Minerva

Death by hanging is the method most commonly chosen by suicidal people from ethnic minorities. A four year sample of people who had committed suicide in England and Wales found that 6% of them were from ethnic minorities, and among this group schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis. The authors say that people from ethnic minorities may have more complex health and social needs, which will have to be addressed in order to reduce suicide rates in this group (British Journal of Psychiatry 2003;183:155-60).

The level of fatigue after cancer treatment is the largest factor in predicting a return to work. Nearly two thirds (64%) of cancer survivors in a prospective cohort study of 235 patients were back at work within 18 months. The duration of sick leave depended on diagnosis, treatment, age, physical complaints, and workload (European Journal of Cancer 2003;39:1562-7).

Prophylactic colectomies have been suggested for patients with ulcerative colitis. But a 10 year follow up of people with ulcerative colitis, with and without low grade dysplasia, does not support such a radical approach (Gut 2003;52:1127-32). The issue is not that malignancies do not develop, but that the diagnosis of low grade …