[Jenny]

One of my all-time favorite books. And I love Graves poetry as well. He may have been right Re. trench-foot. We now know that a person's moral can play havoc with the immune system. Poor discipline can, lead to poor moral, and vice versa. There is plenty of anecdotal information out there on how one's personal outlook affects one's health. Whether this is due to seratonin levels, or something else ought to be studied. There is a definite mind/body connection, and when you throw in the generalized stress of trench warfare, poor living conditions, etc., one could certainly go into a downward slide culminating in trench-foot.
Now how would one set up such a study? Or would one rely on retrospective evidence? Wonder if the Journal of Military Medicine might be interested? Are there articles of the epidemiology of trench-foot? I wonder if my local SPH school would know? I need to find a psychiatrist specializing in brain biochemistry, as well as infantry related military medicine. Here's a question: What is the effect of serotonin levels on the development of trench-foot? If high serotonin levels prevent the development of trench-foot, could/should one give troops in the field doses of Prozac , or similar drugs to up the saratonin levels? Under battlefield conditions, how would you administer said drug? Pill, patch, long-lasting injections? Sorry about the tangent, but this might be worth a f/u. Jenny. I may get my call from Stockholm yet!