RESUMEN
Canada is a relatively young, geographically-diverse country, with a larger proportion of the population aged over 65 than under 15. Increasing alongside the number of ageing Canadians is the number of older adults that live with mental health challenges. Across the life course, one in five Canadians will experience a mental health disorder with many more living with subclinical symptoms. For these individuals, their lived experience may be directly impacted by the contemporary laws and policies governing mental illness. Examining and reviewing the historical context of mental health and older adults, we provide insights into the evolving landscape of Canadian mental health law and policy, paternalistic roots in the infancy of the country, into modern foci on equity and diversity. Progressing in parallel to changes in mental health policy has been the advancement of mental health research, particularly through longitudinal studies of ageing. Although acting through different mechanisms, the evolution of Canadian mental health law, policy, and research has had, and continues to have, considerable impacts on the substantial proportion of Canadians living with mental health challenges.
RESUMEN
The CHARGE (coloboma, heart defects, atresia, retardation, genital, ear) syndrome is a genetic disease characterized by ocular coloboma, choanal atresia or stenosis and semicircular canal abnormalities. Most of the patients clinically diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome have mutations in chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 7 (CHD7) gene. The CHD7 gene is located on chromosome 8q12.1, and up to now, there are more than 500 pathogenic mutations identified in the literature. We report two patients diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome with two novel mutations in the CHD7 gene: the first patient has double consecutive novel mutations in three adjacent codons, and the other has a novel insertion.
