Stress and weight gain in parents of cancer patients.

Objective: To investigate the effects of chronic stress on weight changes and related behavioral changes in parents with a child who had just been diagnosed with cancer compared to parents with healthy children.

Design: Longitudinal case-control study with assessments occurring over a three-month period following the child's diagnosis of cancer.

Subjects: In total, 49 parents of healthy children and 49 parents of cancer patients aged 19-58.

Quantitative trait loci associated with elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone in the Wistar-Kyoto rat.

Thyroid hormones are essential for the regulation of developmental and physiological processes. The genetic factors underlying naturally occurring variability in mammalian thyroid function are, however, only partially understood. Genetic control of thyroid function can be studied with animal models such as the inbred Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat strain.

Sex- and lineage-specific inheritance of depression-like behavior in the rat.

The Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat exhibits physiological and behavioral similarities to endophenotypes of human depression. In the forced swim test (FST), a well-characterized antidepressant-reversible test for behavioral despair in rodents, WKYs express characteristics of behavioral despair; increased immobility, and decreased climbing. To map genetic loci linked to behavior in the FST, we conducted a quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of the segregating F2 generation of a WKY x Fisher 344 (F344) reciprocal intercross.

Assessing the impact of change in the organization of a technical support system for a health information systems (HIS).

Objective: Evaluate the impact of the implementation of a new model of Help Desk and technical support in HIS users of the hospital. We carried an anonymous survey on a random sample of 150 users of the new system. The administrative staff (A), doctors (D) and nurses (N) were analysed by strata.

Inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor activity by two pyrimidopyrimidine derivatives.

Overexpression of the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 occurs frequently in human cancers and is associated with aggressive tumor behavior and poor patient prognosis. We have investigated the effects in vitro and in vivo of a new class of inhibitor molecules on the growth of several human cancer cell lines. BIBX1382 [N8-(3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenyl)-N2-(1-methyl-piperidin-4-yl)-pyrimido[5,4-d]pyrimidine-2,8-diamine] and BIBU1361 [(3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenyl)-[6-(4-diethylaminomethyl-piperidin-1yl)-pyrimido[5,4-d]pyrimidin-4-yl]-amine] are two new selective EGFR kinase inhibitors that do not block the activity of other tyrosine kinases.

Quality of life in patients diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcinoma: hepatic arterial infusion of Cisplatin versus 90-Yttrium microspheres (Therasphere).

Background: The aims of the study were to test the difference in health-related quality (HRQL) of life and survival in patients diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcionma (HCC) and treated with either hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of Cisplatin or 90-Yttrium microspheres (Therasphere).

Method: The design of the study was a non-randomized parallel cohort study. Twenty-eight patients participated in the present study.

End-of-life caregiving: what helps family caregivers cope?

Patient care needs and patient quality-of-life (QOL) deficits can be significant stressors for family caregivers. Often, greater caregiving demands and poorer patient QOL are associated with greater caregiver strain. However, caregiver coping behavior can attenuate the effect of caregiving stressors on caregiver strain.

The role of psychosocial factors in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The number of deaths per year from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exceeds 250000, placing it sixth as the cause of death from cancer worldwide. The primary etiology of most cases of HCC in the US is hepatitis B and/or C. Extensive research has demonstrated that the relationship between hepatitis B infection and the progression to HCC is mediated by the immune system.

Pre-migration trauma and HIV-risk behavior.

This study examined the relationship between pre-migration trauma and HIV-risk behavior in refugees from sub-Saharan Africa. The sample comprised 122 persons who had emigrated from sub-Saharan Africa and were currently residing in Sweden. Qualitative methods including individual interviews, focus groups, and interviews with key informants addressed questions regarding trauma experience and HIV-risk behavior.

Depressive-like behavior and stress reactivity are independent traits in a Wistar Kyoto x Fisher 344 cross.

Depression is a heritable disorder that is often precipitated by stress. Abnormalities of the stress-reactive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are also common in depressed patients. In animal models, the forced swim test (FST) is the most frequently used test of depressive-like behavior.

2002 Robert Ader New Investigator award. Relationship of cardiovascular reactivity, stressful life events, and multiple sclerosis disease activity.

Previous studies of stress in multiple sclerosis patients have suggested that life events may alter the onset and development of MS. However, results have been inconsistent because of infrequent monitoring and reporting bias. We followed fifty female MS patients for 1 year to determine characteristics of life events associated with MS exacerbations, and examine the influence of cardiovascular activity.

Role of prolactin receptor and CD25 in protection of circulating T lymphocytes from apoptosis in patients with breast cancer.

Prolactin (PRL) has been reported to inhibit apoptosis in various cell types and to serve as a cofactor in the upregulation of CD25 on T cells during activation. We investigated a possible relation between prolactin receptor (PRL-R) or IL-2 receptor alpha (IL-2Ralpha, CD25) expression on circulating T lymphocytes and their apoptosis in patients with breast cancer. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 25 patients, 25 normal controls (NC) and three cord blood samples were evaluated for Annexin V binding and expression of CD95, CD25, and PRL-R on CD3(+) T cells by multicolour flow cytometry.

Preferential apoptosis of CD56dim natural killer cell subset in patients with cancer.

Natural killer (NK) cells (CD56(+)/CD3(-)) in the circulation of cancer patients were reported to have low NK activity and undergo spontaneous apoptosis. A possible relationship between apoptosis and impaired NK activity was studied by Annexin V-binding and NK-cell assays performed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC), breast cancer (BC) and normal controls (NC). Cells stained with Annexin V (Anx) and antibodies to CD56, CD3, CD95, CD25, CD122 or CD132 were examined by flow cytometry.

Cognitive behavioral stress management effects on injury and illness among competitive athletes: a randomized clinical trial.

Cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) has previously been found to reduce fatigue, depression, and cortisol response to heavy exercise training among competitive collegiate athletes and to speed physical and psychological recovery from surgery. Our study assessed the efficacy of a CBSM program to reduce the frequency of injury and illness among collegiate athletes in a randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial. Following assessment of baseline medical history, mood state, stress, cortisol, sleep, alcohol use, and exercise training, collegiate rowers were stratified by gender and competitive level and randomly assigned to either a control group or a CBSM group.

Therapeutic Alternatives for the Mallory-Weiss Tear.

The Mallory-Weiss tear (MWT) is a frequent cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. It has been diagnosed more frequently since endoscopy was introduced. Once the diagnosis has been made, several treatment options are available.

Stability of individual differences in cellular immune responses to two different laboratory tasks.

To explore the stability of immune reactivity across laboratory tasks, we correlated enumerative and functional lymphocyte responses to a speech task and a mental arithmetic task, delivered on the same occasion of testing in 31 healthy undergraduates. Both tasks were associated with an increase in peripheral CD8+ and CD56+ cell populations, and a decrease in proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and ratio of CD4:CD8 cells. Intertask correlations were significant for the magnitude of change in proliferative responses at two different concentrations of PHA, r = 0.

Stressful life events precede exacerbations of multiple sclerosis.

Objective: We longitudinally monitored life events and health changes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) to determine whether stressful events may trigger exacerbation of MS.

Methods: Twenty-three women with MS were followed for 1 year. Each subject completed the Psychiatric Epidemiologic Research Interview on a weekly basis.

Depressive symptomatology and coronary heart disease in Type I diabetes mellitus: a study of possible mechanisms.

Recent evidence has suggested that depressive symptomatology is a risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with diabetes mellitus, although little is understood about mechanisms that may explain this association. The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) Study is a natural history study of 658 men and women with childhood-onset Type I diabetes. Participants from the EDC Study who reported the fewest depressive symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory at baseline examination were least likely to develop CHD over 10 years.

Physiologic markers of chronic stress in premenopausal, middle-aged women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify physiological markers of chronic stress in middle-aged women that can be assessed simply and are thus feasible for introduction into large-scale, epidemiologic studies of aging.

Methods: Subjects were 40 nonsmoking, premenopausal women between the ages of 42 and 52 years, 20 of whom were chronically stressed because of undergoing a divorce or separation and 20 of whom were nonstressed because of being in stable marriages. Stressed and nonstressed women were matched for age, ethnicity, and education.

Factors associated with the accuracy of family caregiver estimates of patient pain.

This study identified factors associated with inaccurate family caregiver assessments of patient pain. Participants were 31 caregiver-patient dyads receiving hospice home care. All patients had a primary diagnosis of end-stage cancer.

Endocrine levels at the start of treatment are associated with subsequent psychological adjustment in cancer patients with metastatic disease.

Objective: This study examined the association between hormonal profiles at the start of cancer treatment and subsequent psychological symptomatology.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and 18 patients with metastatic melanoma completed three assessments during the course of treatment: at the start of treatment (baseline), at the end of treatment (3 weeks after baseline), and at a follow-up appointment 1 month later. Cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine levels were measured at baseline using 15-hour urine samples.

Gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accidents.

Objective: Women have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. The authors examined prior trauma, PTSD, major depression, anxiety disorder not including PTSD, and peritraumatic dissociation; current peritraumatic dissociation; and passenger injury as possible explanations for the different rates of acute PTSD in women and men after a serious motor vehicle accident.

Method: Subjects age 18-65 years who had been in a serious motor vehicle accident (N=122) were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire-Rater Version 1 month after the accident.

Appraised control, coping, and stress in a community sample: a test of the goodness-of-fit hypothesis.

Lazarus and Folkman proposed one of the most comprehensive theories of stress and coping in the psychology literature, but many of their postulates have received little empirical attention, and some of the existing research hasyielded contradictory findings. This longitudinal study sought to clarify the associations among control appraisal, coping, and stress within this theoreticalframework. The theory postulates that coping strategies used tend to match the level of appraised controllability of the stressor (matching hypothesis).

Predictors of posttraumatic stress among victims of motor vehicle accidents.

Objective: This study identified factors that predict individual vulnerability to psychological trauma by examining the relationships among situation and person variables and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 1, 6, and 12 months after a serious motor vehicle accident (MVA).

Methods: Background characteristics, exposure variables (ie, injury severity and accident characteristics), and psychosocial variables (ie, perceived loss of control, social support, and coping) were used to predict symptoms of PTSD and recovery in 115 injured MVA victims. All participants were injured during the MVA and provided data prospectively over the course of a year after their accidents.