An Intervention to Reduce Psychosocial and Biological Indicators of Stress in African American Lupus Patients: The Balancing Lupus Experiences with Stress Strategies Study.

Objective: Very little is known about the impact of psychosocial stress on African American lupus patients. Due to the exposure of African Americans to a unique trajectory of stressors throughout life, it may be critical to understand the relationship between psychosocial stress and underlying biological mechanisms that influence disease activity and pathology in this high risk group.

Methods: The Balancing Lupus Experiences with Stress Strategies (BLESS) study piloted the validated "Better Choices, Better Health" Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) in 30 African-American lupus patients participating in the SLE Clinic Database Project at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Stress and Depression in Relation to Functional Health Behaviors in African American Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective: While increased psychological distress in SLE has been clinically and empirically reported, the relationship between emotional distress, treatment adherence, and disease activity are complex and even more unclear in African American lupus patients. In an effort to elucidate this phenomenon in these patients, this exploratory study aimed to investigate relationships between stress, depression, and various health behaviors in this group.

Methods: Thirty patients invited to participate in this study were African American systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients attending rheumatology clinics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Residual alkaline phosphatase activity in pasteurized milk heated at various temperatures--measurement with the fluorophos and Scharer rapid phosphatase tests.

Milk containing three levels of milkfat (skim [0.5%], lowfat [2.0%], and whole [3.