and used inappropriately among patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) receiving home health care, and such use is linked to worse patient outcomes. Antipsychotic drugs are not approved for the treatment of dementia—they are mostly used off-label to manage the symptoms that many […]
Young men with cannabis (marijuana) use disorder have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, according to a study led by researchers at the Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in Psychological Medicine, analyzed detailed health records data spanning 5 decades and representing […]
People with severe mental illness are less likely to attend cancer screening compared to those who do not have such conditions, according to new research from the University of Surrey and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) at the Department of Health and Social Care. Funded by OHID and NHS England, with support from Cancer Research UK, the […]
A new study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), lithium, and clozapine may be associated with reduced suicide rates in adolescent males with severe mental illness, consistent with previous findings in adults. The study, published in Nature Communications, compared treatment and suicide rates across different regions in Sweden. Annually, there are at least 800,000 suicide deaths worldwide. […]
Among patients over 60 with treatment-resistant depression, adding the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify) to their treatment appears to be a more effective strategy than switching antidepressants. Researchers reported these findings on March 3, 2023 in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Often, unless a patient responds to the first treatment prescribed for depression, physicians follow a pattern in which they […]
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