Posts Tagged ‘people’
Review of evidence for puberty blockers and hormone treatment in youth – New Zealand Doctor Online
What the public may not be aware of, is that it is relatively common for treatments to be offered in health and mental health, where the research evidence is still emerging and/or limited"
Dr Paul Skirrow, clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist, and strategic advisor at the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, comments:
"We would urge the public to interpret the findings of these reviews with some caution - many people will assume that this research suggests that puberty blockers and hormone treatments should never be offered, which would be mistaken.
The authors ultimately conclude that: No conclusions can be drawn [about the effect of puberty blockers]. This research highlights that we currently do not know how effective these treatments are, or who they are most effective with, but there are many reports of benefit from the people who use them and clinicians who provide them. What research we do have, albeit of limited quality at present, appears to suggest there may be benefits overall, however, we do not currently know who specifically is likely to benefit.
With regard to hormone treatments, the authors do conclude that There is suggestive evidence from mainly pre-post studies that hormone treatment may improve psychological health. However, again, they clearly state that robust research with long-term follow-up is needed.
What the public may not be aware of, is that it is relatively common for treatments to be offered in health and mental health, where the research evidence is still emerging and/or limited. The choice for clinicians is frequently whether to offer nothing - which is unlikely to be helpful - or offer something that we agree can be helpful for some people.
"In doing so, we recommend that the person undergoing these treatments gets the best possible information on what we know about their risks and benefits. For this reason, we very much welcome research studies, such as those released today, which help us fully understand what they may be."
Conflicts of interest statement: I'm not aware of any potential conflicts of interest. My role with the NZCCP involves speaking on behalf of the organisation, specifically the executive leadership team. We have approximately 1800 members, who hold a wide range of views, and so my comments may or may not reflect those of individual members. I also hold a senior lecturer position at Otago University, specialising in neuropsychology.
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Review of evidence for puberty blockers and hormone treatment in youth - New Zealand Doctor Online
NICE backs post-stroke genetic testing to identify most suitable treatment options – PMLiVE
Patients in England and Wales who have recently had an ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack could be offered genetic testing to help inform their treatment, following backing from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
The agency has launched a second consultation on recommendations that clinicians should offer CYP2C19 genotype testing when considering treatment with clopidogrel, an anti-platelet therapy currently recommended as a treatment option for patients at risk of a secondary stroke.
Approximately 35,850 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have a non-minor stroke every year.
An estimated 32% of people in the UK have at least one of the highlighted CYP2C19 gene variants, and evidence has suggested that those with these variants have an increased risk of another stroke when taking clopidogrel.
If the genotype test discovers that patients have one of the CYP2C19 gene variants, alternative stroke-prevention treatments would be offered.
Professor Jonathan Benger, chief medical officer at NICE, said: Recommending a genetic test that can offer personalised care to thousands of people who have a stroke each year will be a step forward in ensuring people receive the best possible treatment.
People who are currently taking clopidogrel will not receive retrospective testing and should continue with the treatment until they and their NHS clinician consider it appropriate to stop, NICE outlined.
It added that laboratory-based CYP2C19 genotype testing is its preferred option, followed by the Genedrive CYP2C19 ID Kit point-of-care test and, if neither of the first two options are available, the Genomadix Cube point-of-care test would be used.
The agencys committee has suggested that a phased rollout could be implemented when introducing laboratory-based testing, with testing set to initially be offered to people with a higher risk of stroke recurrence.
Juliet Bouverie, from the Stroke Association, said: Stroke devastates lives and leaves people with life-long disability.
We know that many stroke survivors spend the rest of their lives fearing another stroke, so its great to see that more people could be given appropriate help to significantly cut their risk of recurrent stroke.
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NICE backs post-stroke genetic testing to identify most suitable treatment options - PMLiVE