Harmful drinking in military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: Association with the D2 dopamine receptor A1 allele

Aims: The frequency of the Taq I A alleles (A1 and A2) of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene was examined in Caucasian post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and controls. Results: In 91 PTSD patients, the frequency of the A1 allele was higher (P = 6.12 x 10(-3)) than in the 51 controls. In the 38 PTSD harmful drinkers (greater than or equal to60 g alcohol/day), A1 allelic frequency was higher (P = 3.91 x 10(-2)) than in the 53 non-harmful drinkers (

Randomised controlled trial of health assessments for older Australian veterans and war widows

Objective: To assess the effect of home-based health assessments for older Australians on health-related quality of life, hospital and nursing home admissions, and death. Design: Randomised controlled trial of the effect of health assessments over 3 years. Participants and setting: 1569 community-living veterans and war widows receiving full benefits from the Department of Veterans' Affairs and aged 70 years or over were randomly selected in 1997 from 10 regions of New South Wales and Queensland and randomly allocated to receive either usual care (n = 627) or health assessments (n = 942). Intervention: Annual or 6-monthly home-based health assessments by health professionals, with telephone follow-up, and written report to a nominated general practitioner. Main outcome measures: Differences in health-related quality of life, admission to hospital and nursing home, and death over 3 years of follow-up. Results: 3-year follow-up interviews were conducted for 1031 participants. Intervention-group participants who remained in the study reported higher quality of life than control-group participants (difference in Physical Component Summary score, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.05-1.76; difference in Mental Component Summary score, 1.36; 95% CI, 0.40-2.32). There was no significant difference in the probability of hospital admission or death between intervention and control groups over the study period. Significantly more participants in the intervention group were admitted to nursing homes compared with the control group (30 v 7; P < 0.01). Conclusions: Health assessments for older people may have small positive effects on quality of life for those who remain resident in the community, but do not prevent deaths. Assessments may increase the probability of nursing-home placement.

Estimation of Radioactive Dose from Oysters consumed at Hiroshima following a Bomb Detonation, report to Department of Veterans Affairs

We have estimated of the maximum radiation dose received from consuming an oyster at Hiroshima following the A-bomb detonation in 1945

Matching prescription claims with medication data for nursing home residents: Implications for prescriber feedback, drug utilisation studies and selection of prescription claims database

Medication data retrieved from Australian Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) claims for 44 veterans residing in nursing homes and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) claims for 898 nursing home residents were compared with medication data from nursing home records to determine the optimal time interval for retrieving claims data and its validity. Optimal matching was achieved using 12 weeks of RPBS claims data, with 60% of medications in the RPBS claims located in nursing home administration records, and 78% of medications administered to nursing home residents identified in RPBS claims. In comparison, 48% of medications administered to nursing home residents could be found in 12 weeks of PBS data, and 56% of medications present in PBS claims could be matched with nursing home administration records. RPBS claims data was superior to PBS, due to the larger number of scheduled items available to veterans and the veteran's file number, which acts as a unique identifier. These findings should be taken into account when using prescription claims data for medication histories, prescriber feedback, drug utilisation, intervention or epidemiological studies. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Recent dioxin contamination from Agent Orange in residents of a southern Vietnam city

Marked elevation of dioxin associated with the herbicide Agent Orange was recently found in 19 of 20 blood samples from persons living in Bien Hoa, a large city in southern Vietnam. This city is located near an air base that was used for Agent Orange spray missions between 1962 and 1970. A spill of Agent Orange occurred at this air base more than 30 years before blood samples were collected in 1999. Samples were collected, frozen, and sent to a World Health Organization-certified dioxin laboratory fm congener-specific analysis as part of a Vietnam Red Cross project. Previous analyses of more than 2200 pooled blood samples collected in the 1990s identified Bien Hoa as one of several southern Vietnam areas with persons having elevated blood dioxin levels from exposure to Agent Orange. In sharp contrast to this study, our previous research showed decreasing tissue dioxin levels over time since 1970. Only the dioxin that contaminated Agent Orange, 2,3, 7, 8-tetrachlmodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), was elevated in the blood of 19 of 20 persons sampled from Bien Hoa. A comparison pooled sample from 100 residents of Hanoi, where Agent Orange was not used, measured blood TCDD levels of 2 parts per trillion (ppt). TCDD levels of up to 271 ppt, a 135-fold increase, were found in Bien Hoa residents. TCDD contamination was also found in some nearby soil and sediment samples. Persons new to this region and children born after Agent Orange spraying ended also had elevated TCDD levels. This TCDD uptake was recent and occurred decades after spraying ended. We hypothesize that a major route of current and past exposures is from the movement of dioxin from soil into river sediment, then into fish, and from fish consumption into people.

GABAA receptor β3 subunit gene and psychiatric morbidity in a post-traumatic stress disorder population

GABAergic systems have been implicated in the pathogenesis of anxiety, depression and insomnia. These symptoms are part of the core and comorbid psychiatric disturbances in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) In a sample of Caucasian male PTSD patients, dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms of the GABAA receptor beta3 subunit gene were compared to scores on the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ). As the major allele at this gene locus (GABRB3) was GI, the alleles were divided into GI and non-GI groups. On the total score of the GHQ, which comprises the somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction and depression subscales, patients with the GI non-GI genotype had a significantly higher score when compared to either the G1G1 genotype (alpha = 0.01) or the non-GI non-GI genotype (alpha = 0.05). No significant difference was found between the G1G1 and non-Gl non-G1 genotypes. When the GI non-G1 heterozygotes were compared to the combined G1G1 and non-GI non-GI homozygotes, a significantly higher total GHQ score was found in the heterozygotes (P = 0.002). These observations suggest a heterosis effect. Further analysis of GHQ subscale scores showed that heterozygotes compared to the combined homozygotes had higher scores on the somatic symptoms (P = 0.006), anxiety/insomnia (P = 0.003), social dysfunction (P = 0.054) and depression (P = 0.004) subscales. In conclusion, the present study indicates that in a population of PTSD patients, heterozygosity of the GABRB3 major (GI) allele confers higher levels of somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction and depression than found in homozygosity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.