Intended for healthcare professionals

Minerva

Minerva

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b416 (Published 03 February 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b416

The poor social skills of some people with schizophrenia may lie in their non-verbal communication. A German team has identified that a lack of awareness of the thoughts and intentions of others, which makes it difficult to sustain meaningful social interaction, may be directly related to non-verbal expressivity. The people who scored lowest on non-verbal expressivity performed least well when trying to tap into what other people might be thinking (Behavioural and Brain Functions 2009;5:6, doi:10.1186/1744-9081-5-6).

Women who drink lots of water during labour may be making their delivery more difficult because of hyponatraemia. Of 287 women who had their babies at a Swedish consultant-led delivery suite where oral fluids were allowed, 61 ingested more than 2.5 l of fluid, and 26% of these women were found to be hyponatraemic (plasma sodium less than 130 mmol/l after delivery). There was a correlation between low sodium and duration of labour, and specifically the second stage of labour. Hyponatraemia was also significantly linked with …

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