Review & comment

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  Prehypertension: a CVD risk factor?

  Pascal Meier, Franz Messerli, Andreas Baumbach, Alexandra Lansky

  Pascal Meier and colleagues comment on a recent meta-analysis indicating that prehypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and discuss the implications of reclassifying hypertension ranges to incorporate prehypertensive patients. 

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  Similarities: MS and ME/CFS

  Gerwyn Morris, Michael Maes

  As multiple sclerosis (MS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) share many symptoms and neuro-immune characteristics, Gerwyn Morris and Michael Maes suggest that CFS should be considered as a neuro-immune disease and that MS patients may be susceptible to develop CFS symptoms.

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  Improving evidence-based psychiatry

  Klaas Wardenaar, Peter de Jonge

  Given the current challenges in psychiatric medicine, Klaas Wardenaar and Peter de Jonge argue that evidence-based diagnostic methods should be developed by using multimode analysis and modelling to assess heterogeneity across persons and symptoms over time, to accurately identify optimal homogeneous subgroups.

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  Inflammation in depression

  Michael Berk, Lana Williams, Felice Jacka, Adrienne O’Neil, Julie Pasco, Steven Moylan, Nicholas Allen, Amanda Stuart, Amie Hayley, Michelle Byrne, Michael Maes

  Depression is associated with a low-grade inflammatory response; Michael Berk and colleagues discuss the sources of inflammation, oxidative and nitrosative stress in depression and emphasize that these factors can be treated or prevented.

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  Benefits of extra rehabilitation

  Ann Parker, Robert Lord, Dale Needham

  Dale Needham and colleagues comment on results from a clinical trial showing that additional Saturday rehabilitation improves outcome in hospitalized patients, and discuss the motivational benefits of physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

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  The genetics of autoimmunity

  John Castiblanco, Mauricio Arcos-Burgos, Juan-Manuel Anaya

  Autoimmune diseases have complex etiology and are known to aggregate in families; Juan-Manuel Anaya and colleagues review the genetic components of autoimmunity and discuss the challenges associated with genetic analysis and disease prediction.