These data support the hypothesis that significant neuroanatomical changes occur in CFS, and are consistent with the complaint of impaired memory that is common in this illness; they also suggest that subtle abnormalities in visual processing, and discrepancies between intended actions and consequent movements, may occur in CFS.

The elderly accounted for very few referrals to the medium secure forensic service, yet there is a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in both remand and sentenced elderly prisoners. Therefore, elderly offenders with psychiatric morbidity may benefit from specialist old age psychiatric forensic services, perhaps at a supraregional level.

Background: The aim was to carry out the first voxel-based morphometry study of grey matter changes in the whole brain in schizophrenia associated with a history of seriously and violently offending.

Aims and MethodA survey was undertaken to investigate assaults of psychiatrists by patients in a 12-month period. Surveys were sent to 199 psychiatrists representing all sub-specialties and grades in a London mental health trust.ResultsThere were 129 returned responses (response rate 64.8%). In the 12-month study period, 12.4% of all psychiatrists and 32.4% of senior house officers were assaulted. None received or took up offers of formal, as opposed to informal, psychological support. Most assaults occurred on a psychiatric ward. Vulnerability to assaults was not influenced by courses on prevention and management of violence or by the attitudes of psychiatrists to violence by psychiatric patients.Clinical ImplicationsSenior house officers are most vulnerable to assaults. Greater attention may need to be given to psychiatric wards where most assaults occurred. Trusts should ensure that those assaulted are identified and offered support.

Background Cigarette smoking is believed to cause oxidative stress by several mechanisms, including direct damage by radical species and the inflammatory response induced by smoking, and would therefore be expected to cause increased lipid peroxidation. The aim was to carry out the first study of the relationship of smoking in humans to the level of n -3 lipid peroxidation indexed by the level of ethane in exhaled breath. Methods Samples of alveolar air were obtained from 11 smokers and 18 non-smokers. The air samples were analyzed for ethane using mass spectrometry. Results The two groups of subjects were matched with respect to age and gender. The mean cumulative smoking status of the smokers was 11.8 (standard error 2.5) pack-years. The mean level of ethane in the alveolar breath of the group of smokers (2.53 (0.55) ppb) was not significantly different from that of the group of non-smokers (2.59 (0.29) ppb; p = 0.92). With all 29 subjects included, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between ethane levels and cumulative smoking status was -0.11 ( p = 0.58), while an analysis including only the smokers yielded a corresponding correlation coefficient of 0.11 ( p = 0.75). Conclusion Our results show no evidence that cigarette smoking is related to increased n -3 lipid peroxidation as measured by expired ethane.