Depression among physicians working in public healthcare in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Purpose: Prevalence of depressive disorders has been reported among physicians in a number of different settings. The aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of self-reported depression and its associated factors among physicians working in the public healthcare system of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2009 to investigate individual and occupational dimensions of depressive disorders in a group of physicians working at several municipal healthcare units.

Melancholic features related to rimonabant.

Introduction: Obesity is currently considered a global epidemic and its prevention and treatment is a major public health concern, demanding treatment which may combine a sociocultural approach, lifestyle modification, nutritional, pharmacological or surgical strategies. Rimonabant, an endocannabinoid antagonist, has been proposed as an agent for an average weight loss of 4 kg. However, the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms can be major side effects.

Ziprasidone-related oculogyric crisis in an adult.

Introduction: Drug-induced dyskinesias are common side-effects of first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) but are not usually related to second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). Oculogyric crisis (OGC) is a disabling acute dystonia that affects extra-ocular muscles usually resulting in an upward deviation of the eyes, which lasts from minutes to hours.

Case Report: We describe an adult patient, previously exposed to an FGA, who developed OGC on 80mg/day of ziprasidone.

Borderline personality features possibly related to cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices dysfunction due to schizencephaly.

Prefrontal cortex dysfunction has been associated with a series of behavioral symptoms, such as impulsivity and affective instability, which are the defining features of several personality disorders, notably, borderline personality disorder. We report on a 27-year-old patient with schizencephaly in the right frontal lobe (cingulate cortex lesion and secondary orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction) presenting with prominent borderline features and compromise of executive functions, decision-making and attention. We hypothesize that the personality disorder of our patient could be related to cingulate cortex lesion and secondary orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction associated with schizencephaly.

[Labor process and workers' health in charcoal production in Minas Gerais, Brazil].

This study is a tentative approach to the relationship between environmental and occupational health and development in a specific situation: charcoal production in the Jequitinhonha Valley, the poorest region in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study focuses on the labor process, involving heavy exploitation, hazardous working conditions, and extremely precarious living conditions. Working conditions and activities are described and related to the workers' health situation.