Month: June 2023

Library Bulletins

Learning Disabilities and Depression

The current bulletins for Learning Disabilities and Depression, produced by Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, are now available to view and download.

For support accessing any of the articles within the bulletins please contact: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Understanding the drivers of healthy life expectancy

This report from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities summarises several pieces of statistical analysis and findings from a rapid literature review aimed at exploring the drivers of healthy life expectancy. It assesses the relative impact of mortality rates and self-reported health on healthy life expectancy and details the key factors that are most influential in driving these two components.

Understanding the drivers of healthy life expectancy: report – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Adolescent alcohol dependence linked to developing depression, study finds

Adolescents who show signs of alcohol dependence are more likely to develop depression by their mid-20s, according to a new study by University College London and the University of Bristol.

The research found that drinking large amounts of alcohol regularly, but with no signs of dependency, did not predict the risk of depression.

The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, looked at the association between alcohol consumption and signs of problematic drinking, or dependence, at the age of 18, and depression six years later at the age of 24.

The study involved 3902 participants of the Children of the 90’s birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children – ALSPAC), a longitudinal cohort of parents and their children born in South West England in 1991 and 1992, who have been surveyed at regular intervals. 

Signs of alcohol dependence include an inability to stop drinking, failure to meet normal expectations due to drinking, and feeling a need to drink after a heavy session, as well as harmful effects like memory loss related to drinking.

The association of alcohol dependence and consumption during adolescence with depression in young adulthood, in England: a prospective cohort study – The Lancet Psychiatry

Is Ketamine at least as effective and with fewer side effects as electroconvulsive therapy for treatment resistant depression?

Results of a new randomized, head-to-head trial suggest intravenous ketamine is at least as effective and has fewer side effects for treatment resistant depression as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). To date, no large, head-to-head trials have compared ECT to intravenous ketamine. 

The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, states that although ECT is very effective and is fast acting, it requires anaesthesia, can be socially stigmatizing, and is associated with memory problems following the treatment. Ketamine has been shown to have rapid antidepressant effects and does not cause memory loss or carry the stigma associated with ECT, he added. For these reasons, the investigators examined whether it may be a viable alternative to ECT.

Ketamine versus ECT for Nonpsychotic Treatment-Resistant Major Depression | NEJM

Government not taking “appalling” harms from alcohol seriously enough, House of Commons committee finds

A report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee says a “staggering” 82 per cent of those 600,000 dependent drinkers in England are not in treatment despite success rates of around 60 per cent and evidence that, on average, every £1 spent on treatment immediately delivers £3 of benefit and significantly more in the longer term.

The committee reports there has been an alarming increase in alcohol-related deaths, which have risen by 89 per cent over the past twenty years, with sharp rises since 2019. But the number of people receiving treatment for alcohol dependency has generally been falling. 

Government not taking “appalling” harms from alcohol seriously enough – Committees – UK Parliament

Alcohol treatment services (parliament.uk)