Nervous system diseases

NHS education body to fund training for 210 specialist mental health pharmacists

There will be 70 places available for specialist training for pharmacists on mental health in 2023.…

Alzheimer’s drug found to slow disease progression in phase III trial hailed as ‘historic’

Despite substantial side effects, patients taking lecanemab deteriorated 27% more slowly than those who took placebo.…

Antidepressants set to be added to new medicine service in 2023

Subject to the outcome of a pilot scheme, antidepressants will be added to the new medicine service in April 2023.…

The serotonin theory of depression: how the media got it all wrong

A new evidence review into the causes of depression may not have been revolutionary, but, having generated so much attention in the newspapers, there are concerns it may cause significant numbers of patients to stop taking their treatment.…

Schizophrenia drug shortage affecting patient care, College of Mental Health Pharmacy warns

Supplies of aripiprazole 10mg tablets are low until late August 2022 and there is "limited scope for alternatives".…

Silencing the genes that harm the brain

There have been variable results so far, but researchers are hopeful that new drugs can be developed to halt disease progression in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.…

How we set up the UK’s first clopidogrel genomics testing system

Specialist clinical pharmacist Alex Matos explains how he has been implementing pharmacogenomics in daily use on the acute stroke ward.…

Discontinuation of antidepressant could affect tapering patients, say experts

Exclusive: Paroxetine 20mg/10mL oral suspension is being discontinued, but experts have highlighted how these liquid formulations of antidepressants are "essential" for successfully tapering patients.…

Naloxone should be available over the counter, recommend Scottish government advisors

The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce report said that mainstreaming naloxone would help to reduce 'harmful stigma" around substance use.…

How we dropped down from being in the top five highest prescribers of antidepressants in England

Starting with care homes, before moving on to the community, deprescribing work by Sunderland Primary Care Network's pharmacy team led to a 3.2% reduction in the number of patients prescribed antidepressants in Sunderland.…