When handwriting performance was assessed in children born before term and compared with a matched group aged 6-7 years, the preterm children were much slower and produced less legible handwriting than their peers. Poorer visual perception, eye-hand coordination, hand manipulation, and finger identification were the factors associated with poorer performance, although hyperactivity and poor attention span were confounding factors for both legibility and speed (Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 2005;47: 163-70).

A 10 year study of civilians, refugees, and soldiers in Croatia conducted during and after the 1991-5 war found that the pattern of psychosomatic and depressive symptoms changed over time. Refugees had the highest levels of depression throughout, whereas psychosomatic complaints were dominant among both refugees and soldiers. Soldiers' symptoms increased over time; the refugees' symptoms decreased. Civilians suffered relatively little (Croatian Medical Journal 2005;46: 275-81).

Large waist measurements and raised triglycerides may prove to be the best indicator of a risk of cardiovascular mortality in postmenopausal women. A community based sample of 557 women was followed for eight years. …