"Long COVID-19" and viral "fibromyalgia-ness": Suggesting a mechanistic role for fascial myofibroblasts (Nineveh, the shadow is in the fascia).

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a wave of chronic disease cases; "Long COVID-19" is recognized as a new medical entity and resembles "fibromyalgia" which, likewise, lacks a clear mechanism. Observational studies indicate that up to 30%-40% of convalescent COVID-19 patients develop chronic widespread pain and fatigue and fulfill the 2016 diagnostic criteria for "fibromyalgia." A recent study suggested a theoretical neuro-biomechanical model (coined "Fascial Armoring") to help explain the pathogenesis and cellular pathway of fibromyalgia, pointing toward mechanical abnormalities in connective tissue and fascia, driven by contractile myo/fibroblasts and altered extracellular matrix remodeling with downstream corresponding neurophysiological aberrations.

Suggesting a mechanism for acupuncture as a global percutaneous needle fasciotomy that respects tensegrity principles for treating fibromyalgia.

Acupuncture is a minimally invasive therapeutic method that uses small caliber needles while inserting them through the skin into various areas of the body. Some empirical studies find evidence to support the use of acupuncture as a treatment for certain medical conditions, however, this peculiar practice is widely considered as the domain of alternative and non-evidence-based medicine. Several mechanisms have been suggested in an attempt to explain the therapeutic action of acupuncture, but the way in which acupuncture alleviates chronic non-cancer pain or psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders is not fully understood.

Scoping review and interpretation of myofascial pain/fibromyalgia syndrome: An attempt to assemble a medical puzzle.

Background: Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a common, overlooked, and underdiagnosed condition and has significant burden. MPS is often dismissed by clinicians while patients remain in pain for years. MPS can evolve into fibromyalgia, however, effective treatments for both are lacking due to absence of a clear mechanism.

[Cultural competency and practising abroad].

Cultural competency assumes an even greater dimension with foreign patients or when practising abroad. After travelling to Cambodia with the aim of enriching their nursing practices, four student nurses share their experiences, questions and reflections in this area.

Teacher-student relationships in medical education: boundary considerations.

Background: Despite recent attention to the area of student mistreatment, there has been less emphasis on the problem of excessive or inappropriate intimacy between teachers and students. Although a certain amount of closeness to faculty is important to the professional socialization of students, excessive or inappropriate closeness can be coercive because of the power differential between teacher and student. This can cause discomfort, discrimination, or psychological and academic harm to students, who often feel too intimidated to express concern.

Screening for colorectal cancer in personnel of an academic medical center.

The colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program in Israel offers the average-risk population fecal occult blood tests from the age of 50 years. Compliance, however, is very low, reaching only 6% of eligible persons in 2005. Our aim in this study was to describe the results of an improved CRC screening program directed at the in-house staff of Beilinson Hospital.

Preparation for colonoscopy in hospitalized patients.

Successful colonoscopy depends on good preparation of the colon before the procedure. Inadequate preparation may lead to cancelled or repeat procedures and compromise patient safety, quality of care, and cost effectiveness. The primary aim of this study was to isolate factors that affect preparation success, especially in older, more severely ill, bedridden patients.

Outcome of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG): comparison of two policies in a 4-year experience.

Background: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the technique of choice for long-term enteral nutrition. Though safe and technically simple, PEG has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

Aim: We compared the outcome of strategies applied in two different periods; the original approach of PEG insertion during hospitalization (upon request), and PEG insertion 30 days after hospital discharge.

A patient education program is cost-effective for preventing failure of endoscopic procedures in a gastroenterology department.

Objective: The growing use and complexity of endoscopy procedures in GI units has increased the need for good patient preparation. Earlier studies in this area have focused on the psychological benefits of patient education programs. The present study was directed at determining cost-effectiveness of a patient education program.

Recruitment into psychiatry: increasing the pool of applicants.

Objective: To demonstrate that it is possible to identify the cohort of students in their first year of medical school from which future psychiatrists will be recruited.

Method: During a 3-year period, all first-year medical students at the University of Maryland completed a form indicating their specialty preference. Of those students, 403 pursued the regular psychiatry curriculum, and 34 participated in an enriched behavioural science and psychiatry program.

Medical school electives and recruitment into psychiatry : a 20-year experience.

Part of psychiatry's recruitment problem is a result of defections among students who were planning careers in psychiatry when they entered medical school. The authors present data from a 20-year (1974-1993) experience at the University of Maryland that shows that students who expressed a preference for psychiatry as a career in the freshman year were four times more likely to enter psychiatric residency training after graduation if they participated in the Combined Accelerated Program in Psychiatry (CAPP), a 4-year psychiatric elective program, than if they pursued the regular undergraduate psychiatric program. More than 20% of the CAPP students who preferred nonpsychiatric careers as freshmen were "converted" to psychiatry and later entered psychiatric residency programs.

[Severe neuropathy in a young diabetic].

A 19-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) of 3.5 years duration had been suffering from recurrent episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), dizziness, and weight loss (16 kg, 29%) for 6 months. History and physical examination gave evidence of severe peripheral and autonomic neuropathy.

Inspirational recruitment and the Maryland Plan: overcoming the stigma of public psychiatry.

University-trained psychiatrists frequently avoid public-sector employment because they do not wish to be associated with stigmatized institutions. Inspirational recruitment--the elevation of poorly paid and unpleasant work to a noble cause--is one way of temporarily destigmatizing state psychiatry. The authors describe the impact of one such effort, the Maryland Plan, on recruitment of graduates of the University of Maryland psychiatric residency program into the state's psychiatric system.

Mental health services for medical students: perceptions of students, student affairs deans, and mental health providers.

Purpose: To examine (1) whether there is any consistency among medical schools in mental health services provided and (2) how these services are perceived by student affairs deans, mental health service providers, and the students themselves.

Method: Questionnaires were sent in October 1991 to the student affairs dean (or director), the individual responsible for student mental health services, and a student representative in each of the 126 U.S.

Boundary issues in teacher-student relationships.

Increasing concern about therapist-patient sex has led to a consideration of boundaries in all trust-based relationships, which always include elements of power and dependency. Such relationships include those between teacher and student, especially those involving research or clinical supervision. Teacher-student relationships differ from those between therapist and patient because of the collegiality considered important for the student's development.

The role of medical school electives in the choice of child psychiatry as a subspecialty.

Part of child psychiatry's recruitment problem stems from defections among medical students who were planning careers in child psychiatry when they entered medical school The authors present data showing that between 1974 and 1984 University of Maryland Medical School graduates specializing in psychiatry were more than twice as likely to enter fellowships in child and adolescent psychiatry if they were participants in the Combined Accelerated Program in Psychiatry (CAPP) as medical students. The CAPP, a 4-year medical school track that contains a strong child psychiatry component, appears to prevent the erosion of students' interest in child psychiatry.

Institutional resources for medical students in committed relationships.

Medical students in committed relationships must balance the demands of the rigorous educational process against such things as their partners' educational and professional priorities, childbearing decisions, domestic and family obligations, financial and geographic constraints, and the desire simply to do things together. Couples may also have to deal with the relative intimacy that often develops between students and their colleagues who function in close, often stressful settings and who tend to rely on each other for emotional and intellectual support. The variety of these challenges has increased as student bodies have become more heterogeneous in age, gender ratio, and cultural background.

Qualifying phrases as a measure of spontaneity in speech.

Although investigators have attempted to define the paralinguistic characteristics of spontaneous speech, there have been no systematic attempts to study its verbal reflections. An experiment comparing extemporaneous and impromptu speech samples of 10 freshman medical students showed that, of 10 verbal categories, only qualifying phrases significantly differentiated the two levels of spontaneity. A second study compared post-World War II presidential communications of different degrees of spontaneity.

Intensive medical student support groups: format, outcome, and leadership guidelines.

The authors report on a five-year experience with process-oriented discussion groups at annual four-day, off-campus retreats attended by students, faculty members, and "significant others." Group sessions comprised 17 hours of each retreat, which also included community activities and recreation time. Group leaders represented a diversity of professional backgrounds.

Stress, coping behavior and resistance to disease.

Psychosocial factors affect resistance to a wide variety of diseases in animals. Stimuli often assumed to be noxious (e.g.