Biomedical subjects

T Policastro

Publications and source records attributed to T Policastro.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Cognitive functioning in Gulf War Illness.

A comprehensive neuropsychological battery was administered to 48 veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI) characterized by severe fatigue (GV-F) and 39 healthy veterans (GV-H). Subjects were matched on intelligence and did not differ on age, gender, race, and alcohol consumption. Compared to GVs-H, GVs-F were significantly impaired on four tasks: three attention, concentration, information processing tasks and one measure of abstraction and conceptualization. After considering the presence of post-war Axis I psychopathology, GWI remained a significant predictor of cognitive performance on one of the attention, concentration, and information processing tasks and one abstraction and conceptualization measure. Performance on the remaining two attention, concentration, and information processing tasks was only significantly predicted by Axis I psychopathology with post-war onset. The results suggest that Gulf War Illness is associated with some aspects of cognitive dysfunction in Gulf Veterans, over and above the contribution of psychopathology.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Medical follow-up of Persian Gulf War Veterans with severe medically unexplained fatigue: a preliminary study.

An important question for researchers interested in long-term consequences of military service is the health outcome of symptomatic Persian Gulf War Veterans. From an original group of 76 Gulf War Veterans who received the diagnosis of severe fatiguing illness, we attempted to get 58 veterans to return to our center for a second evaluation. Thirteen returned. Two had recovered by the time of revisit, but the rest remained ill; however, only one was so ill as to be unable to work. The data suggest that the medical consequences of serving in the Persian Gulf are not transient. The difficulty in getting veterans to return to our center suggests potential problems in the proposed nation-wide longitudinal health outcome study of Persian Gulf War Veterans.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Stressors, personality traits, and coping of Gulf War veterans with chronic fatigue.

OBJECTIVES: preliminary surveys of Persian Gulf veterans revealed a significant prevalence of self-reported symptoms consistent with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The purpose of this study was to compare self-reported life stressors, combat, and chemical exposures, personality and coping between Gulf War veterans with CFS and healthy veterans. METHODS: following a complete physical, psychiatric, and neuropsychological evaluation, 45 healthy veterans, 35 veterans with CFS and co-morbid psychiatric disorder, and 23 veterans with CFS and no co-morbid psychiatric disorder completed questionnaires assessing war and non-war-related life stressors, self-reports of environmental exposure (e.g. oil well fires, pesticides), personality, and coping. RESULTS: measures of personality, self-reported combat and chemical exposures, and negative coping strategies significantly differentiated healthy veterans from those with CFS. CONCLUSION: a biopsychosocial model of veterans' illness was supported by the fact that personality, negative coping strategies, life stress after the war, and environmental exposures during the war were significant predictors of veterans' current physical function.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1999

Psychiatric diagnoses in Gulf War veterans with fatiguing illness.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether Gulf War Illness (GWI) can be explained by the presence of psychiatric disorders as assessed by DSM-III-R. To reduce the heterogeneity amongst Persian Gulf War veterans with GWI (PGV-F), only those were studied who presented with severe fatigue as a major complaint and also fulfilled clinical case definitions for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue, and/or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. A total of 95 Registry PGVs were examined; 53 presented with GWI and 42 did not report any post-war health problems (PGV-H). All subjects were assessed for the presence of DSM-III-R Axis I psychiatric disorders. Compared to PGV-Hs, 49% of PGV-Fs had similar post-war psychiatric profiles: either no, or only one, psychiatric disorder was diagnosed. Psychiatric profiles of the remaining 51% of PGV-Fs were significantly different from PGV-Hs in that most of these veterans suffered from multiple post-war psychiatric diagnoses. The presence of psychiatric disorders as assessed by DSM-III-R criteria cannot explain symptoms of Gulf War Illness among all Persian Gulf veterans with severe fatiguing illness.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Medical evaluation of Persian Gulf veterans with fatigue and/or chemical sensitivity.

The purpose of this study was to determine if Gulf War veterans with complaints of severe fatigue and/or chemical sensitivity (n = 72) fulfill case definitions for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and/or multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and to compare the characteristics of those veterans who received a diagnosis of CFS (n = 24) to a group of non-veterans diagnosed with CFS (n = 95). Thirty-three veterans received a diagnosis of CFS with 14 having MCS concurrently; an additional six had MCS but did not fulfill a case definition for CFS. The group of fatigued veterans receiving a diagnosis of CFS was comprised of significantly fewer women and fewer Caucasians than the civilian group, and significantly fewer veterans reported a sudden onset to their illness. Veterans with CFS had a milder form of the illness than their civilian counterparts based on medical examiner assessment of the severity of the symptoms, reported days of reduced activity, and ability to work. Since CFS in veterans seems less severe than that seen in civilians, the prognosis for recovery of veterans with this disorder may be better.

Environmental Exposure↗

PubMed1996

Randomized, double blind, controlled placebo-phase in trial of low dose phenelzine in the chronic fatigue syndrome.

Because of the striking similarity of the clinical manifestations produced by use of the drug reserpine and seen in patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we theorized that CFS was a disorder of reduced central sympathetic drive. Because of the pharmacology of control of this central sympathetic system, we further postulated that CFS symptoms would respond quickly to low dose treatment with a monamine oxidase inhibitor. To test these hypotheses, we designed a randomized, double blind placebo controlled study using phenelzine. No patient in the trial had a diagnosis of lifetime or current psychiatric disorder and none had depressed mood in the range of clinically depressed patients on a paper and pencil test of depression. Patients in the placebo group received placebo for 6 weeks while those in the drug treatment group were treated in three 2-week segments-placebo, 15 mg phenelzine every other day, and then 15 mg daily. This treatment regimen produced a significant pattern of improvement compared to worsening in 20 self report vehicles of CFS symptoms, illness severity, mood or functional status. Thus the data support our hypothesis of reduced sympathetic drive, although an alternative hypothesis of pain alleviation is also possible. The study design also allowed us to evaluate patients for a placebo effect: no evidence for this was found, suggesting that CFS is not an illness due to patients' being overly suggestible.

Adult↗