The proportion of people aged over 65 on antidepressants has more than doubled in two decades — according to new research. Despite a rise in antidepressant use, there was little change in the number of older people diagnosed with depression. The findings are based on the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies, conducted at two time points — between 1991 and 1993, and between 2008 and 2011.
Read moreDeep brain stimulation (DBS) of an area in the brain called the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) provides a robust antidepressant effect that is sustained over a long period of time in patients with treatment-resistant depression — the most severely depressed patients who have not responded to other treatments.
Read moreSubstantial variation exists between general practices in uptake of new prescribing guidance, with important implications for patient care and health expenditure, finds the largest analysis of its kind.
Read moreFindings reveal how auditory hallucinations may arise in patients with schizophrenia and provide potential new targets for early detection and treatment.
Read moreA multistakeholder coalition has issued clinical recommendations for the optimal prevention of secondary fracture among people aged 65 years and older with a hip or vertebral fracture — the most serious complication associated with osteoporosis.
Read moreAntidepressants are generally safe, according to a new study. By assessing evidence from 45 meta-analyses, which combined the results from many studies, the researchers did not find strong evidence of adverse health outcomes associated with antidepressant use.
Read moreInvestigators report that there was no association between oral contraceptive use and depressive symptom severity in the entire population they studied (ages 16 through 25). However, they found that 16-year-old girls reported higher depressive symptom severity compared with 16-year-old girls not using oral contraceptives.
Read moreAlthough reduced physical activity during the day is widely seen as a harbinger of mortality in older people, fragmentation of physical activity — spreading daily activity across more episodes of brief activity — may be an earlier indicator of mortality risk than total amount of daily activity, according to a new study.
Read moreResearchers have uncovered sex-based differences in the development of the hippocampus and amygdala. These brain areas have been implicated in the biology of several mental disorders that impact males and females differently. The findings may help researchers better understand sex-based differences in the emergence of mental disorders during adolescence and early adulthood.
Read morePolitical events can take a serious toll on mental health, a doctor has warned, after treating a man with a brief episode of acute psychosis, triggered by the 2016 Referendum on Brexit — the process of the UK leaving the European Union (EU).
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