Intended for healthcare professionals

Minerva Minerva

Minerva

BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1226 (Published 18 May 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:1226

In times to come, historians may look back in anguish at the separation of psychiatry away from neurology. An author writing in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (2002;44:291) says that this divide has major implications for children with developmental disability. Children with challenging behaviour miss out unless they are assessed by professionals who are trained to consider environmental as well as biological factors. The solution, he says, is to create and train neuropsychiatrists.

For women in late pregnancy to die undelivered is rare in developed countries, but remains a reality in the tropics (Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2002;22:155-8). An eight year retrospective review of women who died undelivered in one tertiary health care centre in Nigeria found that such patients made up 28% of all maternal deaths. The author urges increased awareness of the possibility of postmortem caesarean section to save unborn, but viable, children.

When breast milk becomes inadequate for a baby's continued growth, a weaning diet is introduced. In countries where this diet may lack vital nutrients, the contribution of breast milk has a critical role. A study from Kenya finds that breast milk is an irreplaceable source of fat and vitamin A. But during the second year of life, even though its importance is inversely …

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