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Biomedical subjects

A Bleich

Publications and source records attributed to A Bleich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Event-related potentials in post-traumatic stress disorder of combat origin.

Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) of primary interest in this study of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were N1, N2, P2, and P3. Forty Israeli combat veterans consisting of 20 PTSD sufferers and 20 normal controls were evaluated. ERPs were recorded in response to three sets of computer-generated visual stimuli, presented in the form of a modified oddball paradigm. These stimuli included: domestic animal pictures (targets), emotionally neutral pictures of furnishings (nontargets), and combat-related pictures (nontarget probes). Subjects were required to discriminate between target and nontarget stimuli by pressing a button in response to target stimuli only. Subjects were instructed to ignore all nontarget stimuli. As expected, target stimuli evoked accentuated P3 amplitudes in both controls and PTSD patients. The nontarget combat-related pictures elicited enhanced P3 and N1 amplitudes in the PTSD patients only. N2 amplitudes were accentuated in PTSD patients for both targets and combat-related pictures. P3 latencies and reaction times to target stimuli were prolonged in PTSD patients. The same tendency was observed for N1 latencies. These results may indicate that an altered state of early and late cognitive selective attention processing exists in PTSD patients in addition to a vulnerability to traumatic reminiscences.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Pruritus due to obstructive jaundice, with delusions of parasitosis].

A wide range of nonpsychiatric medical conditions can cause delusions. We present a 62-year-man with pruritus due to obstructive jaundice, who developed delusions of parasitosis, which he considered to be the reason for his pruritus++. The holistic approach to diagnosis and treatment of this combined disorder is important.

Cholestasis↗
PubMed1996

Effects of stressful stimuli: a comparison between two time periods.

Studies of the effects of stressful stimuli that occurred sometime in the past have generally found both intrusion and avoidance as consequences. The present investigation used Horowitz et al.'s (1979) Impact of Events Scale to compare the responses of victims who had been recently evacuated to a hotel after a missile attack on their home with a similar group one year later. Although during the attacks intrusion responses were found to be significantly higher than avoidance, the means on the two mental states did not differ significantly one year after. In addition, intrusion was found to be more highly correlated with several functioning measures; this latter trend becoming more pronounced at Time 2. Implications of the findings and limitations of the study were mentioned.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Seven-year follow-up of child survivors of a bus-train collision.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the long-term effects of a traumatic bus-train collision and to examine the effect of levels of exposure and immediate reactions on long-term adjustment. METHOD: Seven years after the accident, 389 subjects, all doing compulsory army service, filled out self-report questionnaires assessing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychiatric symptomatology, and military functioning. In addition, subjects were questioned about their immediate reactions to the traumatic event. RESULTS: The most highly exposed subjects reported the highest levels of somatization, depression, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism and more PTSD symptoms. Acute stress symptoms and manifestations of fear immediately after the accident were strongly related to long-term maladjustment CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the investigation and assessment of long-term adjustment after traumatic events should take into account both contextual factors, such as the level of exposure to the event, and personal factors, such as the victims' immediate reactions.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1996

Classification of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder using visual brain evoked P3s to traumatic stimuli.

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically involves a re-experiencing of traumatic events. In a previous P3 study it was found that PTSD patients react both selectively and involuntarily to combat-related pictures, exhibiting augmented P3 event-related potentials and thus providing a brain activity measure. The clinical application of these findings in differentiating PTSD patients from controls was tested. METHOD: Twenty Israeli combat veterans suffering from PTSD and 20 age-matched veterans without PTSD were evaluated. P3 potentials were recorded at Pz and Cz in response to visual motor-task target stimuli (pictures of domestic animals), non-target probe stimuli (combat-related pictures), and non-target irrelevant stimuli (pictures of furnishings and flowers). RESULTS: Using the Fisher Linear Discrimination Method the P3 measures correctly classified 90% of the PTSD patients and 85% of the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Visual P3s recorded in response to combat-related pictorial stimuli may introduce an efficient tool for studying higher brain activity in PTSD, complementing other behavioural and psychophysiological measurements.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Possible relationship between psychological stress and bleeding erosive upper gastrointestinal lesions].

The development of gastric and/or duodenal erosive lesions with bleeding is often related to an identified pathogenic factor such as the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or alcohol. Extreme physiologic stress has also been shown to cause similar erosive lesions, known as "stress ulcer syndrome." We describe a 42-year-old woman, who over the course of a few months had 6 episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to various gastroduodenal erosive lesions. Prior to all these episodes she reported anxiety and stress of varied origins, but no other pathogenic factor was identified.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Changes of brain anatomy in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: a pilot magnetic resonance imaging study.

No abnormalities in magnetic resonance images were recorded in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder other than an increased incidence (50%) of a small cleft in the callosal-septal interface, a cavum of the septum pellucidum. A similar grade of cavum was obtained in 14% of normal volunteers matched for age, socioeconomic background, and military experience. The cavum is believed to have antedated the disorder and is conceived to be a neurodevelopmental aberration. The possibility that the cavum is a marker of vulnerability to stress in psychopathology is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

A nested case-control study of mammographic patterns, breast volume, and breast cancer (New York City, NY, United States).

The relations of Wolfe mammographic patterns, quantitative mammographic densities, and mammographically estimated breast size to breast cancer risk were investigated prospectively in a case-control study nested in the New York University Women's Health Study, a cohort of 14,291 women in New York City, NY (United States). The archived mammograms of 197 breast cancer cases who were identified during the first 5.5 years of the study and of 521 individually matched controls from the same cohort were retrieved and classified according to Wolfe parenchymal patterns and mammographic densities by two expert radiologists. Breast size and volume were estimated on the mammogram's cranio-caudal projection. In both premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects, the risk of breast cancer increased progressively with increasing density and percent density area. A significantly increased risk was found also for Wolfe pattern DY in premenopausal women and P2 pattern in postmenopausal subjects. In premenopausal women, mammographically determined breast volume and breast height also were associated positively with breast cancer risk. Although the results of the present study confirmed that mammographic parenchymal patterns and densities were important predictors of breast cancer risk, their practical use in screening seems limited due to the high prevalence of high risk patterns.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Psychological profile of help-seeking and non-help-seeking tinnitus patients.

The psychological profile of tinnitus patients who sought treatment (Help-Seeking, HS) was compared with that of patients who did not seek help (non-help-seeking, NHS) and with normal control subjects. Psychological evaluations as well as hearing, tinnitus loudness, and tinnitus pitch were measured. Overall, the psychiatric symptomatology of HS (n = 50) was more severe with poorer effective coping abilities and externalization of locus of control than NHS (n - 50). However, the psychiatric symptomatology of the NHS was remarkably more severe than that in the normals (n = 73) and more like that in the HS even though they did not turn to treatment. Tinnitus loudness was significantly lower in HS than in NHS subjects. The lower the tinnitus loudness, the higher the psychiatric symptomatology. The trend towards subclinical abnormalities in NHS indicates their vulnerability to pathology and this requires the attention of the therapist in order to increase the patient's self-awareness and to suggest preventive coping strategies or relaxation techniques.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

[Implication of compensation in recovery from combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorder].

The effect of compensation payment on long-term adjustment of soldiers with war-induced psychic trauma was studied. 2 groups of combat stress reaction casualties of the 1982 Lebanon War were examined: 109 casualties had been recognized by the Ministry of Defence as eligible for benefits, while 111 casualties had not applied for compensation benefits. Data were collected from their IDF medical charts and computerized personal records, from clinical data collected by IDF clinicians, and by mail and telephone surveys. Results indicated that the groups were quite similar in social functioning before the war. However, in those compensated there was more distress and impaired functioning following the war and at follow-up. The role of compensation in recovery from war-induced psychic trauma is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

[Psycho-neuro-physiological assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder using event-related potentials].

To evaluate certain aspects of cognitive processing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), brain event-related potentials, primarily P300, to traumatic stimuli were recorded. 20 Israeli veterans with PTSD of combat origin and matched controls were studied. In a modification of the oddball paradigm, subjects were asked to react to target pictures of traumatic combat-related subjects while ignoring non-target pictures of irrelevant subjects. PTSD patients reacted with an accentuated P300 and prolonged reaction times to the traumatic pictures. In addition, P300 and reaction times to the target pictures were prolonged in PTSD patients as compared to controls. Event-related potentials (P300) to traumatic stimuli can serve as an objective and accurate brain parameter for characterization and diagnosis of PTSD. In addition, it contributes to understanding the pathogenesis of PTSD as a specific impairment in information processing.

Brain↗
PubMed1994

[Psychiatric morbidity following psychic trauma of combat origin].

Psychiatric morbidity following trauma of combat origin was studied in 60 Israeli veterans who applied for treatment 4-6 years after the war in Lebanon. Diagnostic tools were structured interviews for psychiatric disorders. In all subjects multiple psychiatric disorders had been diagnosed, most of which developed following the traumatic experience. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the most prevalent condition (100%-ever; 87%-present). Comorbidity included major depression with a very high prevalence (95%-ever; 50%-present) and anxiety disorders: phobic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks and generalized anxiety (prevalence range 12-25%-ever and 8-18%-present). The prevalence of minor affective disorders (specifically alcoholism or drug abuse) was considerably less. These findings suggest a possible link between PTSD and depressive and anxiety disorders, beyond a mere sharing of common symptoms. They also support the diagnostic validity of PTSD as an independent nosologic category. In addition, the lack of specific pharmacotherapy for PTSD on the one hand and the high prevalence of depressive and anxiety comorbidity on the other, support a special focus on antidepressive and anxiolytic medication for PTSD.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1994

Compensation and psychic trauma: a study of Israeli combat veterans.

The precursors and outcomes of compensation-seeking in Israeli war psychiatric casualties were examined. Findings suggest that compensation was sought by veterans who had experienced the most severe traumas and had subsequently developed the most severe symptoms and functional limitations. Reported range and severity of symptoms and functional limitations did not diminish with compensation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

[Secondary traumatization among wives of soldiers with combat stress reaction].

While the long-term effects of war-related psychic trauma on veterans have been studied extensively, the impact of the results of the trauma on wives has received only minimal attention. The implications of combat-induced stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder were examined in a sample of 212 wives of Israeli veterans of the 1982 Lebanon War. Both types of reaction in husbands were found to be associated with increased psychiatric and somatic symptoms in their wives.

Combat Disorders↗
PubMed1993

Death without warning? A clinical postmortem study of suicide in 43 Israeli adolescent males.

Forty-three consecutive Israeli male suicides, 18 to 21 years of age, that occurred during compulsory military service were studied using preinduction assessment data, service records, and extensive postmortem interviews with family and peers. At preinduction, subjects, as a group, appeared above average in intelligence, physical fitness, and measures predictive of successful adaptation to military service. Active duty performance was generally satisfactory. Ascertained post mortem, 53.5% met formal criteria for major depressive disorder; most cases, however, appeared recent and reactive. Narcissistic and/or schizoid traits were common. Substance abuse was absent and antisocial personality disorder was rare (4.7%). Furthermore, in eight patients (18.6%) no Axis I diagnosis could be made; half of these also lacked any significant Axis II pathology. These findings, at partial variance with US studies, suggest a complex relationship between suicide and mental disorder. The striking failure of intensive screening and preventive measures to prevent these suicides highlights unresolved questions of etiology and intervention.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

An epidemiologic study of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome in Israel.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to estimate the lifetime prevalence of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) in adolescents aged 16 to 17 years. DESIGN: Population-based epidemiologic study. SUBJECTS: Eighteen thousand three hundred sixty-four males and 9673 females aged 16 to 17 years screened for induction into the Israel Defense Force. RESULTS: Of the 28,037 individuals screened, 12 met diagnostic criteria for GTS. The point prevalence in this population was 4.3 +/- 1.2 (mean +/- SE) per 10,000. The 95% confidence interval for this estimate is 1.9 to 6.7 per 10,000. The point prevalence was 4.9 +/- 1.6 per 10,000 for males (95% confidence interval, 1.8 per 10,000) and 3.1 +/- 1.8 per 10,000 for females (95% confidence interval, 0 to 6.6 per 10,000). The rate of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was significantly elevated among the subjects with GTS (41.7%) compared with the population point prevalence of OCD (3.4) in those without GTS. In contrast, the rate of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was only 8.3% compared with the population point prevalence of 3.9% in those individuals without GTS. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence estimates from this population-based study are in agreement with previous results based on surveys of younger children. The sex ratio observed in this study is not as large as reported in previous studies and remains to be explored in other studies of adolescents and adults.

Adolescent↗