It has become common to say psychiatric illnesses are brain diseases. This reflects a conception of the mental as being biologically based, though it is also thought that thinking of psychiatric illness this way will reduce the stigma attached to psychiatric illness. If psychiatric illnesses are brain diseases, however, it is not clear why psychiatry should not collapse into neurology, and some...

In Parkinson's disease, mental disturbances frequently accompany the typical motor disorder. Subcortical dementia develops in 10 to 20% of patients. Contrary to the dementia of Alzheimer's type, the apraxia-aphasia-amnesia syndrome is uncommon. Depression and specific impairment of speech, visuospatial functions, and memory are present in an important proportion of patients. As a principal feat...

Dear Sir, With regard to the paragraph in the April issue of Studies in Mental Inefficiency on Mental Deficiency and Venereal Disease, I think it might interest you to know that our experience in Oxford, though on a small scale, is quite different from that quoted by you from the London County Council. Of the last 24 women (aged 16 to 30) who have been certified here, 10 were found to be suffer...

The structure and function of an organ such as the brain depends largely upon its constituent cells and the pattern of proteins which they synthesize; this in turn results from the expression of specific genes within each cell (Milner et al. 1987). Given that all human cells contain the same genetic material, differences in cell phenotypes depend upon mechanisms which result in expression or su...

Increase in facilities Although our rate of mental illness has not gone up, our network of special hospitals and outpatient clinics has grown considerably. For example, the number of facilities increased from 8,700 in 1955 and 9,865 in 1957 to 11,735 in 1960. The total number of beds at the disposal of the mental health service in 1963 was 195,934, including beds of clinics attached to psychiat...

Lafora's disease is included among the progressive myoclonic epilepsies. Despite the fact that dementia is a constant finding in this disease only a few papers have studied the timing of mental deterioration. We have performed wide neuropsychological testing in two cases early diagnosed as Lafora disease. The initial neuropsychological testing was carried out by the time there were no complaint...

background: hypothyroidism is a condition caused by a decrease in the thyroid gland hormones. this disease is very common at all age ranges. regarding its long term therapeutic procedure, this disease can affect the quality of life and the mental health of the patients. the present study aimed to compare the quality of life and mental health in hypothyroid patients and normal people. methods: t...