Telling the truth to Asian patients in the hospital setting.

Full disclosure of health information to patients is considered important in Western culture, but may be less appropriate for patients from other cultures, particularly when conveying news about a diagnosis with a poor prognosis. This issue is becoming important in New Zealand, given the rapidly increasing ethnic diversity of patients presenting to our hospitals. This paper explores culturally appropriate ways of breaking bad news to patients of different ethnicities in the hospital setting, with emphasis on identifying the locus of decision-making within families and decision-making about end-of-life care.

2-Aminoquinoline melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH)1R antagonists.

A series of 2-aminoquinoline compounds was prepared and evaluated in MCH1R binding and functional antagonist assays. Small dialkyl, methylalkyl, methylcycloalkyl, and cyclic amines were tolerated at the quinoline 2-position. The in vivo efficacy of compound 12 was explored and compared to that of a related inactive analog to determine their effects on food intake and body weight in rodents.