Publications by authors named "M De Couck"
Introduction: Current treatments for pain in breast cancer survivors (BCSs) are mostly biomedically focused rather than biopsychosocially driven. However, 22% of BCSs with pain are experiencing perceived injustice, which is a known predictor for adverse pain outcomes and opioid prescription due to increased maladaptive pain behaviour. Educational interventions such as pain neuroscience education (PNE) are suggested to target perceived injustice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe analysis of hiring penalties due to spelling errors has been restricted to white-collar occupations and error-laden resumes. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying these penalties remained unclear. To fill these gaps, we conducted a scenario experiment with 445 recruiters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Perceived injustice (PI) is a multidimensional appraisal cognition comprising the severity of loss consequent to injury, blame, a sense of unfairness, and/or irreparability of loss. PI gained increasing interest in pain research since it potentially contributes to the experience and burden of (chronic) pain.
Objectives: This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence of PI and factors associated with PI in people with pain.
Article Synopsis
- The vagus nerve is a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system, impacting many internal organs vital for health and measurable through heart-rate variability (HRV).
- Specific HRV metrics can indicate a lower risk of death, better recovery from heart issues, and improved cancer survival rates.
- HRV-biofeedback (HRV-B), a method involving slow-paced breathing and HRV visual feedback, shows promising results in treating conditions like coronary heart disease and hypertension, although evidence for its efficacy in diabetes and dementia remains limited.
Article Synopsis
- The combination of radiotherapy (RT) and immunotherapy shows potential for improving treatment outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, but current response rates are low and require further optimization.
- In preclinical studies using mice, vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) was tested alone and with RT, revealing that while it didn't significantly impact tumor growth, VNS enhanced the activation of CD8 T cells and altered immune profiles in the tumor environment.
- Clinical trials involving NSCLC patients indicated that VNS alone did not lead to significant immune changes in the blood, but the findings suggest ongoing research into VNS could help improve response rates to combined RT and immunotherapy treatments.