Homicide, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Depression: A Case Report

1965 ◽  
Vol 111 (473) ◽  
pp. 304-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Fenton ◽  
E. L. Udwin

It is well recognized that the depressed person occasionally commits murder as a consequence of the mood disorder (Mayer-Gross, Slater and Roth, 1960). Despite the popular view to the contrary, there is much evidence that murders are rarely committed in or after epileptic seizures. Alström (1950), in a study of the frequency of criminality in 345 adult male epileptics, did not find any cases of homicide. In a 10-year period, crimes of violence were recorded for 17 per cent of the patient series and 11 per cent. of a control group. All these crimes, however, were minor, usually a complication of the abuse of alcohol. Neither severe bodily injury to others, nor a crime committed during a psychomotor seizure were encountered. He also made the important observation that, while mentally normal patients with idiopathic epilepsy had an incidence of criminality similar to that of the general population, those epileptics displaying mental disorder in addition to fits had twice this frequency of criminal records. Hill and Pond (1952) state that, from their experience in an epilepsy ward and clinic, violent or dangerous behaviour during epileptic or post-epileptic automatisms is rarely seen in any patient. Levin (1952), who studied 52 cases of epileptic clouded state admitted to the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, concurs with this view. He comments that these patients are often potentially aggressive, but their intellectual faculties are so disorganized that they are unable to carry out well-planned integrated behaviour of any kind, including aggressive acts. However, in a clinical and EEG study of 100 prisoners awaiting trial for murder, Hill and Pond, in 1952, found 18 cases of epilepsy, an incidence of epilepsy thirty-two times that of the general population. In all these cases, careful examination of the circumstances of each crime excluded the occurrence of a seizure beforehand with a high degree of probability. They concluded that a relationship exists between epilepsy and murder, although it is not directly a result of the seizure or of its immediate sequelae. In some cases, at least, the common factor may be a mental illness in the epileptic, in which the epilepsy plays an important causative role. Pathogenic factors in such cases include the disturbance of cerebral function by the seizure discharges and also the difficulties in psychosocial adjustment caused by the fits themselves or the underlying organic brain disease causing them.

1963 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Doll

The evidence that cigarette smoking and atmospheric pcllution are causes of lung cancer is largely statistical. The first evidence was indirect; that is, i1. was noticed that in many countries the incidence of lung cancer had increased and that the increase could be correlated with changes in the prevalence of cigarette smoking and of certain types of atmospheric pollution.Since then much direct evidence has been obtained. The relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer has been demonstrated retrospectively by comparing the smoking habits of patients with and without lung cancer and prospectively by observing the mortality from lung cancer in groups of persons of known smoking habits. Conclusions can be drawn from these studies only after careful examination of the results. In particular it is important in retrospective studies to test a) the reproducibility of the data, b) the representativeness of the data, and c) the comparability of the special series and their controls. The resul1.s of retrospective studies are all similar and all show a close relationship between cigarette smoking and the disease.The results have been confirmed by pro~pective studies which are lesF. open to bias. The results can be explained if cigarette smoking causes lung cancer or if both are related to some third common factor. Ancillary data (pathological changes in the bronchial mucosa, animal experiments, etc.) support the causal hypothesis.The evidence relating to atmospheric pollution is less definite and it is difficult to get direct evidence of a relationship in the individual. It is clear that pollution has little effect in the absence of smoking, but the mortality associated with a given amount of smoking is generally greater in large towns than in the countryside and among men who have emigrated from Britain than among men who have lived all their lives in less polluted countries.


Author(s):  
Katja Leuteritz ◽  
Diana Richter ◽  
Anja Mehnert-Theuerkauf ◽  
Jens-Uwe Stolzenburg ◽  
Andreas Hinz

Abstract Purpose Quality of life (QoL) has been the subject of increasing interest in oncology. Most examinations of QoL have focused on health-related QoL, while other factors often remain unconsidered. Moreover, QoL questionnaires implicitly assume that the subjective importance of the various QoL domains is identical from one patient to the next. The aim of this study was to analyze QoL in a broader sense, considering the subjective importance of the QoL components. Methods A sample of 173 male urologic patients was surveyed twice: once while hospitalized (t1) and once again 3 months later (t2). Patients completed the Questions on Life Satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ-M), which includes satisfaction and importance ratings for eight dimensions of QoL. A control group was taken from the general population (n = 477). Results Health was the most important QoL dimension for both the patient and the general population groups. While satisfaction with health was low in the patient group, the satisfaction ratings of the other seven domains were higher in the patient group than in the general population. The satisfaction with the domain partnership/sexuality showed a significant decline from t1 to t2. Multiple regression analyses showed that the domains health and income contributed most strongly to the global QoL score at t2 in the patient group. Conclusion Health is not the only relevant category when assessing QoL in cancer patients; social relationships and finances are pertinent as well. Importance ratings contribute to a better understanding of the relevance of the QoL dimensions for the patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schlegel ◽  
Sharon A. Carstairs ◽  
Gozde Ozakinci

Abstract Background Many people exercise because they know it is good for their health. Although this is true, it can make us feel deserving of a reward and lead us to eat more indulgent, less healthy food than if we had not done any exercise. Generally, lower energy-dense (LED) foods are recognised as healthier choices than higher energy-dense (HED) options. Despite our intention to make healthy choices, seeing tempting higher-calorie foods on offer often side-tracks us. Priming is a psychological tool that makes specific changes to our environment that remind us of our motivation to be healthy. This makes it easier to choose a healthier option, by nudging us towards it without us even realising. However, it is currently unclear which method of priming achieves the best results. Aims Our study explores whether priming people to expect they will receive LED food leads them to make this healthier choice after exercise, even when also offered tempting less healthy HED foods at the moment of selection. Methods Our study observed the foods selected by university athletes after their sports matches. Before the match, half of the participants were primed by asking them to choose a LED snack from the options we offered, which they would receive after the match. The remaining half of participants were not asked this same question. To distract the athletes from our observation of their food choices, participants completed a task prior to choosing their snack, which was disguised as a ‘thank you’ for taking part. Results Overall, we found the priming group did not choose LED foods significantly more than the control group, hence priming did not increase LED food selection. Conclusion Importantly, our results indicate that priming must be more noticeable to achieve its goal. Additionally, we demonstrated that priming may be less successful for young athletic individuals, compared to older and more overweight adults recruited in other studies. This highlights the importance of studying a broader demographic range of individuals from the general population. We support future research into this area, which will help us to tweak priming to achieve the best outcomes. Trial registration ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN74601698. Date registered: 02/10/2020 (retrospectively registered).


2015 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1151-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle A. Owens ◽  
Benjamin M. Craig ◽  
Kathleen M. Egan ◽  
Damon R. Reed

OBJECT To the authors' knowledge, no previous study has examined the impact of meningioma diagnosis on women's birth desires and intentions. In an exploratory study, the authors surveyed women affected by meningioma to determine their attitudes toward childbearing and the influences, including physician recommendations, on this major life decision and compared their responses to those of women in the general population. METHODS Meningioma survivors from the Meningioma Mommas online support group participated in an online survey that included questions on their birth desires and intentions, whether the risk of disease recurrence influenced their reproductive decisions, and risks communicated to them by their physicians. Using chi-square and rank-sum tests, the authors compared the survey participants' responses with those of the general population as assessed by the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth. Logistic regression was used to adjust for differences in age, race, ethnicity, education, parity, pregnancy status, and infertility status in these populations. RESULTS Respondents with meningioma were more likely than those in the general population to report wanting a baby (70% vs 54%, respectively), intending to have a baby (27% vs 12%, respectively), and being very sure about this intention (10% vs 2%, respectively). More than half (32 of 61) of the women of childbearing age reported being advised by a physician about potential risk factors for recurrence of the meningioma, and pregnancy was the most commonly cited risk factor (26 of 61). The most common factor influencing birth desires and intentions was risk of the meningioma returning and requiring more treatment, which was reported by nearly two-thirds of the women in their childbearing years. CONCLUSIONS A majority of the meningioma survivors of childbearing age who completed the survey reported a desire for children, although concern about the risk of meningioma recurrence was an important factor for these women when making reproductive decisions. Physicians are in a position to educate their patients on potential risk factors for recurrence and to provide contact information for services such as counseling and family planning.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana González-Hernández ◽  
Luis Alberto Henríquez-Hernández ◽  
Antonio Cabrera De León ◽  
M. del Cristo Rodríguez-Pérez ◽  
Adolfo Murias-Rosales ◽  
...  

Background The sequences of many human genes that encode proteins involved in cancer contain polymorphic microsatellites. Variations in microsatellite length may constitute risk factors in several human diseases, a possibility that has been little explored in breast cancer. Among the genes that contain polymorphic microsatellites are EGFR, NOTCH4 and E2F4. The length of some of these microsatellites has been associated with breast cancer risk. Purpose and methods To determine whether the length of the microsatellites (CA)n in EGFR, (CTG)n in NOTCH4 and (AGC)n in E2F4 was associated with breast cancer risk, we genotyped these 3 microsatellites in 212 women with breast cancer and a control group of 308 women from the general population who did not have this disease. Results and conclusions The allelic distribution observed for the 3 microsatellites matched that found in other white populations, with the exception of some (AGC)n alleles in E2F4, which have not been described previously. The length of (CA)n in EGFR and (CTG)n in NOTCH4 was not associated with breast cancer (OR=0.99; 95% CI 0.59–1.37; p=0.619 and OR=1.08; 95% CI 0.71–1.65; p=0.725, respectively). Short alleles (<13 repeats) of (AGC)n in E2F4 were less frequent in women with cancer than in the control sample.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Verrotti ◽  
Sergio Agostinelli ◽  
Angelika Mohn ◽  
Rossella Manco ◽  
Giangennaro Coppola ◽  
...  

1987 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Julian Hafner ◽  
Michael J. Roder

The prevalence of parental bereavement was determined in 50 married female outpatients with a DSM-III diagnosis of agoraphobia and in a control group of married female outpatients diagnosed as having non-psychotic psychiatric disorders other than agoraphobia. The two groups were matched for age and overall severity of psychiatric symptoms. Compared with the general population, the patient control group reported a statistically significant excess of parental, but not maternal, bereavement. The agoraphobic group was significantly younger than the control group at the time of parental loss. These data, together with other reports, suggest a contribution of paternal bereavement before the age of 30 years to agoraphobia in married women and a contribution of recent parental bereavement to psychiatric disorder in general.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. 2907
Author(s):  
Alba Martínez-Escudé ◽  
Guillem Pera ◽  
Anna Costa-Garrido ◽  
Lluís Rodríguez ◽  
Ingrid Arteaga ◽  
...  

Thyroid hormones may be a risk factor for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its progression to liver fibrosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, NAFLD, and liver fibrosis in the general population. A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in subjects aged 18–75 years randomly selected from primary care centers between 2012 and 2016. Each subject underwent clinical evaluation, physical examination, blood tests and transient elastography. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with NAFLD and fibrosis. We included 2452 subjects (54 ± 12 years; 61% female). Subjects with TSH ≥ 2.5 μIU/mL were significantly associated with obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), hypertransaminasemia and altered cholesterol and triglycerides. The prevalence of NAFLD and liver fibrosis was significantly higher in subjects with TSH ≥ 2.5 (μIU/mL). We found a 1.5 times increased risk of NAFLD, 1.8 and 2.3 times increased risk of liver fibrosis for cut-off points of ≥ 8.0 kPa and ≥ 9.2 kPa, respectively, in subjects with TSH ≥ 2.5 μIU/mL compared with TSH < 2.5 μIU/mL (control group), independent of the presence of MetS. These findings remained significant when stratifying TSH, with values ≥ 10 μIU/mL.


1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. NOPOULOS ◽  
M. FLAUM ◽  
S. ARNDT ◽  
N. ANDREASEN

Background. Morphometry, the measurement of forms, is an ancient practice. In particular, schizophrenic somatology was popular early in this century, but has been essentially absent from the literature for over 30 years. More recently, evidence has grown to support the notion that aberrant neurodevelopment may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Is the body, like the brain, affected by abnormal development in these patients?Methods. To evaluate global deficit in development and its relationship to pre-morbid function, height was compared in a large group (N=226) of male schizophrenics and a group of healthy male controls (N=142) equivalent in parental socio-economic status. Patients in the lower quartile of height were compared to those in the upper quartile of height.Results. The patient group had a mean height of 177·1 cm, which was significantly shorter than the mean height of the control group of 179·4 (P<0·003). Those in the lower quartile had significantly poorer pre-morbid function as measured by: (1) psychosocial adjustment using the pre-morbid adjustment scales for childhood and adolescence/young adulthood, and (2) cognitive function using measures of school performance such as grades and need for special education. In addition, these measures of pre-morbid function correlated significantly with height when analysed using the entire sample.Conclusions. These findings provide further support to the idea that abnormal development may play a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Furthermore, this is manifested as a global deficit in growth and function resulting in smaller stature, poorer social skills, and deficits in cognitive abilities.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 334-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milada Cvancarova ◽  
Sven Ove Samuelsen ◽  
Henriette Magelssen ◽  
Sophie Dorothea Fosså

Purpose Most studies on postcancer reproduction are limited in patient numbers and lack of control group. We have computed 10-year first postdiagnosis cumulative reproduction rates (10-PDRs) and hazard ratios (HRs) avoiding these limitations. Patients and Methods Six thousand seventy-one patients with cancer age 15 to 45 years at diagnosis, treated from 1971 to 1997, and 30,355 controls from the general population, all born after 1950, were observed from the true (patients) or assigned (controls) date of diagnosis for a median of 10 years (range, 0 to 35). The primary focus of the study was the 10-PDR before and after 1988+ based on data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Cox proportional hazards regression models were adjusted for age and calendar year at diagnosis, stratified by sex and prediagnosis parenthood. Results Across all cancer types, HRs of females were approximately 50% lower than those of the controls, the comparable percentage for male patients being approximately 30%, with some improvement after 1988+ for selected diagnoses. The highest 10-PDRs were observed in childless patients, with more favorable HRs in male than in female patients. In survivors with at least one child at diagnosis, the post-1988+ HRs improved significantly in patients with testicular and localized cervical cancer compared to pre-1988+ reproduction, with borderline improvement in localized ovarian cancer. Conclusion Postcancer reproduction is lower than that of the general population and influenced by sex, age at diagnosis, prediagnosis parenthood, and diagnostic period with more favorable rates in males than in females. Post-1988+ fertility-saving strategies may have improved the reproduction rates for select genital cancers.


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