Family Caregivers' Subjective Caregiving Burden,Quality of Life,and Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With Terminally Ill Cancer Patients' Distinct Patterns of Conjoint Symptom Distress and Functional Impairment in Their Last Six Months of Life

Context

Family caregivers constitute a critical component of the end-of-life care system with considerable cost to themselves. However, the joint association of terminally ill cancer patients' symptom distress and functional impairment with caregivers' subjective caregiving burden, quality of life (QOL), and depressive symptoms remains unknown.

Independent and court-ordered forensic neuropsychological examinations: Official statement of the National Academy of Neuropsychology

Independent forensic neuropsychological examinations are performed by neuropsychologists who are hired as independent contractors by third parties to make determinations regarding neuropsychological functioning. The responsibilities of neuropsychologists when performing independent or court-ordered forensic examinations differ from those of clinical examinations. Because neuropsychological training typically occurs in clinical contexts, the transition to forensic contexts may result in uncertainty about how to negotiate the unique responsibilities of the forensic examiner role. Neuropsychologists are responsible for maintaining the highest standards of professional practice when performing independent and court-ordered forensic examinations. To reach and maintain the highest standards of practice, neuropsychologists must understand the unique relationships with retaining parties and examinees and strive to maintain true independence and objectivity. Although a true neuropsychologist-patient relationship is not considered to exist within the context of a forensic neuropsychological evaluation, neuropsychologists have ethical responsibilities to both the retaining party and the examinee.     

Uhthoff's symptom in multiple sclerosis

A case report is presented in which a patient's initial complaint is of blurred vision after exercise (Uhthoffs symptom). Visual acuity and colour vision were found to be reduced after exercise. Additional neurological signs included homonymous scotomata and delayed visual evoked and somatosensory responses. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated multiple abnormal lesions in the brain. The significance of this symptom and its relationship to multiple sclerosis are discussed.     

急性肠系膜静脉血栓形成16例临床分析

目的　分析急性肠系膜静脉血栓形成 (ASMVT)的临床特征和诊断方法。方法　对北京友谊医院 1985年 10月至 2 0 0 2年 10月确诊的 16例ASMVT的临床资料进行分析 ,并结合文献 ,总结ASMVT的临床特征和诊断方法。结果 16例ASMVT患者 ,年龄 19～ 6 4岁 (平均 4 5 9岁 )。主要症状有腹痛 ( 16 / 16 )、腹胀 ( 16 / 16 )、呕吐 ( 10 / 16 )、发热 ( 8/ 16 ) ,主要体征有腹部膨隆 ( 16 / 16 )、腹膜刺激征( 16 / 16 )。误诊率 75 % ( 12 / 16 ) ,死亡率 4 4 % ( 7/ 16 )。结论　ASMVT的临床表现有一定的特征 ,早期彩色超声检查、诊断性腹腔穿刺、结合CT或肠系膜上动脉造影异常发现可对ASMVT做出正确的诊断 ,早期手术可以降低死亡率     

Panic Anxiety after Abrupt Discontinuation of Mianserin

Abstract: We observed a case of withdrawal after abrupt discontinuation of mianserin. A 41-year-old woman was treated according to a diagnosis of depression, which was her 6th episode. Mianserin 30 mg/day, etizolam 1 mg/day and flunitrazepam 1 mg/day were administered. When the patient discontinued taking the drugs by herself because of subsiding of these symptoms, severe panic anxiety appeared. This panic anxiety was not relieved by taking etizolam and flunitrazepam again, but subsided rapidly by the re-administration of mianserin 30 mg/day, and because of that the depressive symptom also disappeared.
From these experiences panic anxiety seemed to be a withdrawal symptom, and involvement of the noradrenergic system in panic anxiety as well as serotonergic system was suggested.     

Well-being (quality of life) in connection with hypertensive treatment

Quality of life is often considered to equate how the medical treatment is subjectively perceived by the patient, but ought to include the total impact of the disease/treatment on the patient's emotional, physical, and social well-being. Recently, a proposal for a generally applicable definition of quality of life in health care was put forward. This definition includes general well-being, health, and welfare (external factors), as three fundamental components, and the definition is based on both objective and subjective judgments. General well-being is exclusively and expression of the individual's subjective experience and is based on his or her own qualitative evaluation of well-being in relation to condition, treatments, and experiences. Health is according to the proposed definition, judged both objectively (signs) and subjectively (symptoms). Apart from health and well-being, there is also reason to include objectively registrable factors at the welfare level (external factors) such as the consumption of medicines, number of days in hospital, length of sick leave, need of in-home care, etc. This review is an attempt to elucidate the effects of antihypertensive pharmacotherapy on the patient's general well-being. The topic will be discussed from several points of views (e.g., aims of antihypertensive treatment, occurrence of symptoms in the population, compliance with prescribed treatment, symptom inventories, the concept of quality of life.     

五型病毒性肝炎的暴露因素与临床表现的比较

比较急性病毒性肝炎患者感染打危险因素，同时比较五型肝炎的症状和体征。连续收集急性病毒性肝炎患者血清２９３份，用ＥＬＩＳＡ法检测了五型肝炎病毒的病原学指标，并进行了流赞美同学调查。暴露因素：丙肝的肠道外暴露外明显多于甲肝；甲肝和戊肝有较高的“甲肝”患者接触史；乙肝，丙肝和丁肝有高的“乙肝”接触史，与甲肝，戊肝相比差异显著。     

Alexithymia in Holocaust Survivors with and Without PTSD

Alexithymia was measured in non-treatment seeking, community-dwelling Holocaust survivors using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale—Twenty Item Version (TAS-20). Scores of survivors with (n = 30) and without (n = 26) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were compared, and associations among alexithymia, severity of trauma, and severity of PTSD symptoms were determined. Survivors with PTSD had significantly higher scores on the TAS-20 compared to survivors without PTSD. TAS-20 scores were significantly associated with severity of PTSD symptoms, but not with severity of trauma. This study adds to our knowledge of the relationship between alexithymia and trauma by demonstrating that this characteristic is related to the presence of posttraumatic symptoms and not simply exposure to trauma.