Biomedical subjects

J H De Groen

Publications and source records attributed to J H De Groen.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Prevalence and course of posttraumatic stress disorder in Dutch veterans of the civilian resistance during World War II: an overview.

This study concerns the prevalence of current and lifetime Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in various groups of officially recognized Veterans of the Dutch civilian Resistance against the Nazi occupation during World War II. In total, 1046 Resistance veterans living in The Netherlands and 52 who immigrated to the United States after the war were examined. Between four and five decades after the end of WW II, between 25 and 50% were suffering from current PTSD. The life-time prevalence is estimated to be substantially higher. The course of PTSD proved highly variable. There had often been a delay of several decades between the end of the war and reoccurrence or first onset of posttraumatic symptoms. The prevalence of PTSD in Resistance veterans who emigrated to the United States was hardly different from that of the veterans still living in The Netherlands.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Status epilepticus during vigabatrin treatment: a report of three cases.

Vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl-GABA or GVG) is an irreversible inhibitor of gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T), which is an enzyme responsible for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) catabolism. Inhibition of GABA catabolism increases brain concentration of GABA, a neural inhibitor. GVG has been found to be a potent new anti-epileptic drug, especially in the treatment of refractory epilepsy, in particular of complex partial seizures. Three patients who developed a severe status epilepitus while on GVG treatment are reported. A possible proconvulsive effect of GVG is hypothesized, which might result from disinhibition in the nigro-collicular pathway due to increased GABA-levels.

4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase↗

PubMed1994

Posttraumatic stress disorder in male and female Dutch Resistance veterans of World War II in relation to trait anxiety and depression.

In this study, 680 male and 144 female Dutch Resistance veterans of World War II were evaluated on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, trait anxiety, and depression. Approximately 27% of these men and 20% of these women showed current Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Resistance veterans, as a group, appeared comparable to the controls from Dutch validation studies on trait anxiety and depression. Gender differences were not observed. Veterans with current PTSD symptoms scored higher on trait anxiety and depression than the remaining veterans and were comparable on trait anxiety and depression to psychiatric patients. Correlational analyses showed that there was a strong association between trait anxiety and depression. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder correlated highly with trait anxiety and depression.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Fluvoxamine treatment for chronic PTSD: a pilot study.

A group of 24 Dutch World War II Resistance veterans with a documented traumatic war history and a (partially) positive diagnosis of current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was studied. This special group of war victims is characterised by chronicity, suffering from intractable posttraumatic complaints for decades. They were treated with fluvoxamine (Fevarin), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with antidepressive and anxiolytic properties. The study was designed as an open-ended, outpatient pilot study, with a treatment period of 12 weeks. Results of clinical examination, and questionnaires investigating PTSD, depression, sleeping problems, anxiety, and vital exhaustion indicate that a significant number of the subjects improved with respect to their PTSD symptomatology, and their symptoms of anxiety and vital exhaustion. However, at the end of the study, quantitative improvement was modest. The results indicate that treatment with fluvoxamine may offer alleviation of chronic PTSD symptoms, in particular insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, intrusive recollections, guilt feelings and tiredness.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Current posttraumatic stress disorder and cardiovascular disease risk factors in Dutch Resistance veterans from World War II.

The extraordinary trauma experienced by Resistance veterans from World War II (WW II) and other veterans may be associated with an increased incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatic morbidity, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study explored some relationships between current PTSD and CVD risk factors in 147 male Dutch WW II Resistance veterans. They were compared to 65 same-aged male patients with a recent myocardial infarction and 79 surgical patients. Of these subjects, WW II Resistance veterans scored highest on CVD risk factors (i.e., angina pectoris, type A behavior, life stressors, and vital exhaustion), except smoking. Fifty-six percent of these veterans were currently suffering from PTSD. They reported CVD risk factors, in particular type A behavior and vital exhaustion, more often than veterans without PTSD; they also reported more premorbid adverse living conditions. These data suggest that early sensitization to environmental stressors may be associated with a high prevalence of current PTSD and excess CVD risk factors in subjects exposed to extraordinary war-time trauma and that this may lead to vital exhaustion.

Aged↗

PubMed1992

Anxiety, depression and anger in Dutch Resistance veterans from World War II.

In this study, 147 Dutch Resistance veterans from WW II are evaluated on psychometric instruments for anxiety, depression and anger. Resistance veterans appeared to be more anxious, depressive and angry on these instruments compared to controls from the validation studies of the respective instruments. Veterans currently suffering from PTSD (56%) were significantly more anxious, depressed, and angry than veterans without PTSD. With respect to staying in Nazi concentration camps, which is an extremely severe stressor, and in which half of the veterans were imprisoned, no difference on the three instruments was found. Anxiety, depression and anger were observed to be highly interrelated in PTSD. The close interrelationship between anxiety and depression, anxiety and danger, and depression and anger mediated by way of anxiety is, however, not unique for traumatized subjects. It is argued that for Resistance veterans only the intrusive reminiscences of the stressful events discriminate this constellation of symptoms from subjects with an anxious-depressive symptomatology.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

Ambulatory sleep-wake polygraphy in narcolepsy.

We have presented an ambulatory monitoring and off-line data analysis system for sleep-wake polygraphy and have illustrated its use for the diagnosis of narcolepsy. The advantages over conventional polysomnography have been discussed.

Ambulatory Care↗

PubMed1979

Influence of diffuse brain stimulation (DBS) on human sleep. I. Sleep pattern changes.

A 20 min period of diffuse brain stimulation (DBS), administered just before sleep onset in 16 human subjects, appeared to alter significantly the first sleep cycle of the succeeding sleep. The length of the first sleep cycle and the amount of REM sleep increased, whereas a shift from deep to more superficial NREM sleep occurred. This effect of DBS on sleep is discussed with respect to data from the literature on the effect of narcotic DBS and on that of local brain stimulation in animals.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Influence of diffuse brain stimulation (DBS) on human sleep. II. Sleep-induced periodic breathing with apnoea.

The influence of diffuse brain stimulation (DBS), administered just before sleep onset, on the number of apnoeas and of sleep stage changes during the first part of the succeeding night sleep to the end of the first sleep cycle has been studied in 7 patients with sleep-induced periodic breathing with apnorea. When compared with the corresponding period of the baseline night, both phenomena are increased significantly. These results indicate that DBS influences slow periodic sleep phenomena. It is suggested that the target area for this influence might be mesencephalo-pontine reticular structures, which play a role in the generation of these slow periodic phenomena.

Adult↗