WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health

WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental HealthFacing the Challenges, Building Solutions
Helsinki, Finland, 12–15 January 2005
Questions and answers, some facts and figures
What is the Helsinki Conference?
It is the first ministerial conference on mental health to be held by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Ministers and other high-level decision-makers from the 52 Member States of the WHO European Region are invited to meet in Helsinki, Finland, from 12 to 15 January 2005 to make decisions about future policies on mental health across the Region. The delegations will also include medical and technical experts, and some user-group representatives. Some observers may also be invited to attend. Both plenary and parallel sessions will be open to the press.
What will come out of it?
Ministers will agree on an action plan and declaration, which will have been negotiated with all Member States. These are likely to drive policy on mental health in the WHO European Region for at least the next five years.

Schizophrenia Research Forum: Home

Schizophrenia Research Forum: Home
Research News

SELENBP1 Joins Array of Schizophrenia Gene Candidates
19 October 2005. A new DNA microarray study of schizophrenia patients in the U.S. and Taiwan suggests that the selenium-binding protein, SELENBP1, might...

CATIE Comes To Surprising Conclusions
16 October 2005. The results of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study raise as many questions as they answer...

A New Web Hub for All Things Related to Schizophrenia Research
15 October 2005. Welcome to the Schizophrenia Research Forum website—a virtual community for science about schizophrenia and related disorders...

Misdiagnosing "hysteria" has remained steady since the 1970s -- 331 (7523): 0 -- BMJ

Misdiagnosing "hysteria" has remained steady since the 1970s -- 331 (7523): 0 -- BMJ: "Misdiagnosing 'hysteria' has remained steady since the 1970s
Misdiagnosing symptoms of non-psychiatric diseases such as stroke as psychiatric illness ('hysteria') happened in about a third of patients diagnosed with 'conversion symptoms' in the 1950s but had fallen to 4% by the 1970s and has remained steady since then. In a systematic review Stone and colleagues (p 989) included almost 1500 adults with motor and sensory symptoms unexplained by disease from 27 studies on diagnostic outcomes with a median follow-up time of five years. Misdiagnosis was most common in patients with gait or movement disorders and a psychiatric history, and the advent of computed tomography did not further improve diagnostic accuracy. "

Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity -- Baird et al. 331 (7522): 929 -- BMJ

Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity -- Baird et al. 331 (7522): 929 -- BMJ: "Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity
Janis Baird, research fellow1, David Fisher, research assistant1, Patricia Lucas, lecturer2, Jos Kleijnen, director3, Helen Roberts, professor of child health4, Catherine Law, reader in children's health5
1 MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, 2 School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TZ, 3 Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, York YO10 5DD, 4 Child Health Research and Policy Unit, City University, London EC1Y 4TY, 5 Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH
Correspondence to: J Baird jb@mrc.soton.ac.uk

Abstract
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References


Objectives To assess the association between infant size or growth and subsequent obesity and to determine if any association has been stable over time.
Design Systematic review.
Data sources Medline, Embase, bibliographies of included studies, contact with first authors of included studies and other experts.
Inclusion criteria Studies that assessed the relation between infant size or growth during the first two years of life and subsequent obesity.
Main outcome measure Obesity at any age after infancy.
Results 24 studies met the inclusion criteria (22 cohort and two case-control studies). Of these, 18 assessed the relation between infant size and subsequent obesity, most showing that infants who were defined a"

Heartless Bosses Create Coronary-Prone Workers -

Heartless Bosses Create Coronary-Prone Workers - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today: "Heartless Bosses Create Coronary-Prone Workers

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
October 25, 2005
Also covered by: Forbes, MSNBC
Ask patients about workplace stress, and help them with stress-reduction strategies when they feel beset by unreasonable demands or unfair supervisors.

Review
HELSINKI, Oct. 24 - Harried employees who complain that their work is killing them might just be right.
Or to put it in a more positive light, workers who feel that they are treated justly on the job have a significantly lower risk for coronary artery disease.
Investigators here and in London came to this conclusion after studying the heart health of 6,442 British men who work for Her Majesty's civil service.
'This is the first study, to our knowledge, that demonstrates that justice at work may protect against coronary heart disease,' Mika Kivimaki, Ph.D., of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and colleagues at University College London Medical School reported in the Oct. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
'In men who perceived a high level of justice, the risk of incident coronary heart disease was 30% lower than among those who perceived a low or an intermediate level of justice,' they added.
When workers believe that their supervisors listen to them, consider their viewpoints, involve them in decision-making and generally treat them fairly, they tend to have lower levels of stress, negative emotions, and absenteeism, the investigators noted.
'There are plausible mech"

Suicide Prevention Strategies

Suicide Prevention Strategies
A Systematic Review

J. John Mann, MD;

JAMA. 2005;294:2064-2074.
Context In 2002, an estimated 877 000 lives were lost worldwide through suicide. Some developed nations have implemented national suicide prevention plans. Although these plans generally propose multiple interventions, their effectiveness is rarely evaluated.

Objectives To examine evidence for the effectiveness of specific suicide-preventive interventions and to make recommendations for future prevention programs and research.

Data Sources and Study Selection Relevant publications were identified via electronic searches of MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and PsychINFO databases using multiple search terms related to suicide prevention. Studies, published between 1966 and June 2005, included those that evaluated preventative interventions in major domains; education and awareness for the general public and for professionals; screening tools for at-risk individuals; treatment of psychiatric disorders; restricting access to lethal means; and responsible media reporting of suicide.

Data Extraction Data were extracted on primary outcomes of interest: suicidal behavior (completion, attempt, ideation), intermediary or secondary outcomes (treatment seeking, identification of at-risk individuals, antidepressant prescription/use rates, referrals), or both. Experts from 15 countries reviewed all studies. Included articles were those that reported on completed and attempted suicide and suicidal ideation; or, where applicable, intermediate outcomes, including help-seeking behavior, identification of at-risk individuals, entry into treatment, and antidepressant prescription rates. We included 3 major types of studies for which the research question was clearly defined: systematic reviews and meta-analyses (n = 10); quantitative studies, either randomized controlled trials (n = 18) or cohort studies (n = 24); and ecological, or population- based studies (n = 41). Heterogeneity of study populations and methodology did not permit formal meta-analysis; thus, a narrative synthesis is presented.

Promoting the Mental Health of Population

Promoting the Mental Health of Population

"Promoting the Mental Health of the Population. Towards a Strategy on Mental health for the European Union" There is now an increasing interest in the mental health of the EU-population, and a strong political commitment for action in this field. This is why the European Commission decided to present a Green paper "Promoting the Mental Health of the Population. Towards a Strategy on Mental health for the European Union". The document outlines the relevance of mental health for some of the EU's strategic policy objectives (prosperity, solidarity and social justice, quality of life of citizens), proposes the development of a strategy on mental health at Community-level and identifies its possible priorities.
The European Commission invites European institutions, Governments, health professionals, stakeholders in other sectors, civil society including patient organisations, and the research community to communicate their views on this document and the questions raised in its section 8.
Contributions in the context of this consultation process should be sent to the Commission by 31 May 2006, on the following ways:
a) by email to address "mailto:mental-health@cec.eu.int" mental-health@cec.eu.int, or:
b) by post mail to the following address:European CommissionDirectorate-general for Health and Consumer ProtectionUnit C/2 "Health Information"L-2920 Luxembourg
Contributions received will be published on this website, unless requests not to do so have explicitly been made.
In late 2006, the Commission intends to present its analysis of the responses received together with, if appropriate, its proposal and/or initiatives for a strategy"