Families of drug addicts are to be given a drug that can help reverse the affects of an overdose as part of a new trial, reports the Guardian.

In a quarter of over dose cases, a family member is present, but they are left feeling helpless and unable to help the addict, apart from calling an ambulance, and hoping that it arrives in time. It’s hoped it will save hundreds of lives.

The drug, naxolone, is being trialled over 16 different areas by 950 families, with plans to then roll it out to a quarter of a million people. It works by reviving people from unconsciousness quickly, and is administered by injecting it into muscle. The families will be given a kit containing the drug and full training on how to use it.

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New patterns in cocaine use could put younger users at even more risk, reports the Guardian.

A new trend amongst cocaine users of mixing the drug in with other substances to allow them to drink for longer is causing health problems for 20 to 30 year olds. However, it is resulting in many users being admitted to hospital with liver and heart problems due to the substances the cocaine is being cut with.

The average purity of cocaine has fallen dramatically over the last 25 years, from 63% in 1984 to 45% in 2005 and 26% towards the end of 2007, but users were not aware of this, and could potentially need to use more of the drug in order to get the same high.

New figures show that over the last year 730,000 people in England and Wales have taken cocaine.

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Despite another crackdown on illegal drugs, it’s feared that drug manufacturers and dealers are already one step ahead, reports The Independent.

BZP, a worming treatment for cattle, but with effects similar to ecstasy is due to be classified as a Class C drug, however, manufacturers have already begun making a different drug, with similar effects to cocaine, that will be entirely legal.

Mephedrone has a very cheap street value, and is sometimes marketed as plant food, is another such ‘legal high’, and is similar to amphetamines. Several countries have already banned it, but many believe the UK is behind on this issue.

The UK is slow and behind the times in banning BZP,” said Dr John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George’s University of London, who is also the director of Tic Tac Communications, a drug analysis body that studies recreational drugs. “We can’t rely on the Home Office to play catch up when it comes to these drugs. We need a sensible debate in the media about their potential risks.”

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Despite those suffering with depression now being offered many more options for treatment, the cost of antidepressants in Scotland has soared to £40million, reports The Times.

3.9 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued last year, and there was an increase across every area in Scotland. The Western Isles saw the biggest increase with a rise of 7.7%. Milton in Glasgow is ‘the most depressed’ area, with antidepressants being prescribed to one in five residents.

The opposition parties in Scotland have highlighted this as a failure for the current government, who pledged to try and reduce the use of antidepressants. They are calling for more funding for alternative methods of treatment, such as counselling, to try and combat the problem, as well as tackling the causes of depression, such as unemployment and poverty.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “As a first step we have set a target to reduce the growth in prescribing of antidepressants to zero by 2010.Latest figures show an 11% increase in the numbers of mental health staff in the past year, which will result in improved access to talking therapies in NHS Scotland.”

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Trials for a new Alzheimer’s drug have proved successful at reversing the illness, reports the BBC today.

The trials done on mice in the US showed that the gene which affects the brain’s memory could be boosted to make it work more effectively.

The drugs - called HDAC inhibitors - can help with long term memory loss, one of the main symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and make it easier to learn new things. It functions by reshaping the DNA scaffolding of the brain.

However, researchers say that it could be up to a decade before the treatment could be used to treat humans.

Rebecca Wood, from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: This is promising research which improves our understanding of memory loss in Alzheimer’s.We need to do more research to investigate whether developing treatments that control this gene could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.”

Read more about the trial here…

The results of a 12 year study has shown that painkillers cannot prevent developing Alzheimers. It was previously thought that the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, may help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimers, as it is caused by inflammation, reports the BBC.

The study was carried out by the University of Washington and published in the journal Neurology. Over 2,700 people with average age of 75 were monitored, and the results showed that the risk of developing dementia was 66% higher in those that had been using NSAIDs.

Rebecca Wood, of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: “Work in this area is complicated; many factors can interfere with the findings. We know that inflammation is involved in Alzheimer’s - so investigating the effects of anti-inflammatory drugs makes sense.”

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A new advertising campaign launched this week aims to highlight the links between taking cannabis and mental health problems, reports The Independent.

Cannabis was re-classified last month to a Class B drug, and the £2.2 million campaign is targeting 11-18 year- olds, through the ‘Talk to Frank’ initiative.

Along with the re-classification are new penalties for anyone caught in possession of the drug. A third offence can now lead to prosecution.

The campaign was sparked my recent fears that strains of cannabis are getting stronger, and people are using cannabis at a younger age, putting them at a higher risk of mental health problems.

Frank spokesperson Chris Hudson said: “Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in Britain and ‘binge smoking’ to achieve maximum effect may be putting peoples’ mental health in serious danger. There is evidence of a link between cannabis and mental health problems such as schizophrenia, and those who first use it at an early age may be more at risk.”

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According to DrugScope, there has been a rise in the number of young people taking the Class C drug ketamine. Ketamine was made illegal three years ago, however an investigation uncovered evidence that people were experimenting with larger amounts of it as the price fell.

The drug has a strong following on the dance scene and is also known as K, Special K and Vitamin K. Evidence suggests more people are now injecting the drug, rather than snorting or swallowing it, in an attempt to experience stronger hallucinations.

Research found that ketamine was on the rise in nine out of twenty areas surveyed and was linked to the deaths of 23 people between 1993 and 2006. DrugScope Chief Executive Martin Barnes said young people underestimated the dangers they took when using the drug; Ketamine’s harms increase considerably at high doses and injecting users risk exposure to blood-borne viruses such as Hepatitis C or HIV.

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According to an article on the BBC News Website, the practice of forcing psychiatric patients to take medication is not backed by evidence and very few investigations have been done into the use of coerced medication, despite it being widespread.

Alison Cobb, a spokeswoman for Mind said “The threat of coerced medication can discourage people from seeking treatment when they need it and may damage the relationship between patients and mental heath professionals … We urgently need to see more studies on this issue, particularly exploring the use of alternative treatments and how to include service users fully in making decisions about treatments”.

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According to The National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome (NAPS), the UK charity for people with PMT, there’s been a rise in the number of young women being told they’ve got depression when their symptoms are actually linked to their periods and don’t last all month. Those being misdiagnosed as clinically depressed may be prescribed anti-depressants by their GP, which can be strong and addictive.

Jackie Howe, who runs the charity, admitted that it can be hard for women to recognise that their symptoms are linked to their menstrual cycle, and women’s health spokesperson Sarah Jarvis agreed that a diagnosis can be difficult, saying: “The psychological symptoms of PMT and depression are very similar and so yes there can be a temptation to offer them anti-depressant drugs, because they can work for both”.

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According to a recent article in the Guardian, there’s proof that GlaxoSmithKline’s bestselling antidepressant (Seroxat) could make depressed children feel suicidal. Apparently documents recorded that not only did Seroxat make some children feel suicidal, but it worked no better than a placebo.

The documents detailing this research were actually handed over to officials of the drug regulatory body in 2003, and there has been a four year criminal investigation into the findings. By 2003, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority estimates that between 7,000 and 8,000 children were taking the drug.

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According to an article in the Guardian, the Government has released details of its £170m plan to train 3,600 more psychological therapists in response to the study questioning the use of anti-depressants. According to the Department of Health, about 900,000 more people will be treated for depression and anxiety under the plan, and an estimated 450,000 of these will be cured.

Mental Health Groups accept that doctors have had little choice other than to prescribe anti-depressants due to the shortage of therapists. Alison Cobb, from Mind, said “Nine out of 10 GPs say they’ve been forced to dish out drugs because they don’t have proper access to ‘talking treatments’ such as cognitive behavioural therapy”. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommends that talking therapies should be tried before drugs are prescribed, but with the shortage of therapists, this is difficult.

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According to findings from a review of clinical trials, anti-depressants “worked no better than a dummy pill for mildly depressed patients and for most people suffering severe depression”. Researchers looked at four commonly-prescribed anti-depressants in the UK including fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Efexor) and paroxetine (Seroxat). Professor Kirsch (from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hull) said: “The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking antidepressants is not very great”.

Researchers reported little evidence of benefit when analysing both unpublished and published data from the drug companies. They concluded: “We find that the overall effect of new generation antidepressant medications is below recommended criteria for clinical significance.”

A spokesman for GlaxoSmith Kline (which makes Seroxat said): “The authors have failed to acknowledge the very positive benefits these treatments have provided to patients and their families dealing with depression and their conclusions are at odds with what has been seen in actual clinical practice.”

Dr Hilary Jones (from popular TV programme GMTV) said “The best treatment for depression is always likely to be a combination of drugs and talking therapies.”

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According to recent news a commons committee has expressed that GPs have been over prescribing and not following up the length of time people should be on certain drugs such as tranquilizers. More and more of the British public are taking drugs and turning into a ‘pill-popping nation’ with a tablet for every problem. In actual fact, one reason people are taking tablets is because of the general increase in depression.

Only 42% of people visiting their doctor for depression were offered counselling according to the Mental Health Foundation. If more people were given this option and made more aware of this sort of help, perhaps less people would be prescribed drugs and may not be on anti depressants for a long period of time.

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There is new hope for Alzheimer sufferers today – an article on the BBC has revealed that trials are being carried out in mid Wales to find out if daffodils can be farmed there. What has this got to do with Alzheimer’s? The trials should conclude whether or not the daffodils farmed there produce a compound used to fight Alzheimer’s disease.

The compound is called galantamine and has previously been collected from plants and “has been found to slow down the progress of the disease”. A sixth month trial is currently under way and Professor Trevor Walker, who is heading the research said “The compound that we’re getting from the daffodils will help, if its supplied properly and monitored properly, slow down the development of the disease.”