Croatian medical journal
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Croatian medical journal · Apr 2001
Editorial CommentGood editorial practice: editors as educators.
There may be valuable research going on in the developing and financially less-privileged countries, but it usually does not reach international visibility, in spite of a large number of scientific journals in these countries. Such journals are not only invisible but, by perpetuating a vicious circle of inadequacy, may be directly damaging to the local science and research culture. We call for an international action to help journal editors in less privileged countries. ⋯ Editors can teach the authors study design, statistical analysis, precision, punctuality, research integrity, style and format of writing, and other aspects of scientific communication. The editors of "big", mainstream scientific journals can act as global educators, teaching and providing guidance to editors of small journals. The editors from developed countries as leaders, and editors from less advantageous environments as teachers are the key figures in shaping research communication in less privileged scientific communities.
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The grouping of symptoms into "somatic" or "physical" on the one hand and "mental", "somatoform", or "psychological" on the other are vestiges of an era in medicine when it seemed useful to divide all the phenomena of disease into two groups - one related to the soma and other to the psyche. Today, this division is becoming obsolete and is harmful. Obsolete, because we are discovering changes in the tissues or in biochemical and immunological functions of the body in people with mental disorders, and because psychological complaints are frequent in all physical illnesses. Harmful, because the labels "psychological", "psychogenic", or "somatoform" are so loaded with connotations of being simulations or complaints about nothing that patients are unlikely to recive the help they need.
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Congenital and acquired thrombophilias are the most common predisposing factors for thromboembolism, but they may also contribute to pathophysiological processes involved in recurrent pregnancy loss, fetal death, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, placental infarction, and pre-eclampsia. The most common thrombophilias are deficiencies of antithrombin III, protein C, and protein S, acquired protein C resistance, genetic mutation encoding for factor V Leiden, prothrombin gene, and inherited hyperhomocysteinemia, and antiphospholipid syndrome. ⋯ Selective thrombophilia screening may be justified in certain group of women, particularly those with a history of thromboembolism. More research is required to confirm or refute the causal link between thrombophilia and abnormal placentation, and assess effectiveness and safety of thromboprophylaxis in pregnant women.
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Croatian medical journal · Apr 2001
Comparative StudyIncrease of frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder in disabled war veterans during prolonged stay in a rehabilitation hospital.
To explore possible causative factors in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in disabled Croatian war veterans. ⋯ Anxiety and PTSD seem to share common etiologic grounds. Nevertheless, staying in the same homogenous group for a substantial period of time, in combination with inadequate social support and deficient psychological care, may contribute to the development of the PTSD symptomatology.
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Intradural disc herniations comprise 0.26-0.30% of all herniated discs. Five percent are found in the thoracic, 3% in the cervical, and 92% in the lumbar region. ⋯ The symptoms were relieved immediately after surgery. This is the first description of an intradural disc herniation at that level.