SUMMARY For the mentally retarded, bowel and bladder control are important prerequisites for an independent life. A study of these functions was made in a cohort of children born in Northern Finland in 1966. Relevant data up to the age of 20 years were obtained for 105 of the 132 children with mental retardation (IQ <70) who were alive at that age. 80 per cent had attained bowel control at a mean age of 4.2 years, but 30.5 per cent were still encopretic at seven years, and 19 per cent at the age of 20 years. Full bladder control had been achieved by 62.9 per cent at the age of seven and by 82.9 per cent at the age of 20. It is concluded that systematic, appropriate toilet training could improve these figures markedly. RÉSUMÉ Développement du contrôle rectal et vésical dans le retarde mental Chez le retardé mental, le contrôle rectal et vésical est un pré‐requis important pour une vie indépendante. Une étude de ces fonctions a été faite sur un groupe d'enfants nés en Finlande du Nord en 1966. Des données significatives jusqu'à l'âge de 20 ans ont été obtenues pour 105 des 132 enfants présentant un retard mental (QI < 70) vivant à cet âge. 80 pour cent avaient obtenu le contrôle rectal à un âge moyen de 4,2 ans, mais 30,5 pour cent étaient encore encoprétiques à sept ans, et 19 pour cent à l'âge de 20 ans. Le plein contrôle vésical avait été obtenu par 62,9 pour cent à l'âge de sept ans, et par 82,9 pour cent à 20 ans. Les auteurs concluent qu'un apprentissage systématique approprié de la toilette peut améliorer ces données de façon marquée. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Entwicklung von Darm‐ und Blasenkontrolle bei geistig retardierten Patienten Für geistig retardierte Patienten sind Darm‐ und Blasenkontrolle wichtige Voraussetzungen für ein selbständiges Leben. 1966 wurde bei einer Gruppe in Nordfinnland geborener Kinder eine Untersuchung dieser Funktionen durchgeführt. Bis zum Alter von 20 Jahren wurden wichtige Daten von 105 der 132 Kinder mit geistiger Retardierung (IQ <70), die in dem Alter noch lebten, gesammelt. 80 Prozent hatten im mittleren Alter von 4.2 Jahren eine Blasenkontrolle erlangt, aber 30.5 Prozent hatten noch mit sieben und 19 Prozent mit 20 Jahren eine Enkopresis. Volle Blasenkontrolle hatte 62.9 Prozent im Alter von sieben und 82.9 Prozent mit 20 Jahren erreicht. Die Autoren sind der Ansicht, daß die Befunde durch systematisches, angemessenes Sauberkeitstraining deutlich verbessert werden können. RESUMEN Desarrollo del control intestinal y vesical en el retrasado mental Para el retrasado mental el control intestinal y vesical son unos prerequisitos importantes para una vida independiente. Se hizo un estudio de estas funciones en un grupo de niños nacidos en la norte de Finlandia en 1966. Se obtuvieron datos relevantes hasta la edad de 20 años en 105 de un total de 132 niños con retraso mental (CI <70) que estaban vivos a esta edad. El 80 por ciento habian conseguido un control intestinal a una edad promedio de 4.2 años, pero un 30.5 por ciento eran todavia encopréticos a la edad de siete años y 19 por cien...

The body mass index (BMI) was calculated at the age of 20 for all the 132 survivors (83%) out of the 159 mentally retarded individuals born in 1966 in Northern Finland. Reliable information was acquired for 112 cases (848%). The mean BMI for these cases did not deviate significantly from that for an average Finnish population at age 20-29 years. It was found that 41"5% of the slightly retarded cases (IQ 35-70) and 28-6% of the seriously retarded ones (IQ<35) were of ideal weight (BMI 20-24), while 9-8% of all the retarded individuals were moderately obese (BMI>30) and 7-1% seriously so (BMIS32). Ninety-one per cent of the seriously obese cases lived with their parents and did not participate in any occupational therapy or work. A total of 29-5% of the mentally retarded subjects were underweight (BMI<20), a condition which would seem to be above all a problem for seriously retarded individuals and an obvious consequence of the different feeding and dietary problems connected with their multiple disabilities.

The study dealt with the level of and diurnal alterations in the concentration of tryptophan, free tryptophan and tyrosine in the blood plasma of 20 inhibited depression patients and 10 healthy controls. The results suggested that there was no distinct relationship between either the total plasma tryptophan or plasma tyrosine level and depression. On the other hand, the free plasma tryptophan level was, at all the times of day at which measurements were made, either significantly or almost significantly higher in the patients than in the controls. It was further found that the results of measurement were related to the patients' clinical improvement, as measured by the Hamilton test, in such a way that after four weeks of treatment the free plasma tryptophan level in 'poorly improved' patients continued to be significantly higher in comparison with the controls, whereas the values for the 'well improved' patient group did not differ greatly from the corresponding values for the control group any longer. It may be hypothesized that the rise in the free plasma tryptophan in depressive patients might represent an effort made by the peripheral body to compensate for the slowed-up serotonin metabolism of the brain, whereby the tryptophan mobilized from the periphery would serve as a sort of 'endogenous antidepressant' provided by the organism itself.

This paper deals with the prognosis of schizophrenic psychoses in Helsinki in 1950–1955, 1960–1965, 1965–1970, 1970–1975, and 1975–1980. The first 4 cohorts each include a sample of 100 patients taken in 1950, 1960, 1965, and 1970. The patients were admitted for the first time to a psychiatric hospital because of schizophrenic and paranoid psychoses. The 1975 material includes all (n = 94) first admissions for schizophrenia, fulfilling the DSM-III criteria of schizophrenia or schizophreniform psychosis.

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