Neurofilament light and glial fibrillary acidic protein in mood and anxiety disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) are biomarkers of neuronal injury measurable in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Despite their potential as diagnostic tests for neurodegenerative disorders, it is unclear how they behave in mood and anxiety disorders. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate whether NfL and GFAP concentrations were altered in adults with mood and anxiety disorders compared to healthy controls.

Describing the burden of disease amongst inpatients with treatment resistant major depressive disorder in Australia.

Objective: To describe the quality of life and clinical characteristics of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) patients in an Australian patient cohort recruited cross-sectionally during admission.

Method: Inpatients admitted for TRD treatment completed a quality of life questionnaire (AQoL-8D) and a depression severity assessment (HAM-D). A chart review and patient interview occurred for demographic and patient characteristics.

Assisted deaths in Switzerland for UK residents: diagnoses and their implications for palliative medicine and assisted dying legislation.

Objective: UK campaigners for a law permitting assisted dying (AD) restricted to those with a maximum life expectancy of 6 months claim that this would largely remove the need for UK residents to seek AD in Switzerland. We wanted to discover whether this prediction was correct.

Methods: We analysed the diagnoses of UK residents who had such deaths including, for the first time, data from all three of the main Swiss providers of AD to non-residents, comparing them with figures from Oregon, which has a 6-month restriction.

What clinicians need to know about intranasal esketamine for treatment-resistant depression?

Objective: To review the usefulness of esketamine for treatment-resistant depression.

Method: Pivotal trials of intranasal esketamine in treatment-resistant depression were synthesized as a narrative review.

Results: Esketamine is postulated to act through antagonism of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors, but opioidergic effects may also be involved.

Adjunctive Docosahexaenoic Acid in Residual Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety.

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid as an adjunct to ongoing pharmacological treatments in patients with residual symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Methods/procedures: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial was conducted at a single private practice site. Participants were drawn from patients attending the practice.

and Variant Coverage of Commercial Antidepressant Pharmacogenomic Testing Panels Available in Victoria, Australia.

Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing to inform antidepressant medication selection and dosing is gaining attention from healthcare professionals, patients, and payors in Australia. However, there is often uncertainty regarding which test is most suitable for a particular patient. Here, we identified and evaluated the coverage of and variants in commercial antidepressant PGx testing panels in Victoria, a large and ethnically diverse state of Australia.

Ensuring the affordable becomes accessible-lessons from ketamine, a new treatment for severe depression.

In this paper, the case study of ketamine as a new treatment for severe depression is used to outline the challenges of repurposing established medicines and we suggest potential solutions. The antidepressant effects of generic racemic ketamine were identified over 20 years ago, but there were insufficient incentives for commercial entities to pursue its registration, or support for non-commercial entities to fill this gap. As a result, the evaluation of generic ketamine was delayed, piecemeal, uncoordinated, and insufficient to gain approval.

Health workers' perspectives of hepatitis B-related stigma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: Experiences of stigma and discrimination can act as a significant barrier to testing, monitoring, and treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are a population disproportionately impacted by HBV and yet limited research has explored HBV-related stigma in these communities. To begin preliminary explorations of HBV-related stigma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we interviewed health workers about their perceptions regarding HBV infection and HBV-related stigma.

Difficult decision-making in major depressive disorder: Practical guidance based on clinical research and experience.

Objectives: To extend current published guidance regarding the management of major depression in clinical practice, by examining complex cases that reflect real-world patients, and to integrate evidence and experience into recommendations.

Methods: The authors who contributed to recently published clinical practice guidelines were invited to identify important gaps in extant guidance. Drawing on clinical experience and shared knowledge, they then generated four fictional case studies to illustrate the real-world complexities of managing mood disorders.

Black cohosh extracts in women with menopausal symptoms: an updated pairwise meta-analysis.

Objective: Menopausal symptoms are common in midlife women and have broad impacts on their daily functioning and quality of life. Black cohosh extracts have been widely used to relieve menopausal symptoms. However, the comparative benefits of different combined black cohosh regimens remain inconclusive.

Anxiety Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: Commentary on Prevalence and Clinical Implications.

The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) has been increasing, and MDD is now a leading cause of global disability. Depression often coexists with anxiety, and the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced the 'anxious distress' specifier to identify those patients within the MDD category who have anxiety as well. The prevalence of anxious depression is high, with studies suggesting that 50-75% of patients with MDD meet the DSM-5 criteria for anxious depression.

Tau, β-Amyloid, and Glucose Metabolism Following Service-Related Traumatic Brain Injury in Vietnam War Veterans: The Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study of Aging-Veterans Study (AIBL-VETS).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common among military veterans and has been associated with an increased risk of dementia. It is unclear if this is due to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other mechanisms. This case control study sought evidence for AD, as defined by the 2018 National Institute on Aging - Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) research framework, by measuring tau, β-amyloid, and glucose metabolism using positron emission tomography (PET) in veterans with service-related TBI.

Positioning of psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of depression: A comparison of the RANZCP 2020 and NICE 2022 guidelines.

Objective: To compare the 2022 NICE guidelines (NG222) and 2020 RANZCP clinical practice guidelines (MDcpg) recommendations for the treatment of depression using psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Conclusions: Both guidelines recommend psychological interventions first-line. However, only short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) is recommended, and in the NG222 it is ranked last for less severe depression and 7th for more severe depression.

Artificial intelligence: An eye cast towards the mental health nursing horizon.

There has been an international surge towards online, digital, and telehealth mental health services, further amplified during COVID-19. Implementation and integration of technological innovations, including artificial intelligence (AI), have increased with the intention to improve clinical, governance, and administrative decision-making. Mental health nurses (MHN) should consider the ramifications of these changes and reflect on their engagement with AI.

A Qualitative Study of the Expectations, Experiences, and Perceptions That Underpin Decisions Regarding PTSD Treatment in Help-seeking Veterans.

Introduction: A range of evidence-based treatments are available for PTSD. However, many veterans with PTSD do not engage in these treatments. Concurrently, various novel PTSD treatments with little or no evidence based are increasingly popular among veterans.

The Potential Impact of a Public Health Approach to Improving the Physical Health of People Living with Mental Illness.

With already wide disparities in physical health and life expectancy, COVID-19 presents people with mental illness with additional threats to their health: decreased access to health services, increased social isolation, and increased socio-economic disadvantage. Each of these factors has exacerbated the risk of poor health and early death for people with mental illness post-COVID-19. Unless effective primary care and preventative health responses are implemented, the physical illness epidemic for this group will increase post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The management of depression: the evidence speaks for itself.

Comparing the recommendations of two recently published national clinical practice guidelines for depression, this editorial highlights the concordance of advice concerning the selection and sequencing of therapies. Lifestyle and psychological interventions feature prominently and there is broad agreement regarding medication choice and optimisation strategies. The guidelines are therefore a useful resource.

Open innovation: the key to advancing brain health.

With the exponential growth in investment attention to brain health-solutions spanning brain wellness to mental health to neurological disorders-tech giants, payers, and biotechnology companies have been making forays into this field to identify technology solutions and pharmaceutical amplifiers. So far, their investments have had mixed results. The concept of open innovation (OI) was first coined by Henry Chesbrough to describe the paradigm by which enterprises allow free flow of ideas, products, and services from the outside to the inside and vice versa in order to remain competitive, particularly in rapidly evolving fields where there is abundant, relevant knowledge outside the traditional walls of the enterprise.