Talking to Children and Families about Chronic Pain: The Importance of Pain Education-An Introduction for Pediatricians and Other Health Care Providers.

Chronic pain in children and adolescents is a common and debilitating health problem. This narrative review will give a brief overview on what pediatric chronic pain is and what treatment options there are for children and adolescents. The specific emphasis will be on pediatric chronic pain education and communication: this narrative review aims to show how important a good patient-health care provider relationship is-it builds the foundation for successful communication-and how this relationship can be established.

A two-session psychological intervention for siblings of pediatric cancer patients: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Background: Since siblings of pediatric cancer patients are at risk for emotional, behavioral, and social problems, there is considerable interest in development of early psychological interventions. This paper aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a two-session psychological intervention for siblings of newly diagnosed pediatric cancer patients.

Methods: Thirty siblings age 6-17 years were randomly assigned to an intervention group or an active control group with standard psychosocial care.

How siblings of pediatric cancer patients experience the first time after diagnosis: a qualitative study.

Background: Siblings of pediatric cancer patients have a higher risk of developing emotional, behavioral, and social problems. However, little is known about specific experiences of this population in the first time after diagnosis.

Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of siblings of pediatric cancer patients in different areas of life in the first half-year after the cancer diagnosis.

Psychological interventions with siblings of pediatric cancer patients: a systematic review.

Objective: Siblings of pediatric cancer patients have been shown to be at risk for developing emotional, behavioral, and social problems. There is a need for psychological interventions in this population. Several researchers have previously documented and evaluated their interventions with siblings.

Effects of soy milk as a dietary complement during the natural aging process.

Introduction: Oxidative stress is one mechanism that could contribute to the acceleration of aging and age-related diseases. On the other hand, because of their antioxidative qualities soybean derived foods could have beneficial effects on the aging process.

Objectives: The aim of our work was to study the effects of a diet supplemented with soy milk on certain biological features of aging in rats.

Recovery from experimental malnutrition with soymilk: immunological and genetic aspects.

Experimental malnutrition models have been useful to study the effects of malnutrition at early ages. Substantial evidence exists that malnutrition in critical stages of development could result in chromosomal damages. The effect of nutritional rehabilitation with soymilk as a complement of a restricted diet, on plasma and muscle proteins, chromosomal integrity, and unspecific and mucosa immune responses, was studied.

Prospective study of the effectiveness of coping in pediatric patients.

Findings about the influence of coping on psychological adjustment in children with different medical conditions are inconsistent and often based on cross-sectional data. This prospective study evaluated the effect of various coping strategies on children's post-traumatic stress symptoms and behavioral problems 1 month and 1 year after an accidental injury or the diagnosis of a chronic disease in 161 pediatric patients 6-15 years of age. Only minor positive effects of coping on psychosocial adjustment were found: Religious coping reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Blockage of vibrissal afferents: III. Electrocorticographic effects.

We have shown signs of behavioral depression after vibrissal deafferentation. Locomotor slowing, motor impairments and footshock thresholds increment were demonstrated after vibrissal afferent blockages. Here, we study the electrocortical (ECoG) effects of vibrissal pad anaesthesia, also replicated by bilateral brachial plexus blockage.

Blockage of vibrissae afferents: II. Footshock threshold increments.

Because of their dense innervation rat vibrissae have been regarded as a very important sensory system. Many behavioral deficits have been reported by other authors after rat vibrissal afferent blockades. In the present work we found significant threshold increments to footshock following either reversible nerve block (procaine or nerve pressure) or section of the vibrissal afferent nerves, but not following vibrissae trimming.

Blockage of vibrissae afferents: I. Motor effects.

In the past, it has been proposed that the rat vibrissae play an important role in other hand, postural abnormalities, muscle tone decreases and hypomotility after sensory organ destructions were proposed as evidence supporting the "level setting" or "tonic" hypothesis. This hypothesis postulates that afferent activity, besides its well know transductive functions, sets the excitability state of the central nervous system. We thought the vibrissal system to be a good model to dissect these two postulated roles because vibrissae trimming would annul the transductive function without affecting the integrity of nerve activity.

Effects of psychological stress on cold pressor test results.

The authors evaluated the incidence of a psychological stressor in the modification of blood pressure induced by the cold pressor test in normotensive and medicated hypertensive subjects. The study was carried out in two stages: In the first, 28 (14 normotensive and 14 hypertensive) subjects were administered a cold pressor test. Fifteen days later, 14 subjects repeated the same experiment.

Environmental effects on cardiovascular reactivity.

The hypothesis on which this paper is based states that the environment where subjects live has a modifying effect on their psychophysic reactivity when faced with unknown stressing stimuli. To prove such hypothesis, subjects of an isolated country village were studied. An urban sample was used as control.