Contemporary dance intervention in mild-tomoderate depression: A pilot study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Hanna Pohjola ◽  
Maija K. Ratinen ◽  
Vilma Hänninen ◽  
Jussi Kauhanen ◽  
Soili M. Lehto

Abstract This article describes a contemporary dance intervention among psychiatric outpatients with a diagnosis of mild-to-moderate depression. Five females participated in a pilot intervention, which was carried out twice a week over four consecutive weeks. During the intervention, the participants kept diaries about their personal experiences. The diaries were assessed using thematic content analysis. The dancing experience involved a combination of three elements: music, movement and creativity connected to the body. The qualitative findings were tentatively associated with positive mood over the short term. The participants experienced periods of relaxation, self-examination and elevated self-esteem during the session. Diary entries indicated that participating in contemporary dance may reduce mental anxiety and physical tension, and provide at least short-term symptomatic relief. Thus, participation in contemporary dance may be beneficial in the process of recovery from depression.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Muresanu ◽  
Siva G. Somasundaram ◽  
Sergey V. Vissarionov ◽  
Liliya V. Gavryushova ◽  
Vladimir N. Nikolenko ◽  
...  

Background: From the evidence of failed injection-based growth factor therapies, it has been proposed that a naturally triggered uninterrupted blood circulation of the growth factors would be superior. Objective: We seek to stimulate discussions and more research about the possibility of using the already available growth factors found in the prostate gland and endometrium by starting a novel educable physiology, known as biological transformations controlled by the mind. Methods: We summarized the stretch-gated ion channel mechanism of the cell membrane, and offer several practical methods that can be applied by anyone, in order to stimulate and enhance the blood circulation of the growth factors from the seminal fluid to sites throughout the body. This details the practical application of our earlier published studies about biological transformations. Results: A previously reported single-patient case study has been extended, adding more from his personal experiences continually improving this novel physiological training and extending the ideas from our earlier findings in detail. Conclusion: The biological transformation findings demonstrate the need additional research to establish the benefits of these natural therapies to repair and rejuvenate tissues affected by various chronic diseases or aging processes.


Author(s):  
Dr. Rangarajan B. ◽  
Dr. Muralidhara .

Gridhrasi (Sciatica) is a disorder in which low back pain is found, that spreads through the hip, to the back of the thigh and down the inside of the leg. Mechanical low back pain (LBP) remains the second most common symptom related reason for seeing a physician. 85% of total population will experience an episode of mechanical LBP at some point during their lifetime. Fortunately, the LBP resolves for the vast majority within 2-4 weeks. There are many causes for low back pain, however true sciatica is a symptom of inflammation or compression of the sciatica nerve. The sciatica nerve carries impulses between nerve roots in the lower back and the muscles and nerve of the buttocks, thighs and lower legs. Compression of a nerve root often occurs as a result of damage to one of the discs between the vertebrae. In some cases, sciatic pain radiate from other nerves in the body. This is called referred pain. Pain associated with sciatica often is severe, sharp and shooting. It may be accompanied by other symptom, such as numbness, tingling, weakness and sensitivity to touch. There is only conservative treatment giving short term relief in pain or surgical intervention with side effect. But these are not successful and therefore those who are suffering from this are always in search of result oriented remedy. Walking distance and SLR test were taken for assessment parameter, VAS score was adopted for pain. Before treatment patient was not able to walk even 4 to 5 steps due to severe pain, was brought on stretcher and his SLR was 30° of right side. After 22 days of treatment he was able to walk up to 500 meters without any difficulty, SLR was changed to 60° and patient had got 80 % relief in pain. This case report showed that Ayurvedic protocol is potent and safe in the treatment of Gridhrasi.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110115
Author(s):  
Charissa H. W. Wong ◽  
Li Neng Lee ◽  
Alberto Pérez Pereiro

Short-term Christian overseas volunteer trips, also known as short-term mission trips (STMs), have become increasingly prevalent (Howell & Dorr, 2007). However, research on these programs has been limited. This quasi-experimental study adds to the literature by quantitatively measuring the effects of an STM from Singapore to Thailand. STM recipients’ ( n = 44) self-esteem and readiness for self-directed learning (RSDL) were compared across timepoints – pre-test, post-test, follow-up – and with a control group ( n = 50). It was hypothesized that recipients would experience an increase in self-esteem and RSDL such that their scores would be higher than the control group post-STM. Results provide partial support for the hypotheses; while improvements among recipients were either not significant (for self-esteem) or not long-lasting (for RSDL), recipients had higher scores than the control group post-STM. This suggests that STMs have some, albeit limited, positive effects. Recommendations for promoting greater and longer-lasting effects are offered.


Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Haaike Colemonts-Vroninks ◽  
Jessie Neuckermans ◽  
Lionel Marcelis ◽  
Paul Claes ◽  
Steven Branson ◽  
...  

Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1) is an inherited condition in which the body is unable to break down the amino acid tyrosine due to mutations in the fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) gene, coding for the final enzyme of the tyrosine degradation pathway. As a consequence, HT1 patients accumulate toxic tyrosine derivatives causing severe liver damage. Since its introduction, the drug nitisinone (NTBC) has offered a life-saving treatment that inhibits the upstream enzyme 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD), thereby preventing production of downstream toxic metabolites. However, HT1 patients under NTBC therapy remain unable to degrade tyrosine. To control the disease and side-effects of the drug, HT1 patients need to take NTBC as an adjunct to a lifelong tyrosine and phenylalanine restricted diet. As a consequence of this strict therapeutic regime, drug compliance issues can arise with significant influence on patient health. In this study, we investigated the molecular impact of short-term NTBC therapy discontinuation on liver tissue of Fah-deficient mice. We found that after seven days of NTBC withdrawal, molecular pathways related to oxidative stress, glutathione metabolism, and liver regeneration were mostly affected. More specifically, NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response and several toxicological gene classes related to reactive oxygen species metabolism were significantly modulated. We observed that the expression of several key glutathione metabolism related genes including Slc7a11 and Ggt1 was highly increased after short-term NTBC therapy deprivation. This stress response was associated with the transcriptional activation of several markers of liver progenitor cells including Atf3, Cyr61, Ddr1, Epcam, Elovl7, and Glis3, indicating a concreted activation of liver regeneration early after NTBC withdrawal.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Franklin

Renowned master teacher Eric Franklin has thoroughly updated his classic text, Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, providing dancers and dance educators with a deep understanding of how they can use imagery to improve their dancing and artistic expression in class and in performance. These features are new to this edition: • Two chapters include background, history, theory, and uses of imagery. • 294 exercises offer dancers and dance educators greater opportunities to experience how imagery can enhance technique and performance. • 133 illustrations facilitate the use of imagery to improve technique, artistic expression, and performance. Franklin provides hundreds of imagery exercises to refine improvisation, technique, and choreography. The 295 illustrations cover the major topics in the book, showing exercises to use in technique, artistic expression, and performance. In addition, Franklin supplies imagery exercises that can restore and regenerate the body through massage, touch, and stretching. And he offers guidance in using imagery to convey information about a dancer’s steps and to clarify the intent and content of movement. This new edition of Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance can be used with Franklin’s Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, Second Edition, or on its own. Either way, readers will learn how to combine technical expertise with imagery skills to enrich their performance, and they will discover methods they can use to explore how imagery connects with dance improvisation and technique. Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance uses improvisation exercises to help readers investigate new inner landscapes to create and communicate various movement qualities, provides guidelines for applying imagery in the dance class, and helps dancers expand their repertoire of expressiveness in technique and performance across ballet, modern, and contemporary dance. This expanded edition of Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance supplies imagery tools for enhancing or preparing for performance, and it introduces the importance of imagery in dancing and teaching dance. Franklin’s method of using imagery in dance is displayed throughout this lavishly illustrated book, and the research from scientific and dance literature that supports Franklin’s method is detailed. The text, exercises, and illustrations make this book a practical resource for dancers and dance educators alike.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-509
Author(s):  
R. Cheng ◽  
H. Liang ◽  
Y. Zhang ◽  
J. Guo ◽  
Z. Miao ◽  
...  

This study aimed to determine the impact of Lactobacillus plantarum PC170 concurrent with antibiotic treatment and/or during the recovery phase after antibiotic treatment on the body weight, faecal bacterial composition, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentration, and splenic cytokine mRNA expression of mice. Orally administrated ceftriaxone quantitatively and significantly decreased body weight, faecal total bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Lactobacillus plantarum, and faecal SCFAs concentration. Ceftriaxone treatment also dramatically altered the faecal microbiota with an increased Chao1 index, decreased species diversities and Bacteroidetes, and more Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. After ceftriaxone intervention, these changes all gradually started to recover. However, faecal microbiota diversities were still totally different from control by significantly increased α- and β-diversities. Bacteroidetes all flourished and became dominant during the recovery process. However, mice treated with PC170 both in parallel with and after ceftriaxone treatment encouraged more Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Actinobacteria, and the diversity by which to make faecal microbiota was very much closer to control. Furthermore, the expression of splenic pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor-α mRNA in mice supplemented with PC170 during the recovery phase was significantly lower than natural recovery. These results indicated that antibiotics, such as ceftriaxone, even with short-term intervention, could dramatically damage the structure of gut microbiota and their abilities to produce SCFAs with loss of body weight. Although such damages could be partly recovered with the cessation of antibiotics, the implication of antibiotics to gut microbiota might remain even after antibiotic treatment. The selected strain PC170 might be a potential probiotic because of its contributions in helping the host animal to remodel or stabilise its gut microbiome and enhancing the anti-inflammatory response as protection from the side effects of antibiotic therapy when it was administered in parallel with and after antibiotic treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Amin

Bullying is deliberate aggressive action, using an imbalance of strength physically or mentally by hurting physical, verbal, or emotional / psychological forms repeatedly. In the last decade, cases of bullying in Indonesia continue to increase and if not handled properly will increasingly have a negative impact on the development of the children of the nation's next generation. Bullying does not only affect children who are bullied but can also affect children who bully, children who witness bullying. Some of the effects of bullying include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The purpose of community engagement is to socialize the impact of bullying and how to increase self-esteem to adolescents. Through psychoeducation programs in adolescents such as schools and teenagers religious communities in the Cikarang - Bekasi region, young people gain an in-depth understanding of bullying, its effects and how to increase their confidence. Through this psychoeducation, teenagers understand the understanding, types and effects of bullying both short term and long term so they promise to resist bullying starting from themselves. Teenagers learn that humans are social beings who need each other. They learn about the meaning of diversity and bhineka tunggal ika and try to implement it in their next lives by respecting the differences in their environment. These teenagers learn to respect themselves more, see the positive things that God has given them. They try to always believe in themselves that they are perfect and valuable beings in God's eyes so that even though the environment around them may not appreciate, they can still see positive things in themselvesABSTRAK:Bullying adalah tindakan agresif yang disengaja, menggunakan ketidakseimbangan kekuatan secara fisik atau mental dengan cara menyakiti bentuk fisik, verbal, atau emosional/ psikologis secara berulang – ulang. Dalam satu decade terakhir, kasus bullying di Indonesia terus meningkat dan bila tidak ditangani dengan baik akan semakin berdampak negative bagi perkembangan anak – anak generasi penerus bangsa. Tindakan bullying tidak hanya berdampak pada anak yang di-bully tetapi juga dapat berdampak pada anak yang mem-bully, anak yang menyaksikan bullying. Beberapa dampak bullying diantaranya kecemasan, depresi, serta rendahnya harga diri (self-esteem). Tujuan dari pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini adalah untuk mensosialisasikan dampak bullying serta cara meningkatkan self-esteem kepada para remaja. Melalui program psikoedukasi di lingkungan remaja seperti sekolah maupun komunitas keagamaan remaja wilayah Cikarang – Bekasi, para remaja mendapatkan pemahaman mendalam mengenai bullying, dampaknya serta bagaimana cara meningkatkan kepercayaan diri mereka. Melalui psikoedukasi ini, para remaja memahami pengertian, jenis serta dampak bullying baik jangka pendek maupun jangka panjang sehingga mereka berjanji untuk bersikap menolak bullying mulai dari diri mereka sendiri. Para remaja belajar bahwa manusia adalah mahluk social yang saling membutuhkan. Mereka belajar tentang makna keberagaman dan Bhineka Tunggal Ika serta berusaha mengimplementasikannya dalam kehidupan mereka selanjutnya dengan cara menghargai perbedaan yang ada di lingkungannya. Remaja ini belajar untuk lebih menghargai diri mereka, melihat hal positif yang telah diberikan Tuhan kepada mereka. Mereka mencoba untuk selalu menanamkan dalam diri bahwa mereka adalah mahluk yang sempurna dan berharga di mata Tuhan sehingga walaupun lingkungan di sekitar mereka mungkin tidak menghargai, mereka tetap dapat melihat hal positif dalam diri mereka.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195
Author(s):  
A.G. Faustova ◽  
I.S. Vinogradova

Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used in various oncological diseases are often accompanied by the unwanted and uncontrolled appearance defects. The presence of an acquired visible difference is a significant source of stress, which is often ignored. The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between self-attitude and body image satisfaction in women with alopecia undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the reproductive system. The study involved 20 women (mean age 52,15 years) without alopecia who start a course of chemotherapy treatment, and 20 women (mean age 51,55 years) with alopecia provoked by 10-40 courses of chemotherapy. An empirical study was conducted at the Ryazan Regional Clinical Oncology Center. Respondents were asked to fill out the Scale for assessing the level of satisfaction with the own body (O.A. Skugarevsky), the Self-Attitude Questionnaire (S.R. Pantileev), and to perform the projective technique “Human Figure Drawing” (K. Machover, F. Goodenough). Based on the obtained empirical data, specific regression models were revealed for each sample, demonstrating the dependence of self-attitude on the self-assessment of various components of the body image. In the experimental group of patients without alopecia, an adaptive level of self-acceptance is underlied by the high self-esteem of the external appearance of the chest (p=0,028), ears (p=0,039), and hair (p=0,017). Self-attachment among respondents in this group is determined by self-esteem of the abdomen (p=0,037). In the experimental group of patients with alopecia, other components of self-attitude were the most significant. The level of self-accusation is determined by the self-esteem of the pelvic region (p=0,048), ears (p=0,043), and hair (p=0,047). The reflected Self-attitude is determined to self-esteem of the chest (p=0,029), back (p=0,032), and arms (p=0,027). The patterns revealed in each sample are confirmed by the results of the projective technique “Human Figure Drawing”. Women with cancer of the reproductive organs, both before and after chemotherapy, mainly pay attention to those components of the body image that are associated with femininity and physical attractiveness, as well as those that undergo severe changes in the process of radical treatment.


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