The music of war: Seven World War 1 composers and their experience of combat.

The effect of World War 1 military service on composers has been neglected in comparison with poets and artists. This article describes the wartime service of Arthur Bliss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ivor Gurney, EJ Moeran, Gordon Jacob, Patrick Hadley, and Maurice Ravel. The relationship between experiences of combat and the psychological health of these men is examined, with consideration being given to predisposition and possible causative influences of military service on their later careers, examined from individual and societal perspectives.

The Wesselhoefts: A medical dynasty from the age of Goethe to the era of nuclear medicine.

For six generations, members of the Wesselhoeft family have practiced medicine in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada and/or the USA. In the early decades of the 19th century, two Wesselhoeft brothers left Europe to eventually settle in New England, where they and their progeny gave rise to a regional medical dynasty. The Wesselhoeft doctors became well-known practitioners of homeopathy, hydropathy, conventional medicine and surgery, in academic and general clinical settings.

Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919): Psychiatric hospitalization and the abduction of an American landscape artist.

Ralph Blakelock was a leading American landscape painter. Much of his life was lived in obscurity and destitution. He developed late onset paranoid schizophrenia, resulting in prolonged hospitalization.

Escitalopram in specific phobia: results of a placebo-controlled pilot trial.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of escitalopram in treating specific phobia.

Method: The study was performed in an academic medical center. Adults meeting DSM-IV criteria for specific phobia were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with escitalopram or placebo.

Post-traumatic stress disorder: an evaluation of existing pharmacotherapies and new strategies.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often a chronic and disabling anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a traumatic event. Researchers have demonstrated efficacy for both pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions in the treatment of PTSD. First-line pharmacotherapeutic options are the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and serotonin noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitors.

Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Extracts of Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) are widely used for the treatment of depression of varying severity. Their efficacy in major depressive disorder, however, has not been conclusively demonstrated.

Objective: To test the efficacy and safety of a well-characterized H perforatum extract (LI-160) in major depressive disorder.