Study of deaths by suicide of homosexual prisoners in Nazi Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Living conditions in Nazi concentration camps were harsh and inhumane, leading many prisoners to commit suicide. Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg, Germany) was a concentration camp that operated from 1936 to 1945. More than 200,000 people were detained there under Nazi rule. This study analyzes deaths classified as suicides by inmates in this camp, classified as homosexuals, both according to the surviving Nazi files. This collective was especially repressed by the Nazi authorities. Data was collected from the archives of Sachsenhausen Memorial and the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen. Original death certificates and autopsy reports were reviewed. Until the end of World War II, there are 14 death certificates which state "suicide" as cause of death of prisoners classified as homosexuals, all of them men aged between 23 and 59 years and of various religions and social strata. Based on a population of 1,200 prisoners classified as homosexuals, this allows us to calculate a suicide rate of 1,167/100,000 (over the period of eight years) for this population, a rate 10 times higher than for global inmates (111/100,000). However, our study has several limitations: not all suicides are registered; some murders were covered-up as suicides; most documents were lost during the war or destroyed by the Nazis when leaving the camps and not much data is available from other camps to compare. We conclude that committing suicides in Sachsenhausen was a common practice, although accurate data may be impossible to obtain.

Study of Deaths by Suicide in the Soviet Special Camp Number 7 (Sachsenhausen), 1945-1950.

After World War II, Sachsenhausen Nazi concentration camp (Oranienburg) was administered until the spring of 1950 by Soviet occupation forces (Special Camp Number 7) and used mainly for political prisoners. Our study analyzes suicides in this camp during the Soviet period. Data was collected from the archives of Sachsenhausen Memorial, Special Camp Collection. Original documents containing certificates or autopsy reports of prisoners who committing suicide were reviewed. In this period, authorities registered 17 suicides. The age of suicides was between 19 and 64 years. The most frequent cause of imprisonment was Blockleiter (Kapo in Nazi period, n = 4), Mitarbeiter Gestapo (member of the Gestapo, n = 3) and Wehrmacht (military, n = 3). Hanging was the most frequent method of suicide. The average time spent in the camp until suicide was 715 days. The number of recorded suicides under Soviet control is considerably lower (calculated rate 2.8/10,000 per year) than under Nazi control (calculated rate 11/10,000 per year). This could be due to comparably more favorable conditions for prisoners and the abolishment of the death penalty during this period. Possible motives for suicides include feelings of guilt for crimes committed, fear of punishment and a misguided understanding of honor on the eve of criminal trials.

Suicide in Inmates in Nazis and Soviet Concentration Camps: Historical Overview and Critique.

Living conditions in concentration camps were harsh and often inhumane, leading many prisoners to commit suicide. We have reviewed this topic in Nazi concentration camps (KL), Soviet special camps, and gulags, providing some preliminary data for our research. Data show that the incidence of suicide in Nazi KL could be up to 30 times higher than the general population and was also much higher than in Soviet special camps (maybe due to more favorable conditions for prisoners and the abolishment of death penalty), while available data on Soviet gulags are contradictory. However, data interpretation is very controversial, because, for example, the Nazi KL authorities used to cover-up the murder victims as suicides. Most of the suicides were committed in the first years of imprisonment, and the method of suicide most commonly used was hanging, although other methods included cutting blood vessels, poisoning, contact with electrified wire, or starvation. It is possible to differentiate two behaviors when committing suicide; impulsive behavior (contact with electrified barbed wire fences) or premeditated suicide (hanging up or through poison). In Soviet special camps, possible motives for suicides could include feelings of guilt for crimes committed, fear of punishment, and a misguided understanding of honor on the eve of criminal trials. Self-destructive behaviors, such as self-mutilation in gulag camps or prisoners who let themselves die, have been widely reported. Committing suicide in concentration camps was a common practice, although precise data may be impossible to obtain.

Semicircular lipoatrophy: an electrostatic hypothesis.

BACKGROUND: Semicircular lipoatrophy (SL) is a benign pathology characterized by subcutaneous adipose tissue atrophy. OBJECTIVE: To determine causes of SL. METHODS: We performed research on 42 cases of SL who had developed symptoms of lipoatrophy with a technical study of the building and clinical study of the affected patients. RESULTS: Electromagnetic field and electrostatic charge measurements were performed. No signals different from typical radio, TV and other wireless communication devices were recorded. Electrostatic charges were recorded in floors, environments and on different furniture; they were positive, and all charges disappeared on contact with the worker's skin. Data about the workplace were collected, and clinical examinations were performed, including blood and biochemistry tests and 18 ultrasound skin tests. CONCLUSIONS: As no abnormal electromagnetic measurements were found and electrostatic changes and occupational behaviors showed some relevant data and as after changes in order to control the electrostatic environment all of them improved, we can conclude that electrostatic charges but not electromagnetic ones are the main cause of SL.

Are combined same-day treatments the future for photorejuvenation? Review of the literature on combined treatments with lasers, intense pulsed light, radiofrequency, botulinum toxin, and fillers for rejuvenation.

BACKGROUND: Skin rejuvenation requires a treatment combination including lasers, intense pulsed light (IPL), radiofrequency, botulinum toxin (BT) and fillers. A combined approach is considered optimum but usually same-day combined treatments are avoid and lasers are performed prior to filler or toxin injections owing to the concern that the light may inactivate or degrade them. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on the use of combination treatments with radiofrequency, IPL, non ablative and ablative lasers plus fillers or BT. RESULTS: review of the literature identified 15 studies of combination treatments: three of them on animal models and 12 were clinical studies. Seven studies contained combined light system treatments with fillers and eight studies combined physical therapies with botulinum toxin injection. In all of them treatments were used as standard protocols. Six studies documented no histological changes in fillers injected after applying radiofrequency, IPL or laser treatments and one studied documented improvement in collagen after IPL treatment and toxin injection. These studies reported clinical improvement in various features of photodamaged skin, no increase of adverse effects and neither decrease on efficacy of substances injected. CONCLUSIONS: review of the literature demonstrates safety of same day combined treatments for rejuvenation, which improve clinical results, are more comfortable for patients have no loss of efficacy or other apparent adverse effect.

La utilización de cadáveres y órganos en la investigación y docencia médica. Lecciones de la historia / The use of corpses and organs in research and medical education. Lessons from history

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Hiperqueratosis digitada diminuta múltiple / Multiple minute digitate hyperkeratoses

Una mujer de 50 años presentaba cientos de pequeñas lesiones papulosas hiperqueratósicas distribuidas por el tronco y la zona proximal de extremidades, sin afectación palmoplantar ni de los anejos cutáneos. Al microscopio las lesiones mostraban hiperqueratosis ortoqueratósica. La hiperqueratosis digitada diminuta múltiple tiene varias formas de presentación: familiar (con inicio en la segunda y tercera década de la vida), esporádica y postinflamatoria. El estudio histopatólogico demuestra que las formas familiares y esporádicas tienen características semejantes, diferentes de las formas postinflamatorias. (AU)

Eccema alérgico de contacto a tetracaína ¿profesional? / Occupational? allergic contact dermatitis from tetracaine

Se presenta un caso de eccema alérgico de contacto por tetracaína en una mujer que al cuidado de una hija con parálisis cerebral se sensibiliza al utilizar sondas urinarias a las que aplicaba un ungüento (Organón®) que contienen tetracaína. Se discute si la sensibilizacion tenía o no un carácter profesional. (AU)