An international study of more than 17,000 people with schizophrenia has found striking similarities in symptoms, medication, employment and sexual problems, despite the fact that it covered a diverse range of patients and healthcare systems in 37 different countries.
The research, published in the November issue of International Journal of Comparative Psychology (IJCP), provides a valuable international profile of the mental health disorder, which is estimated to affect as many as one in every 250 people at some point in their lives. Schizophrenia is the fifth leading cause of years lost through disability in men and the sixth leading cause in women.
"The Worldwide-Schizophrenia Outpatient Health Outcomes study (W-SOHO) was a three-year observational study designed to assess costs and outcomes in outpatients using antipsychotics" says lead author Dr Jamie Karagianis from Eli Lilly Canada Inc.
"It has enabled us to build up a valuable international picture of the demographics and treatment of schizophrenia across ten European countries and 27 countries from East Asia, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East.
Health & Wellness
Here's what we know with some degree of certainty about the H1N1 virus in Ukraine right now: nearly 300 people have died from the viral strain, and over 65,000 people have been hospitalized (the actual numbers are increasing by the hour). The virus appears to be either a highly aggressive mutation of the globally-circulating H1N1 strain, or a combination of three different influenza strains now circulating in Ukraine. Some observers suspect this new "super flu" might be labeled viral hemorrhagic pneumonia (meaning it destroys lung tissue until your lungs bleed so much that you drown in your own fluid), but that has not been confirmed by any official sources we're aware of.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has issued emergency quarantine orders for nine of the country's regions and ordered the deployment of mobile military hospitals. He announced that the nation had been simultaneously hit with two different seasonal flu strains plus H1N1 -- and then hinted that all three might have recombined into the deadly new Ukrainian super flu.
In his own words, as reported by Daily Mail, "Unlike similar epidemics in other countries, three causes of serious viral infections came together simultaneously in Ukraine: two seasonal flus and the Californian flu. Virologists conclude that this combination of infections may produce an even more aggressive new virus as a result of mutation."
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has issued emergency quarantine orders for nine of the country's regions and ordered the deployment of mobile military hospitals. He announced that the nation had been simultaneously hit with two different seasonal flu strains plus H1N1 -- and then hinted that all three might have recombined into the deadly new Ukrainian super flu.
In his own words, as reported by Daily Mail, "Unlike similar epidemics in other countries, three causes of serious viral infections came together simultaneously in Ukraine: two seasonal flus and the Californian flu. Virologists conclude that this combination of infections may produce an even more aggressive new virus as a result of mutation."
When Roger Benimoff arrived at the psychiatric building of the Coatesville, Pennsylvania veterans' hospital, he was greeted by a message carved into a nearby tree stump: "Welcome Home." It was a reminder that things had not turned out as he had expected.
In Faith Under Fire, a memoir about Benimoff's life as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Benimoff and co-author Eve Conant describe his return from Iraq to his family in Colorado and subsequent assignment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He retreated deep into himself, spending hours on the computer and racking up ten thousand dollars in debt on eBay. Above all, he was angry and jittery, scared even of his young sons, and barely able to make it through the day. He was eventually admitted to Coatesville's "Psych Ward." For a while the lock-down facility was his home. He wondered where God was in all of this, and was not alone in that bewilderment and pain.
In Faith Under Fire, a memoir about Benimoff's life as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Benimoff and co-author Eve Conant describe his return from Iraq to his family in Colorado and subsequent assignment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He retreated deep into himself, spending hours on the computer and racking up ten thousand dollars in debt on eBay. Above all, he was angry and jittery, scared even of his young sons, and barely able to make it through the day. He was eventually admitted to Coatesville's "Psych Ward." For a while the lock-down facility was his home. He wondered where God was in all of this, and was not alone in that bewilderment and pain.
Doctors discovered crystals in Lillie's eyes, and diagnosed her with the disease in 2006, when she was just shy of her second birthday.
The future does not look positive for Lille and others like her. The disease can be diagnosed around 2-years-old as in Lillie's case and often children die at age 9 from end-stage kidney failure. The disorder causes an excess of the chemical cystine to form in her system, which causes her cells to solidify. It is estimated that only approximately 2,000 people around the world suffer from it.
© Alamy
Today's 60-year-olds may face more health problems than previous generations despite a lifetime of free healthcare
Today's 60-year-olds may face more health problems than previous generations despite a lifetime of free healthcare
But the post-war 'baby boomers' are now paying the price.
Today's 60-year-olds are the first modern generation to be less healthy than their immediate predecessors.
Despite improvements in medicine and standards of living, they are more likely to be blighted by problems from aching knees and creaking hips to diabetes, asthma and strokes.
Even simple tasks such as getting in and out of bed or climbing ten steps without a rest prove a challenge.
According to a leading expert, severe cases of anorexia may be the result of undetected autism in women.
Professor Christopher Gillberg, of the University of Strathclyde, says that autism, characterised by defects in communication and social interaction, also makes many anorexic patients unresponsive to traditional treatments and may be responsible for anorexia's low recovery rates.
Professor Gillberg believes that although autism is thought to be predominately a male problem, affecting up to four times more boys than girls, the disorder has been overlooked in women because their autistic traits present themselves differently.
For example an obsession with counting calories may be an outward sign of autism.
Professor Christopher Gillberg, of the University of Strathclyde, says that autism, characterised by defects in communication and social interaction, also makes many anorexic patients unresponsive to traditional treatments and may be responsible for anorexia's low recovery rates.
Professor Gillberg believes that although autism is thought to be predominately a male problem, affecting up to four times more boys than girls, the disorder has been overlooked in women because their autistic traits present themselves differently.
For example an obsession with counting calories may be an outward sign of autism.
The American Medical Association (AMA) this week called for a scientific review of cannabis' federal status as a Schedule I prohibited substance.
On Tuesday, the AMA's House of Delegates resolved, "[The] AMA urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines."
The AMA's resolution amends the organization's previously held position that "marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act" of the United States.
Under federal law, all Schedule I classified substances are defined as possessing "no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States." Congress classified marijuana, and all of the plants naturally occurring compounds (known as cannabinoids) as a Schedule I substance upon passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970.
On Tuesday, the AMA's House of Delegates resolved, "[The] AMA urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines."
The AMA's resolution amends the organization's previously held position that "marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act" of the United States.
Under federal law, all Schedule I classified substances are defined as possessing "no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States." Congress classified marijuana, and all of the plants naturally occurring compounds (known as cannabinoids) as a Schedule I substance upon passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970.
© Rex
Vital tips: A few additions to your diet could help fend off the wear and tear of the passing years.
Vital tips: A few additions to your diet could help fend off the wear and tear of the passing years.
MEMORY: OLIVE OIL
Using olive oil as much as possible could preserve your memory and your heart. Oleocanthal, a compound in olive oil, has been found to slow down changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer's. Researchers believe it will become a key ingredient in medicines designed to combat the disease.
Alzheimer's disease is thought to occur when a protein called ADDL attacks brain cells. Scientists at the University of Philadelphia discovered that oleocanthal in olive oil changes ADDL in a way that makes it harmless.
Oleocanthal, a key component of the Mediterranean diet, is already known to be an anti-inflammatory and is thought to protect against heart disease by raising levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol while lowering levels of damaging LDL cholesterol.
TIP: Oleocanthal gives olive oil its peppery taste and is highest in virgin oils. Replace regular cooking oil with good-quality olive oil. Use an olive oil-based spread rather than butter or margarine.
A study has found that although people lose weight on trendy low-carbohydrate diets, they also tend to become worse-tempered than those on low-fat diets.
Low-fat diets work equally well but improve the dieters' frame of mind.
CSIRO researchers placed 106 overweight people on diets for 12 months, randomly splitting the group between low-fat and low-carb, The Courier-Mail reports.
Researcher Grant Brinkworth and colleagues found a low-calorie, low-fat diet more beneficial to dieters' moods than low-carb with the same number of calories.
Dr Brinkworth said changes in body weight, mood, well-being and cognitive functioning - thinking, learning and memory skills - were assessed periodically during and after the diets.
"Potential explanations include the social difficulty of adhering to a low-carbohydrate plan, which is counter to the typical western diet full of pasta and bread; the prescribed, structured nature of the diet; or effects of protein and fat intake on brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to psychological functioning," Dr Brinkworth said.
Low-fat diets work equally well but improve the dieters' frame of mind.
CSIRO researchers placed 106 overweight people on diets for 12 months, randomly splitting the group between low-fat and low-carb, The Courier-Mail reports.
Researcher Grant Brinkworth and colleagues found a low-calorie, low-fat diet more beneficial to dieters' moods than low-carb with the same number of calories.
Dr Brinkworth said changes in body weight, mood, well-being and cognitive functioning - thinking, learning and memory skills - were assessed periodically during and after the diets.
"Potential explanations include the social difficulty of adhering to a low-carbohydrate plan, which is counter to the typical western diet full of pasta and bread; the prescribed, structured nature of the diet; or effects of protein and fat intake on brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to psychological functioning," Dr Brinkworth said.
Mothers will be urged to ditch the baby bottle under a controversial and potentially divisive five-year plan to boost breast milk feeding rates.
The government-backed pro-breast-milk message will argue that babies fed on breast milk for longer may reduce risks of obesity and chronic disease.
State and federal health ministers today will endorse the plan and consider establishing a national breast milk bank.
The move will be among a raft of measures designed to monitor and persuade Australians to consider how their lifestyles affect public spending.
It will be the latest in a series of government attempts to influence mothers' choices on feeding.
The government-backed pro-breast-milk message will argue that babies fed on breast milk for longer may reduce risks of obesity and chronic disease.
State and federal health ministers today will endorse the plan and consider establishing a national breast milk bank.
The move will be among a raft of measures designed to monitor and persuade Australians to consider how their lifestyles affect public spending.
It will be the latest in a series of government attempts to influence mothers' choices on feeding.
