Spanish health district tests a new public-private mix.

With public health systems facing shrinking budgets, in part due to the global financial crisis, governments are looking at new ways to make the most of limited resources. A handful of Spanish health districts are taking the lead. Mireia Bes reports from Valencia.

COMT polymorphisms in impulsively violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

Objective: The relationship between catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms and violent behaviour was tested in highly selected group of non-psychotic violent offenders.

Methods: We conducted an association study comparing 47 male repeatedly sentenced for impulsive violent attacks diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) with 43 healthy male controls matched on education. Three COMT polymorphisms were analysed: COMT Val158Met and COMT Ala146Val on exon 4, and untranslated polymorphism on the 6th exon, at the regulatory region of the COMT gene with deletion-insertion character del/C.

Europe puts health claims to the test.

For the past two decades food manufacturers have grown fat selling “functional foods” that claim to make you healthier. Now regulators in Europe are asking manufacturers to provide scientific evidence to support those claims. Mireia Bes reports.

Public tensions, private woes in Chile.

In 1981 Chilean health-care insurance was partially privatized to offer more choice to those who could afford it. Twenty-seven years later the government is struggling with the resulting inequities. Mireia Bes reports.