Concerning the Constitution of Incomprehensibility in Schizophrenia: Contributions to a Subject Constructivistic Theory About Insanity

I artiklen introduceres den tyske socialpsykiater Erich Wulffs fænomenologiske og subjektkonstruktivistiske samt kritisk-psykologiske teori om og strukturanalyse af “det skizofrene vanvid”. Artiklens overordnede formål er fænomenologisk af afdække og forstå det sammenbrud mellem væren og verden, mellem subjekt og objekt og mellem indre erfaringer og ydre kendsgerninger, som den skizofrene psykose er udtryk for. Dette udfoldes og eksemplificeres med grundbegreberne “personlig mening” og “almengørlig betydning” og det gennemgås, hvorledes det skizofrene vanvid dissocierer relationen mellem personlig mening og almene betydninger gennem paradoksalisering og meningsannullering.The purpose of the introductory article and the Danish translation of Erich Wullfs article from 1992 is to introduce the German social psychiatrist Erich Wulff’s theoretical work on schizophrenia, in a Danish context. In both introduction and original article, Wulff’s con- tructivist and critical psychological theory on and structural analysis of schizophrenic psychosis is presented. The overall aim of the article is to phenomenologically uncover and understand the breakdown between subjective being and objective reality and between internal experience and exterior facts, which the schizophrenic psychosis is an expression of. The main purpose of the article is trying to understand the unintelligibility of the schizophrenic psychosis, that is to understand the “secret of production” of it, so to speak. This is exemplified with the concepts of “personal sense” and “objective meaning”and it is shown how the person with schizophrenic psychosis dissociates the relation between these two concepts through a paradoxical annulment of the connection between them. In the introductory article the analysis is taken further from how this takes place to answer the question of why this dissociation has to take place: How can we understand the eventual function and intention behind the development of schizoprenic psychosis and which implications can this have for therapeutical practice? The introductory article furthermore outlines the perpectives of Wulffs theory for an applied (social-) psychiatric and terapeutical practice, which points towards important ways of tran- scending the dominating reductionist biome- dical and descriptive psychiatry

The KORA Eye Study: A Population-Based Study on Eye Diseases in Southern Germany (KORA F4)

PURPOSE. The population-based KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg [Germany]) study was used to evaluate the prevalence of eye diseases and potential interactions with general health status, laboratory data, medication, and genetic background. METHODS. In all, 2593 probands, ranging in age from 32 to 71 years (mean: 52 years), were asked in a standardized interview for the presence of cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal or retinal disorders; positive answers were validated and specified by treating ophthalmologists. Additional data came from a questionnaire or from laboratory data. RESULTS. We validated 10 probands with corneal diseases (validation rate: 32%), 26 with retinal diseases (validation rate: 60%), 40 with glaucoma (validation rate: 75%), and 100 participants with cataracts (validation rate: 88%). Glaucoma was significantly associated with increasing age, diabetes and its treatment, and the use of drugs in airway diseases. Cataracts were significantly associated with increasing age, female sex, hypertension, and diabetes. In females, cataracts were particularly associated with the use of ophthalmological corticosteroids, some antihypertensives, and antidiabetics. In contrast, cataracts in males were associated only with the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. We also tested some polymorphic markers; two (GJA8, CRYBB3) were significantly associated with cataracts. CONCLUSIONS. Self-reported ocular diagnoses by questionnaire showed varying degrees of accuracy; this method of data collection is valid, providing confirmation is obtained from treating ophthalmologists. It revealed a similar profile of major risk factors for cataracts (age, female sex, and diabetes) in Germany like that of other international studies. The reported associations between medical treatment and genetic polymorphisms in early-onset cataract merit further functional study. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:7778 -7786

The KORA eye study: a population-based study on eye diseases in southern Germany (KORA F4)

Purpose: The population-based KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg [Germany]) study was used to evaluate the prevalence of eye diseases and potential interactions with general health status, laboratory data, medication, and genetic background. Methods. In all, 2593 probands, ranging in age from 32 to 71 years (mean: 52 years), were asked in a standardized interview for the presence of cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal or retinal disorders; positive answers were validated and specified by treating ophthalmologists. Additional data came from a questionnaire or from laboratory data. Results. We validated 10 probands with corneal diseases (validation rate: 32%), 26 with retinal diseases (validation rate: 60%), 40 with glaucoma (validation rate: 75%), and 100 participants with cataracts (validation rate: 88%). Glaucoma was significantly associated with increasing age, diabetes and its treatment, and the use of drugs in airway diseases. Cataracts were significantly associated with increasing age, female sex, hypertension, and diabetes. In females, cataracts were particularly associated with the use of ophthalmological corticosteroids, some antihypertensives, and antidiabetics. In contrast, cataracts in males were associated only with the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. We also tested some polymorphic markers; two (GJA8, CRYBB3) were significantly associated with cataracts. Conclusions. Self-reported ocular diagnoses by questionnaire showed varying degrees of accuracy; this method of data collection is valid, providing confirmation is obtained from treating ophthalmologists. It revealed a similar profile of major risk factors for cataracts (age, female sex, and diabetes) in Germany like that of other international studies. The reported associations between medical treatment and genetic polymorphisms in early-onset cataract merit further functional study