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Investigation Urgently Needed Into Treatment Of Mentally Ill Immigration Detainees At California Facility, Editorial States
"Although the number of mentally ill immigration detainees" at the La Mesa, Calif.-based private psychiatric hospital Alvarado Parkway Institute "at any one time seems to range from as few as two to only five or so, their situation needs to be addressed quickly," a San Diego Tribune editorial states (San Diego Tribune, 5/19). Some disability rights lawyers and advocates for the mentally ill say that conditions at many of the private facilities, including API, violate state and federal laws governing treatment of mentally ill people. Ann Menasche, a lawyer with the legal advocacy group Disability Rights California, last month sent a letter to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement claiming that after visiting API and interviewing detainees, she found that the conditions are "excessive, unjustifiable and punitive" (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 5/18).According to the Tribune, "California"s strict patients" rights laws specify that psychiatric patients can have daily visitors, use the telephone, exercise, socialize and be free from restraint unless the chief of the facility determines that a specific individual is a threat to himself or others," but, according to Menasche, patients at API are being denied those rights. The editorial adds that the conditions Menasche describes "may sound appalling, but it is unclear whether they are proper for the circumstances," and an "independent probe by the state Department of Public Health ... is needed to determine whether the detainees are being treated properly" (San Diego Tribune, 5/19). Don't forget to buy zoloft online no prescription.

Survey Finds Surgical Residents View Duty Hour Regulations As A Hindrance To Training
Results of a survey published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons show that a large subset of surgical residents consider duty hour regulations (DHR) a significant barrier to their surgical education and express a desire for flexibility to work longer hours than current restrictions allow.

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News of the day
Study Examines 'Elite' Group Of HIV-Positive People Who Appear 'Protected' From Developing AIDS
An international contingent of nearly 500 researchers and physicians are taking part in the International HIV Controllers Study, which is examining "the phenomenon," in which certain people living with HIV seem "somehow protected from AIDS," the Washington Post reports. Fewer "than one in every 300 cases, or perhaps 5,000 of the more than 1 million infected Americans" living with HIV are deemed ""elite controllers" because their ability to combat the virus puts them in exceptional company among infected individuals," according to the Post. The article states, "No one knows how their bodies keep AIDS at bay. Are their immune systems exceptionally strong and effective? Do they possess some genetic trait that protects them? Or does a combination of still-unknown factors set them apart?" Researchers anticipate that studying the T cell levels - which helps determine the progression to AIDS - of the elite controllers, will enable them "to uncover what shields these rare few from AIDS. And perhaps in the process they"ll find a way to safeguard everyone else as well," the Post reports (Slack, 7/7).
Public Health

Glucose Metabolism And Recidivism Of Severe Violent Crimes In Alcohol Intoxications

It is commonly known that alcoholism and alcohol intoxications are connected with severe violent crimes such as homicides. For instance, in Finland even 80 per cent of these crimes happen in alcohol intoxications. It has not, however, been clear why only a minority of alcoholics in intoxications become irritated and impulsively aggressive or even commit severe violent crimes. A Finnish study now finds that low glycogen level - which means non-oxidative glucose metabolism - predicts forthcoming violent offending among antisocial violent offender males in a prospective 8-year follow-up study. "Usually, the new violent crimes happened already during 1-2 years after the release from prisons and with the new starting problems of alcoholism", says Professor Matti Virkkunen, the corresponding author for the study. Results of the study have been published in the June issue of the journal Psychiatry Research. Glucose metabolism was measured using the insulin clamp / calorimetry method among 49 impulsive, violent, antisocial male offenders during a forensic psychiatric examination. Those 17 offenders who committed at least one new violent crime during the follow-up had mean NOG of 1.4 standard deviations lower than non-recidivistic offenders. Glycogen levels did not differ among nonrecidivists and 40 normal male controls. All offenders and normal male controls were in normal weight and did not differ in the age or in the basal metabolic index (BMI). Only the basal insulin level was higher among residivistic violent offenders. In logistic regression analysis NOG alone explained 27% of the variation in the recidivistic offending and so clearly better than other variables in the international violence research. Possibly by means of hypoglycemic states the new violent crimes happen among these persons in alcohol intoxications when they have very low glycogen stores in the liver. The low activity of the enzyme glycogen synthesis is the probable reason for the finding. This might suggest that substances increasing glycogen formation and decreasing the risk of hypoglycemia might be potential treatments for impulsive violent behavior. Of course, also regular eating habits while drinking are important in the prevention of new violent crimes. Professor Matti Virkkunen University of Helsinki


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