Nursing care & management of pathological oral conditions among women and children.

Oral health is receiving increased recognition as an important factor for the health of women and children. This article describes pathological oral conditions and the physiological mechanisms involved in the maintenance of oral health during illness and hospitalization, including the importance of the production and secretion of adequate saliva. Alterations in physiology of saliva induced by hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy are described along with possible roles in pathophysiological conditions associated with pregnancy.

Interactions between the nervous and immune systems.

Substantial morphologic and functional evidence exists that supports the reciprocal interactions that occur between the nervous and immune systems. The nervous and immune systems have been increasingly found to use a common chemical language in the form of neuropeptides, cytokines, and hormones. Sophisticated immunologic techniques such as the identification and detection of immune cell surface markers enable researchers to determine the origin and activity of diverse cells in the blood and central nervous system.

Postpartum smoking behaviors and immune response in mothers of term and preterm infants.

Infants exposed to secondhand smoke, especially preterm infants with a very low birth weight (VLBW), have an increased risk for developing health problems. Smoking has been associated with numerous health problems in mothers and may reduce immune functioning as well. The purposes of this study were to examine smoking in postpartum mothers of term and preterm infants and to examine the relationship between smoking and immune status.

Alterations in immune response associated with anxiety in surgical patients.

Anesthesia practitioners have begun to focus on the immune function of their patients as more research is done on the interface between anesthesia, surgery, and immune alterations. The anxiety associated with anesthesia and surgery produces alterations in immune function through several mechanisms which affect recovery from surgery and wound healing. Immune status may be assessed by traditional measures such as complete blood count and differential as well as using newer technologies such as flow cytometry, lymphocyte proliferation assays and natural killer cell cytotoxicity.

Nutrition and exercise in overweight and obese postpartum women.

This secondary analysis of a longitudinal, nonintervention study describes the nutritional and physical activity behavior of overweight and obese postpartum women and the differences in nutrition and physical activity when participants are evaluated according to four weight categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. The sample consisted of 67 postpartal women [40 (60%) African American and 27 (40%) White] who gave birth vaginally to healthy term infants. No differences were present when overweight and obese women were compared with underweight and normal weight women relative to nutrition and physical activity.

Immune alterations associated with epidural analgesia for labor and delivery.

Purpose: Epidural analgesia is frequently used for the laboring woman and commonly regarded as safe. The association of epidural analgesia with fever, in the absence of infection, in this population can result in unnecessary sepsis workups in both neonates and mothers. Studies in other populations of patients have found that epidural anesthesia may be associated with alterations in white blood cell count parameters.

Development and evaluation of a chromatographic procedure for partial purification of substance P with quantitation by an enzyme immunoassay.

We have developed a simple chromatographic procedure for the partial purification of substance P (SP) from acidified plasma and serum samples. We have evaluated a sensitive antigen competition enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the quantitation of SP. The chromatographic procedure has recovery efficiencies ranging from 94.

Caregiving to very low birthweight infants: a model of stress and immune response.

Mothers of preterm, very low birthweight (< or = 1500 g; VLBW) infants experience the stress of caring for small, fragile infants at the same time that they are recovering from the relative immunosuppression of pregnancy and when many health behaviour changes (e.g., nutrition) occur which also may influence immune status.

Immune responses in mothers of term and preterm very-low-birth-weight infants.

Differences in the levels of immune cell subsets present in peripheral blood have been demonstrated based on sociodemographic factors such as age and race. Postpartal women, who are recovering from the immune changes that are concomitant with pregnancy, have lymphocyte and monocyte values that differ from other populations. A subgroup of postpartal women, mothers who deliver preterm very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) (< or = 1,500 g) infants, may have further differences in values of immune cell subsets and in immune functioning either because of hormonal factors or lifestyle changes or because of the stress they experience after their infant's birth and for the first few months of infant caretaking.

Lymphocyte, monocyte, and natural killer cell reference ranges in postpartal women.

Normative values for immune-cell subsets in postpartal women, who are recovering from the relative immunosuppression of pregnancy, have not been established. Considerable differences in normative values for subsets of immune cells have been demonstrated based on sociodemographic factors, such as age and race. In order to make accurate clinical decisions about postpartal women, comparisons with normal reference ranges are necessary.

Substance P as an immune modulator of anxiety.

Peripheral blood concentrations of the proinflammatory peptide substance P (SP) have been shown to increase in response to psychological anxiety in human subjects. In this study, we examined changes in SP levels in peripheral blood in response to the anxiety of a diagnostic medical procedure. The levels of SP were found to he higher in subjects with high initial anxiety as compared to subjects with low initial anxiety as measured on the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist.

Weight, nutrition, and immune status in postpartal women.

Postpartal weight loss, nutritional intake, and immune status were examined in 65 women. Although 80% of the women lost weight and were not overweight by the 4th postpartal month, the majority had diets that were inadequate in fat content (> or = 30% of calories from fat) or protein content (< or = 12% of calories from protein), or in terms of caloric intake (< or = 1,200 calories or > or = 2,200 calories). Differences in some immune cell subsets were noted between women with high-fat and normal-fat diets.

Stress, immune function, and relationship to pregnancy outcome.

Pregnancy and the postpartal period are a time of immunosuppression. The normal immunosuppression that occurs during the puerperium may be aggravated by stress. Normal mechanisms of immunosuppression are discussed, and the research related to stress and childbearing is examined in this article.

Delayed reporting of the rape victim.

1. Delayed reporting of rape may be due to impaired cognitive processing, altered states of consciousness, or cognitive dissonance. 2.

Anesthesia for the homeless.

Healthcare for the homeless is often crisis-oriented and fragmented. Homelessness may be associated with ongoing healthcare problems such as tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and substance abuse. The purpose of this study was to identify the anesthesia services required by homeless individuals from an urban area.