Antidepressants prescribed far more in deprived coastal towns of north and east

Doctors in deprived coastal towns in the north and east of England are prescribing 50% more antidepressants than those in the rest of the country, analysis of prescription data shows.

Blackpool, Sunderland and East Lindsey, in Skegness, fill the top three spots for the most prescriptions out of England’s 326 districts.

Psychologists said the findings were consistent with links between deprivation and depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. But they added that seaside towns faced a particular set of difficulties that could give rise to mental health issues.

The trends in NHS prescription data were discovered by Exasol, a database analysis company. It found that in Blackpool, the area with the highest rate of antidepressant prescriptions, 2.11 per person in 2016, compared with a national average of 1.16 over the course of the year.

Sunderland and East Lindsey were in second and third place, with about 1.99 prescriptions per person.

Dr Jay Watts, a consultant clinical psychologist, said there were established problems with seaside towns that could affect the mental health of their residents. Blackpool, for example, has the lowest life expectancy for men in the country, and last year topped the list for alcohol-related hospital admissions, she said.

“You’ve got high deprivation, high crime, low life expectancy, loads of alcohol problems,” she said. “Also all of these places tend to be, to a certain extent, ghost towns.

“Because of the destruction of local economies by the cheapening of foreign travel, that we’ve known has been happening since the 1960s onwards, one tends to be environmentally surrounded with the ghosts of a better time.”

Peter Kinderman, president of the British Psychological Society and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Liverpool, said the findings were consistent with established theories on what causes depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.

“You’ve got lack of opportunity, lack of a sense of meaning and purpose in life,” he said. “You’ve got the financial consequences on families, consequent pressure on relationships; a toxic mix of how social and economic factors can put pressure on our mental health and psychological wellbeing.”

Pressure on local authorities and civic organisations trying to operate without a well-functioning economy meant there was a lack of services that could help people with mental health problems, he said.

“Incidentally, I don’t blame the GPs or the psychiatrists. What the hell else have they got to offer people?”

Data published last year by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, now renamed NHS Digital, showed that there were 61m NHS prescriptions for antidepressants in England. This was double the number prescribed a decade earlier and had a net cost to the health service of nearly £285m.

Gillian Connor, head of policy at the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said at the time that antidepressants were often the only treatment available to patients accessing “overstretched and underfunded” mental health services.

“What we want to see is people experiencing depression offered the full range of treatments available, including talking therapies,” she said. “People have to be able to access the treatment that is right for them, whether it’s antidepressants, therapy or a combination of the two.”

Antidepressants prescribed far more in deprived coastal towns of north and east

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

We know that pain thresholds vary from person to person – one person’s nudging inconvenience is another’s unbearable distraction – but the colour of your skin, in the US at least, can be a factor in deciding whether or not you receive pain medication.

New research from the US shows that black patients who arrive at emergency rooms complaining of back or abdominal pain are significantly less likely to be given opioid painkillers, such as codeine, than their white counterparts, even when pain levels and insurance coverage are the same. Pain is the most common reason Americans visit the ER, and the researchers in Boston looked at five years’ worth of records across the country for patients who had complained of general pain with an unclear cause.

This effect has been found across healthcare settings – black children with appendicitis are significantly less likely get any painkillers for moderate pain or opioid-type drugs for severe pain. Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 20 years’ worth of studies in 2012 and found the same, calling this “the treatment gap”. The review’s lead author, Dr Salimah Meghani, says that to stop the disparity, doctors need to be educated about its cause, and this is most likely unconscious bias. The problem, she says, “may be addressed by helping health providers identify their blind spots”.

In April, another study found that half the white medical students surveyed believed at least one false statement about black people having “thicker skin”, “faster-coagulating blood” or “less sensitive nerve endings”. Medics who believed one of these facts also rated black pain lower when viewing case studies. Authors of this research believed it was down to these entrenched ideas about “biological differences” between races that may be informing doctors’ decisions on when to prescribe.

Dr Austin Leach, a pain medicine consultant who serves on the council of the British Pain Society, says there is no biological reason for different prescriptions. “Physiological studies suggest that pain perception is the same across ethnicities,” he says, adding that there is no evidence that this happens in the UK. Some races are predisposed to certain illnesses – the rate of strokes for African Americans is double that of the country’s white population – but the treatment of pain should be the same.

In this latest study, researchers claim that a particular type of unconscious bias – assuming that black patients are abusing meds – is to blame, despite the fact that opioid abuse is more prevalent in white communities.

The study’s lead author, Dr Astha Singhal, a professor at Boston University, says the key point is that they found a discrepancy only in vague pain-related conditions, commonly associated with drug-seeking behaviour, rather than conditions with obvious causes, such as bone fractures. “While the disparity we found is surely not a good thing, it might have indirect advantage to the black patients of minimising their exposure to opioids,” she says.

The theory that black communities are being “shielded” from opioid addiction by not being prescribed the drugs in the first place is a controversial one. Other studies have shown that diagnosis of issues from back pain to cancer is slower for black patients. The line is unclear to many doctors, including Singhal. “It raises the question – is it still an advantage if the cost is bearing untreated or undertreated pain?”

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

We know that pain thresholds vary from person to person – one person’s nudging inconvenience is another’s unbearable distraction – but the colour of your skin, in the US at least, can be a factor in deciding whether or not you receive pain medication.

New research from the US shows that black patients who arrive at emergency rooms complaining of back or abdominal pain are significantly less likely to be given opioid painkillers, such as codeine, than their white counterparts, even when pain levels and insurance coverage are the same. Pain is the most common reason Americans visit the ER, and the researchers in Boston looked at five years’ worth of records across the country for patients who had complained of general pain with an unclear cause.

This effect has been found across healthcare settings – black children with appendicitis are significantly less likely get any painkillers for moderate pain or opioid-type drugs for severe pain. Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 20 years’ worth of studies in 2012 and found the same, calling this “the treatment gap”. The review’s lead author, Dr Salimah Meghani, says that to stop the disparity, doctors need to be educated about its cause, and this is most likely unconscious bias. The problem, she says, “may be addressed by helping health providers identify their blind spots”.

In April, another study found that half the white medical students surveyed believed at least one false statement about black people having “thicker skin”, “faster-coagulating blood” or “less sensitive nerve endings”. Medics who believed one of these facts also rated black pain lower when viewing case studies. Authors of this research believed it was down to these entrenched ideas about “biological differences” between races that may be informing doctors’ decisions on when to prescribe.

Dr Austin Leach, a pain medicine consultant who serves on the council of the British Pain Society, says there is no biological reason for different prescriptions. “Physiological studies suggest that pain perception is the same across ethnicities,” he says, adding that there is no evidence that this happens in the UK. Some races are predisposed to certain illnesses – the rate of strokes for African Americans is double that of the country’s white population – but the treatment of pain should be the same.

In this latest study, researchers claim that a particular type of unconscious bias – assuming that black patients are abusing meds – is to blame, despite the fact that opioid abuse is more prevalent in white communities.

The study’s lead author, Dr Astha Singhal, a professor at Boston University, says the key point is that they found a discrepancy only in vague pain-related conditions, commonly associated with drug-seeking behaviour, rather than conditions with obvious causes, such as bone fractures. “While the disparity we found is surely not a good thing, it might have indirect advantage to the black patients of minimising their exposure to opioids,” she says.

The theory that black communities are being “shielded” from opioid addiction by not being prescribed the drugs in the first place is a controversial one. Other studies have shown that diagnosis of issues from back pain to cancer is slower for black patients. The line is unclear to many doctors, including Singhal. “It raises the question – is it still an advantage if the cost is bearing untreated or undertreated pain?”

Black Americans are less likely to be prescribed painkillers – why?

"Still Alice" prescribed to individuals to support beat dementia

The novel which inspired the award-winning Hollywood film Still Alice is to be prescribed to patients who have dementia, below a new scheme for libraries.

Even now Alice, which described the descent of an academic into early onset Alzheimer’s, will be advised to patients and carers to aid them recognize much more about the condition.

The 2007 book, by Lisa Genova, rose to throughout the world fame thanks in component to a movie adaptation, which noticed Julianne Moore win a SAG Award and Golden Globe for her portrayal of the turmoil of dementia.

It is just 1 of 25 titles now launched on the updated Reading Nicely Books on Prescription scheme, which is backed by GPs, psychological wellness experts and government ministers and sees individuals being “prescribed” set books to study.

Each and every text is aimed at providing non-medicinal support for people with dementia, and will be produced offered in each Uk public library for free of charge.

It includes texts giving tips about symptoms and how the illness progresses, as effectively as how to make the most of daily life with dementia and the personalized accounts of those who have suffered it.

It also has books aimed at helping carers and family members, picture books, and suggestions for therapeutic actions to assist navigate the hard path of memory loss.

The notion is a spin-off of the scheme very first launched in 2013, which saw GPs providing individuals who suffered psychological wellness difficulties written prescriptions to pay a visit to their regional library to read through a variety of thirty accepted texts.

The initiative, run by The Reading through Company, the Society of Chief Librarians and the Arts Council, resulted in each public library having a designated listing of texts for difficulties ranging from “anger” to “worry”.

The new scheme, hailed by wellness minister Norman Lamb as “fantastic”, is supported by a host of professional, health care and charitable bodies like the Alzheimer’s Society, The British Psychological Society, Carers United kingdom, Dementia United kingdom, Royal School of General Practitioners, and the Royal University of Psychiatrists.

Other titles on the “dementia” listing contain The Little Woman in the Radiator: Mum, Alzheimer’s and Me by Martin Slevin, Dancing With Dementia: My Story of Living Positively with Dementia by Christine Bryden, and When Somebody You Enjoy Has Dementia by Susan Elliot-Wright.

The Studying Agency has also previously published a listing of “mood-boosting books”, stated to be the novels, poems and quick stories which are confident to cheer folks up.

It consists of Bill Bryson’s Notes from the Small Island, Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie, Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love, children’s guide The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Goodnight Mister Tom andTo Destroy A Mockingbird.

"Still Alice" prescribed to individuals to support beat dementia

Four Antipsychotic Medicines Nonetheless Prescribed Even Even though Identified to be Ineffective and Hazardous

A new research from researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medication, Stanford University and the University of Iowa funded by the Nationwide Institute of Mental Overall health recently tested 4 of the anti-psychotic drugs frequently prescribed to patients in excess of forty many years of age for off-label purposes.

The examine identified that these medications had been not only ineffective for treating these situations they could also be unsafe as properly. The researchers identified that off-label use of aripiprazole (Abilify), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and resperidone (Risperdal) should be limited to short-term only, and patients should be monitored closely.

Meds that Lead to Condition

The 5-year examine identified that inside one particular yr of therapy, a third of the individuals involved designed metabolic syndrome. Inside of two many years, nearly a quarter of them created significant side results.

In buy to sustain the clinical integrity of the trial with no compromising the patients’ wellness, researchers utilised a strategy known as “equipoise stratified randomization,” which combines total randomization and clinician’s therapy of option.

The study was designed to give the prescription drugs the greatest opportunity of achievement whilst minimizing bias. Drugs have been randomized for an regular of two months, as the random treatment options frequently created adverse side results or were ineffective.

Seroquel in distinct proved to be troublesome and had to be discontinued halfway through the trial due to critical adverse events. Researchers studying the effects of the other prescription drugs examined identified that in sufferers who suffered from delusions, hallucinations, depression, nervousness, and unusual behavior found no important improvement.

Researchers felt that the risk to benefit ratio for individuals more than 40 was not especially favorable. They suggest that physicians ought to use a wonderful deal of caution when prescribing the medicines, and begin with reduced doses and for only brief intervals of time.

Patients must also be monitored for any adverse side effects closely. They hope that new interventions for this group of patients will be designed and examined to be far much more successful and risk-free than these approaches presently getting utilized.

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Mike Bundrant is the writer of Your Achilles Eel: Learn and Overcome the Hidden Supply of Negativity, Negative Choices and Self-Sabotage. Click here to learn much more.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/eleven/121127190016.htm

Four Antipsychotic Medicines Nonetheless Prescribed Even Even though Identified to be Ineffective and Hazardous