In the global humanitarian realm, there is much discussion and concern for burdens that states endure when it comes to refugee populations. The word “burden” appears in Preamble of 1951 Refugee Convention reference placing “unduly heavy burdens” on specific host countries compels international community intervene such situations. While have been attempts change language from burden-sharing resp...

The ecological theory of adaptive radiation states that differences in ecological circumstances among local populations are the cause of divergence that leads to speciation. The role of parasites in contributing to divergence has seldom been considered, despite their ubiquity and known selective effects. The potential for parasites to contribute to divergence between closely related taxa was ex...

Alexander D. Kofinas, MD Director, Kofinas Perinatal Associate Professor, Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology Cornell University, College of Medicine Introduction Pregnancy is associated with substantial physiologic changes that require adaptation of the cardiovascular system. Maternal heart disease can interfere with this process and, therefore, may have an important effect on both the mother a...

To provide guidance to clinicians about best practices, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for prevention and treatment of acute mountain sickness, high altitude cerebral edema, and high altitude pulmonary edema. These guidelines present the main prophylactic and therapeutic modalities for each disorder and provide recommendations about ...

In July 2014, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples concluded that Canadian Aboriginal peoples face human rights problems of crisis proportions. The consequences of this are evident every day in many of Canada’s emergency departments (EDs), yet the implications for ED patient care are not obvious. In a recent report, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeo...

This policy brief profiles California's informal caregivers—adults who provide care to a family member or friend coping with an illness or disability. Although caregivers appear to be as healthy as noncaregivers of the same age, they report higher levels of psychological distress and engagement in poor health-related behaviors, such as smoking. Middle-aged caregivers may be at greatest risk for...

In a sample of patients with schizophrenia, four clusters were identified and service use and relatives' satisfaction analyzed. In the first cluster, patients' severity of illness was mild and their use of services low. In the second, patients' disability was more severe; psychiatric symptoms were low in severity, family burden was moderate, and use of community services was more intensive. In ...

interprets the results of an attitude survey on mental illness. The growing importance of home care for the mentally ill is well known to the readers of this magazine. The burdens imposed on the community, and even more on the families involved in this care, are less well known and rarely studied. However, one study has been made in Nottingham.* The results are now being analysed. Families were...

BACKGROUND There is an established disparity between physical and mental healthcare. Parity of research outputs has not been assessed internationally across influential medical journals. AIMS To assess parity of publication between physical and mental health, and within psychiatry. METHOD Four major medical disciplines were identified and their relative burden estimated. All publications fr...

Many people were outraged when Richard Lamm claimed that old people had a duty to die. Modern medicine and an individualistic culture have seduced many to feel that they have a right to health care and a right to live, despite the burdens and costs to our families and society. But in fact there are circumstances when we have a duty to die. As modern medicine continues to save more of us from ac...