Diary of the Week
1
954 American, and German theory has come to dominate psychiatry worldwide, resulting in the mass export of cultural-specific ideas to many remote parts of the world. The book analyses in detail the situation in Japan, the USA, India, Egypt, Israel, and Britain. Hospitals in the west are releasing patients but in the east and in some Third World Countries including India, Bangladesh, China, and Japan, the number of psychiatric inpatients is growing all the time. Neither trend appears to benefit the patient. But David Cohen refuses to give in to despair. He concludes: "After 30 years, the temptation for many seems to be to pillory community care as yet another solution that failed... Community care is not perfect but it is probably as close to a good solution as we are ever going to get. Making it work requires legal reforms, changes in attitudes, refinements, pressure, commitment, and a sharp eye for different local needs. Many professionals see that; others need to summon up some new enthusiasm". FLYING EPITHALAMIUM READERS who have been following David Fanshawe’s televised musicological odyssey among the islands of the South Pacific (BBC 2, Wideworld, April 6, 13) will be aware of the striking variations in form and rhythm that he encountered from island to island. How many realise that the musical expressions of the humble fruit fly are more than a match for these melodies? Male Drosophila court their chosen partners with song (inaudible to human ears, but that matters little with the latest recording wizardry) and the ditties of continental Drosophila are well characterised. In Hawaii, the most isolated archipelago in the world, there are more than five hundred species of Drosophila, all descended from one or two continental founder-females, that are encountered nowhere else and their musicianship has evolved with them.1 Some of the novel sounds resemble those of cicadas; others are cricket-like. D silvestris, in true operatic tradition, relies on abdominal movement rather than wing vibration to produce its serenade. Drugs for Orphan Diseases The National Economic Development Office pharmaceuticals sector group recently set up a working party to look at the development of medicines for "orphan" diseases. It was observed that some researchers with a potential treatment for an orphan disease had had difficulties in finding their way through the current (and growing) maze of regulatory requirements. Concern was expressed that this might have deterred some people from promoting their ideas. It was proposed by the working party (which included representation from industry, the Department of Health and Social Security, and the MRC) that the director of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry should act as the initial contact for such researchers, and that he or she should undertake to refer them where necessary. The current director, Dr J. P. Griffin, has agreed to this proposal. International Agency for Research on Cancer Applications are invited for one-year training fellowships for research training in cancer and for visiting scientist awards for cancer research workers who wish to spend one year at IARC. Information may be obtained from the Chairman of the Fellow- ships Selection Committee, IARC, 150 Cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France. The medical advisory panel of the National Organisation for Dance and Mime would like to hear from medical practitioners or scientists who are investigating the medical conditions and injuries of dancers. Mr A. T. G. Howse, FRCS, Chairman, Medical Advisory Panel, National Organisation for Dance and Mime, 9 Rossdale Road, London SWI5 1AD (01-700 6905). A series of dialogues on Contemporary Issues between distinguished guests and members of the British Psycho-Analytical Society will be held at the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, London WI, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from April 26 to June 29: Executive Secretary, Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 63 New Cavendish Street, London WlM 7RD. 1. Hoy RH, Hoikkala A, Kaneshiro K. Hawaiian courtship songs: evolutionary innovation in communication signals of Drosophila. Science 1988; 240: 217-19. A symposium entitled Liability will he held at the Royal Society of Medicine, London Wl, on Wednesday, April 27: Mrs J. Wase-Bailey, Medico-Pharmaceutical Forum, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1M 8AE (old91 8610). A one-day symposium entitled Update on Imaging will take place at the Birmingham Medical Institute on Thursday, April 28: BMI, 36 Harbome Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3AF (021-454 5007). A meeting on Technical and Clinical Aspects of Vestribular and Oculomotor Systems will be held at the Welsh National School of Medicine, Cardiff, on Thursday, April 28: Institute of Physical Sciences in Medicine, 2 Low Ousegate, York Y01 1QU (0904 610821). A multidisciplinary conference on Health, Sickness, and Disability in Childhood will take place at Kensington Town Hall, London, on May 3-7: Caroline Roney, Medical Conference Organiser, Congress House, 65 West Drive, Sutton, Surrey SM2 7NB (01-6610877). A quality assurance symposium on The Response to CEPOD will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on Friday, April 29: Clerk to the College, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DW. A Royal College of Nursing conference on The National Health Service-Does It Have a Future? will take place at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London EC1, on Friday, May 6: Miss Helen Betts, Public Relations Officer, Conference Organiser, 201 Victoria Road, Wood Green, London N22 4XH. A memorial service for the late Prof Mortyn Jones (St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School) will be held at St Margaret’s Church, Parliament Square on Wednesday, May 25 at 2.30 pm. Correction Prenatal Exclusion of Hereditary Retinoblastoma.—In Dr Christopher Mitchell et al’s letter (April 9, p 826) the allele sizes given were incorrect: the 1·8 kb band should have read 1·9 kb, the 1-7 kb band 1·8 kb, and the 1·75 kb band 1·85 kb. Diary of the Week APRIL 24 TO APRIL 30 Monday, 25th INSTITUTE OF LARYNGOLOGY AND OTOLOGY, 330/332 Gray’s Inn Road, London WCIX 8EE 5.30 pm Dr M. Bagshaw: Motion Sickness. ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL, Lanesborough Wing, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 ORE 12.30 pm Mr M. Brincat: Postmenopausal Osteoporosis. MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY, John Rylands University Library, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PP 6 pm Prof J. P. Moss: A Static or Dynanuc Occlusion. 8.30 pm Symposium-Peptic Ulceration m the Last Decade. Tuesday, 26th LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE, Keppel Street, London WCIE 7HT 5 pm Dr K. Citron, Dr R. T. Mayon-White, and Ms Shirley Goodwin: Tuberculosis-the Forgotten Disease. ROYAL MASONIC HOSPITAL, Ravenscourt Park, London W6 OTN 7 pm Dr M. G. C. Ashby: Clinical Syndromes of the Cranial Nerves. ICRF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT, Ida Green Seminar Room, Observer’s House, Green College, Oxford 5 pm Ali McGuire: What do International Comparisons of Health Care Really Show? MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY 5.30 pm Dr M. J. Tarsh: The Three C’s of Court Reports-Crime, Compensations, and Custody. DURHAM POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL CENTRE, Drybum Hospital, Durham 1.15 pm Miss Averil Mansfield: Aneurysms. Wednesday, 27th ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG 5 pm Dr John Calam: Peptic Ulcer--Can we Improve Treatment? CHACE POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL CENTRE, Chase Farm Hospital, The Ridgeway, Enfield, Middlesex 1 pm Dr G. Cook: Malaria-the Present State of Prophylaxis and Treatment. Thursday, 28th INSTITUTE OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 OXG 12.30 pm Dr Sinha: Vitamin E in the Newborn. MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY 5.30 pm Dr C. Dowrick. Unemployment and Health. Dr P. M. Haddad: Epidemiology of Human Cryptosporidiosis. Dr Catherine Quigley: District Health Surveys-their Potential and Limitations.
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Transcript of Diary of the Week
954
American, and German theory has come to dominate psychiatryworldwide, resulting in the mass export of cultural-specific ideas tomany remote parts of the world. The book analyses in detail thesituation in Japan, the USA, India, Egypt, Israel, and Britain.Hospitals in the west are releasing patients but in the east and insome Third World Countries including India, Bangladesh, China,and Japan, the number of psychiatric inpatients is growing all thetime. Neither trend appears to benefit the patient. But David Cohenrefuses to give in to despair. He concludes: "After 30 years, thetemptation for many seems to be to pillory community care as yetanother solution that failed... Community care is not perfect but itis probably as close to a good solution as we are ever going to get.Making it work requires legal reforms, changes in attitudes,refinements, pressure, commitment, and a sharp eye for differentlocal needs. Many professionals see that; others need to summon upsome new enthusiasm".
FLYING EPITHALAMIUM
READERS who have been following David Fanshawe’s televisedmusicological odyssey among the islands of the South Pacific (BBC2, Wideworld, April 6, 13) will be aware of the striking variationsin form and rhythm that he encountered from island to island. Howmany realise that the musical expressions of the humble fruit fly aremore than a match for these melodies? Male Drosophila court theirchosen partners with song (inaudible to human ears, but thatmatters little with the latest recording wizardry) and the ditties ofcontinental Drosophila are well characterised. In Hawaii, the mostisolated archipelago in the world, there are more than five hundredspecies of Drosophila, all descended from one or two continentalfounder-females, that are encountered nowhere else and theirmusicianship has evolved with them.1 Some of the novel soundsresemble those of cicadas; others are cricket-like. D silvestris, in trueoperatic tradition, relies on abdominal movement rather than wingvibration to produce its serenade.
Drugs for Orphan Diseases
The National Economic Development Office pharmaceuticalssector group recently set up a working party to look at thedevelopment of medicines for "orphan" diseases. It was observedthat some researchers with a potential treatment for an orphandisease had had difficulties in finding their way through the current(and growing) maze of regulatory requirements. Concern wasexpressed that this might have deterred some people frompromoting their ideas. It was proposed by the working party (whichincluded representation from industry, the Department of Healthand Social Security, and the MRC) that the director of theAssociation of the British Pharmaceutical Industry should act as theinitial contact for such researchers, and that he or she shouldundertake to refer them where necessary. The current director, DrJ. P. Griffin, has agreed to this proposal.
International Agency for Research on Cancer
Applications are invited for one-year training fellowships forresearch training in cancer and for visiting scientist awards forcancer research workers who wish to spend one year at IARC.Information may be obtained from the Chairman of the Fellow-
ships Selection Committee, IARC, 150 Cours Albert-Thomas,69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France.
The medical advisory panel of the National Organisation for Danceand Mime would like to hear from medical practitioners or scientists who areinvestigating the medical conditions and injuries of dancers. Mr A. T. G.Howse, FRCS, Chairman, Medical Advisory Panel, National Organisationfor Dance and Mime, 9 Rossdale Road, London SWI5 1AD (01-700 6905).
A series of dialogues on Contemporary Issues between distinguishedguests and members of the British Psycho-Analytical Society will be held atthe Institute of Psycho-Analysis, London WI, on Tuesdays and Wednesdaysfrom April 26 to June 29: Executive Secretary, Institute of Psycho-Analysis,63 New Cavendish Street, London WlM 7RD.
1. Hoy RH, Hoikkala A, Kaneshiro K. Hawaiian courtship songs: evolutionaryinnovation in communication signals of Drosophila. Science 1988; 240: 217-19.
A symposium entitled Liability will he held at the Royal Society ofMedicine, London Wl, on Wednesday, April 27: Mrs J. Wase-Bailey,Medico-Pharmaceutical Forum, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1M 8AE(old91 8610).
A one-day symposium entitled Update on Imaging will take place at theBirmingham Medical Institute on Thursday, April 28: BMI, 36 HarbomeRoad, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3AF (021-454 5007).
A meeting on Technical and Clinical Aspects of Vestribular andOculomotor Systems will be held at the Welsh National School ofMedicine, Cardiff, on Thursday, April 28: Institute of Physical Sciences inMedicine, 2 Low Ousegate, York Y01 1QU (0904 610821).
A multidisciplinary conference on Health, Sickness, and Disability inChildhood will take place at Kensington Town Hall, London, on May 3-7:Caroline Roney, Medical Conference Organiser, Congress House, 65 WestDrive, Sutton, Surrey SM2 7NB (01-6610877).
A quality assurance symposium on The Response to CEPOD will beheld at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on Friday, April 29:Clerk to the College, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DW.
A Royal College of Nursing conference on The National HealthService-Does It Have a Future? will take place at St Bartholomew’sHospital, London EC1, on Friday, May 6: Miss Helen Betts, PublicRelations Officer, Conference Organiser, 201 Victoria Road, Wood Green,London N22 4XH.
A memorial service for the late Prof Mortyn Jones (St Thomas’sHospital Medical School) will be held at St Margaret’s Church, ParliamentSquare on Wednesday, May 25 at 2.30 pm.
Correction
Prenatal Exclusion of Hereditary Retinoblastoma.—In Dr ChristopherMitchell et al’s letter (April 9, p 826) the allele sizes given were incorrect: the1·8 kb band should have read 1·9 kb, the 1-7 kb band 1·8 kb, and the1·75 kb band 1·85 kb.
Diary of the WeekAPRIL 24 TO APRIL 30
Monday, 25thINSTITUTE OF LARYNGOLOGY AND OTOLOGY, 330/332 Gray’s Inn Road,
London WCIX 8EE5.30 pm Dr M. Bagshaw: Motion Sickness.
ST GEORGE’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL, Lanesborough Wing, CranmerTerrace, London SW17 ORE
12.30 pm Mr M. Brincat: Postmenopausal Osteoporosis.MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY, John Rylands University Library, Oxford
Road, Manchester M13 9PP6 pm Prof J. P. Moss: A Static or Dynanuc Occlusion.8.30 pm Symposium-Peptic Ulceration m the Last Decade.
Tuesday, 26thLONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE, Keppel
Street, London WCIE 7HT5 pm Dr K. Citron, Dr R. T. Mayon-White, and Ms Shirley Goodwin:
Tuberculosis-the Forgotten Disease.ROYAL MASONIC HOSPITAL, Ravenscourt Park, London W6 OTN
7 pm Dr M. G. C. Ashby: Clinical Syndromes of the Cranial Nerves.ICRF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT, Ida Green
Seminar Room, Observer’s House, Green College, Oxford5 pm Ali McGuire: What do International Comparisons of Health Care Really Show?
MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY5.30 pm Dr M. J. Tarsh: The Three C’s of Court Reports-Crime, Compensations,
and Custody.DURHAM POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL CENTRE, Drybum Hospital, Durham
1.15 pm Miss Averil Mansfield: Aneurysms.
Wednesday, 27thROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG
5 pm Dr John Calam: Peptic Ulcer--Can we Improve Treatment?CHACE POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL CENTRE, Chase Farm Hospital, The
Ridgeway, Enfield, Middlesex1 pm Dr G. Cook: Malaria-the Present State of Prophylaxis and Treatment.
Thursday, 28thINSTITUTE OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Queen Charlotte’s Maternity
Hospital, Goldhawk Road, London W6 OXG12.30 pm Dr Sinha: Vitamin E in the Newborn.
MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY5.30 pm Dr C. Dowrick. Unemployment and Health. Dr P. M. Haddad: Epidemiology
of Human Cryptosporidiosis. Dr Catherine Quigley: District HealthSurveys-their Potential and Limitations.
