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Mental Health
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...
New tests could help ID dementia in older Africans – SA research
International researchers – with the assistance of Wits University and University of Cape Town scientists – have introduced two improved tests that could precisely...
Study links anti-depressants to higher risk of sudden cardiac death
Anti-depressants could increase the risk of sudden cardiac death up to five-fold, suggest Danish researchers, who found patients taking the medications for between one...
New WHO guidance for global mental health policies
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued new guidance to help all countries reform and strengthen mental health policies and systems – most of...
Excessive napping may be tied to dementia – US study
Twenty-four-hour sleepiness, particularly excessive napping, has been associated with a doubled risk of developing dementia, the latest study on disturbed sleep patterns and the...
NSAIDs may lower dementia risk, large study finds
A study examining the relationship between the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medication over certain time frames and the risk for dementia found that...
Move to quit psychiatric medication gains momentum
American author Laura Delano walked away from the treatments that defined her teens and 20s. Now, she’s hoping to create a road map for...
Why CDC’s vaccine-autism study is raising eyebrows
Experts are concerned about the US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention's (CDC) plan to use the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) to probe an...
Postnatal depression linked to brain change during pregnancy – Spanish study
A study from scientists in Madrid has shed new light on what happens in the brains of pregnant women who experience postpartum depression, which...
ADHD scripts in England up by 18% each year since pandemic
The number of prescriptions being issued in England for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has risen by 18% year-on-year since the pandemic, with...
FDA expands access for schizophrenia drug
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has eliminated a longstanding requirement that patients taking clozapine, an anti-psychotic used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, to submit...
GLP-1 receptor agonists not linked to suicide – UK cohort study
The findings from a large cohort study have suggested no link between glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and suicide, according to the researchers.
Use of...
Common painkiller in pregnancy tied to ADHD risk – US study
Children may have a higher risk of developing ADHD if their mothers used paracetamol – also known as acetaminophen – during pregnancy, adding weight...
Scientists study man who defied predicted genetic Alzheimer’s
People who inherit one very rare gene mutation are virtually guaranteed to develop Alzheimer’s before they turn 50, but an American man has confused...
Things really do seem better in the morning – London study
In the most comprehensive study of its kind, scientists have found that generally, the world feels brighter when you wake up – that people...