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Mental Health
Why do so many students have ADHD today?
The explosion in diagnoses of ADHD and other similar disorders in students has become notable, and has triggered some controversial and compensatory actions, with...
Dementia patients prescribed harmful drugs – US study
Despite the associated dangers, one in four dementia patients in the United States is still receiving a potentially inappropriate drug prescription, an analysis of...
How stargazing could transform mental health in South Africa
With South Africa’s increasing burden of mental health challenges, a transformative research project is unveiling novel ways in which local scientists hope the night...
Music may reduce dementia risk – Australian study
Regularly listening to music may be linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a recent study, with the researchers suggesting that this...
First obesity guideline for SA as experts flag growing burden
Obesity is reaching alarming proportions in South Africa, experts write, warning that apart from the potential health risks – heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes...
Wits Professor joins global task force on dementia
In South Africa, projections suggest that more than 1m people will have dementia in the upcoming decades – and that by 2050, Africa as...
World’s largest-ever Parkinson’s drug clinical trial kicks off in UK
A mammoth £26m project – and the world’s largest-ever clinical trial of treatments to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease – has...
Reimagining mental healthcare amid growing burden – SA Health Review
Mental health has become one of the most pressing public health challenges in South Africa and worldwide. Within our national context, entrenched socio-economic disparities,...
Mental health patient tries to set bed alight
A fire was contained in the female psychiatry ward at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on Monday, Gauteng Health said, when a mental health...
SADAG SOS for financial aid
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group’s (SADAG) vital crisis helpline, which assists thousands of people struggling with mental health issues, needs R180 000...
Chronic staff shortages add to growing mental healthcare burden
The public sector averages just 0.31 psychiatrists per 100 000 people, with far fewer in remote areas, with lack of specialised facilities, collapsing infrastructure...
Hearing aid before the age of 70 cuts dementia risk – US study
People who use a hearing aid before the age of 70 can dramatically reduce their risk of dementia, suggest researchers in America, whose study highlighted...
Fatty acids could protect women from Alzheimer’s – London study
Scientists have suggested that lipids could play a role in Alzheimer’s, their study indicating a possible causal link between the disease and fatty acids,...
Life Esidimeni officials to be prosecuted for just two of the deaths
Families of those who died in appalling circumstances in the Life Esidimeni tragedy are furious that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has decided former...
ADHD drugs have wider life benefits – Swedish-UK study
Medication can help people newly diagnosed with ADHD to reduce their risk of substance misuse, suicidal behaviour, transport accidents and criminality, scientists have suggested.
The...
Long delays in dementia diagnosis – global study
Recent analysis of data from 13 previously published studies of more than 30 000 people has highlighted a major gap that often keeps people...
Nurses plead for their mental health, wellness support
Burnout, fatigue and lack of support have become silent threats to South Africa’s nursing workforce within hospitals, clinics and military facilities, with healthcare leaders...
Heads to roll after mental patients froze to death in Northern Cape hospitals
An investigation into the treatment, complications and deaths of psychiatric patients at the Northern Cape Mental Health Hospital (NCMHH) and the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe...
UK study explores effectiveness of OTC anti-depressants
Over-the-counter (OTC) products like St John’s wort and omega-3s have long been touted for helping with depression, but after 64 different products were tested...
New drug could halt Alzheimer’s
Research presented at the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto offers hope that a new drug could halt the progression of the disease,...
Early-stage Alzheimer’s may be beaten with diet, lifestyle changes
After 40 weeks of intensive lifestyle changes, early stage Alzheimer’s patients’ cognition improved and amyloid levels in the brain had been significantly reduced, findings...
NPA yet to pursue Life Esidimeni prosecutions
Nine years after the Life Esidimeni tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 144 mental health patients and in which more than 1 400...
British study downplays severity of antidepressant withdrawal
Few practices in mental health are debated more than the long-term use of antidepressant medications.
A reassessment began in 2019, when two British researchers published...
RSV and shingles jabs tied to lower dementia risk – Oxford analysis
A recent large analysis of more than 400 000 American adults suggested that two AS01-adjuvanted vaccines for different pathogens – the respiratory syncytial virus...
Half of SA’s Covid-19 patients had long-term mental issues – UCT study
A study by the University of Cape Town funded by the SA Medical Research Council found that more than 50% of South Africans who were...
Early puberty tied to elevated mental health risk – German cohort study
German researchers have suggested that patients diagnosed with central precocious puberty (CPP) – in which physical changes related to pubertal development occur earlier than usual –...
Hungarian study challenges 'pet effect' on human well-being
Locked-down Hungarians who gained or lost pets saw almost no lasting shift in mood or loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, according to researchers,...
Mental health risk doubled with autoimmune disease – Scottish study
A study of UK data from more than 1.5m people suggests that having an autoimmune disease could almost double the risk of mental health...
Why it's time to change the monthly script rule for ADHD medication
Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects between 5% and 7% of schoolchildren, but because doctors can only prescribe treatment for a month at a...
One in 36 men has hidden dementia risk gene – Perth study
Scientists have warned that men carrying two copies of a common genetic variant face double the risk of dementia, according to their findings from...
Global ADHD cases not growing, just more awareness – London review
ADHD is not becoming more common, despite more people asking for help, suggests a review led by King’s College London, which looked at 40...
Mother’s warmth in childhood may affect teens’ mental health – UCLA study
Parental warmth and affection in early childhood could have lifelong physical and mental health benefits for children, with recent research pointing to an important...
Autism may be tied to early-onset Parkinson’s – Swedish study
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease early in life, a nationwide population-based study in Sweden has...
British mental health inquiry hears of ‘culture of fear’
A dire shortage of registered mental health nurses in England means that staff struggle to focus on therapeutic care, according to an expert witness...
Alzheimer’s risk factors may be detected before 30 – US study
Alarming findings from a study led by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Butler Ageing Centre suggest that risk...
Despite lofty plans, 90% of mentally ill South Africans still without care
Around 30.3% of South Africans experience a mental disorder in their lifetime – and about 16% of them in any given year – but...
The consequences of abruptly quitting anti-depressants
Specific medications that treat disorders like anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia can be hugely effective – but stopping them abruptly can compound users’ symptoms and...
Age, sex, hormones linked to dementia biomarkers – German study
Scientists say they have found important clues about the roles that age, sex, hormonal changes and genetics might play in how certain biomarkers for...
Blood test on the cards to predict postpartum blues – US study
A simple blood test may soon be able to predict postpartum depression before symptoms appear, hinting at a future where treatments could shift from...
Suicide rates rise among over-50 South Africans
An alarming statistic has been noted among South Africans over 50, according to Discovery Life, which says it has recorded a surge in suicides...