Postwar mortality among Australian World War II prisoners of the Japanese

The impact of detention as a prisoner of war on postwar survival and disease-specific mortality was examined in Australian veterans of World War II. A random sample of 908 ex-prisoners and 797 other veterans of the same theatre of war, all of whom had returned to Australia alive, was traced over the 40 years since the war. The date and cause of death were recorded for those who were found to have died. By means of the subject-years method, the mortality of the prisoners of war was compared with that of the non-prisoners of war while the analysis controlled for the length of follow-up and the subject's age at the close of the war. The prisoners of war showed a higher over-all mortality rate than did the non-prisoners of war. This difference was pronounced in the period from five to 14 years after the war but diminished subsequently. There also was an indication that this effect varied with the subject's age at the end of the war: prisoners of war who were aged 25-29 years at that time had the highest mortality differential from non-prisoners of war, followed by prisoners of war who were aged 30-34 years. However, log-linear modelling, which controlled for age and the follow-up period, did not suggest that these mortality differences could be attributed to particular causes of death.     

Evidence of hepatitis virus infection among Australian prisoners of war during World War II

A sample of Australian male veterans of World War II was surveyed after 40 years. One hundred and seventy veterans had been held by the Japanese as prisoners of war and 172 veterans had served in southeast Asia but had not been taken captive (non-prisoners of war). A medical history was obtained and a physical examination undertaken. Blood was drawn and analysed for standard liver biochemistry and serological markers of hepatitis A and B virus (HAV, HBV) infections. The prevalence of immunoglobulin (Ig)G class antibodies to HAV was 95.2% in non-prisoners of war and 93.3% in prisoners of war. Only three cases of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity were identified (two cases from the prisoner-of-war group). Thirty-six (21.8%) prisoners of war were seropositive for the presence of antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and 34 (20.0%) prisoners of war for that of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), compared with 16 (9.8%) and eight (4.7%) of the non-prisoners of war, respectively (P = 0.002 and P = 0.0001, respectively). Those veterans who reported jaundice during World War II had a higher prevalence of antibodies to HBV. Among prisoners of war who were forced to work on the Burma-Thailand railway, 24.1% were seropositive for anti-HBc compared with 11.1% of the remaining prisoners of war (P = 0.048). It would appear that hepatitis B was common in prisoners of war but that those who survived 40 years were able to clear the virus and do not appear to have significant liver disease.     

Gastrointestinal morbidity among World War II prisoners of war: 40 years on

A study of Australian male World War II veterans was conducted to assess clinically the gastrointestinal ill-effects which were present 40 years after the stress of internment as prisoners of war of the Japanese. A random sample of 170 surviving members of the captured Eighth Army Division resident in Sydney in 1983 (ex-POW) was compared with a similar sample of veterans who fought in Southeast Asia during the War, but were not imprisoned (non-POW). Duodenal ulcers and strongyloidiasis were more prevalent in the ex-POW group than in the non-POW group. The increased rate of duodenal ulcer (24.7%, compared with 10.5%; P = 0.0005) was confirmed by a higher proportion of ex-POWs currently taking cimetidine (9.0%, compared with 2.3%; P = 0.008). Strongyloidiasis had been found in 9.7% of all veterans, but in 15% of ex-POWs and in 19% of those who had worked on the Burma-Thailand railway. No other significant differences in gastrointestinal disease were found.     

第二次世界大战对美国高等医学教育的影响

自从1910年Flexnet报告发表以后,现代医学教育模式在美国逐渐确立起来,医学教育在第二次世界大战以前已经有了迅速的发展。第二次世界大战的爆发成为历史上影响医学教育发展的一个重要因素。对第二次世界大战给予美国医学教育的影响进行着重分析,并对第二次世界大战前后医学教育发展概况进行分析和总结,目的是为我国医学教育改革发展提供一些借鉴和参考。     

“Adjusting” People: Conceptions of the Self in Psychosurgery After World War II

Between 1935 and 1970, tens of thousands of people worldwide underwent brain operations due to psychiatric indication that were intended to positively influence their mental state and behaviour. The majority of these psychosurgical procedures were prefrontal lobotomies. Developed in 1935, the procedure initially met with fierce opposition, but was introduced in numerous countries in the following decade, and was employed up until the late 1960s. This article investigates why psychosurgery was widely accepted after World War II. It examines the effects it was hoped psychosurgical intervention would have, the undesired outcomes in which the method could potentially result, and the significance these outcomes were given. The analysis of scientific articles of the period as well as one case study show that the goal of the operation was, first and foremost, to help the mentally ill adapt to the social order inside and outside the mental institution. After initial criticism, changes in personality, severe physical side-effects and death were accepted in order to reach this goal. Thus, with psychosurgical intervention the social adjustment of patients, also in their own interest, was rated higher than physical and psychic integrity. This widely held view shows that after World War II a post-bourgeoise order of the subject dominated, according to which an individual was to adapt and to function in the interests of the collective. According to the assumption, the triumph of lobotomy was related to the development of a new conception of the self that made possible a broad implementation of the procedure and that was consolidated through psychosurgery.