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Mental Health
Hundreds of mental health patients stuck in South African prisons
More than 300 declared state patients are sitting in prisons awaiting placement in health institutions, with the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services warning that...
Dutch activists sue state over waiting lists for mental healthcare
For the first time in Dutch history, the state is being held liable for the long waiting lists in mental healthcare, with non-profit foundation...
Higher meat consumption may delay Alzheimer’s risk in some – Karolinska study
Older people with gene variants associated with higher Alzheimer’s risk didn’t show the expected cognitive decline if they ate relatively high amounts of meat....
Crucial that autism support reaches rural classrooms in SA
Children with autism do not struggle because they lack potential; they struggle when the world around them is not ready to understand how they communicate, play,...
South Africans overwhelmed with depression – Cape Town study
The prevalence of depression among people aged 15 and older in South Africa has dropped slightly – from an estimated 5.1% in 2002 to...
Nursing staff accused of 'over-diagnosing' patients schizophrenic
Some nursing home staff in the United States are over-diagnosing their dementia patients with schizophrenia so they can prescribe antipsychotics and make them easier...
Cannabis useless for treating mental health issues – Australian review
Scientists say there is scant evidence that cannabis is effective in treating common mental health conditions, despite the global surge in patients using it...
Now Kennedy claims keto diet can ‘cure’ schizophrenia
US experts have condemned Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr’s statement recently that the keto diet could cure schizophrenia – an unfounded claim they...
Africa-wide psychosis research network launched
Psychotic disorders remain under-researched and under-resourced across Africa, despite evidence that between 1% and 4.4% of people on the continent may experience psychosis during...
SAHRC orders Northern Cape Health to fix mental hospital mess
The SA Human Rights Commission has given the Northern Cape Department of Health 60 days to sort out the appalling state of the Northern...
Bringing the humanity back in medicine
People with chronic pain frequently report dismissal, minimisation, or misattribution of their symptoms, but unintended invalidation erodes trust, undermines dignity and damages the therapeutic...
Call to exempt mental health experts from VAT
The cost of mental healthcare in South Africa – and the shortage of providers in the field – means that more and more people...
Menopause linked to Alzheimer’s-like brain changes – Cambridge study
British scientists have suggested that menopause is linked to changes in the brain similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s, and that hormone replacement therapy...
UCT-Swedish study calls for collaborative HIV, mental health care
A collaborative study by researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Linköping University in Sweden has found that people with HIV face...
Danish study links obesity to dementia risk
Obesity in midlife may cause vascular dementia later in life by raising blood pressure over decades and damaging brain vessels, according to research from a...
Why autism rates are increasing in the US
The US Government’s claims of an autism “epidemic” and their unscientifically-based claims of causes and triggers – including the use of paracetamol in pregnancy...
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...