Free Republic

Enlarge ImageAdaptive behavior? The huge variety in religious practice--including this shaman ritual in Ecuador--may be linked to infectious diseases.Credit: Reuters The same diseases that plague humanity may also drive one of the fundamental elements of human culture, a new study suggests. A statistical analysis shows an association between higher rates of infectious disease and religious diversity around the world. The findings have already sparked debate within the academic community; critics are questioning the validity of the interpretation, and supporters say that the finding could offer a new perspective on why religions exist and what role they play in society....

LONDON: One in five parliamentarians in Britain suffers from mental illness caused by the stress of their public lives, a confidential survey of MPs and peers has found. Those questioned said they feared disclosing their struggles because of stigma and discrimination. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health questionnaire was completed by 94 parliamentarians, 100 lords and 151 parliamentary staff. According to the survey, more than a quarter had a mental health issue, while 86 per cent of MPs said their job was stressful. The group's report is critical of the law forcing MPs to give up their seat for...

CASES The first thing I did after spending 23 hours in a sleep laboratory was to head for a Starbucks and have a mocha-plus-extra-shot. It was truly heady - I hadn't felt so alert in years. But over the next couple of weeks, I became obsessed with my lack of sleep. I thought I could hear myself snore, and I would lie awake at 5 a.m., wondering what had woken me up. The lab, at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, had diagnosed mild obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that blocks breathing and suppresses oxygen levels. In my case, the problem...

<p>Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is the psychiatric diagnosis by which a parent -- almost always a mother -- is believed to intentionally harm or kill a child in order to garner attention.</p> <p>Diagnosing a mother as having MSBP is a tool often used by the state to remove children from the care of the parent, terminate parental rights or in the case of a child's death, charge the parent with murder. Now, due to a raging scandal in Britain, that diagnosis is being discredited.</p>