Predictors of milk cortisol in North American women.

Objectives: Human milk content varies across mother-child dyads, environments, and populations. Among the hormones in milk is cortisol, a glucocorticoid; its impact on the breastfeeding child is unknown. Milk cortisol may constitute a signal to the child's developing physiology which can shape characteristics (e.

The Effect of a Multidisciplinary Spine Clinic on Time to Care in Patients with Chronic Back and/or Leg Pain: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Chronic back and leg pain are leading causes of disability worldwide. The purpose of this study was to compare the care in a unidisciplinary (USC) versus multidisciplinary (MSC) spine clinic, where patients are evaluated by different specialists during the same office visit. Adult patients presenting with a chief complaint of back and/or leg pain between June 2018 and July 2019 were assessed for eligibility.

Vaping behaviour patterns and daily blood pressure and heart rate variation: a brief report.

Background: Vaping, the use of an electronic device to deliver a drug-infused aerosol has become an increasingly popular way to consume nicotine since its introduction to the market in the early 2000s. Despite the differences in consumption patterns relative to combustible tobacco, the impact of ad libitum nicotine vaping on cardiovascular response has not been thoroughly studied.

Subject And Methods: This research was conducted on vapers ( = 17) and smokers ( = 14) who represent a subsample of a larger study that explored the relationship between nicotine use, activities of daily living and 24-hour cardiovascular response using Spacelabs ambulatory blood pressure monitors.

The Development and Testing of a Perinatal Tobacco Attitudes and Behaviors Survey.

: Accurate assessment of tobacco use in pregnant smokers is key to effective nursing intervention. There is a lack of valid and reliable tools easily integrated into prenatal care. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a perinatal survey, guided by the Health Promotion Model (HPM).

Unique Neurosurgical Morbidity and Mortality Conference Characteristics: A Comprehensive Literature Review of Neurosurgical Morbidity and Mortality Conference Practices with Proposed Recommendations.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to review the reported data for neurosurgical complication definitions, report the current scales used to classify these complications, and discuss their limitations.

Methods: A systematic review was performed through a PubMed search using predetermined MeSH terms and inclusion criteria. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were specific to the field of neurosurgery and had presented a unique complication grading scale.

The Adaptive Value and Clinical Significance of Allostatic Blood Pressure Variation.

In recent years, there has been interest in evaluating the morbidity and mortality risk of circadian, diurnal, or nocturnal blood pressure variation. Variation is a normative property of blood pressure, necessary for survival. Like many physiological functions, blood pressure undergoes allostasis, meaning that the body does not defend a particular blood pressure value, but rather blood pressure maintains bodily stability through continual change that is initiated by constantly fluctuating internal and external environmental stimuli.

The effects of age and ethnicity on the circadian variation of catecholamines and cortisol in employed women.

Background: Women employed outside the home in urban settings must adapt to changing circadian microenvironments. The pattern and extent of vasoactive hormone responses to these changes may depend upon age and ethnic background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age and ethnicity on the circadian variation of urinary norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol excretion across work, home and sleep microenvironments.

The consistency of circadian blood pressure and heart rate patterns over three months in women employed in sedentary office jobs.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consistency of the circadian patterns of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) variation over a three-month time frame in women employed outside the home.

Methods: The subjects were 157 healthy women of varying ethnicity (age = 38.2 ± 8.

Wideband External Pulse Recorded During Cuff Blood Pressure Measurement: A New Technique for Cardiovascular Assessment.

Introduction: The wideband external pulse (WEP) recorded during blood pressure measurement reveals three components (K1, K2, K3). K1 is recorded with cuff pressure (CP) above systolic (SP).

Aim: To assess whether the K1 pattern contains information about the functional and structural properties of the cardiovascular system.

Predicting Risk Factors for 30-Day Readmissions Following Discharge From Post-Acute Care.

Purpose Of Study: The specific aims of this descriptive study were to (1) examine the relationships between individual-level determinants of health using standard care admission assessments of residents admitted to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and those residents readmitted to the hospital within 30 days from discharge from the same SNF; (2) identify and describe the risk factors of the residents readmitted to the hospital within 30 days; and (3) use the findings to inform and refine current practice to target the mutable risk factors correlated with 30-day hospital readmission.

Primary Practice Setting: A 180-bed skilled nursing center in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Methodology And Sample: A retrospective paper medical record review of patients discharged from an SNF to community living was conducted to examine the relationship between individual determinants of health behaviors and 30-day hospital readmissions.

Measuring arterial blood pressure in humans: Auscultatory and automatic measurement techniques for human biological field studies.

Human biologists have been examining arterial blood pressure since they began studying the effects of the environment and culture on the health of diverse populations. The Korotkoff auscultatory technique with a trained observer and aneroid sphygmomanometer is the method of choice for blood pressure measurement in many bioanthropological field contexts. Korotkoff sounds (the first and fifth phases) are the preferred determinants of systolic and diastolic pressure, even in infants, children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

CE: Original Research: The Experiences of Pregnant Smokers and Their Providers.

Unlabelled: : Background: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' initiative Healthy People 2020 targets tobacco use, including smoking during pregnancy, as a continuing major health concern in this country.

Understanding Blood Pressure Variation and Variability: Biological Importance and Clinical Significance.

Variability is a normative property of blood pressure necessary for survival which likely contributes to morbidity and mortality through allostatic load. Because of its allostatic and adaptive properties blood pressure responses to peculiar situations like the visit to the clinic can lead to the misdiagnosis of hypertension. Cuff methods of blood pressure measurement can also create blood pressure variation when there really is none.

Ethnic differences in inter- and intra-situational blood pressure variation: Comparisons among African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and European-American women.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the daily inter- and intra-situational ambulatory blood pressure (BP) variation by ethnicity in women.

Methods: The African-American (N = 82; Age = 39.7 + 8.

Impact of a Social Work Care Coordination Intervention on Hospital Readmission: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study assessed how a social work-led care coordination intervention would reduce the within-30-day hospital readmission rate among moderate- and high-risk patients age 50 years or older. Authors ran a randomized controlled trial to determine whether there was a significant difference in within-30-day readmission rates between patients receiving usual care post-discharge and those receiving intervention from an MSW intern (one home visit and one to two phone calls). Results were obtained using a sample of hospitalized patients with a LACE index score of 7 or higher (N = 89).

Exceptional work of hospital staff should not be overlooked.

On February 20, my partner Lynda Hughes passed away after spending seven months on ward A7 at the University Hospital of Wales. During this time, I witnessed an exceptional level of care from the nursing and auxiliary staff, which I spoke about at Lynda's funeral in accordance with her wishes. Lynda had great respect for the special people who sought to help her, and wanted me to acknowledge this.

Denial is associated with higher ambulatory blood pressure across the menstrual cycle.

Background: Studies show that stress perception is associated with increased daily ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and that denying the negative effects of stress increases BP as well. Whether these effects persist over the menstrual cycle is unknown.

Aim: To examine the effects of measures of stress and stress denial on ambulatory work and home BP during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle.

Daily environmental differences in blood pressure and heart rate variability in healthy premenopausal women.

Objectives: As daily environments change, behavior and activity also change and as blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) are allostatically tied to these factors, one might expect that environments that elicit the greatest behavioral/activity variation should also evince the highest BP and HR variability [standard deviation (SD) or coefficient of variation (CV)]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this premise.

Methods: Two hundred and six women (age = 37.

Differential circadian catecholamine and cortisol responses between healthy women with and without a parental history of hypertension.

Objectives: Previous studies suggest that otherwise healthy individuals who have a parental history of hypertension (PH+) have an accentuated reactive rise in catecholamines and cortisol to laboratory stressors as well as elevated plasma levels when compared with those with no parental history (PH-); however, few, if any, studies have evaluated whether parental history affects the responses of these hormones to changing environmental circumstances in everyday life. The purpose of this study was to compare urinary catecholamine (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and cortisol excretion and ambulatory blood pressures (BPs) across three daily microenvironments between women with and without a parental history of hypertension.

Methods: The women in the study (PH+, N = 62, age = 35.

Manipulation under anesthesia for lumbopelvic pain: a retrospective review of 18 cases.

Objective: The purpose of this case series is to report the effects of manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) for patients with lumbopelvic (lumbar spine, sacroiliac and/or pelvic, hip) pain in an outpatient ambulatory/hospital-based setting.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of cases treated at an outpatient ambulatory surgical center in New York and a general hospital in New York was performed. Patients with pre- and postintervention Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index (ODI) scores and lumbopelvic and hip complaints were included (N = 18).

Promoting heart health in rural women.

Purpose: To compare 2 strategies, stage-matched nursing and community intervention (SMN+CI) and community intervention (CI) alone in changing cardiovascular risk factors in up to 3 behavioral areas: diet, physical activity, and/or smoking among rural women.

Methods: A 14-month, multisite randomized controlled trial of 117 rural women was conducted. Transtheoretical model was used in identification of stage of change and development of the SMN+CI nursing interventions.

Ambulatory blood pressure variation: allostasis and adaptation.

Allostasis is defined as achieving stability through change and was originally coined as a term to describe the adaptive variability of blood pressure. While there have been a growing number of studies using ambulatory blood pressure monitors that have examined the sources of blood pressure variation in everyday life, these studies have largely not conceptualized that variation in allostatic terms. This brief overview evaluates ambulatory blood pressure variability and its sources in the context of allostasis and adaptation.

Ambulatory blood pressure and blood lipids in a multiethnic sample of healthy adults.

Objectives: Elevated blood pressure (BP), elevated serum cholesterol, and aberrant lipoprotein fractions (low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and high levels of low-density lipoprotein fractions and triglycerides) have all been used as measures that assess the "metabolic syndrome" and more recently in indexes of allostatic load, which are designed to assess the degree of integrated metabolic pathology. While there are ample data regarding the interrelationships of these measures in various pathophysiological settings, there are limited data regarding the interrelationship of ambulatory BP (ABP) and blood lipids in healthy subjects. The present study evaluates ABP-blood lipid relationships in a multiethnic sample of healthy adults.

Relationships between diurnal changes in blood pressure and catecholamines among Filipino-American and European-American women.

Objectives: Studies show that diurnal blood pressure (BP) sensitivity to epinephrine (EPI) in African-American women is significantly greater than that of European-American (EA) women. Few if any studies have examined diurnal catecholamine-BP relationships in women of other ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of diurnal changes in EPI and norepinephrine (NE) on the diurnal changes in BP between Filipino-American (FA) and EA women.