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Humans ; Male ; Military Personnel*

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Humans ; Male ; Military Personnel*

No abstract available.
Follow-Up Studies* ; Poisoning* ; Sodium*

No abstract available.
Heart* ; Hyperbilirubinemia* ; Thoracic Surgery*

The changes of electroencephalogram(EEG) in patients with dementia are most commonly studied by analyzing power or magnitude in certain traditionally defined frequency bands. However because of the absence of on identified metric which quantifies the complex amount of information, there are many limitations in using such a linear method. According to chaos theory, irregular signals of EEG cal also result from low dimensional deterministic chaos. Chaotic nonlinear dynamics in the EEG can be studied by calculating the correlation dimension. The authors have analyzed EEG epochs from three patients with dementia of Alzheimer type and three matched control subject. The result showed that patients with dementia of Alzheimer type had significantly lower correlation dimension than non-demented controls on 12 channels. Topographic analysis showed that the correlation dimensions were significantly lower in patients with Alzheimer's disease on frontal, temporal, central, and occipital head regions. These results show that brains of patients with dementia with dementia of Alzheimer type have a decreased complexity of electrophysiological behavior. We conclude that the nonlinear analysis such as calculating correlation dimension can be a promising tool for detecting changes in the complexity of brain dynamics.
Alzheimer Disease ; Brain ; Dementia* ; Electroencephalography* ; Head ; Humans ; Nonlinear Dynamics*

OBJECTIVES: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a novel, noninvasive method of brain stimulation. As the knowledge of the neuroanatomical abnormalities of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been increased, therapeutic application of TMS has been suggested in patients with PTSD. Thus we reviewed the literatures to look into the effectiveness of TMS for the treatment of PTSD. METHODS: We described the published clinical studies of TMS in patients with PTSD using literature review and our preliminary results of clinical trial for integrating the future direction of TMS research in the treatment of PTSD. RESULTS: Although the previous studies for the treatment of PTSD were scanty, TMS might be an tolerable and safe option for the intervention of PTSD. Several studies suggested that repeated rhythmic TMS (rTMS) to right prefrontal cortex might be useful for the treatment of PTSD. The accurate mechanism of rTMS has not been known yet. However, it is supposed that rTMS may have the ability to normalize brain metabolism, improve neuronal functional connectivity and modulate the neuronal circuitry in patients with PTSD. This capability has raised the possibility of the use of rTMS as a novel therapeutic tool for PTSD. CONCLUSION: In order to optimize rTMS for therapeutic use in PTSD, it is necessary to determine rTMS treatment parameters, such as frequency, intensity, pulse duration and stimulation site, pulse width, intertrain interval, coil type, numbers of sessions, and interval between sessions. rTMS would be a relatively new and noninvasive method for exploring the regional brain circuitry of PTSD.
Brain ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Neurons ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation*

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is highly prevalent psychiatric disorder in primary care population and is a source of major morbidity. However, the underawareness and undertreatment of GAD, which is due to insufficient knowledge about the disorder, often hinder the proper management of this chronic condition. Other characteristic features such as chronic course of GAD, frequent comorbidity with other anxiety and depressive disorders, and the controversy regarding the best diagnostic criteria should be fully discussed. First of all, proper and accurate diagnosis is crucial for an appropriate management. Primary care management of GAD and associated comorbidities includes education about the nature of GAD and counseling about treatment alternatives and coping strategies is an important first step. The most effective treatment of GAD is combined psychotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic approach. The major psychotherapeutic approaches to GAD are cognitive-behavioral therapy with relaxation techniques. Pharmacological treatment for GAD includes benzodiazepine, buspirone, and antidepressants. In this review, these combined treatment at the view point of primary practitioners was described.
Antidepressive Agents ; Anxiety Disorders* ; Anxiety* ; Benzodiazepines ; Buspirone ; Comorbidity ; Counseling ; Depressive Disorder ; Diagnosis* ; Education ; Primary Health Care ; Relaxation Therapy

OBJECTIVES: Deposition of the beta-amyloid(Abeta) peptide in the senile plaque has been thought as a major etiologic factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Among the hypotheses suggested to explain the mechanism by which Abeta causes Alzheimer's disease, the immune processes have been considered as crucial events in the pathophysiology of the Alzheimer's disease. This study examined the effects of Abeta on the proliferation and the production of IL-1beta(interleukin-1beta) and TNF-alpha(tumor necrosis factor-alpha) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from the patients with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and normal elderly control subjects. METHODS: Nineteen patients with Alzheimer's disease, 22 patients with vascular dementia, and 19 controls were participated in this study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from each donors, and subjected to the proliferation assays in response to the stimulation of phytohemagglutinin-P(PHA-P) and Abeta. The levels of IL-1beta and TNF-alpha from the culture supernatants of the cells before and after the stimulation of Abeta were also determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The results were as follows: 1) The proliferation of mononuclear cells in response to PHA-P were not different among three groups. 2) When compared to PHA-P, the proliferation responses of mononuclear cells to Abeta were insignificant in all experimental groups. However Alzheimer's disease group showed greater stimulation index than vascular dementia and controls. 3) IL-1beta production was higher in the vascular dementia group than Alzheimer's disease and control groups both before and after the stimulation of Abeta. However the stimulation ratio of before and after Abeta stimulation was highest in Alzheimer's disease group. 4) TNF-alpha production was higher in Alzheimer's disease group than controls both before and after the stimulation of Abeta. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the immune responses to the stimulation of Abeta may be enhanced in patients with Alzheimer's disease compared to vascular dementia and control groups, supporting the immune hypothesis for the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease.
Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid ; Dementia* ; Dementia, Vascular ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Plaque, Amyloid ; Self-Help Groups ; Tissue Donors ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha