Post-traumatic stress disorder associated with

There have been some discrepancies between the results of various studies evaluating the reproductive toxicity of different OP compounds. While decreased libido has been observed in men following acute exposures to both OP nerve agents and insecticides, this reproductive effect is most hkely related to the neurobehavioral effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, associated with acute exposures to these chemicals (McDonough and Romano, 2008). Some nerve agents have been associated with post-implantation morbidity and mortahty in laboratory animals (Wismer,... 

Panic disorder is characterized by the occurrence of panic attacks that occur spontaneously and lead to persistent worry about subsequent attacks and/or behavioral changes intended to minimize the likelihood of further attacks. Sporadic panic attacks are not limited, however, to those with syndromal panic disorder as they do occur occasionally in normal individuals and in those with other syndromal psychiatric disorders. The hallmark of panic disorder is that the panic attacks occur without warning in an unpredictable variety of settings, whereas panic attacks associated with other disorders typically occur in response to a predictable stimulus. For example, a person with acrophobia might experience a panic attack when on a glass elevator. A patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with contamination fears may have a panic attack when confronted with the sight of refuse, and a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience a panic attack when a helicopter flies overhead or an automobile backfires. 

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The same distinction holds true for PTSD. Reminders of the tranma (e.g., sexual intimacy for a rape survivor loud noises for a combat veteran) can trigger panic attacks. Furthermore, PTSD is associated with a variety of avoidant behaviors that can resemble agoraphobia. In the case of PTSD, the avoidance is specifically targeted at reminders of the trauma. For example, places or people who in some way cue memories of the traumatic event are avoided. As for agoraphobia, the avoidance tends to be less specific. It is any sitnation from which it would be difficult to escape should a panic attack occur that is avoided. 

TABLE 43.2 Potential Neurobiological Abnormalities Associated With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Symptoms... 

Post-traumatic stress disorder (called PTSD for short) occurs following the experience of a severe threat to life or physical well-being. People most commonly associate experiences during war with the development of this disorder in soldiers. However, many other traumatic events can lead to the development of PTSD. In fact, more women than men suffer from PTSD (despite the fact that more men than women become soldiers). 

Some of the growth in antidepressant use may be related to the broad application of these agents for conditions other than major depression. For example, antidepressants have received FDA approvals for the treatment of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In addition, antidepressants are commonly used to treat pain disorders such as neuropathic pain and the pain associated with fibromyalgia. Some antidepressants are used for treating premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), mitigating the vasomotor symptoms of menopause, and treating stress urinary incontinence. Thus, antidepressants have a broad... 

In a 2000 report, Schnurr et al. (2000) reported on the prevalence of current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with participation in these secret military tests of mustard gas exposure. Using the registry established by the... 

Besides the paucity of historic data, another difficnlty associated with mental health studies of disaster victims is the lack of standardization of criteria used for case definitions of mental health disorders following mass trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (6,7). Diagnostic criteria for PTSD, as noted in the fourth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-IV), should go beyond specified combinations of symptoms to include requirements for symptom duration and the patient s ability to function (6,7). Specifically, for a PTSD diagnosis, the patient must have symptoms for more than 1 month, and the symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impair the patient s ability to function (6,7). In addition, the symptoms must occur after the traumatic event and could not have existed before the event. Unfortunately, many studies have used questionnaires that fail to distinguish new symptoms following traumatic events from previous prevalent symptoms such as sleeplessness that many people have at various times (6). The consequence is that many studies tend to inflate the prevalence of PTSD. 

According to the DSM-IV, anxiety syndromes are obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks for no apparent reason, phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety can be associated with depression or psychosis. 

It is not surprising that the American Psychiatric Association lists the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness as one of several potential criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is right up there with suffering trauma after military combat or after violent personal assaults. Some 3 to 35 percent of cancer patients suffer from PTSD. ... 

It has been found that the high levels of the stress hormone adrenaline is associated with the formation of trauma memory, and that people in whom adrenaline prodnction has been blocked suffer less post-traumatic stress disorder than those who produce the hormone. Thus, quadriplegics (those with the spinal cord severed above the arms) suffer less stress disorder than do paraplegics (those with spinal cords severed above the lower limbs only) the neural connection between the brain and adrenal glands is interrupted for quadriplegics (Lemonick, 2007). 

Nicotine, the major alkaloid fotmd in tobacco plant leaves and the prototypical nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist, is known to reduce memory impairment associated with chronic stress [1-3], aging [4—8], brain lesions [9], and cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer s disease (AD) [3, 10-14], schizophrenia [14], attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [15,16], Parkinson s disease [13, 17], post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [18], sleep deprivation [19, 20], and hypothyroidism [21, 22], Moreover, nicotine is a potent scavenger of hydroxyl and superoxide free radicals. In fact, it has been reported that nicotine is more of an antioxidant than vitamin C [23]. 

Ressler, K.J., Mercer, K.B., Bradley, B., et al., 2011. Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with PACAP and the PACl receptor. Nature 470, 492-497. 

The co-3 fatty acids have numerous important functions, especially in the brain. Accordingly, a deficiency of DHA and EPA may cause dysfunction of the central nervous system and probably also the retina, thereby resulting in impaired vision. In addition, there is a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders that have been associated with decreased levels of especially DHA and AA, such as, for example, schizophrenia and depression [3], post-traumatic stress syndrome, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Since no primary inherited defect of essential fatty acid interconversion has yet been described, no specific explanations for the essential fatty acid concentration changes are readily available. 

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