Several Controversial Areas to Be Addressed in Medical Update Series

Boston, the location of this year’s Institute on Psychiatric Services, is famous for its many historical sites, its thriving culture, its venerable academic institutions, its diverse cuisine, its indefatigable sporting teams and loyal fans, and of course its wealth of medical expertise.

With three top medical schools and a plethora of highly regarded teaching hospitals, Boston is one of the world leaders in medical teaching, research, and patient care. Given this medical culture, the institute’s medical update lecture series for 2003 will include outstanding speakers and topics of practical interest to mental health clinicians.

Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS; also known as chronic fatigue syndrome) is the topic of the first session, which will be led by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., on Wednesday, October 29, at 1:30 p.m. CFIDS affects the central nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and immune system, producing symptoms easily mistaken for disorders of mood or anxiety.

Komaroff, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, editor in chief and publisher for Harvard Health Publications, and senior physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is an award-winning investigator of this disorder. He will help meeting participants understand current ideas about the pathophysiology and treatment of CFIDS, including psychiatric aspects of the disease and conflicting recommendations regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of antidepressant treatment.

The preventive value of hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women has recently been questioned as a result of new data from the Women’s Health Initiative study. These data and the larger controversy will be reviewed by JoAnn E. Manson M.D., Dr.P.H., on Thursday, October 30, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Manson is chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Elizabeth F. Brigham Professor in Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School. She is known for her expertise as an epidemiologic investigator and for her interests in preventive medicine and women’s health. She was also voted one of the “top docs for women” in a 2001 Boston Magazine poll.

Later that day, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Ronald E. Kleinman, M.D., will make a presentation on the health risks of obesity. Kleinman is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, associate chief of the department of pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, and division chief of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. He is an outstanding teacher, is board certified in both pediatric gastroenterology and pediatric nutrition, and serves on the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital. His investigations of nutrition have addressed not only medical but also behavioral and emotional consequences of hunger and of complementary feeding.

The final speaker in the medical update series, Peter M. Wolsko, M.D., will discuss alternative and complementary medicine on Friday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Many clinicians are surprised to learn that patients in the United States make more visits to providers of alternative and complementary medicine services than to traditional primary care physicians.

Wolsko is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and serves on the staff of the Harvard Medical School Osher Institute and Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies. He will explore the growing popularity of alternative treatment approaches and their interfaces with conventional medical practices.

All of the medical update talks will take place on the third floor of the Marriott Copley Place Hotel. Sessions will include a 60-minute lecture and 30-minute discussion with the audience. ▪