Openness Personality Trait Associated With Benefit From a Nonpharmacological Breathlessness Intervention in People With Intrathoracic Cancer: An Exploratory Analysis.

Context: Breathlessness is common in people with lung cancer. Nonpharmacological breathlessness interventions reduce distress because of and increase mastery over breathlessness.

Objectives: Identify patient characteristics associated with response to breathlessness interventions.

Does home oxygen therapy (HOT) in addition to standard care reduce disease severity and improve symptoms in people with chronic heart failure? A randomised trial of home oxygen therapy for patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Home oxygen therapy (HOT) is commonly used for patients with severe chronic heart failure (CHF) who have intractable breathlessness. There is no trial evidence to support its use.

Objectives: To detect whether or not there was a quality-of-life benefit from HOT given as long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) for at least 15 hours per day in the home, including overnight hours, compared with best medical therapy (BMT) in patients with severely symptomatic CHF.

A randomised controlled trial of three or one breathing technique training sessions for breathlessness in people with malignant lung disease.

Background: About 90 % of patients with intra-thoracic malignancy experience breathlessness. Breathing training is helpful, but it is unknown whether repeated sessions are needed. The present study aims to test whether three sessions are better than one for breathlessness in this population.

Experiences of air travel in patients with chronic heart failure.

Aim: To conduct a survey in a representative cohort of ambulatory patients with stable, well managed chronic heart failure (CHF) to discover their experiences of air travel.

Methods: An expert panel including a cardiologist, an exercise scientist, and a psychologist developed a series of survey questions designed to elicit CHF patients' experiences of air travel (Appendix 1). The survey questions, information sheets and consent forms were posted out in a self-addressed envelope to 1293 CHF patients.

Self-rated health and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure.

Aims: In patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), there is limited information on self-rated health (SRH). We aimed to examine the distribution of SRH and whether SRH is associated with mortality in patients with stable CHF.

Methods And Results: We enrolled 100 patients (71 +/- 11 years, 54% men, left ventricular ejection fraction 47 +/- 11%) in a prospective study with 48 months of follow-up.

A comparison of patient and physician-rated New York Heart Association class in a community-based heart failure clinic.

Objective: The New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification is recommended for grading symptoms of chronic heart failure and is a powerful prognostic marker. Patient-rated NYHA (Pa-NYHA) and physician-rated NYHA (Dr-NYHA) class have never been compared directly, and it is unknown whether they carry similar prognostic significance.

Methods And Results: NYHA class was rated independently by a physician and patient in 1752 patients referred with suspected heart failure.

Recall of lifestyle advice in patients recently hospitalised with heart failure: a EuroHeart Failure Survey analysis.

Background: There are limited data on recall and implementation of lifestyle advice in patients with heart failure (HF).

Aim: To investigate what advice patients with HF recall being given, and whether they report following the advice they remember.

Methods And Results: 3261 patients with suspected HF participating in the EuroHeart Failure Survey were interviewed by a health professional 12 weeks after hospital discharge.

The effect of the interaction between glucose tolerance and breakfasts varying in carbohydrate and fibre on mood and cognition.

As a glucose containing drink has been reported to improve memory, and missing breakfast has been reported to adversely influence memory late in the morning, meals designed to differ in their ability to release glucose into the blood stream were contrasted. Using a factorial design, breakfasts containing 15, 30 or 50 g of carbohydrate and 1.5, 6 or 13 g of fibre were compared.

The influence on cognition of the interaction between the macro-nutrient content of breakfast and glucose tolerance.

Previously it has been found that both missing breakfast and having poorer glucose tolerance were associated with better memory. The present study therefore examined the impact of eight breakfasts, in a factorial design, that contained either high or low levels of carbohydrate, fat or protein. The meals were designed to vary the rate of release of glucose into the blood stream.

The reproducibility and sensitivity of the 6-min walk test in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.

Aims: The 6-min walk test (6-MWT) is used to estimate functional capacity. However, in elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF): (i) 1 year reproducibility of the 6-MWT; (ii) sensitivity of the 6-MWT to self-perceived changes in symptoms of heart failure; and (iii) implications for patient numbers required for studies using the 6-MWT as an endpoint have not been described.

Methods And Results: One thousand and seventy-seven patients with CHF, aged>60, with NYHA Class > or =II were recruited.

Breakfasts that release glucose at different speeds interact with previous alcohol intake to influence cognition and mood before and after lunch.

Alcohol consumption and the glycemic load (GL) of a meal interact to influence both mood and memory. The authors compared the effects of eating a high GL lunch on mood and memory after consumption of a breakfast high in either rapidly (RAG) or slowly (SAG) available glucose. When less than 4.

Carbohydrate, memory, and mood.

From a physiologic perspective, the role of glucose in brain functioning is reviewed and the effect of diet-induced changes in blood glucose on mood and cognition are outlined. Many studies have used a glucose drink or a meal composed almost entirely of carbohydrate as an experimental tool. Because pure sources of carbohydrate will be rarely consumed, the possibility that foods of different glycemic indices will modify mood and memory is briefly considered.

The delivery rate of dietary carbohydrates affects cognitive performance in both rats and humans.

Rationale: Glucose is the main metabolic fuel of the brain. The rate of glucose delivery from food to the bloodstream depends on the nature of carbohydrates in the diet, which can be summarized as the glycaemic index (GI).

Objectives: To assess the benefit of a low versus high GI breakfast on cognitive performances within the following 4 h.