Nursing care & management of pathological oral conditions among women and children.

Oral health is receiving increased recognition as an important factor for the health of women and children. This article describes pathological oral conditions and the physiological mechanisms involved in the maintenance of oral health during illness and hospitalization, including the importance of the production and secretion of adequate saliva. Alterations in physiology of saliva induced by hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy are described along with possible roles in pathophysiological conditions associated with pregnancy.

Interactions between the nervous and immune systems.

Substantial morphologic and functional evidence exists that supports the reciprocal interactions that occur between the nervous and immune systems. The nervous and immune systems have been increasingly found to use a common chemical language in the form of neuropeptides, cytokines, and hormones. Sophisticated immunologic techniques such as the identification and detection of immune cell surface markers enable researchers to determine the origin and activity of diverse cells in the blood and central nervous system.

Postpartum smoking behaviors and immune response in mothers of term and preterm infants.

Infants exposed to secondhand smoke, especially preterm infants with a very low birth weight (VLBW), have an increased risk for developing health problems. Smoking has been associated with numerous health problems in mothers and may reduce immune functioning as well. The purposes of this study were to examine smoking in postpartum mothers of term and preterm infants and to examine the relationship between smoking and immune status.

Alterations in immune response associated with anxiety in surgical patients.

Anesthesia practitioners have begun to focus on the immune function of their patients as more research is done on the interface between anesthesia, surgery, and immune alterations. The anxiety associated with anesthesia and surgery produces alterations in immune function through several mechanisms which affect recovery from surgery and wound healing. Immune status may be assessed by traditional measures such as complete blood count and differential as well as using newer technologies such as flow cytometry, lymphocyte proliferation assays and natural killer cell cytotoxicity.