The Amazing World of Psychiatry Presents the TAWOP Podcast!
Thanks to Odiogo, The Amazing World of Psychiatry now presents the blog articles in podcast format. The articles are read with a synthetic voice and can be obtained either by clicking on the orange symbol on the right hand side, subscribing to the RSS feed or clicking on the link below. The last 100 articles are currently included in the feed.
Tips:
The reflections articles summarise other articles in the month and would be a good way of getting an overview of what’s been written about earlier in the month. These will take longer to download though.
The other articles tend to be much shorter and are therefore take less time to download.
Link:
Odiogo Link - Just click on the articles to listen to them or download them.
Responses
If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail justinmarley17@yahoo.co.uk
Disclaimer
The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.
Podcast Review: Science Podcasts
Reviewed here are some of Science’s podcasts and a focus on some of those aspects that I thought were most relevant to psychiatry (although the evolutionary discussions have more tenuous links there is an emerging field of evolutionary psychiatry which is beginning to take shape). The 5.6.9 podcast includes a discussion of the evolution of altruism in terms of selection at the group level. There is also a look at some possible intentional deception by monkeys to obtain food. The monkeys in question act as guards warning the other monkeys when predators are near. This behaviour was covered in the book Mean Genes (reviewed here) and this study takes the story further and in another direction which involves some of these monkey guards possibly using deceit to obtain food from the other monkeys. Perhaps this is an evolutionary trade-off for the risky work they are expected to perform. In the 12.6.9 podcast there is a brief discussion of an Orang-Utan laughing together with a clip. The researchers were looking to compare this with human laughter to see how laughter had evolved. Primates apparently enjoy being tickled and the researchers visited zoos to tickle primates! Gorillas and Bonobos laughter was more similar to humans with exhaling during laughter. They estimate laughing began 10-16 million years ago. I found this interesting clip on YouTube which I found quite remarkable – the Gibbon looks as though it is having fun (although i’m not so sure about the poor dog)
In the 19.6.9 podcast there is supporting evidence for the involvement of Merkel cells in light touch and a discussion of what would happen if we didn’t have these types of cells. In the 26.6.9 podcast there is a discussion of an open access digital brain library featuring the brain of the famous patient H.M who underwent a temporal lobectomy for intractable epilepsy. The 3.7.9 podcast there is a discussion of an essay on the origins of the nervous system. There is a look at some of the rudimentary features of the nervous system that are evident in the most primitive species including ion channels and proteins found at the neural synapse. Genomic analysis is producing information which can be used to estimate the period of origin of the nervous system. In the 10.7.9 podcast there is a look at how palaeoartists recreate human ancestors and how calorie restriction increases lifespan in primates.
Appendix
There is a related Origins Blog here – looking at evolution
Responses
If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail justinmarley17@yahoo.co.uk
Disclaimer
The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.
Book Review: Huntington’s Disease. Second Edition
The book reviewed here is ‘Huntington’s Disease (2nd Edition)’ edited by Peter Harper. There are 10 authors including Harper who have worked on this book which is impressive in both the breadth and depth of content and despite being dated 1996 in my opinion provides an indispensable starting point and reference work for reading on Huntington’s Disease. Harper introduces the reader to Huntington’s Disease in the first chapter and we see one of the most famous cases in medical history. In a sense, Huntington could almost be considered a child prodigy in medicine since he first saw a family with Huntington’s Disease (HD) as a child and this made a deep impression on him. Indeed such an impression did this make that he succinctly wrote up his clinical experience as well as that of his father and grandfather (both doctors) at the age of 22. This write up was his single contribution to the literature but one that no doubt influenced and continues to influence many lives through the subsequent developments as he was able to bring all of the features of the disease together in his description:
‘It begins as an ordinary chorea might begin, but the irregular and spasmodic action of certain muscles, as of the face, arms etc. These movements gradually increase, when muscles hitherto unaffected take on the spasmodic action, until every muscle in the body becomes affected (excepting the involuntary ones)‘
The early occurrences in East England and spread to New England are discussed as well as some interesting historical insights. There is a look at the naturalistic course of the illness, social and psychological aspects of HD as well as management and therapy including a discussion of the relevant application of UK Mental Health Act (1983) where necessary. The pedigree of the community of afflicted people at Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela was sufficiently large to need to be displayed on several walls (presumably before computers were more widely available). In another chapter there is a look at the epidemiology in different countries and as many of the authors have been successfully involved in research into HD including epidemiological findings in Wales the following interesting suggestion is included-
‘We hope that this account will encourage others by showing what a relatively small and modestly funded group can do by basing its research on the population that it is trying to serve‘
There is a closer look at the genetics of HD followed by an examination of the possible molecular pathophysiology. A chapter on the neurobiology of HD looks at the anatomy followed by models of how HD might manifest through alterations in the function of the Basal Ganglia followed by a look at possible actions at the cellular level. There is then an overview of genetic counselling, with some of the underlying principles and practical aspects of this field and this is followed by a chapter on predictive testing. The authors have also made use of the centennial bibliography on Huntington’s Disease a comprehensive collection of literature to mark the 100th anniversary of the publication Huntington’s paper. I was also interested to read that a small percentage of cases had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and the authors comment thus:-
‘It can be concluded that the occurrence of schizophrenic symptoms in patients with organic disease, including HD, could lead to greater understanding of ‘idiopathic’ schizophrenia and is evidence of a syndromal rather than single disease entity concept of schizophrenia‘
This is a comprehensive work on Huntington’s Disease which is an essential reference text for those with an interest in this area.
References
Huntington’s Disease. Second Edition. Edited by Peter S Harper. Saunders. 1996.
Responses
If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail justinmarley17@yahoo.co.uk
Disclaimer
The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.
