Perceived social support has long been recognized as associated with better health and longevity. However, important factors that may moderate this relationship have not been sufficiently explored. The authors used meta-analyses and meta-regressions to examine 178 all-cause mortality risk estimates from 50 publications, providing data on more than 100,000 persons. The mean hazard ratio (HR) for mortality among those with lower levels of perceived social support was 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05, 1.17) among multivariate-adjusted HRs.

She shivered as she entered the hotel room. It was not that the team of investigators from the International Criminal Court did not seem friendly. It was not that she was afraid to give her testimony and go through her traumatic experiences all over again. It was the air-conditioned, dark hotel room that made her shiver: a sharp contrast with the outside heat and sun-beaten colours of Bangui.

Background

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex and debilitating anxiety disorder, and, although prolonged exposure therapy has been proven effective, many patients remain symptomatic after treatment. In other anxiety disorders, the supplementary use of d-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist at the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, showed promise in enhancing treatment effects. We examined whether augmentation of prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD with DCS enhances treatment efficacy.

Methods

This unique volume presents the experience of 37 U.S. military nurses sent to the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of war to care for the injured and dying. The personal and professional challenges they faced, the difficulties they endured, the dangers they overcame, and the consequences they grappled with are vividly described from deployment to discharge. In mobile surgical field hospitals and...