Brain disordersâ€"neurological, psychiatric, and developmentalâ€"now affect at least 250 million people in the developing world, and this number is expected to rise as life expectancy increases. Yet public and private health systems in developing countries have paid relatively little attention to brain disorders. The negative attitudes, prejudice, and stigma that often surround many of these disorders have contributed to this neglect. Lacking proper diagnosis and treatment, millions of individual lives are lost to disability and death. Such conditions exact both personal and economic costs on families, communities, and nations. The report describes the causes and risk factors associated with brain disorders. It focuses on six representative brain disorders that are prevalent in developing countries: developmental disabilities, epilepsy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and stroke. The report makes detailed recommendations of ways to reduce the toll exacted by these six disorders. In broader strokes, the report also proposes six major strategies toward reducing the overall burden of brain disorders in the developing world.

Brain disordersâ€"neurological, psychiatric, and developmentalâ€"now affect at least 250 million people in the developing world, and this number is expected to rise as life expectancy increases. Yet public and private health systems in developing countries have paid relatively little attention to brain disorders. The negative attitudes, prejudice, and stigma that often surround many of these disorders have contributed to this neglect. Lacking proper diagnosis and treatment, millions of individual lives are lost to disability and death. Such conditions exact both personal and economic costs on families, communities, and nations. The report describes the causes and risk factors associated with brain disorders. It focuses on six representative brain disorders that are prevalent in developing countries: developmental disabilities, epilepsy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and stroke. The report makes detailed recommendations of ways to reduce the toll exacted by these six disorders. In broader strokes, the report also proposes six major strategies toward reducing the overall burden of brain disorders in the developing world.

Perspectives on the Classification of Specific Developmental Disorders is an up-to-date review of the controversy surrounding the classification of such disparate disorders as reading, spelling, writing, and language disorders. Severe and specific impairments in these functions do exist and appear to follow a developmental course. How to identify children presenting with such problems and how to operationalize the disorders has long challenged professionals. This text grew from an international symposium held in the Netherlands, but all chapters have been specially prepared for the publication. Described in the foreword by Sir Michael Rutter, FRS, as ` ... thoughtful and well informed discussions ... that may serve as a basis for a problem-solving set of both research strategies and practical steps that will ensure real resolutions of the dilemmas outlined here', the text should serve as a stimulating source for debate of the many issues involved.

First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The integration of behavioural and neurological research on childhood pathology is just one topic explored by this introduction to research on functional neurological organization and models of childhood psychopathology. Psychopathology is broadly defined, and the volume provides overviews of the exciting research being conducted on many psychiatric disorders including depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette's Syndrome, and selected developmental disorders such as mental retardation, autism, developmental language disorder and learning disabilities. This valuable resource provokes a reconsideration of our understanding of etiology and differential treatment.

Mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders have a substantial impact on global health and well-being. Disorders such as depression, alcohol abuse, and schizophrenia constitute about 13 percent of the total burden of disease. Worldwide, MNS disorders are the leading cause of disability, and the 10th leading cause of death. Despite this high burden, there is a significant shortage of resources available to prevent, diagnose, and treat MNS disorders. Approximately four out of five people with serious MNS disorders living in low- and middle-income countries do not receive needed health services. This treatment gap is particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Challenges to MNS care in SSA countries include a lack of trained mental health professionals, few mental health facilities, and low prioritization for MNS disorders in budget allocations. African countries, on average, have one psychiatrist for every 2 million people, whereas European countries have one psychiatrist per 12,000 people. Expanding on previous efforts to address the development and improvement of sustainable mental health systems in SSA, the Institute of Medicine convened this 2015 workshop series, bringing together key stakeholders to examine country-specific opportunities to improve the health care infrastructure in order to better prevent, diagnose, and treat MNS disorders. Providing Sustainable Mental and Neurological Health Care in Ghana and Kenya summarizes the presentations and discussions from these workshops.

This publication brings together five chapters from 'Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries' (2nd ed., 2006) (ISBN 9780821361795) along with an introduction and a conclusion by WHO. The chapters cover mental disorders, neurological disorders, learning and developmental disabilities, and alcohol and illicit opiate abuse. It considers the cost-effectiveness of interventions for these specific groups of disorders, with the aim of contributing to the reformulation of policies and programmes and the reallocation of resources, eventually leading to reduction of morbidity and mortality.

Colin Mathers who leads the Global Burden of Disease group in WHO has confirmed that, in the 2004 GBD, 13.1% of global Daily Adjusted Life Years are attributable to mental or neurological disorders. While the proportions vary very widely from about 10% in low income countries to over 25% in high income countries, it is clear that there is a need for understanding how to address this issue. This volume aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the public health principles of mental and neurological disorders. This vast range of health conditions affects people across the life course, from developmental disabilities in childhood, to schizophrenia and substance abuse in adults, and dementia in old age. Despite this diversity, they all share many features: they are mostly mediated through brain dysfunction or abnormalities, are often chronic in course, typically benefit from multi-component interventions, and are amongst the most neglected conditions in global health. The volume will bring together chapters from the Psychiatry, Neurology, Substance Abuse and Child Development sections of the Encyclopedia of Public Health. The volume will be the first comprehensive text on a public health approach to this diverse group of health conditions and has no obvious competitor. - Highlights the common features of many mental and neurological disorders - Provides insights into potential "cross-over" methods of identification and treatment - Includes chapters on the most frequently diagnosed mental and neurological challenges faced by public health systems

Considering that neurological and psychiatric illnesses do not still have efficient therapies and are becoming increasingly widespread, the search for novel targets appears fundamental. Neuroinflammation, alterations in adult neurogenesis and excitotoxicity, all associated with glutamate transmission dysfunction, are key components of the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric illnesses. Counteracting the neurotoxic actions of glutamate through the modulatory actions of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), represents a rational intervention that offers tolerability compatible with clinical therapy. Their suitability as targets for developing novel therapies is also based on the fact that mGluRs are found abundantly expressed in synapses of the central nervous system (CNS) that are considered critical in certain neurological and psychiatric disorders. Moreover, recently there has been an exponential development of selective ligands, especially positive and negative allosteric modulators, which by binding to less conserved transmembrane domain sequences ensure, besides a good permeability in the CNS, an adequate selectivity for each mGluR subtype. The eBook “Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors and Neurological/Psychiatric Disorders”, collects contributes (original and review articles) on the beneficial effects of positive and negative allosteric modulators of mGluRs in animal models of neurological and psychiatric diseases from renown experts in the field. The hope is that the effort of both Editors and Contributors of this eBook confirms the unlimited potential of mGluRs in CNS diseases and generate a collaborative discussion on the state of art, overall trends, novel strategies, and future direction of this attractive field of research.