Where dementia treatment meets your NEETS

A recent study has suggested that just ten minutes of social interaction is enough to mitigate the loss of quality of life in dementia sufferers.

A survey among care homes in south London, north London and Buckinghamshire found that dementia sufferers who had chats with care workers for a prolonged period of time – the average amount of interaction is estimated to be as little as two minutes a day in comparison – faired better when it came to measuring reduction in neuropsychotic symptoms and agitation. The chats were about areas of interest such as family, or the social interaction was extended to activity like sport.

Dementia sufferers in care home were divided into two groups – the first received conventional treatment while the second group received an hour of personal interaction over the week. Those in the second group demonstrated the benefits more prominently.

The difficulty with social interaction in many care homes is that the activities are limited to ones such as bingo, where people are together, but not really interacting, or that the interaction is on a one-to-many level, leaving many sufferers actually disengaged or bored, and more withdrawn in many respects. Interaction – if it can be called that – is very passive, and measured more by presence rather than participation. For example. sitting together in a bingo hall and doing “mental” activities such as bingo, or sitting with others to watch the soaps, occasionally piping up to say “What’s gawin on?” is unlikely to do much for one’s mental faculties.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study shows that training to provide this type of individualised care, activities and social interactions can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of people living with dementia in care homes.

“It also shows that this kind of effective care can reduce costs, which the stretched social care system desperately needs.”

The problem is that while this interaction may be perceived as cost-saving, because it relies less on medication, having paid carers on minimum wage, paid “conversers” is actually more expensive. But it is a method that seems to work.

The unfortunate state of the healthcare is not that it is based on what works, but what is the cheapest. The base line is not the quality of care, but because it would exceed a threshold that the NHS cannot afford, the cost takes priority.

Perhaps what would be an effective method would be for NEETS – young persons not in education, employment or training to do such work. It would give dementia sufferers someone to talk to, and the NEETS could actually learn something from observing life experience, and it would keep government happy because their unemployment figures would go down. And with recent mental health studies suggesting that only 1 in 5 young people have someone to talk to when they are down, would it not be conceivable that at least getting young people who may be on the verge of being depressed due to lack of employment to talk with someone else, for a bit of wage, might actually be an intangible way of reducing their likelihood of depression?

Getting the young unemployed to be befrienders in care homes – is that worth a thought?

A short history of non-medical prescribing

It had long been recognised that nurses spent a significant amount of time visiting general practitioner (GP) surgeries and/ or waiting to see the doctor in order to get a prescription for their patients. Although this practice produced the desired result of a prescription being written, it was not an efficient use of either the nurses’or the GPs’time. Furthermore, it was an equally inefficient use of their skills, exacerbated by the fact that the nurse had usually themselves assessed and diagnosed the patient and decided on an appropriate treatment plan.

The situation was formally acknowledged in the Cumberlege Report (Department of Health and Social Security 1986), which initiated the call for nurse prescribing and recommended that community nurses should be able to prescribe from a limited list, or formulary. Progress was somewhat measured, but The Crown Report of 1989 (Department of Health (DH) 1989) considered the implications of nurse prescribing and recommended suitably qualified registered nurses (district nurses (DN) or health visitors (HV)) should be authorised to prescribe from a limited list, namely, the nurse prescribers’formulary (NPF). Although a case for nurse prescribing had been established, progress relied on legislative changes to permit nurses to prescribe.

Progress continued to be cautious with the decision made to pilot nurse prescribing in eight demonstration sites in eight NHS regions. In 1999, The Crown Report II (DH 1999) reviewed more widely the prescribing, supply and administration of medicines and, in recognition of the success of the nurse prescribing pilots, recommended that prescribing rights be extended to include other groups of nurses and health professionals. By 2001, DNs and HVs had completed education programmes through which they gained V100 prescribing status, enabling them to prescribe from the NPF. The progress being made in prescribing reflected the reforms highlighted in The NHS Plan (DH 2000), which called for changes in the delivery of healthcare throughout the NHS, with nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals being among those professionals vital to its success.

The publication of Investment and Reform for NHS Staff –Taking Forward the NHS Plan (DH 2001) stated clearly that working in new ways was essential to the successful delivery of the changes. One of these new ways of working was to give specified health professionals the authority to prescribe, building on the original proposals of The Crown Report (DH 1999). Indeed, The NHS Plan (DH 2000) endorsed this recommendation and envisaged that, by 2004, most nurses should be able to prescribe medicines (either independently or supplementary) or supply medicines under patient group directions (PGDs) (DH 2004). After consultation in 2000, on the potential to extend nurse prescribing, changes were made to the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

The then Health Minister, Lord Philip Hunt, provided detail when he announced that nurse prescribing was to include further groups of nurses. He also detailed that the NPF was to be extended to enable independent nurse prescribers to prescribe all general sales list and pharmacy medicines prescribable by doctors under the NHS. This was together with a list of prescription-only medicines (POMs) for specified medical conditions within the areas of minor illness, minor injury, health promotion and palliative care. In November 2002, proposals were announced by Lord Hunt, concerning ‘supplementary’prescribing (DH 2002).

The proposals were to enable nurses and pharmacists to prescribe for chronic illness management using clinical management plans. The success of these developments prompted further regulation changes, enabling specified allied health professionals to train and qualify as supplementary prescribers (DH 2005). From May 2006, the nurse prescribers’extended formulary was discontinued, and qualified nurse independent prescribers (formerly known as extended formulary nurse prescribers) were able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition within their competence, including some controlled drugs.

Further legislative changes allowed pharmacists to train as independent prescribers (DH 2006) with optometrists gaining independent prescribing rights in 2007. The momentum of non-medical prescribing continued, with 2009 seeing a scoping project of allied health professional prescribing, recommending the extension of prescribing to other professional groups within the allied health professions and the introduction of independent prescribing for existing allied health professional supplementary prescribing groups, particularly physiotherapists and podiatrists (DH 2009).

In 2013, legislative changes enabled independent prescribing for physiotherapists and podiatrists. As the benefits of non-medical prescribing are demonstrated in the everyday practice of different professional groups, the potential to expand this continues, with consultation currently under way to consider the potential for enabling other disciplines to prescribe.

The bigger issues that come with preventing hearing loss

Is there cause for optimism when it comes to preventing hearing loss? Certainly the latest research into this suggests that if positive effects experienced by mice could be transferred to humans and maintained for the long term, then hereditary hearing loss could be a thing of the past.

It has always been assumed that hearing loss is always down to old age. The commonly held view is that as people grow older, their muscles and body functions deteriorate with time to the point that muscle function is impaired and eventually lost. But hearing loss is not necessarily down to age, although there are cases where constant exposure to loud noise, over time, causes reduced sensitivity to aural stimuli. Over half of hearing loss cases are actually due to inheriting faulty genetic mutations from parents.

How do we hear? The hair cells of the inner ear called the cochlea respond to vibrations and these signals are sent to the brain to interpret. The brain processes these signals in terms of frequency, duration and timbre in order to translate them into signals we know.

For example, if we hear a high frequency sound of short duration that is shrill, our brain interprets these characteristics and then runs through a database of audio sounds, an audio library in the brain, and may come up with the suggestion that it has come from a whistle and may signify a call for attention.

What happens when you have a genetic hearing loss gene? The hairs on the inner ear do not grow back and consequently sound vibration from external stimuli do not get passed on to the brain.

With progressive hearing loss too, the characteristics of sound also get distorted. We may hear sounds differently to how they are produced, thereby misinterpreting their meaning. Sounds of higher and lower frequency may be less audible too.

How does that cause a problem? Imagine an alarm. It is set on a high frequency so that it attracts attention. If your ability to hear high frequencies is gradually dulled then you may not be able to detect the sound of an alarm going off.

As hearing gradually deteriorates, the timbre of a sound changes. Sharper sounds become duller, and in the case of the alarm, you may hear it, but it may sound more muted and the brain may not be able to recognise that it is an alarm being heard.

Another problem with hearing loss is the loss of perception of volume. You may be crossing the road and a car might sound its horn if you suddenly encroach into its path. But if you cannot hear that the volume is loud, you may perceive it to be from a car far away and may not realise you are in danger.

The loss of the hairs in the inner ear is a cause of deafness in humans, particularly those for whom hearing loss is genetic. Humans suffering from hereditary hearing loss lose the hairs of the inner ear, which result in the difficulties mentioned above. But there is hope. In a research experiment, scientists successfully delayed the loss of the hairs in the inner ear for mice using a technique that edited away the genetic mutation that causes the loss of the hairs in the cochlea.

Mice were bred with the faulty gene that caused hearing loss. But using a technology known as Crispr, the faulty gene was replaced with a healthy normal one. After about eight weeks, the hairs in the inner ears of mice with genetic predisposition to hearing loss flourished, compared to similar mice which had not been treated. The genetic editing technique had removed the faulty gene which caused hearing loss. The treated mice were assessed for responsiveness to stimuli and showed positive gains.

We could be optimistic about the results but it is important to stress the need to be cautious.

Firstly, the research was conducted on mice and not humans. It is important to state that certain experiments that have been successful in animals have not necessarily had similar success when tried on humans.

Secondly, while the benefits in mice were seen in eight weeks, it may take longer in humans, if at all successful.

Thirdly, we should remember that the experiment worked for the mice which had the genetic mutation that would eventually cause deafness. In other words, they had their hearing at birth but were susceptible to losing it. The technique prevented degeneration in hearing in mice but would not help mice that were deaf at birth from gaining hearing they never had.

Every research carries ethical issues and this one was no different. Firstly, one ethical issue is the recurring one of whether animals should ever be used for research. Should mice be bred for the purposes of research? Are all the mice used? Are they accounted for? Is there someone from Health and Safety going around with a clipboard accounting for the mice? And what happens to the mice when the research has ceased? Are they put down, or released into the ecosystem? “Don’t be silly,” I hear you say, “it’s only mice.” That’s the problem. The devaluation of life, despite the fact that it belongs to another, is what eventually leads to a disregard for other life and human life in general. Would research scientists, in the quest for answers, eventually take to conducting research on beggars, those who sleep rough, or criminals? Would they experiment on orphans or unwanted babies?

The second, when it comes to genetics, is whether genetic experimentation furthers good or promotes misuse. The answer, I suppose, is that the knowledge empowers, but one cannot govern its control. The knowledge that genetic mutation can be edited is good news, perhaps, because it means we can genetically alter, perhaps, disabilities or life-threatening diseases from the onset by removing them. But this, on the other hand, may promote the rise of designer babies, where mothers genetically select features such as blue eyes for their unborn child to enhance their features from birth, and this would promote misuse in the medical community.

Would the use of what is probably best termed genetic surgery be more prominent in the future? One can only suppose so. Once procedures have become more widespread it is certain to conclude that more of such surgeons will become available, to cater for the rich and famous. It may be possible to delay the aging process by genetic surgery, perhaps by removing the gene that causes skin to age, instead of using botox and other external surgical procedures.

Would such genetic surgery ever be available on the NHS? For example, if the cancer gene were identified and could be genetically snipped off, would patients request this instead of medical tablets and other external surgical processes? One way of looking at it is that the NHS is so cash-strapped that under QALY rules, where the cost of a procedure is weighed against the number of quality life years it adds, the cost of genetic surgery would only be limited to more serious illnesses, and certainly not for those down the rung. But perhaps for younger individuals suffering from serious illnesses, such as depression, the cost of a surgical procedure may far outweigh a lifetime’s cost of medication of anti-depressant, anti-psychotics or antibiotics. If you could pinpoint a gene that causes a specific pain response, you might alter it to the point you may not need aspirin, too much of which causes bleeds. And if you could genetically locate what causes dementia in another person, would you not be considered unethical if you let the gene remain, thereby denying others the chance to live a quality life in their latter years?

Genetic editing may be a new technique for the moment but if there is sufficient investment into infrastructure and the corpus of genetic surgery information widens, don’t be surprised if we start seeing more of that in the next century. The cost of genetic editing may outweigh the cost of lifelong medication and side effects, and may prove to be not just more sustainable for the environment but more agreeable to the limited NHS budget.

Most of us won’t be around by then, of course. That is unless we’ve managed to remove the sickness and death genes.

Migraines could be a headache of the past

Is there hope for the many millions of migraine sufferers in the United Kingdom and around the world? Researchers at King’s College Hospital certainly believe that this is the case. While they are cautious about the findings of their latest research, the results certainly are one that point towards optimism for migraine sufferers.

It is estimated that the number of migraine attacks everyday in the UK number over 190,000. This figure was estimated by the Migraine Trust, and it was probably obtained by taking a sample size of the population, taking into account the number of migraine attacks experienced within that group and then multiplying it by the general population in the United Kingdom. This of course means two things: firstly, the figure was proposed by a group that has an interest in promoting awareness about migraines and is hence slightly biased, probably over-estimated. Secondly, bearing in mind that the UK population is over 66 million, and it is unlikely that the Trust surveyed 1 million people – or even anywhere near that – any differences could have been amplified by over 66 times.

What is the difference between a migraine and a normal headache? A migraine is a headache which happens frequently. Migraines themselves are classed as two types. Headaches which happen more than 15 days a month are known as chronic migraine, while episodic migraine is a term used to describe headaches which happen less than fifteen times a month.

The research uncovered that a chemical in the brain was involved both in the feeling of pain and sensitivity to sound and light. This chemical is known as calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP. If CGRP is neutralised, or if part of a brain cell which it interacts with is blocked, then pain receptors are dulled and migraines are reduced.

There are currently four drug companies in the race to develop a CGRP neutraliser.

Race is an accurate term, for the company that develops and trials the drug successfully may win the patent for developing and marketing the drug over twenty years. Drug companies or pharmaceuticals are normally granted that period to reward them for the time and cost invested into research.

One such company, Novartis, trialled an antibody, erenumab on episodic migraine sufferers. Those who took part in the trial suffered migraines on an average of eight days a month.

955 patients took part in the trial and half of those who received injections of erenumab successfully halved their number of migraine days per month. 27% of patients also reduced their number of migraine days without treatment. The results suggest that the drug was successful, particularly as it worked for over 450 people, and that if it were used for those with chronic migraine it might be equally successful. Even if the same percentage were maintained (50% vs 27%), the number of working days saved by migraine prevention could have significant savings for the economy.
Another pharmaceuticals company, Teva, produced another antibody, fremanezumab, and trialed it on 1130 patients. Unlike Novartis’s trials, the participants in Teva’s were those with chronic migraine, with over 15 or more attacks each month. In the Teva trial, 41% of patients reportedly halved the number of days that they suffered migraine attacks. 18% reported the same effect, so the confidence interval in the trial is pretty high and suggests a high degree of positive use.

The study is very important and useful because of the understanding it offers in treating migraine, and the medical products can reduce the frequency and severity of headaches. It makes for fewer days lost to the disease and more positive, functioning people.

Besides CGRP antibodies, there are other current treatments for migraine such as epilepsy and heart disease pills. Even botox is sometimes used. However, all three come with side-effects and are not necessarily the best for everyone.

The hope is that CGRP antibodies, which are traditionally more expensive to manufacture, will in the long term be available at a more affordable cost, and would benefit those who currently get no benefit from existing therapies.

If the estimation that one in seven people live with regular migraine is accurate, migraine reduction could have significant life-improvement effects for humans. Chronic migraine is in the top seven disabling conditions and improvements in understanding it and how to manage it would not only improve the quality of life for those who suffer with it, but also in reducing the number of work days lost for the economy. But the benefits do not just remain with migraine sufferers. Having to live with chronic disabling conditions often leads to other symptoms such as depression. Who knows? Perhaps CGRP antibodies may even negate the effect of depression, resulting in a secondary effect. It may be possible that those who suffer from migraine alongside depression may even not require treatment for the latter if the CGRP antibodies prove to be effective.
Can you imagine a world without anti-depressants? At the moment millions live on some pain-relief medication of some sort. It would be great if they could be phased out. Although it might not be so great for the economy!

Should we be excited about the results? Well, yes. The combined large sample size of both studies, of over 2000 migraine sufferers showed that there was some weight behind the study compared to if – for example – it had been done only on one hundred participants. Secondly, while the research was undertaken by pharmaceutical companies, the outcome was actionable, meaning that it produced a result that was useful, rather than one that merely formed the prelude to a more extensive study. In previous posts I demonstrated how some – such as the coffee umbrella review – did not produce any significantly useful outcome. But we know from this particular research that it may work to neutralise either CGRP, or lessen its interaction with the particular brain cells in order to lower the effect of migraine.

Did the media have a field day with this? Unsurprisingly, no. You see, good research does not lend itself to sensationalist headlines.

Why mental health problems will never go away

Many people will experience mental health difficulties at some point in their lives. As people go through life the demands on them increase, and over a prolonged period these can cause difficulty and ill health. These problems can manifest themselves both in mental and physical ways.

What kind of demands do people experience? One of these can be work-related. People may experience  stresses of looking for work, having to work in jobs which do not test their skills, or be involved in occupations  which require skills that are seemingly difficult to develop. Another common theme with adults that causes stress is having to work in a job which increasingly demands more of them, but does not remunerate them accordingly. In other words, they have to work more for less, and have to accept the gradual lowering of work conditions, but are unable to change jobs because they have already invested so much in it in terms of working years, but cannot leave and start afresh because the demands of a mortgage to pay off and a young family to provide for means they cannot start on a lower rung in a new occupation. Over a prolonged period, this can cause severe unhappiness.

Is it surprising that suicide affects men in their thirties and forties? This is a period for a man where work demands more, the mortgage needs paying, and the family demands more of his time and energy. It is unsurprising that having spent long periods in this sort of daily struggle, that men develop mental health problems which lead some to attempt suicide. But mental health does not just affect men. Among some of the this some women have to deal with are the struggles of bringing up children, the work life balance, the unfulfilled feel of not utilising their skills, and feeling isolated.

One of the ways ill health develops mentally is when people spend too long being pushed too hard for too long. Put under these kind of demands, the body shuts down as a self preservation measure. But the demands on the person don’t just go away. You may want a break from work. But this may not be possible or practical. In fact, the lack of an escape when you are aware you need one may be a greater trigger of mental illness, because it increases the feeling of being trapped.

It is little wonder that when people go through periods of mental ill health, an enforced period of short-term rest will allow them to reset their bearings to be able to continue at work, or return to work with some level of appropriate support. But this is only temporary.

With mental ill health problems, lifestyle adjustments need to be made for sufficient recovery.

Under the Equality Act (2010), your employer has a legal duty to make “reasonable adjustments” to your work.

Mental ill health sufferers could ask about working flexibly, job sharing, or a quiet room, a government report suggests.

The practicality of this however means more cost to the employer in having to make adjustments to accommodate the employee, and unless the employee is a valued one, whom the employer would like to keep, often the case is that they will be gradually phased out of the organisation.

In fact, when an employee attains a certain level of experience within an organisation, employers often ask more of them because they know these employees are locked in to their jobs, and have to accept these grudgingly, or risk losing their jobs, which they cannot do if they have dependents and financial commitments.
And you know the irony of it? The mental ill health sufferer already knows that. Which is why they don’t speak out for help in the first place.

If these employees complain, employers simply replace them with younger employees, who cost less, and who are willing to take on more responsibilities just to have a job. Any responsibilities the redundant employee had simply get divided up between his leftover colleagues, who are in turn asked to take on more responsibilities. They are next in line in the mental health illness queue.

And what if you are self employed? And have to work to support yourself and your dependents? The demands of the day to day are huge and don’t seem to go away.

You can see why mental health is  perceived a ticking time bomb. Organisations are not going to change to accommodate their employees because of cost, but keep pressing them to increase productivity without pay, knowing that they cannot say no, and when all the life and juice has been squeezed out of them, they can be chucked away and replaced with the next dispensable employee.

A ticking time bomb.

An overview of mental health

Mental illness continues to be one of the most misunderstood, mythologised and controversial of issues. Described for as long as human beings have been able to record thoughts and behaviours, it is at once a medical, social and at times political issue. It can lead to detention against one’s will and has its very own Act of Parliament, and yet we really know very little about it.

Societies through the ages have responded to this mystery by the locking up of people whose sometimes bizarre behaviour was deemed dangerous, unsuitable or just plain scandalous. Only within the relatively recent past have the tall, thick walls of the asylum been dismantled and those who remained institutionalised and hidden allowed out into the community.

Little wonder then that mental health and mental disorder remain misunderstood to most, and frightening to many. Recent reports suggest that stigma is on the decline (Time to Change 2014) but progress has been slow. Despite the best efforts of soap scriptwriters, high-profile celebrities ‘coming clean’ about mental illness, and the work of mental health charities and support groups in demystifying diagnoses such as depression, we still see and hear many examples of discrimination and myth.

Given the sheer ubiquity of mental illness throughout the world, the stigma and mystery is surprising. The most recent national survey confirms the now well-known statistic that just under one in four English adults are experiencing a diagnosable mental disorder at any one time (McManus et al. 2009). Depression is identified by the World Health Organization as the world’s leading cause of years of life lost due to disability (WHO 2009).

Relatively few of those experiencing mental health problems will come to the attention of a GP, let alone a mental health professional. This is especially so in the developing world where initiatives to develop local mental health interventions are gaining considerable ground after generations of cultural stigma and ignorance (WHO 2009). But even in parts of the world where people have ready access to medical help, many suffer alone rather than face the apparent shame of experiencing mental health problems.

Perhaps part of our reluctance to accept mental illness lies with difficulties determining mental health. We are made aware of factors that determine positive mental health. Connecting with people, being active, learning new things, acts of altruism and being aware of oneself (NHS 2014) have been evidenced as ways of promoting our well-being, but mental order remains rather more loosely defined than mental disorder.

So what are the systems used to categorise and define mental illness? In the United Kingdom, mental health professionals often refer to an ICD-10 diagnosis to refer to a patient’s condition. This is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) diagnostic manual, which lists all recognised (by WHO at least) diseases and disorders, including the category ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ (WHO 1992). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (better known as DSM-5) is more often used in the United States and elsewhere in the world (American Psychiatric Association 2013). These two sets of standards are intended to provide global standards for the recognition of mental health problems for both day-to-day clinical practice and clinical researchers, although the tools used by the latter group to measure symptoms often vary from place to place and can interfere with the ‘validity’ of results, or in other words the ability of one set of results to be compared with those from a different research team.

ICD-10 ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ lists 99 different types of mental health problem, each of which is further sub-divided into a variety of more precise diagnoses, ranging from the relatively common and well known (such as depression or schizophrenia) to more obscure diagnoses such as ‘specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills’.

The idea of using classification systems and labels to describe the highly complex vagaries of the human mind often meets with fierce resistance in mental health circles. The ‘medical model’ of psychiatry – diagnosis, prognosis and treatment – is essentially a means of applying the same scientific principles to the study and treatment of the mind as physical medicine applies to diseases of the body. An X-ray of the mind is impossible, a blood test will reveal nothing about how a person feels, and fitting a collection of psychiatric symptoms into a precise diagnostic category does not always yield a consistent result.

In psychiatry, symptoms often overlap with one another. For example, a person with obsessive compulsive disorder may believe that if they do not switch the lights on and off a certain number of times and in a particular order then a disaster will befall them. To most, this would appear a bizarre belief, to the extent that the inexperienced practitioner may label that person as ‘delusional’ or ‘psychotic’. Similarly, a person in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease may often experience many of the ‘textbook’ features of clinical depression, such as low mood, poor motivation and disturbed sleep. In fact, given the tragic and predictable consequences of dementia it is unsurprising that sufferers often require treatment for depression, particularly while they retain the awareness to know that they are suffering from a degenerative condition with little or no improvement likely.

Psychiatry may often be a less-than-precise science, but the various diagnostic terms are commonplace in health and social care and have at least some descriptive power, although it is also important to remember that patients or clients may experience a complex array of feelings, experiences or ‘symptoms’ that may vary widely with the individual over time and from situation to situation.

Defining what is (or what is not) a mental health problem is really a matter of degrees. Nobody could be described as having ‘good’ mental health every minute of every day. Any football supporter will report the highs and lows encountered on an average Saturday afternoon, and can easily remember the euphoria of an important win or the despondency felt when their team is thrashed six-nil on a cold, wet Tuesday evening. But this could hardly be described as a ‘mental health problem’, and for all but the most ardent supporters their mood will have lifted within a short space of time.

However, the same person faced with redundancy, illness or the loss of a close family member might encounter something more akin to a ‘problem’. They may experience, for example, anger, low mood, tearfulness, sleep difficulties and loss of appetite. This is a quite normal reaction to stressful life events, although the nature and degree of reaction is of course dependent on a number of factors, such as the individual’s personality, the circumstances of the loss and the support available from those around them at the time. In most circumstances the bereaved person will recover after a period of time and will return to a normal way of life without the need for medical intervention of any kind. On the other hand, many people will experience mental health problems serious enough to warrant a visit to their GP.

The majority of people with mental health problems are successfully assessed and treated by GPs and other primary care professionals, such as counsellors. The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme is a now well-established approach to treating mental health problems in the community. GPs can make an IAPT referral for depressed and/or anxious patients who have debilitating mental health issues but who don’t require more specialised input from a psychiatrist or community mental health nurse. Most people receiving help for psychological problems will normally be able to carry on a reasonably normal lifestyle either during treatment or following a period of recovery. A small proportion of more severe mental health issues will necessitate referral to a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT), with a smaller still group of patients needing in-patient admission or detention under the Mental Health Act.

Mental health is a continuum at the far end of which lies what professionals refer to as severe and enduring mental illness. This is a poorly defined category, but can be said to include those who suffer from severely debilitating disorders that drastically reduce their quality of life and that may necessitate long-term support from family, carers, community care providers, supported housing agencies and charities. The severe and enduring mentally ill will usually have diagnoses of severe depression or psychotic illness, and will in most cases have some degree of contact with mental health professionals.

Wort on earth: St John’s wort and its use as an anti-depressant

St John’s wort, also known as Hypericum perforatum, has for years been used as a treatment for nerves. Its use dates back to over hundreds of years. In medieval times, its reputation as a remedy for wounds, as well as sores, burns, bruises and nerve pains, gave it its popularity. Evil spirits were also thought to be repelled by it, and the insane would often drink an infusion of St John’s wort in an attempt to ward off madness. In modern times, St John’s wort has been used to manage seasonal affective disorder (SAD), improve sleep quality and improve mood.

St John’s wort is a tall wild plant and the flowers are yellow. It is often found growing wild in many parts of the world including Europe, Asia and the US, and is named after St John the Baptist as the traditional collection day was on St John’s Day, June 24th.

It is sometimes used by people with mild to moderate depression as an alternative to anti-depressants. It is in this group that scientists believe the best effects of St John’s wort are best demonstrated. We have seen in earlier posts that less severe depression, where sufferers are not in immediate danger, may not require anti-depressants or other medication and if they are not necessary, it is best not to use them as they can lead to addiction or have other side effects.

St John’s wort has been one of the most well-researched herbal medications. While the results of its use are not necessarily consistent, studies have demonstrated that if it is taken in the right form and with the correct dosage, it can have effective results on sufferers with mild to moderate depression. Scientists believe that it works in a similar way to SSRI drugs. SSRI (“selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor”) drugs lift the levels of certain brain chemicals, such as serotonin, dopamine and noradrenalin, and in doing so make the user feel more positive. Drugs such as Prozac have the same effect. For mild to moderate depression sufferers this sort of herbal treatment is usually enough.

While St John’s wort is available as a traditional medicine, it is classed under “herbal” alternatives which are not necessarily regulated by law. This means that different variants are available, all with different consistencies. If you are considering this as a non-medical alternative, and are slightly puzzled by the variants on offer, it is best to start off with one that has been certified as a Traditional Herbal Remedy, or THR. The symbol for this is a leaf in a black square on the label, and is a useful starting point in guaranteeing the safety and purity of the product.
Effective products will contain a concentration of the active ingredient, hypericin, of about 0.3%. And a good guideline is a product that has a dose of around 300 – 900 mg of hypericin. Start with the median dosage of around 600mg and then adjust it according to how you feel.

It must be emphasised that the usage of St John’s wort has to be considered with the same caution of any prescription SSRI anti-depressants that it is meant to substitute. This means you should use it carefully, and not think that just because it is a natural herbal remedy, taking it – either within the guidelines or above the recommended threshold – will not do you any harm. The use of St John’s wort can cause interference with other drugs and lead to complications. St John’s wort may interfere with statins, blood thinners and also things like oral contraceptives like the pill. Possible side effects could also include nausea, skin allergies and hypersensitivity to sunlight. St John’s wort should also not be taken with drugs prescribed for depression, as that would result in an overdose of hypericin. If you are considering using it as a herbal substitute to reduce mild or moderate depression, it would be a good idea to check with your GP, or consult any other medical practictioner so you have some idea of the associated risks.

St John’s wort, in Germany, is classed as a prescription drug but outside of Germany, it can be readily bought at pharmacists without the need for a prescription. Is it more advantageous to the average person that it is classed as a herbal remedy?

On the face of it, yes – being classed as a herbal remedy means that depression sufferers may try it first before going to their GP. If the remedy works for them, this means that they are more likely to avoid addiction to anti-depressants, and the side effects of the latter. They are also more likely to avoid requiring long-term medication due to the build-up of anti-depressant resistance. Furthermore, users of St John’s wort need not visit their GP to obtain a prescription, so there is a time saving for the GPs and more appointments can be made available.

However, one may argue that its listing as an alternative health herbal remedy only complicates matters. St John’s wort is found in the form of tablets, teas and tincture. Herbal remedies, like vitamins, cannot make the claim that they can cure a certain illness, but manufacturers can claim they are good for certain purposes. Therefore, St John’s wort can be said to “be good for mild depression”, but not cure it. But this is not the only disclaimer found in the text in St John’s wort products. In trying to absolve itself of litigious claims, it is not uncommon to see on the labelling that St John’s wort should not be taken if:

  • you are under 18 years of age
  • you are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • you are allergic to any of the ingredients
  • you are lactose intolerant
  • your skin is exceptionally sensitive to sunlight (photosensitive)
  • you are having light treatment (phototherapy) for any condition
  • you are suffering from depression

The printed label may also advise you that it may also interfere with medicines such as:

  • fentanyl, propofol, sevoflurane, and midazolam (anaesthetics/pre-operative medicines)
  • tramadol (an analgesic)
  • erythromycin, clarithromycin and telithromycin (antibiotics)
  • itraconazole and voriconazole (antifungals)
  • artemether and lumefantrine (antimalarials)
  • rasagiline (an anti-Parkinson’s medicine)
  • aripiprazole (an antipsychotic medicine)
  • buspirone (an anxiolytic)
  • aprepitant (used to treat post-operative vomiting)
  • butobarbital and phenobarbital (barbiturates)
  • methyl phenidate (a central nervous system or CNS stimulant)
  • exemestane (a hormone antagonist)
  • eplerenone (a diuretic)
  • lansoprazole and omeprazole (proton pump inhibitors)
  • theophylline (a bronchodilator)
  • gliclazide (an antidiabetic medicine)

A longer, more detailed list may advise that St John’s wort should not be used for:

  • All medicines for depression/anxiety – Amitriptyline, clomipramine, moclobemide, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, duloxetine, venlafaxine
  • All hormonal replacement therapy treatments – HRT tablets, patches and gels
  • All medicines for thinning the blood (anticoagulants) – Warfarin, acenocoumarol
  • All medicines for epilepsy – Carbamazepine, phenobarbitone, phenytoin, primidone, sodium valproate
  • All immunosuppressant medicines – Ciclosporin, tacrolimus
  • All medicines for HIV infections – Amprenavir, atazanavir, darunavir, fosamprenavir, indinavir, lopinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, efavirenz, nevirapine, delavirdine
  • Cholesterol medicines such as Simvastatin, atorvastatin
  • Cancer medicines such as Irinotecan, dasatinib, erlotinib, imatinib, sorafenib, sunitinib, etoposide, mitotane
  • Heart disease medicines- Digoxin, ivabradine, amiodarone
  • Migraine treatments – Almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, zolmitriptan
  • High blood pressure treatments – Amlodipine, nifedipine, felodipine, verapamil
  • A medicine for regulating mood – Lithium
  • A thyroid hormone – Thyroxine

The list of precautions and possible medication conflict is so long, that one may find sufferers who are actually already on medication may decide against switching or downgrading to St John’s wort.

The dosing and safety of St John’s Wort has – in addition – not been studied in children/ adolescents below 18 years and hence the safety of use is not established.