scholarly journals Placebo effect unboxed: A Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Sharique Ahmad ◽  
Tanish Baqar ◽  
Shivani Singh ◽  
Saeeda Wasim ◽  
Shivangi Shukla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Placebo Effect ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Psychological Process ◽  
Real Point ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The Impact

As in our body, brain is the most powerful part and our mind could be excellent healing tool when any chance is provided. The idea that our brain can be one of the convincing parts in our body for the fake treatment is the real point this is called as placebo effect [1]. This effect refers to the impact of placebo on any one. However, treatments which are not active also were also demonstrated measurable and positive health response [2]. The ability of placebo effect is reviewed as psychological process [1]. In some cases, placebos can exert an influence powerful enough to mimic the effects of real medical treatments. This effect is more than positive thinking [3]. When this response occurs, many people have no idea they are responding to what is essentially a "sugar pill." Placebos are often utilized in medical research to help doctors and scientists discover and better perceive the physiological and mental effects new medications [2] For exactly understanding the placebo effect importance it is crucial to know more about how and why it works. This article explains how this effect is recognized in modern medicine and elements of placebo effect and suggests few conditions under which making utilization of therapeutic potential of this effect could be ethically acceptable, if not warranted.

How to Psychologically Minimize Scratching Impulses

2014 ◽  
Vol 222 (3) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Sölle ◽  
Theresa Bartholomäus ◽  
Margitta Worm ◽  
Regine Klinger
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Placebo Effect ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Pharmacological Treatments ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Physical Complaints ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Placebo Model

Research in recent years, especially in the analgesic field, has intensively studied the placebo effect and its mechanisms. It has been shown that physical complaints can be efficiently reduced via learning and cognitive processes (conditioning and expectancies). However, despite evidence demonstrating a large variety of physiological similarities between pain and itch, the possible transfer of the analgesic placebo model to itch has not yet been widely discussed in research. This review therefore aims at highlighting potential transfers of placebo mechanisms to itch processes by demonstrating the therapeutic issues in pharmacological treatments for pruritus on a physiological basis and by discussing the impact of psychological mechanisms and psychological factors influencing itch sensations.

The Impact of Coping Strategies on Situational Coping in Daily Life: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study with the mHealth application TrackYourStress (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa O'Rourke ◽  
Carsten Vogel ◽  
Dennis John ◽  
Rüdiger Pryss ◽  
Johannes Schobel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Active Stress ◽  
Situational Coping ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

BACKGROUND It is necessary to cope with situations in daily life to prevent stress-related health consequences. However, coping strategies might differ in their impact on dealing with stressful situations in daily life. Moreover, the effect of coping strategies on situational coping might differ between women and men. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of coping strategies on situational coping in everyday life situations and to investigate gender differences. METHODS An ecological momentary assessment study with the mobile health app TrackYourStress (TYS) was conducted with 113 participants. Coping strategies were measured at baseline with the coping scales Positive Thinking, Active Stress Coping, Social Support, Support in Faith, and Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption of the Stress and Coping Inventory (SCI). Situational coping was assessed by the question “How well can you cope with your momentary stress-level” (slider 0-100) in daily life over four weeks. Multilevel models were conducted to test the effects of the coping strategies on situational coping. Additionally, gender differences were evaluated. RESULTS Positive Thinking (P=.03) and Active Stress Coping (P=.04) had significant positive impacts on situational coping in the total sample. For women, only Social Support had a significant positive effect on situational coping (P=.046). For men, only Active Stress Coping had a significant positive effect on situational coping (P=.001). Women had higher scores on the SCI scale Social Support than men (P=.007). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that different coping strategies could be more effective in daily life for women than for men, which should be considered in the development of interventions aimed at reducing stress consequences through coping. Interventions taking gender into consideration might lead to better coping-outcomes than generalized interventions.

scholarly journals BOARD INVITED REVIEW: The pig microbiota and the potential for harnessing the power of the microbiome to improve growth and health1

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (9) ◽  
pp. 3741-3757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirosh D Aluthge ◽  
Dana M Van Sambeek ◽  
Erin E Carney-Hinkle ◽  
Yanshuo S Li ◽  
Samodha C Fernando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gastrointestinal Tract ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Microbial Colonization ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Specific Host ◽  
Microbiome Research ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A variety of microorganisms inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of animals including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Pioneers in gut microbiology have stressed the critical importance of diet:microbe interactions and how these interactions may contribute to health status. As scientists have overcome the limitations of culture-based microbiology, the importance of these interactions has become more clear even to the extent that the gut microbiota has emerged as an important immunologic and metabolic organ. Recent advances in metagenomics and metabolomics have helped scientists to demonstrate that interactions among the diet, the gut microbiota, and the host to have profound effects on animal health and disease. However, although scientists have now accumulated a great deal of data with respect to what organisms comprise the gastrointestinal landscape, there is a need to look more closely at causative effects of the microbiome. The objective of this review is intended to provide: 1) a review of what is currently known with respect to the dynamics of microbial colonization of the porcine gastrointestinal tract; 2) a review of the impact of nutrient:microbe effects on growth and health; 3) examples of the therapeutic potential of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics; and 4) a discussion about what the future holds with respect to microbiome research opportunities and challenges. Taken together, by considering what is currently known in the four aforementioned areas, our overarching goal is to set the stage for narrowing the path towards discovering how the porcine gut microbiota (individually and collectively) may affect specific host phenotypes.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Informal Caregivers’ Health Behaviors

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 959-959
Author(s):  
Mary Greaney ◽  
Zachary Kunicki ◽  
Megan Drohan ◽  
Steven Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Sedentary Time ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Unpaid Care ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The population of older adults aged 65+ in the US is projected to increase from 15% to 21% in the next 30 years. Aging in place provides cost-savings and familiarity to the older adult, but often requires informal caregivers. Informal caregivers, individuals who provide unpaid care of assistance to family members and friends may have been uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-at-home orders. Research is needed to examine how the pandemic impacted caregivers’ caregiving responsibilities and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, sedentary time, fruit and vegetable intake, snacking, etc.) as this information will be invaluable to determine if health promotion interventions are needed for informal caregivers. Self-reported data were gathered from informal caregivers providing care to someone aged 50+ (n=835) through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Respondents reported their current and pre-pandemic health behaviors and demographics. Chi-square tests were used to examine bivariate associations between pandemic time (pre vs. post) and each examined behavior. The analysis identified some positive health behavior changes due to the pandemic: caregivers felt since the pandemic they ate more fruits and vegetables (p < .001), walked more, exercised more (p < .001), increased amounts of sleep (p < .001), and higher sleep quality (p < .001). However, respondents also had more screen time (p < .001) and sedentary time (p < .001). Future planned analyses will focus on examining whether these changes were consistent across all sociodemographic subgroups of caregivers and whether they persist after the pandemic recedes.

scholarly journals Effect of COVID-19 on childhood Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in Chengdu, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yijie Huang ◽  
Tao Ai ◽  
Jun Luo ◽  
Hanmin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mycoplasma Pneumoniae ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Serum Antibody ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Western China ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a change in the incidence and transmission of respiratory pathogens was observed. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiologic characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection among children in Chengdu, one of the largest cities of western China. Method M. pneumoniae infection was diagnosed in 33,345 pediatric patients with respiratory symptoms at the Chengdu Women’s & Children’s Central Hospital between January 2017 and December 2020, based on a serum antibody titer of ≥1:160 measured by the passive agglutination assay. Differences in infection rates were examined by sex, age, and temporal distribution. Results Two epidemic outbreaks occurred between October-December 2017 and April-December 2019, and two infection peaks were detected in the second and fourth quarters of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Due to the public health response to COVID-19, the number of positive M. pneumoniae cases significantly decreased in the second quarter of 2020. The number of M. pneumoniae infection among children aged 3–6 years was higher than that in other age groups. Conclusions Preschool children are more susceptible to M. pneumoniae infection and close contact appears to be the predominant factor favoring pathogen transmission. The public health response to COVID-19 can effectively control the transmission of M. pneumoniae.

scholarly journals Communication as a Key Issue in the Care of Diabetes Mellitus

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-310
Author(s):  
Elena-Daniela Grigorescu ◽  
Cristina Mihaela Lăcătuşu ◽  
Gina Eosefina Botnariu ◽  
Raluca Maria Popescu ◽  
Alina Delia Popa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Therapeutic Education ◽  
Communicative Interaction ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Patient’S Satisfaction ◽  
Communication Techniques ◽  
Physician Patient ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The physician-patient communication has an essential role in establishing and supporting the relationship between these two partners. Moreover, modern medicine highlights the patient-centered approach. Publications assessing the impact of an efficient physicianpatient communication on medical care results in diseases such as diabetes and hypertension have revealed a positive correlation between patient’s satisfaction about the communication with the physician and values of blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin and pain intensity. Interventions needed in both doctors and patients for developing communication abilities were paid special attention in order to achieve an appropriate improvement in their communicative interaction during periodical appointments. In the field of diabetes mellitus, the medical challenge is to improve patients’ knowledge about medical care; this aim is achieved only by therapeutic education, using high-quality communication techniques.

Abstract WP366: Exploring the Association Between Physician Trust and Recurrent Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Venkatesan ◽  
Bernadette Boden-Albala ◽  
Nina Parikh ◽  
Emily Goldmann
Keyword(s):  
Sex Education ◽  
Medication Compliance ◽  
Recurrent Stroke ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
National Study ◽  
Stroke Severity ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Physician Trust ◽  
Ischemic Attack ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: More positive health behaviors, fewer symptoms, higher quality of life, and greater treatment satisfaction have been reported among those with greater physician trust. This study assessed the relationship between physician trust and recurrent stroke/TIA within 1 year of discharge among stroke survivors in Northern Manhattan. Methods: This study used data from the Stroke Warning Information and Faster Treatment (SWIFT) study, a randomized controlled trial conducted from 2005-2012 in a multiethnic cohort of 1,193 mild/moderate ischemic stroke and TIA survivors. The goal was to assess the impact of a stroke preparedness educational intervention on emergency department arrival time after subsequent stroke symptom onset. Physician trust, assessed at baseline, was measured with one item: “What percentage of the time do you trust doctors?”. For the analysis, it was dichotomized with the cutoff at 80%. Recurrent stroke/TIA was assessed at 1 month and 1 year. The association between recurrent stroke/TIA and patient trust was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographics and comorbidities. Results: In the analytic sample (n=1108), those who answered both exposure and outcome, the prevalence of recurrent stroke/TIA and lack of physician trust was 10.75% and 36.46%, respectively. Consistent with the literature, Hispanics compared to whites had a higher prevalence of lack of physician trust (42.71% vs. 34.11%, p<0.001). Adjusting for race/ethnicity, intervention status, age, sex, education, marital status, smoking, insurance, hypertension, diabetes, body mass index, physical activity, and depression, those who lacked trust had greater odds of recurrent stroke/TIA (OR=1.36, 95% CI:0.86-2.18) than those who had trust. When observing the association among Hispanics and Blacks, those who lacked trust had (OR=1.27, 95% CI: 0.66-2.42) and (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 0.36-4.38) respectively, greater odds of a recurrent episode than those who had trust. Conclusion: Despite insignificant findings, a national study with a greater range of stroke severity and additional measures such as medication compliance may be warranted to provide greater insight on the effects of physician trust on stroke outcomes.

COVID-19 and cancer: Strategic health promotion for indigenous Australians during a pandemic.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e24028-e24028
Author(s):  
Carolyn Der Vartanian ◽  
Vivienne Milch ◽  
Gail Garvey ◽  
Cleola Anderiesz ◽  
Jane Salisbury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Australian Community ◽  
The Impact

e24028 Background: Given the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous and ethnic minority populations observed globally, keeping COVID-19 out of vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous Australian) communities remains a priority. Compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australians experience disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes due to social disadvantage, increased cancer-related modifiable risk factors, poorer access to health services and lower participation in screening. During the pandemic, cancer-related investigations and treatment reduced significantly in Australia, leading to potential decreases in cancer diagnoses and consequences for future survival outcomes. Concerned about the risk of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 for Indigenous Australians, as well as worsening cancer outcomes, Cancer Australia undertook strategic health promotion initiatives, to inform and support optimal cancer care. Methods: In consultation with respected Indigenous colleagues to ensure cultural appropriateness of language and information, we published a dedicated webpage titled ‘ Cancer and COVID-19 – what it means for our Mob*’ with tailored information, advice, and links to key resources and support services for Indigenous Australians. We also released a video titled ‘ Act early for our Mob’s Health’, providing targeted, culturally appropriate, consumer-friendly information to encourage Indigenous Australians to see their doctor or Aboriginal Health Worker with symptoms that may be due to cancer. Results: The information hub has been well-received among the Indigenous Australian community, receiving over 3,200 visits, and the social media campaigns have received over 1.4 million impressions and 46,000 video views between mid-March 2020 to mid-February 2021. This campaign has supported proactivity among the Indigenous population in keeping their communities safe during the pandemic, maintaining a population rate of COVID-19 of less than one percent of all confirmed cases in Australia. Conclusions: Culturally appropriate information and resources developed through the process of co-design can help to influence positive health behaviour change in Indigenous populations. We predict that our strategic, multi-channel health promotion campaign is contributing to keeping the Indigenous Australian community safe and informed during the pandemic, with additional work needed to monitor cancer rates and outcomes and address the ongoing information needs of the community. *Mob is a colloquial term to identify a group of Indigenous Australians associated with a family or community from a certain place.

scholarly journals Why psychiatry can't afford to be neurophobic

2009 ◽  
Vol 194 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Bullmore ◽  
Paul Fletcher ◽  
Peter B. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Compelling Argument ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
The Brain

SummaryThe original vision of psychiatry was as a medicine – or physic – of the mind. If psychiatry aspires to be a progressive modern medicine of the mind, it should be fully engaged with the science of the brain. We summarise and rebut three countervailing or ‘neurophobic’ propositions and aim to show that not one provides a compelling argument for neurophobia. We suggest that there are several ways in which psychiatry could organise itself professionally to better advance and communicate the theoretical and therapeutic potential of a brain-based medicine of the mind.

scholarly journals Potential of Therapeutic Bacteriophages in Nosocomial Infection Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nannan Wu ◽  
Tongyu Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Nosocomial Infection ◽  
Nosocomial Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Good Manufacturing Practice ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Phage Library ◽  
Infection Management ◽  
The Impact

Nosocomial infections (NIs) are hospital-acquired infections which pose a high healthcare burden worldwide. The impact of NIs is further aggravated by the global spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Conventional treatment and disinfection agents are often insufficient to catch up with the increasing AMR and tolerance of the pathogenic bacteria. This has resulted in a need for alternative approaches and raised new interest in therapeutic bacteriophages (phages). In contrast to the limited clinical options available against AMR bacteria, the extreme abundance and biodiversity of phages in nature provides an opportunity to establish an ever-expanding phage library that collectively provides sustained broad-spectrum and poly microbial coverage. Given the specificity of phage-host interactions, phage susceptibility testing can serve as a rapid and cost-effective method for bacterial subtyping. The library can also provide a database for routine monitoring of nosocomial infections as a prelude to preparing ready-to-use phages for patient treatment and environmental sterilization. Despite the remaining obstacles for clinical application of phages, the establishment of phage libraries, pre-stocked phage vials prepared to good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, and pre-optimized phage screening technology will facilitate efforts to make phages available as modern medicine. This may provide the breakthrough needed to demonstrate the great potential in nosocomial infection management.

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