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MP Speaks Out Over Libel Threat To Scientific Debate
The MP Evan Harris is among a group of leading academics, publishers, journalists, performers, clinicians, and scientists backing science writer Simon Singh in his application to appeal against a libel judgment in the High Court today.

Kennedy's Absence Felt As Health Reform Push Intensifies
Congressional Democrats seeking leadership are feeling Sen. Edward Kennedy"s absence in the looming health care reform debate as he continues his battle with brain cancer, and struggles to return to Washington, The New York Times reports.
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Future Of Antiabortion-Rights Movement Uncertain In Wake Of Tiller Murder
The antiabortion-rights movement"s presence in Wichita, Kan., faces an uncertain future as its leaders re-examine their strategy after the shooting death of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Wichita has been a center for the antiabortion-rights movement for almost two decades primarily because of the location of Tiller"s clinic, which is one of the few in the U.S. that performs abortions later in pregnancy. Most notably, thousands of protesters converged on the city in the summer of 1991, known as the "Summer of Mercy," and the city is known as a "hot spot" for groups opposed to abortion rights, the Times reports. Antiabortion-rights group Operation Rescue moved its headquarters to Wichita to focus on Tiller"s clinic, and there are five other operations in the city aimed at discouraging women from having abortions. However, many groups are concerned that interest in the antiabortion-rights movement and donations in support of the cause will drop without the presence of Tiller and his patients. Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, said that he does not "know what the future holds" and that it is "too early to say what comes next" for the movement. He added that Scott Roeder, the man charged with Tiller"s murder, "did more to damage the pro-life movement than you can imagine."According to the Times, the antiabortion-rights movement is facing increasing backlash related to the murder, with some abortion-rights supporters saying that abortion-rights opponents" inflammatory rhetoric helped incite the violence. Mark Gietzen, president of the Kansas Coalition for Life, said that there also is disagreement among antiabortion-rights groups over whether their leaders should have issued statements condemning the murder. Tiller"s clinic currently is closed, and no patients are being given appointments, although his family said in a recent statement that it would like to continue his work, according to the Times. David Gittrich, development director of Kansans for Life, said that although Tiller"s murder will "change things in the pro-life movement ... until abortion is illegal, unthinkable and unacceptable, there"s going to be plenty of things for pro-lifers to do" (Davey, New York Times, 6/8).Justice Department Launches Federal Probe of Murder Meanwhile, the Department of Justice on Friday began a federal investigation into Tiller"s murder and is seeking to determine whether more than one person was involved in the shooting, the Times reports. Federal officials will review evidence and look into possible violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, according to DOJ. The investigation will be conducted alongside Kansas" murder prosecution. A DOJ spokesperson would not comment on whether the investigation would affect the jurisdiction in which Roeder is eventually tried (Cullotta, New York Times, 6/6).Abortion Providers, Advocates Respond to Comments from Suspect In related news, abortion-rights providers and advocates responded to Roeder"s recent comments implying that more violence against abortion providers is planned, the AP/Google.com reports. In an interview with the Associated Press, Roeder said that there are "many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal." Roeder refused to elaborate on his statement, and law enforcement officials said that they are not sure if his statement is legitimate. LeRoy Carhart, an abortion provider who practiced at Tiller"s clinic, noted that Tiller was not the first abortion provider to be murdered, adding, "There is more than one lunatic running loose in this country that can be influenced by the religious rhetoric." Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she believes it is "imperative for anti-choice groups to tone down that rhetoric and keep the more extreme elements in their movement from copying" Roeder (Hegeman, AP/Google.com, 6/8).NPR Examines FACE Act, Antiabortion ViolenceNPR"s "Morning Edition" on Friday examined th
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Insight Into Early Schizophrenia May Aid Understanding Of Disease Development, Diagnosis And Treatment

Significant and widespread cognitive problems appear to exist in schizophrenia in its earliest phase, making it very hard for people with the disorder to work, study or be social, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. Understanding the early and central role of cognitive problems may help clinicians to more accurately diagnose incipient schizophrenia by telling it apart from other neuropsychiatric disorders that also have cognitive problems, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It could also allow them to provide more appropriate treatment. Combining schizophrenia"s cognitive warning signs with family history and signs of worsening daily functioning may also aid early diagnosis. Should improved early treatments become available, early diagnosis could make it possible to ease or even prevent these problems. These were among the conclusions of a meta-analysis conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. The researchers examined 47 previously published, peer-reviewed studies of first-episode schizophrenia that involved 43 separate samples comprising 2,204 patients and 2,775 largely age- and gender-matched control participants. Results of this new analysis appear in the May issue of Neuropsychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association. The psychologists sorted the studies" collective findings into10 areas of neurocognition, including general cognitive ability, attention, memory, and various verbal, motor and visuospatial skills. Among their main findings: * In the very first episode of schizophrenia, cognitive problems were already broad and serious. Early impairment approached or matched the severity of problems seen in patients who had been sick for a while. * People experiencing their first episode of schizophrenia had significantly worse performance on all cognitive measures than healthy controls who were largely matched for gender and age. * Patients struggled the most with processing speed and with verbal learning and memory, especially when encoding information. Although many psychiatric and neurological illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, affect processing speed, schizophrenia seems to disrupt it more profoundly. * Measured IQ and other cognitive abilities dropped the most between the high-risk period just before symptoms appear and the first acute phases. After that, these cognitive abilities were stable. This cognitive pattern, when combined with other signs such as clinical symptoms and family history, could suggest a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The first episode of schizophrenia, which is typically in the late teens or early 20s, brings "a sense of tremendous terror, trauma and shock, along with prominent cognitive disorganization, increasingly compelling unusual and/or paranoid thoughts, altered perceptions, and loss of insight," according to lead co-authors Raquelle Mesholam-Gately, PhD, and Anthony Giuliano, PhD. Popular images of schizophrenia focus on its auditory and visual hallucinations, and strange or distressing behaviors. However, as the authors noted, people with schizophrenia have experienced a high-risk period for a few months to two years before illness sets in, showing increased problems with daily living that foreshadow full-blown illness. Early intervention for cognitive problems might lessen their intensity and duration, allowing for a better prognosis, lower relapse rates, and better preservation of cognitive and social skills, and of family and social supports, according to the authors. The high-risk, or "prodromal," period is now a focal point for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Cognitive testing could also be useful for older children who have a family history of schizophrenia and emerging clinical symptoms. Doctors viewing cognitive impairments in a vacuum might think of something like ADHD, but the researchers said the new findings play up the importance of family history (schizophrenia has a genetic component) and better characterization of clinical or behavioral symptoms, especially around the age of peak risk. At this time, there are no effective treatments for cognitive problems in schizophrenia. In the United States, the National Institute of Mental Health recently sponsored two nationwide initiatives to develop assessment standards for cognition in schizophrenia and to evaluate medicines that may potentially treat its cognitive problems. They are called Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia, or MATRICS, and Treatment Units for Research on Neurocognition and Schizophrenia, or TURNS. Article: "Neurocognition in First-Episode Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analytic Review," Raquelle I. Mesholam-Gately, PhD, and Anthony J. Giuliano, PhD; Kirsten P. Goff, PhD, Harvard Medical School and Private Practice, Kentfield, California; Stephen V. Faraone, PhD, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Larry J. Seidman, PhD, Harvard Medical School; Neuropsychology, Vol. 23, No. 3. http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/neu233315.pdf Public Affairs American Psychological Association


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