[The number of people living with diabetes continues to rise. Therefore neurologists or other health care practitioners may be increasingly faced with comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders commonly presented by diabetic patients. More recently there has been an increasing research interest not only in the interactions between diabetes and the nervous system, the fine structure and functional changes of the brain, but also in the cognitive aspects of antidiabetic treatments. Patients with both types of diabetes mellitus may show signs of cognitive decline, and depression. Comorbid insomnia, anxiety, and distress may also occur. The bi-directional relationships between all these phenomena as well as their connection with diabetes can lead to further health and quality of life deterioration. Therefore it is important that all practitioners involved in the care of diabetic patients recognize the presence of comorbid neuropsychiatric disturbances early on during the healthcare process. Identifying higher risk patients and early screening could improve the prognosis of diabetes and may prevent complications.]

[The brain is not only a central organ, but also a target of stress-related events. During chronic stress, many somatic and psychiatric disorders could be initiated by the decreased allostatic or adaptive abilities of the individual. The brain is involved in the regulation of stress-related events via hormones, neuropeptides, monoamines and cytokines. A number of endocrine diseases or hormonal changes are associated with behavioural, vegetative and emotional alterations, which occasionally lead to psychological disturbances, for example depression. The endocrine background is also reflected by the medical treatment of psychiatric patients, as demonstrated by the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, and estrogen or levothyroxine substitution therapies. The psychiatric disorders presented here, such as the various forms of depression and eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia nervosa) are highlighted because of their frequencies and lifethreatening nature. By describing these disorders, we wish to aid their early diagnosis and treatment and to help incorporate them into everyday clinical practice.]

[Although Hans Selye is mostly known for his discovery & development of the stress concept, he also introduced the first physiologically sound, structure-activity classification of steroids that was also based on the chemical structure of steroids in 1943. He not only introduced the names of glucocorticoids & mineralocorticoids but discovered the anti- & pro-inflammatory properties, respectively, of these steroids in animal models. Furthermore, he not only described the first stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats (1936) & characterized the first human ‘stress ulcers’ during the air-raids in London during World War II (1943). Thus, Selye was a much more productive & creative scientist than it is generally considered.]

[Glucocorticoid hormones may have dual action on the stomach: physiological gastroprotective and pathological proulcerogenic one. In physiological conditions, even in acute stress situations, glucocorticoids have an adaptive effect on the stomach and, therefore, are gastroprotective. The findings that we review in this article suggest that glucocorticoids released during acute stress are naturally occurring protective factors that play an important role in maintenance of the gastric mucosal integrity.]

[Our aim is to review the radiologic literature of lung cancer of 2004 and some remarkable publications from 2003. There are three main groups in the recent publications dealing with lung cancer’s radiology. The first group comprises those reviews and metaanalyses which focus on the overall utility and reliability of routinely applied modalities such as CT and MRI. In the second group we find original articles reporting on the experience with new modalities. This group is dominated by publications dealing with positron emission tomography and the first clinical results of combined PET-CT technology. In the third part we review those articles dealing with lung cancer screening. Radiological lung cancer screening is in the focus of interest again, mainly due to the introduction of low-dose CT which is undoubtadly the most sensitive radiological modality for the early detection of lesions, however, its clinical utility is debated. The papers referred are basically sceptic, but this is not the end, because controlled long term follow-up studies are still in progress. Part of the publications report on the first clinical results of new methods, while others give valuable additional data regarding the performance of “well established” radiological modalities.]