Karl Heinz Ladwig

..The present study assessed the long-term prevalence and severity of emotional disability of cardiac arrest survivors and ascertained whether survivors suffer from recurrent and intrusive recollections of the cardiac arrest...

..As a basis for preventive strategies to reduce subway suicides, an investigation was undertaken to determine if there was a distinct pattern of subway suicidal behaviour...

..We studied whether repetitive intracardiac shock discharges of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) provoke an enduring enhancement of startle responses...

..Anxiety and depression do not amplify perception of intracardiac shocks. Sensory gating mechanisms may play a more important role in the level of intracardiac shock perception than distressing affective factors...

..DISS patients without PTSD exhibited balanced autonomic responses to the startle trials. DISS may, therefore, unfold malignant properties only in combination with persistent physiological hyperarousability...

..This procedure may be efficacious but is not necessarily perceived as satisfactory by the patient because of the frequent procedure-related distress...

..We conclude that high psychiatric comorbidity in ST is unlikely to be a mere consequence of chronic disease and disfigurement...

..The frequency of jumping decreased during the study period by 12.6% (p < .05). These findings may help to elucidate differential risk features of this highly lethal suicide method...

..001). Thus, LTS serves as surrogate measure for deteriorated psychic health. Clinicians should be advised to identify LTS patients and to consider psychotherapeutic counseling for them...

..An analysis of 7 validated generic and tailored questionnaires was performed with regard to the relation of QoL to ablation success...

..Depression predicts mortality in patients with coronary artery disease and heart failure. However, its effect on patient outcome in the presence of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has not been investigated...

..In current smokers, however, effects were heterogeneous and information on smoking intensity seems to be useful for better adjustment...

..Type D personality has been identified as a prognostic risk factor for various cardiovascular disease conditions...

..The railway suicide of Robert Enke, an internationally respected German football goal keeper, sent shockwaves throughout the world of football. We analyzed its impact on the frequency of subsequent railway suicide acts (RS)...

..Smokers actively considering to quit smoking were compared with hard-core smokers completely unwilling to change smoking habits with respect to psychosocial variables...

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..Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is generally overlooked in cardiac patients, and no study to date (to our knowledge) has evaluated the effect of PTSD symptoms on the prognosis in patients with ICDs...

..Moreover, the criterion validity of the hyperarousal subscale regarding psychophysiological measurements is arguable and indicates further investigations in this area...

..Determining the presence of silent stroke using brain imaging may contribute to identifying individuals at risk for developing gradual neurological deficits...

..Depressed and exhausted mood warrants epidemiological scrutiny as a cardiovascular risk factor. We evaluated the reliability and validity of a symptom-driven diagnostic scale...

..These findings suggest a possible synergistic effect of obesity and depressive mood on chronic low level inflammation which may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis...

..To date, it is not established whether those favourable time trends developed homogeneously for sex and age groups and how they were affected by the number of undetermined deaths...