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This study prospectively assesses the implication of (a) exposure to distant trauma of war captivity, (b) stressful life events across the life span, and (c) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trajectories and current PTSD, on substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic.One hundred and twenty Israeli ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and 65 matched veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War filled out self-report questionnaires in 4 waves of assessment (T1-18, T2-30, T3-35, and T4-42 years after the war). A fifth wave of assessment (T5) was conducted in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 47 years after the war.Whereas in the earlier assessments (T1-T4) war captivity was not related to substance use, during the COVID-19 pandemic (T5) ex-POWs reported higher increase of use of alcohol, tranquilizers, cannabis, and sleep medications than comparable veterans. War-induced PTSD trajectories that were prospectively measured between T1-T4, and concurrent PTSD during the pandemic (T5) were related to increase in substance use during the pandemic (T5).The findings demonstrate the long-term effects of both earlier experience of severe traumatic stress in young adulthood and the resultant PTSD trajectories, as reflected in increased substance use among the elderly, in the face of subsequent calamity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Dr Joseph Melzak, was born in Poland , September 1903 and died in September 1972 in Haifa, Israel. He joined the Polish army in the First World War. He studied medicine after the world war and became a neurologist. He was trained by the father of Polish neurology, Prof Edward Flatau (1868- 1932). During the second world war Joseph escaped from Poland . joined the Polish free army which became part of the British 8th army. He worked as a physician and surgeon in the British army in Italy and in Palestine. After the war he came to the UK and worked in the field of neuro-rehabilitation and eventually settled at Stoke Mandeville Hospital , and worked under the father of the comprehensive rehabilitation of the spinally injured: Sir Ludwig Guttmann (1899-1980). He retired from the National Health Service in the UK and immigrated to Israel, and worked for Community Health Organization, in Haifa. His academic publications are well known to those who work with spinal cord injuries.

During the late 19th century and the 20th century, many allied health and technical professions, joined physicians and nurses in their formal medical and surgical comprehensive work. The professionalization process of the various medical and surgical fields demanded true incorporation of allied health professions into the medical infrastructure. Non-academic professions such as the "feldsher ", barber-surgeon, bone-setters and the midwife, transferred into realms of the academic medical and the health professions fields.

The contributions of Australians on shell shock are absent from the literature. However, two Australians were pioneers in the treatment of shell shock: George Elton Mayo (1880–1949) and Dr Thomas Henry Reeve Mathewson (1881–1975). They used psychoanalytic approaches to treat psychiatric patients and introduced the psychoanalytic treatment of people who suffered from shell shock. Their ‘talking cure’ was highly successful and challenged the view that shell shock only occurred in men who were malingering and/or lacking in fortitude. Their work demonstrated that people experiencing mental illness could be treated in the community at a time when they were routinely treated as inpatients. It also exemplified the substantial benefits of combining science with clinical knowledge and skill in psychology and psychiatry.

This study assessed the contributions of prior war captivity trauma, the appraisal of the current COVID-19 danger and its resemblance to the prior trauma, and long-term trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to risk for PTSD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Capitalizing on a 29-year longitudinal study with four previous assessments, two groups of Israeli veterans - ex-Prisoners-of-War (ex-POWs) of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and comparable combat veterans of the same war - were reassessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous data were collected on their PTSD trajectory 18, 30, 35, and 42 years after the war and exposure to stressful life events after the war. Currently, we collected data on their PTSD during the COVID-19 pandemic and their appraisal of similarities of past trauma with the current pandemic. Previously traumatized ex-POWs were found to be more vulnerable and had significantly higher rates of PTSD and more intense PTSD during the current pandemic than comparable combat veterans. Moreover, veterans in both groups who perceived the current adversity (captivity, combat) as hindering their current coping were more likely to suffer from PTSD than veterans who perceived it as a facilitating or irrelevant experience. In addition, chronic and delayed trajectories of PTSD among ex-POWs increased the risk for PTSD during the pandemic, and lifetime PTSD mediated the effects of war captivity on PTSD during the current pandemic. These findings support the stress resolution perspective indicating that the response to previous trauma - PTSD and its trajectories - increased the risk of PTSD following subsequent exposure to stress.

The Israeli everyday medical slang includes foreign names. Some of these terms had already been translated to Hebrew, but are rarely in use. Terms such as "staung, schpadel, penrose, pinzette, tourniquet, gauze pad, PEG or retractor" are most frequently in use in foreign languages, as well as nouns like pasteurization, mesmerizing (hypnotizing) which originated from their historical developer. The authors believe that we will also continue to use these original foreign terms and eponyms in the future.

Dr. Joseph Weill was a French Jewish doctor who made significant contributions to the knowledge of hunger disease in the refugee camps in southern France during World War II. He was involved with the clandestine network of escape routes for Jewish children from Nazi-occupied France to Switzerland. Take home messages • During the Holocaust, in the ghettoes and death camps, a few research projects, mainly on hunger and infectious diseases, were performed by Jewish physicians and scientists • Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners were incarcerated within the notorious system of internment camps in southern France • Dr. Joseph Weill (1902-1988), a French Jewish physician and a distinguished member of the Résistance managed to enter the internment camps and medically assist the inmates in addition to performing systematic research and follow-up of those who presented with hunger disease.

Hospital beds are essential equipment for any hospital and clinical work. Various types of beds are in regular use in different medical branches. We survey historical points regarding the development of different types of beds, and medical eponyms, which connected to hospital beds. We must pay attention to the complications of prolonged confinement to bed.

The rapid evolution of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology and the exponential growth of BCI literature during the past 20 years is a consequence of increasing computational power and the achievements of statistical learning theory and machine learning since the 1960s. Despite this rapid scientific progress, the range of successful clinical and societal applications remained limited, with some notable exceptions in the rehabilitation of chronic stroke and first steps towards BCI-based assisted verbal communication in paralysis. In this contribution, we focus on the effects of noninvasive and invasive BCI-based verbal communication on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the locked-in state (LIS) and the completely locked-in state (CLIS). Despite a substantial lack of replicated scientific data, this paper complements the existing methodological knowledge and focuses future investigators’ attention on (1) Social determinants of QoL and (2) Brain reorganization and behavior. While it is not documented in controlled studies that the good QoL in these patients is a consequence of BCI-based neurorehabilitation, the proposed determinants of QoL might become the theoretical background needed to develop clinically more useful BCI systems and to evaluate the effects of BCI-based communication on QoL for advanced ALS patients and other forms of severe paralysis.

Theodore James Faithfull (1885- 1973), the grandfather of the singer Mariann Faithfull, was a veterinary surgeon who became a psychotherapist and sexologist. His remarkable personal story, is an important part of the history persons who envisioned modern sociology. This article brings a "meeting point " between history of medicine, medicine, sociology, psychology, sexology and veterinary medicine. The names of Sir Patrick Geddes FRSE (1854 –1932) , Dr. Theodore James Faithfull (1885- 1973), his son, Robert Glynn Faithfull (1912- 1998), and Victor Branford ( 1863 –1930), are listed among those who envisioned modern sociology.

The Swiss neurologist Otto Veraguth (1870-1944), described a (forgotten) physical sign, which is pathognomonic to chronic depression and melancholia: an omega-shaped skin fold in between the eye-lids. This description followed electro-physiologist experiments on the electrical properties of the skin in various mental and emotional situations.

Chronic pain induces a multitude of harmful effects; recently it has been suggested that chronic pain is also associated with premature aging, manifested in shortened telomere length (TL). However, evidence for this hypothesis is scarce and inconsistent. The aim was twofold: 1) Investigate whether chronic pain is associated with premature aging, and 2) Determine whether physical exercise (PE) moderates this association if it exists. Participants were 116 male subjects, with (n = 67) and without chronic pain (n = 49). Blood samples for TL analysis were collected and participants were interviewed and completed questionnaires. As a part of the cohort, we included people with physical disability; this variable was controlled in the analysis. The TL of individuals with chronic pain was significantly shorter than that of pain-free individuals. Regression analysis revealed a significant moderating effect of PE on chronic pain and TL, above and beyond the effects of disability, age, and weight. Whereas chronic pain was associated with shorter telomeres in participants who did not exercise, this association was nonsignificant among participants who did exercise. The results suggest that chronic pain is associated with premature ageing; however, PE may mitigate this association and may protect individuals against the harmful effects of chronic pain. Perspective The study suggests that it is important to monitor signs of premature ageing among chronic pain patients as they are at risk. However, chronic pain patients may benefit from regular PE in this respect as it may moderate premature ageing.

War is usually accompanied by devastating consequences such as famine, diseases, social and economic destruction and more. Research projects or accounts on hunger were rarely made during the war itself. This review describes these attempts with an emphasis on the heroic "Hunger Disease " research that was carried out within the Warsaw ghetto.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) etiology can be either traumatic or non-traumatic. Non-traumatic SCI is of growing importance, with studies indicating increased incidence, partly because of population aging. Approximately 9% of these injuries are secondary to an infectious cause. SCI has significant implications on the patient's quality of life. A successful rehabilitation process focuses on maximizing independence and setting achievable goals according to the patient's needs and desires. The medical staff should be familiar with the natural history of such injuries while taking into consideration the existing support systems available to the patient and minimizing the damage to life cycles as best possible with the aid of a transdisciplinary team approach. In this article, we will review the main viral causes of SCI injury. We will discuss the epidemiology, clinical aspects and the unique meanings of this subgroup in the rehabilitation process.

Plica Polonica (or Plica Neuropathica) is a rare hair disorder, an acute hair felting. The one who described this phenomenon thoroughly and who has been almost totally absent in history-of-medicine textbooks, is the French - Dutch physician, Joseph Romain Louis Kerckhoffs (or Kerckhove) (1789 - 1867).

Shmuel Springer,1 Itamar Friedman,2 Avi Ohry3,4 1Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel; 2ProMedoss, Charlotte, NC, USA; 3Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; 4Reuth Rehabilitation and Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel Background: Age-related changes in coordinated movement pattern of the thorax and pelvis may be one of the factors contributing to fall risk. This report describes the feasibility of using a new thoracopelvic assisted movement device to improve gait and balance in an elderly population with increased risk for falls. Methods: In this case series, 19 older adults were recruited from an assisted living facility. All had gait difficulties (gait speed MDC in their clinical measures after 6 treatment sessions, and more than half improved >MDC after 12 sessions. Six subjects (32%) improved their Timed Up and Go time by >4 seconds after 6 sessions, and 10 (53%) after 12 sessions. After the intervention, 4 subjects (21%) improved their 10-meter Walk Test velocity from limited community ambulation (0.4–0.8 m/s) to functional community ambulation (>0.8 m/s). Conclusion: Thoracopelvic assisted movement training that mimics normal walking pattern may have clinical implications, by improving skills that enhance balance and gait function. Additional randomized, controlled studies are required to examine the effects of this intervention on larger cohorts with a variety of subjects. Keywords: gait, balance, older adults, training

Objective This study sheds light on the importance of long-term follow-up of trauma survivors, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trajectories, and early detection of health risk factors in trauma survivors. The present study prospectively assessed the following over 23 years: (1) the association of psychological and physiologic stress during captivity with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes hypertension; elevated levels of insulin, triglycerides, and fasting glucose; decreased levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; and obesity and (2) the implication of PTSD trajectories in elevated CRP levels and MetS. Methods Measurements were taken in 1991, 2003, 2008, and 2015. Participants were 116 Israeli combat veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (of these, 101 were former prisoners of war [ex-POWs] and 15 were comparable controls). The medical assessments relevant for this study were body mass index, fasting blood glucose levels, and diabetes, blood pressure or a diagnosis of hypertension, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and medication intake. In addition, the PTSD Inventory was used to assess PTSD symptoms and trajectories over time according to DSM-IV-TR PTSD criteria. Results Captivity-in particular, the captivity stressors of weight loss, physical suffering, psychological suffering, and humiliation-was implicated in both elevated CRP levels and MetS, significantly so with elevated CRP levels (P = .01, R² = 0.33). Captivity-induced PTSD, in particular chronic and delayed PTSD trajectories, was associated with elevated CRP levels and MetS, significantly so for MetS (P = .05). Conclusions Monitoring inflammation using markers like CRP level in trauma survivors can be beneficial, particularly if PTSD is chronic or delayed. Clinicians treating trauma survivors should raise awareness of the importance of such measures in light of long-term health vulnerabilities.

Background Previous findings have demonstrated the link between trauma, its psychopathological aftermath and cellular aging, as reflected in telomere length. However, as long-term examinations of psychopathology following trauma are scarce, very little is known regarding the repercussions of depression and PTSD trajectories of psychopathology for telomeres. The current study examined the implications of war captivity and depression/PTSD trajectories on telomere length. Methods Ninety-nine former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) from the 1973 Yom Kippur War were evaluated for depression and PTSD at 18, 30, 35 and 42 years after the war. Data on leukocyte telomere length of ex-POWs and 79 controls was collected 42 years after the war. Results Ex-POWs had shorter telomeres compared to controls (Cohen's d = .5 indicating intermediate effect). Ex-POWs with chronic depression had shorter telomeres compared to those with delayed onset of depression (Cohen's d = 4.89), and resilient ex-POWs (Cohen's d = 3.87), indicating high effect sizes. PTSD trajectories were not implicated in telomere length (Partial eta 2 = .16 and p = .11). Conclusion The findings suggest that the detrimental ramifications of war captivity are extensive, involving premature cellular senesces. These findings further point to the wear-and-tear effect of long-term depression, but not PTSD, on telomere length. Explanations for the findings are discussed.

Traumatic injury to the spinal cord during spinal or epidural anesthesia is usually secondary to either direct needle penetration or intra-neural injection of local anesthetics. Two women were admitted to a rehabilitation department with paraparesis and hypoesthesia after delivery. One had undergone a lower segment cesarean section under spinal anesthesia and the other, a spontaneous delivery under epidural anesthesia. After discharge from the rehabilitation treatment, they both experienced some weakness in the lower limbs. The patho-physiological basis of this complication seems to be either direct damage to the spinal cord by intra-neural injection of local anesthetics, or local ischemia.

The Nuremberg Nazi doctors' trial, established ethical standards for human experimentation. Pre-Nazi Germany was well advanced in all sciences. The murderous Nazi ideology used eugenics and "scientific racism" to eliminate those whom they regarded as inferiors. Scores of medical eponyms named after Nazi doctors are still in use. We must always mention these physicians' contributions to the "white murderers" atrocities during the Nazi rule.

Many Jewish doctors in the Holocaust - in ghettos, concentration and extermination camps and in the forests - displayed courage, valor and sacrifice in the resistance front against the Nazis and their allies. The scope of their actions was broad: active resistance in the underground and rebellion movements or in the lines of partisans in the forests; hiding and saving Jews; smuggling medicines; preparing false medical records; secretly conducting surgery and other treatments; refusing the demands to submit lists of patients and workers, thus sentencing them to death; staying by the sick and the needy in the ghettos, even when they could escape, and many more. All this was done out of truth to their conscience, sometimes even beyond their commitment to the doctor's oath, placing themselves in uncertain situations, in distress, hunger, oppression and humiliation, risking their own lives and those of their families. It is admirable how those degrees of courage, bravery, willpower and sacrifice could develop out of such terrible physical and mental distress. The resistance was an extensive wide-ranging occurrence among the Jewish doctors and not one of just a few individuals. This article presents a number of examples of diverse forms of resistance, of individuals as well as of groups of physicians.

Rationale It has been recognized that exposure to mass trauma tends to increase the time spent watching television (TV) news. Yet, research on the effects of this tendency on individuals’ well-being yielded inconclusive findings. Objective The aim of this longitudinal study is to examine the effects of prior trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on changes in the amount of TV news watching and its effect on subsequent PTSD. More specifically, we examined the interrelations of prior exposure to war captivity, long-term PTSD trajectories, and amount of change TV news watching with PTSD severity during the COVID-19 pandemic, among aging Israeli combat veterans. Methods One-hundred-and-twenty Israeli ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) from 1973 Yom Kippur War and 65 matched controls (combat veterans from the same war) were followed up at five points of time: 1991 (T1), 2003 (T2), 2008 (T3), 2015 (T4), and in April–May 2020 (T5), during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Ex-POWs had higher odds of COVID-19 related increase in TV news watching, which, in turn, contributed to PTSD severity at T5. In addition, delayed PTSD trajectory was associated with COVID-19 related increase in TV news watching, which, in turn, contributed to more severe PTSD at T5. Conclusions These findings highlight the negative implications of TV news watching during a mass trauma for traumatized individuals. More specifically, they demonstrate its potential pathogenic role in exacerbating prior PTSD among trauma survivors.

Background. The process of a comprehensive rehabilitation of the disabled person may be more complicated when the diagnosis becomes vague and uncertain. Unknown data about the patient’s past, mental, physical or vocational background, may cast a different light on the process. The patient’s diagnosis sometimes becomes an enigma. Using the model of Venn, the patient’s situation shifts from one circle to another. The only logical solution in these cases is to use the Occam’s Razor. Purpose. To draw the attention of rehabilitation medicine professionals to the problem of clients whose diagnoses are vague and uncertain and to share with the readers my personal thoughts on this topic. Methods. Reviewing literature and sharing with the readers the author’s 43 years of clinical experience in the field of rehabilitation medicine. Results and Conclusions. A PubMed query revealed 1479 articles with the words „diagnostic enigma”. The search term „diagnostic enigma in rehabilitation medicine” resulted only in four articles. In the long process of rehabilitation of disabled patients, some patients’ diagnoses change during the hospitalization phase and some diagnoses become unclear. The rehabilitation process becomes complicated and sometimes incomplete. Implications for Rehabilitation Medicine: 1. In most instances, patients are referred to rehabilitation medicine facilities with definite diagnoses. 2. The long process of a comprehensive rehabilitation of the disabled person may be more complicated when, prior to the discharge, the final diagnosis becomes vague and uncertain. 3. Facts about the patient’s past mental, physical or vocational background may cast a different light on the process. The patient’s diagnosis sometimes becomes an enigma.

Augusto Isaac d'Esaguy was a 20th century Portuguese medical historian who made contributions to the history of Portuguese-Jewish physicians and was also involved with the Jewish-Portuguese Refugee Committee which assisted with the relocation of Jews from Nazi-controlled France during the Second World War.

Five patients developed symmetrical paraparesis due to a combination of: compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, and demyelinative sensory-motor polyneuropathy, after prolonged sleep in a sitting position. The long deep sleep was induced by consumption of alcohol or drugs. Long-term follow-up showed that these patients remained paraparetic. No damage to the autonomic nervous system was found. Although some suspected that these patients developed "intensive care neuropathy", we suggest that this syndrome is different, and should be regarded as a "new syndrome".

As of 1.1.2013, out of 24,811 persons awarded the status of Righteous Among the Nations, 245 (1%) were physicians and 31 were medical students. They were active in helping and saving Jews in various ways: surgery for hiding signs of Jewish identity, hospitalizations, smuggling medical supplies into the ghettos, providing false documents, hiding people and active fighting. We must remember them and pay them homage. We are equally obligated to the Jewish physicians, who saved the lives of other Jews during the Holocaust, at the risk of their own lives.

The presence of unintentional muscular activity, with or without overt movement, in the homologue muscle contralateral to the limb being activated voluntarily, has been documented in both healthy and hemi-paretic populations. This activity has been termed contra-lateral motor irradiation (CMI), mirror movement, associated movement, motor overflow or synkinesis.To characterize the CMI phenomenon amongst healthy controls and patients with varying degrees of motor ability and also to assess the ability to consciously control this phenomenon.A cross-sectional design was used to study sub-acute (within 6 weeks of the insult) stroke patients; assessments were performed within two weeks of commencing rehabilitation and again after 4 weeks. Healthy controls were assessed once. A simple motor task, unilateral extension of wrist and fingers, was examined. Concomitant muscular activity of the homologue muscle on the contralateral upper limb was the focus of interest; EMG activation was monitored on both sides. The Fugl-Meyer test was used to assess the residual motor capacity of the upper limb.CMI was demonstrated only in the non-paretic hand during voluntary activation of the paretic hand. The study group, unlike the control group, was unable to consciously reduce CMI.Although the mechanisms underlying CMI are poorly understood, they reflect an important aspect of inter-hemispheric relationship in motor control. In stroke patients, CMI monitoring by surface EMG can be used to assess its characteristics following damage to different elements of the motor system.

Vast literature has been published on the experiences of soldiers in war and in enemy captivity, but less light has been cast on the late physical, emotional, familial and social effects. Professor Zahava Solomon's long academic and professional career was devoted to the thorough and comprehensive study of the long term sequelae of war captivity. Her studies confirmed that repatriated Israeli prisoners of the Yom Kippur War, are exposed to premature aging processes and develop premature serious physical and mental morbidities.

Humans are social creatures and therefore exhibit a pervasive need for others. Hence, when benevolent human contact is scarce, this dearth may be compensated imaginatively. War captivity is an extreme example of such deprivation and one wherein dissociative hallucinations have been exhibited. Although hallucinations may serve to virtually summon benevolent others and thus provide the prisoner of war (POW) with a platform for compensation, the contents of such hallucinations have yet to be investigated. The current qualitative study is the first to examine whether the content of such hallucinations may harbor positive effects. Guided by the notion that people search for compensation in lack of companionship, we scrutinized testimonies of former POWs for accounts of hallucinatory experiences. A narrative analysis was utilized in an attempt to understand the meaning of the hallucinations for the POW. Findings reveal that benevolent figures and concomitant acts of care are exhibited in war captivity hallucinatory experiences. Thus, it is argued that the content of such hallucinations may be protective. These findings are discussed in light of the literature concerning peritraumatic dissociative experiences. In addition, attachment theory is suggested as a plausible framework for understanding these findings. Finally, limitations of the study are discussed, and future researched is suggested.

The Rehabilitation Medicine specialists are frequently confronted with paralyzed patients due to a conversion-somatoform etiology. This article describes our model of diagnosing, treating and rehabilitating these patients.

Research suggests that trauma experienced at an earlier stage of life may be implicated in premature or accelerated aging in later stages. Premature aging, in this respect, evinces in various domains, particularly in health impediments and mortality. The current study prospectively assessed the long term impact of war and war captivity on mortality, medical assessments of morbidity and self-rated health among Israeli combat veterans and former prisoners of war (POWs). Participants were evaluated at four points in time over three decades. Results revealed that war captivity was implicated in premature aging in all domains. Ex-POWs exhibited mortality rates four times higher than comparable veterans who were not held captive. Ex POWs’ health outcomes were worse than those of controls when assessed both by medical professionals and via self-report measures. Differential posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trajectories mediated the relationship between captivity and health. Theoretical and clinical implications will be discussed.

Background/aim: Patients with stroke who are suffering from impaired reaching movement experience insufficient spatial and temporal coordination, affecting upper limb functions and everyday life tasks. This study examines a new robot-assisted rehabilitation method for ameliorating arm reaching movements through velocity error enhancement training. The authors hypothesised that this robot-assisted rehabilitation training may encourage restoration of arm reaching abilities among post-stroke hemiparesis patients. Methods: Several clinical and kinematic measures were used to evaluate outcomes. Subjects were assigned either to an experimental group that underwent 5-week treatments with error enhanced forces, or to a control group that received passive treatment. The control group undertook reaching tasks over the same period while they were connected to the robot but without it applying any error enhancement forces to their upper limb. The robotic system was programmed based on previous kinematic data from healthy subjects, so any deviation from the relatively smooth, calculated, optimal trajectory, and velocity profile mean encountered error enhancing external forces. Results: The results showed an appreciable effect on smoothness and regularity of movement. After 5 weeks of velocity error enhancement treatment, all subjects in the experimental group displayed movements converging towards their optimal profiles, together with decreased variability in path trajectory. In contrast to the control group, their mean deviation was also significantly reduced. These positive changes in motor control patterns were paralleled by gains in functional capacity, as reflected by the Motor Assessment Scale test results. However, those results should be carefully inspected in regard to small sample size and un-matching of motor performance at the beginning of the trial between groups. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the potential of robotic rehabilitation that combines error enhancement and velocity component training to help stroke patients.

The Swiss physician Adolf Lukas Vischer described a psychiatric syndrome among prisoners of war, the ‘barbed-wire disease’ that follows a long-term incarceration and which involved boredom, confusion, clouding of consciousness and amnesia. Vischer first identified this as an important clinical issue. Later in life, he became one of the first geriatricians and gerontologists.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to uncover attitudes of physical therapists (PTs) who treat vegetative state (VS) patients, and to raise awareness to ethical and professional dilemmas: Are PTs influenced by ageist perceptions? Do they consider physiotherapy to be effective or futile?Design/methodology/approachEthical questions and complex dilemmas are by and large subconscious and rarely explicitly voiced, but can be identified by revealing implicit therapists' personal and professional approach to patients. A quantitative six‐point Likert scale questionnaire was developed, which presented two VS cases – young and old, followed by practical‐ethical questions concerning key issues including: treatment choices, quality of life, prolongation of life, futile treatment (n=101, 68 percent return rate).FindingsThe results reveal a complex reality: on the one hand PTs expressed a positive perception of their profession, and consider all treatment components important for VS patients and their families regardless of age; on the other hand, significant preference for treating the younger VS patient was found.Practical implicationsThere is a need for raising awareness of physiotherapists to the social phenomenon of ageism and its implications on daily professional and ethical conduct.Originality/valueWhile other studies revealed ageism in various health care settings, this study was original both in its methodology (examining implicit ageism via contrasting vignettes), and its unique context (VS patients) which in theory could be viewed as “ageless” in light of the patients' permanent condition.