Adverse psychological effects and costs associated with waiting for radiofrequency ablation.

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is undertaken as a potentially curative treatment for a variety of heart rhythm disturbances. Previous studies have demonstrated improved quality of life and reduced symptoms after ablation. In many health care environments waiting lists exist for scheduling of procedures.

How do partners find out about the risk of Huntington's disease in couple relationships?

Whilst a growing body of work has explored family communication about Huntington's disease and how at-risk individuals learn about their risk, the experience of telling a partner and partners' experiences of finding out about this potentially devastating hereditary illness have received little attention. This study describes the experiences of partners in finding out about Huntington's disease and any impact on couple's relationships/marriages. We undertook a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews which explored the dynamics of partners' marriages after predictive testing and partners' views of genetic counseling.

The costs of conflict: meeting the mental health needs of serving personnel and service veterans.

Military mental health has, until recently, been a neglected and marginalized area of interest and although both World Wars saw important advances, in peacetime we typically forget lessons learned in earlier conflicts. Since 2003 however, with high intensity war-fighting on two fronts involving the service personnel of many nations, attention has, once again focused on the immediate and long-term emotional and psychological impact of combat. Whilst we know a lot about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), much less attention has been paid to a variety of other equally, if not more salient yet superficially less dramatic problems facing service personnel deployed on operations, but which are much more likely to lead to mental disorder than traumatic events and the 'horrors of war'.

The mind continues to matter: psychologic and physical recovery 5 years after musculoskeletal trauma.

Objectives: Posttraumatic psychopathology may complicate recovery from musculoskeletal injury. This article details the 5-year follow-up of a cohort study examining the relationship between posttraumatic psychopathology and recovery after musculoskeletal trauma.

Design: A prospective cohort study of patients with musculoskeletal injuries (Grampian Trauma Outcomes Study) assessed 5 years after their injury.

First responders after disasters: a review of stress reactions, at-risk, vulnerability, and resilience factors.

Disasters are widely reported, commonplace events that characteristically leave an enormous legacy of human suffering through death, injury, extensive infrastructural damage, and disorganization to systems and communities. The economic costs may be almost incalculable. Professional and civilian first responders play a vital role in mitigating these effects.

Proinflammatory markers in prediction of posttraumatic psychological symptoms: a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Posttraumatic psychopathology (PTP) describes the spectrum of conditions that can complicate the recovery from commonly occurring musculoskeletal trauma. There is a clear association with the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA), and we wished to examine the predictive value of proinflammatory markers of the HPAA and of the GABA, which acts as an inhibitory regulator.

Methods: Levels of proinflammatory markers and GABA were measured in 84 patients who had suffered musculoskeletal injuries requiring hospitalisation.

Children, resilience and disasters: recent evidence that should influence a model of psychosocial care.

Purpose Of Review: This paper draws on articles and chapters published mainly in 2006 and 2007 to identify implications for designing sustainable programmes of psychosocial care for children and young people who are affected by disasters and terrorism.

Recent Findings: Recent research confirms previous knowledge that most children and young people are resilient, but also very vulnerable to the psychosocial effects of disasters. Most children are distressed in the immediate aftermath when they gain their sense of safety from adults, predictable routines and consistent support systems.

The psychological and psychosocial impact of the Pakistan Kashmir earthquake after 8 months: a preliminary evaluation by PACTT.

Natural disasters are complex events that challenge the coping abilities of individuals and communities (Alexander, 2005). They are characterised by substantial loss, physical injury and economic hardship, as well as by extensive internal displacement and damage to the infrastructure, as exemplified by the Pakistan Kashmir earthquake of 8 October 2005. Measuring 7.

The mind does matter: Psychological and physical recovery after musculoskeletal trauma.

Background: Posttraumatic psychopathology (PTP) is important to the orthopedic surgeon because it appears to be much more common than might have been suspected and may complicate the recovery from musculoskeletal injury. We have investigated the relationship between physical and psychological recovery in victims of musculoskeletal trauma.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 200 patients with musculoskeletal injuries were studied, correlating development of psychopathology (measured by the General Health Questionnaire) and functional outcome (measured by Short Form-36, Sickness Impact Profile, and Musculoskeletal Function Assessment) 2 and 6 months after their injuries.

Recovery after musculoskeletal trauma in men and women.

Background: Recent work has suggested that women are more at risk of impaired outcome after traumatic injuries. This would suggest that resources should be targeted at female trauma patients to optimize their outcomes. We wished to explore the physical and psychological outcomes of women treated in our trauma unit.

Enterovirus 70 binds to different glycoconjugates containing alpha2,3-linked sialic acid on different cell lines.

Enterovirus 70 (EV70), the causative agent of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, exhibits a restricted tropism for conjunctival and corneal cells in vivo but infects a wide spectrum of mammalian cells in culture. Previously, we demonstrated that human CD55 is a receptor for EV70 on HeLa cells but that EV70 also binds to sialic acid-containing receptors on a variety of other human cell lines. Virus recognition of sialic acid attached to underlying glycans by a particular glycosidic linkage may contribute to host range, tissue tropism, and pathogenesis.

Binding to decay-accelerating factor is not required for infection of human leukocyte cell lines by enterovirus 70.

Enterovirus 70 (EV70) is one of several human enteroviruses that exhibit a propensity for infecting the central nervous system (CNS). The mechanisms by which neurotropic enteroviruses gain access to and invade the CNS are poorly understood. One possibility is that circulating leukocytes become infected and carry neurotropic enteroviruses to the CNS.

Biochemical terrorism: too awful to contemplate, too serious to ignore: subjective literature review.

Background: It is important not to foster unnecessary public anxiety with regard to the risk of a biochemical terrorist incident, but the authorities need to consider their response strategy, particularly with regard to mental health issues.

Aims: To describe the likely effects of a terrorist incident involving biochemical agents and to identify important response issues.

Method: Literature survey.

Dealing with violent and aggressive patients: at what cost to nurses?

Objectives: To determine the attitudes and experiences of nursing staff in relation to violent and aggressive patients.

Method: A self-administered questionnaire booklet was distributed to 289 nursing staff working in 'high-risk' units within two NHS Trusts. In addition to assessing the frequency of violent incidents, the degree of burnout and post-traumatic symptoms experienced were assessed by the inclusion of two standardised measures in the survey, viz, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised respectively.

Survivors of the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster: long-term follow-up study.

Background: The long-term psychological effects of surviving a major disaster are poorly understood. We undertook a survey of survivors of the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster (1988).

Aims: To examine the role of factors relating to the trauma, the survivors and the survivors' circumstances.

Sialic acid functions in enterovirus 70 binding and infection.

The interaction of viruses with host cell receptors is the initial step in viral infection and is an important determinant of virus host range, tissue tropism, and pathogenesis. The complement regulatory protein decay-accelerating factor (DAF/CD55) is an attachment receptor for enterovirus 70 (EV70), a member of the Picornaviridae, commonly associated with an eye infection in humans known as acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis. In early work, the EV70 receptor on erythrocytes, responsible for its hemagglutinating activity, was shown to be sensitive to neuraminidase, implying an essential role for sialic acid in virus attachment.

An evaluation of patient satisfaction with an information leaflet for trauma survivors.

A new leaflet that provided information about posttraumatic reactions and how to deal with them was distributed within 14 days of attendance at the Accident and Emergency Department (ED), Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, to a heterogeneous sample of trauma patients (N = 222). An evaluation form to assess satisfaction with the leaflet was also mailed with the leaflet. A sample of 98 (44%) of the initial patient group responded, and 96% of them reported the leaflet as either very helpful or helpful.

The psychiatric consequences of trauma.

Trauma can have marked and sustained psychological effects. Those at high risk thereof can be identified, and effective treatments are available. This review provides guidelines for the effective management of the psychiatric sequelae of trauma.