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Researchers at the University of Sussex and University College London systematically reviewed evidence from a large number of medical studies, looking for associations between eight chronic physical illnesses in childhood, such as arthritis , asthma and cancer, and emotional problems experienced by the sufferers in later life. The paper, published today in the  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry  ( JCPP ), reveals that the sufferers of all chronic conditions reviewed were at increased risk of developing depression or anxiety , emotional problems that persisted beyond childhood and adolescence and into adult life. The results suggest that mental health prevention and intervention strategies which specifically target chronic illness sufferers in youth could be vital in treating mental health issues before they develop into more serious long term conditions. Speaking about the findings, psychologist Dr Darya Gaysina, senior researcher on the project at the Univer...

Led by King's College London, the research shows that people with severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, have a 53 per cent higher risk for having cardiovascular disease than healthy controls, with a 78 per cent higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the longer term. Their risk of dying from the disease was also 85 per cent higher than people of a similar age in the general population. Published online in  World Psychiatry , these findings highlight the importance of regularly screening SMI patients for cardiovascular risk and also point towards a number of potentially modifiable risk factors. It is well documented that people with SMI die 10 to 15 years earlier than the general population, largely due to cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, heart attack and stroke. This new study is the largest ever meta-analysis of SMI and cardiovascular disease, including over 3.2 million patients and more ...

The study aimed to identify potential adverse events related to beta-interferon treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis by analyzing health records of over 2,000 British Columbians with multiple sclerosis between 1995 and 2008. "Once a drug is released on the market, there are very few ways to systematically monitor adverse events," said Helen Tremlett, senior author of the study and a professor in the department of medicine at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. "Clinical trials cannot identify all adverse effects of a drug treatment partly due to small sample sizes and relatively short follow-up periods." The study found an increased risk of events such as stroke, migraine and depression, as well as abnormalities in the blood with taking beta interferon for multiple sclerosis . "Beta interferons are generally thought of as having a favourable safety profile, especially compared to the newer therapies for multiple sclerosis. A...