Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of suicide, particularly in the absence of adequate treatment. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between different forms of major mood disorders and suicidal behaviour. Population-based epidemiological surveys as well as clinical studies on the clinically explorable suicide risk factors in bipolar and unipolar depressive disorders are reviewed. The present literature shows that patients with bipolar disorders are at higher risk of attempted and completed suicide than that of patients with unipolar major depression. Contrasting only bipolar I and bipolar II patients, current findings indicate that the rate of prior suicide attempt is higher in bipolar II patients, and bipolar II disorder is overrepresented in depressed suicide victims. Among patients with different clinical manifestations of major mood disorders (unipolar major depression. bipolar I and bipolar II disorder), bipolar patients in general, and bipolar II subjects in particular carry the highest risk of suicide.

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The aim of this comparison was to evaluate the nutritional status and cardio-respiratory fitness of future health professionals, namely university students engaged in medical studies. It was assumed that the lifestyle of such students would be reflected by healthy body composition and fitness performance indicators. Altogether 1,560 volunteer, female, university students of three institutions were investigated in 2008. Height, body weight, BMI, body fat content and 800 m run test means were compared.The height, weight and BMI means did not differ significantly but PE students recorded the lowest mean body fat (18.34% vs. 24.37 and 25.12%) and shortest mean running time (203 s vs. 239 and 243 s). Among the medical (11.23%) and technical university students (19.95%) statistically the same prevalence of obesity was observed.High body fat content and low running performance of medical students were in contrast with our hypothesis. Their prevalence of overweight/obesity and low fitness did not differ from that of relatively sedentary technical university students and the average Hungarian young adult population. Thus, it is questionable how young health professionals will promote the necessity and positive effects of regular physical activity if they do not apply them to their own lifestyle.

The aim of the present longitudinal study of four years was to analyse differences in growth patterns, age-related changes in body fat and physical performance in schoolchildren taking part either in normal or in elevated level physical education at school.Nine data collection sessions were carried out between 2002 and 2006 in 18 schools. The sample consisted of 521 non-athletic volunteer boys (PE=116, contrast = 405).The inter-group differences between mean height, body weight, body mass index, relative body fat content, mean scores in 30 m dash, 400 m run, and standing long jump as well as the patterns of change with age were analysed in this comparison. Between-observation differences were tested by repeated measures ANOVA. In case of a significant F-test Tukey's post-hoc tests were used. Age dependence was also studied by linear regression analysis.The between-group differences in mean height were not significant, but the slope of height increase with age was significantly greater in the PE boys. The PE boys were significantly lighter through all the nine observations and the slope of age-related weight increase was statistically faster in the group of contrast subjects. Both the BMI means and percent body fat means were consistently and significantly greater in the contrast group and faster increases were found in the group of the less active boys. The mean physical performances of the PE boys were consistently and significantly better. Their slopes of increase were statistically different.