title: The progressive nature of concentration camp syndrome in former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps--Not just history, but the important issue of contemporary medicine.
abstract: Constant stress, slave labor, tortures, and starvation all affected the health of concentration camp prisoners, contributing to multimorbidities, increased mortality and accelerated development of chronic illnesses, what we have shown in an earlier publication. The interrelated somatic and psychological symptoms gave rise to concentration camp syndrome (KZ-syndrome), which has many features of PTSD, occurring frequently nowadays. The paper attempts at assessing the influence of concentration camp conditions on functional disorders in each system of the human body, occurring in KZ-syndrome, and at demonstrating the progressive nature of the syndrome. A retrospective assessment of the former prisoners' health after 5 and 30 years following their leaving camps was performed based on medical records and surveys. The materials included 250 former prisoners who underwent medical examination in 1950, i.e. 5 years after leaving the camp, of whom 120 former prisoners survived and were examined and surveyed in 1975, i.e. 30 years after leaving the camp. KZ-syndrome was shown to occur in 58.8% of former prisoners 5 years after leaving the camp, and in 77.5% after 30 years (p < 0.001), which confirms the syndrome's chronic and progressive nature. Pathological sequels of internment in concentration camps, in the form of KZ-syndrome, were observed in most former prisoners. Over time, the number of morbidities and the intensity of symptoms increased, which indicates that the syndrome has a chronic and progressive nature. KZ-syndrome is a multi-organ disorder, with numerous chronic comorbidities exacerbating the progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 66 Street, 50-369 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: r.dymarek@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jabłoński
authors.affiliation: Department of Nervous System Diseases, Department of Clinical Nursing, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5 Street, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: joanna.rosinczuk@umed.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosińczuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, L. Pasteura 10 Street, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: jerzy.leszek@umed.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leszek
authors.affiliation: Division of Nursing in Internal Medicine Procedures, Department of Clinical Nursing, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5 Street, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: izabella.uchmanowicz@umed.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Izabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uchmanowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 66 Street, 50-369 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: bernard.panaszek@umed.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Panaszek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003209:Concentration Camps; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D028683:National Socialism; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: KZ-syndrome; Multimorbidity; Nazi concentration camp; PTSD; Progressive disease