Releases Saturday 20 October 2001
No 7318 Volume 323
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising
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(1) DOES RACIAL STEREOTYPING STILL OCCUR
IN PSYCHIATRY?
(2) MONTH
OF BIRTH MAY BE LINKED TO RISK
OF CROHN'S
DISEASE
(3) PSYCHOLOGICAL
EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL
AND CHEMICAL
WEAPONS MAY BE WORSE
THAN PHYSICAL
SYMPTOMS
(1) DOES RACIAL
STEREOTYPING STILL OCCUR
IN PSYCHIATRY?
(Racial stereotyping: survey of psychiatrists
in the
United Kingdom)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/323/7318/905
Ten years ago, psychiatrists rated black
male patients
as potentially more violent than white
patients. A study
in this week's BMJ asks does such racial
stereotyping
still occur?
A postal questionnaire, concerning the
first presentation
of a young man at casualty, was sent to
1000 British
psychiatrists. It included a photograph,
brief history,
and findings on the patient's mental state.
Half received
a picture of a black man and half received
a picture of a
white man. All other details were the
same.
Psychiatrists indicated that they were
more likely to ask
black patients whether they had a social
worker or had
received learning support at school, whereas
they were
more likely to ask white patients about
problem
drinking. They were equally likely to
ask a black patient
or a white if they had a criminal record
or had recently
used illegal drugs.
Psychiatrists were also more likely to
rate schizophrenia
and personality disorder as appropriate
diagnoses for
white patients.
In this study, participating psychiatrists
did not rate
black patients as more likely to be violent
than white,
say the authors. This is different from
a decade ago.
Racism is evident in the psychiatric system,
say the
authors, but our results suggest that
the racial
stereotyping that occurs at first interview
is not sufficient
to account for the inequalities seen in
secondary care.
Urgent exploration is required to find
out where these
inequalities arise, they conclude.
Contact:
Shubulade Smith, Consultant Psychiatrist,
Bethlem and
Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK
Email: sphasms{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk
(2) MONTH OF BIRTH
MAY BE LINKED TO RISK
OF CROHN'S DISEASE
(Research Pointer: Does month of
birth affect risk of
Crohn's disease in childhood and
adolescence?)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/323/7318/907
Month of birth may be linked to risk of
Crohn's disease
later in childhood, concludes a study
in this week's
BMJ.
Researchers in Denmark identified 627 cases
of
Crohn's disease from 1977 to 1992 in people
aged less
than 21. They found that the peak in births
occurred in
August and the trough in March.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure
to
certain infections before birth or in
early childhood are
important risk factors. Therefore, if
infectious agents
potentially linked to Crohn's disease
include some that
are common at particular times of year,
their seasonal
variation might be reflected in the pattern
of birth month
in people with Crohn's disease, explain
the authors.
These findings contrast with a recent British
study, that
reported slightly increased risk of Crohn's
disease in
people born in the first half of the year,
not the second
half. However, if causal factors differ
in the two
countries, this might result in different
seasonal patterns,
they conclude.
Contact:
Professor Henrik Toft Sorensen, Aarhus
and Aalborg
University Hospital, Denmark
Email: hts{at}soci.au.dk
(3) PSYCHOLOGICAL
EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL
AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS MAY BE WORSE
THAN PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
(Editorial: Psychological implications
of chemical and
biological weapons)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/323/7318/878
The long term psychological implications
of a chemical
or biological terrorist attack may be
more damaging
than any acute physical effects, according
to
researchers from the UK and USA in this
week's BMJ.
Professor Simon Wessely and colleagues
argue that the
main purpose of these weapons is to wreak
destruction
via psychological means � by inducing
fear, confusion,
and uncertainty in everyday life.
Even if the short term consequences of
an attack with
chemical or biological weapons turn out
to be less than
some of the apocalyptic scenarios currently
being aired
by the media, the long term disruptions
may be worse
than anticipated, say the authors.
They predict that because health officials
cannot
provide blanket assurances that no harm
will result from
brief or non-symptom producing exposure
to toxic
agents, frustration and then a growing
distrust of
medical experts and government officials
may result,
robbing state institutions of the trust
they need to
manage recovery.
Lastly, unconfirmed or controversial hypotheses
about
the health effects of exposure to chemical
and biological
weapons will probably become contentious
scientific
and media issues in the years ahead, as
had occurred
after numerous chemical and radiological
incidents, the
Gulf war, and the Balkans deployment,
they conclude.
Contact:
Professor Simon Wessely, Guy's King's and
St
Thomas's School of Medicine and Institute
of
Psychiatry, London, UK
Email: s.wessely{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
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London WC1H 9JR
(contact: pressoffice{at}bma.org.uk)
and from:
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Association for the
Advancement of Science
(http://www.eurekalert.org)
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