EFFECTS OF AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE ON BLOOD PRESSURE AND LIPID PROFILE IN KOREAN CLIMACTERIC WOMEN

This study investigated the effects of aromatherapy massage on the lipid profile and blood pressure in Korean climacteric women. A wait-listed control group, pretest–posttest design was used. The subjects comprised 58 climacteric women: 30 in the experimental group and 28 in the control group. Aromatherapy massage using lavender, rose geranium, rose, and jasmine was given to the experimental group only. Each massage session lasted 30 minutes, and was performed once weekly for two 8-week periods with self abdominal daily massage at home. The intervention produced significant differences in the systolic blood pressure compare to pretreatment and significant differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressures at posttreatment between the two groups. These results suggest that aromatherapy massage may exert positive effects on blood pressure. However, more objective, clinical measures should be applied in a future study with a randomized placebo-controlled design.     

LATERALIZED MINERAL CONTENT AND DENSITY IN DISTAL FOREARM BONES IN RIGHT-HANDED MEN AND WOMEN: RELATION OF STRUCTURE TO FUNCTION

To test whether handedness has an asymmetric effect on distal forearm bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD), and whether there is an effect of sex on these variables, the mean BMCs and BMDs in bilateral distal forearms were compared in right-handed men and women. It was expected that the BMC and BMD would be higher on the right than the left side in right-handers. The present results were consistent with this working hypothesis. Namely, the right-BMCs were found to be significantly higher than left-BMCs for all regions of the bones studied. There were no sex differences either for the right-left BMCs or for the right-left BMDs. The results indicated that i) the relation of structure to function would also be valid outside the brain, ii) the mean BMCs, but not BMDs, were significantly higher in the right than the left arm at different distal forearm regions, and iii) there were no significant sex differences in the distal-forearm BMCs and BMDs.     

EFFECTS OF QIGONG ON BLOOD PRESSURE,HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL AND OTHER LIPID LEVELS IN ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION PATIENTS

This study investigated the effectiveness of Qigong on blood pressure and several blood lipids, such as high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, Apolipoprotein A1 (APO-A1), total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TG) in hypertensive patients. Thirty-six patients were randomly divided into either the Qigong group, or a wait-listed control group. Blood pressures decreased significantly after eight weeks of Qigong. The levels of TC, HDL, and APO-A1 were changed significantly in the Qigong group post-treatment compared with before treatment. In summary. Qigong acts as an antihypertensive and may reduce blood pressure by the modulation of lipid metabolism.     

PREDICTABILITY OF HAND SKILL AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES FROM CRANIOFACIAL WIDTH IN RIGHT- AND LEFT-HANDED MEN AND WOMEN: RELATION OF SKELETAL STRUCTURE TO CEREBRAL FUNCTION

Recently, a family of homeobox genes involved in brain and craniofacial development was identified. In light of this genetic background, we hypothesized that some functional characteristics of human brain (hand skill, cognition) may be linked to some structural characteristics of human skull (e.g., craniofacial width) in humans. Hand preference was assessed by Oldfield s Handedness Questionnaire. Hand skill was measured by Peg Moving Task. Face width was measured from the anteroposterior cephalograms (x-ray) using right (R) and left (L) zygomatic points. Intelligence g was assessed by Cattell s Culture Fair Intelligence Test; the perceptual-verbal ability was assessed by Finding A s Test ; the spatial ability was assessed by the mental rotation task, in right- and left-handed men and women. The percentages of right-, left-, and mixed-faced subjects were close to those found for paw preference in cats. Women tended to be more right-faced (R L > 0) and less left-faced (R L     

A COMPARISON OF THE CLOCK DRAWING TEST AND THE PFEIFFER SHORT PORTABLE MENTAL STATUS QUESTIONNAIRE IN A GEROPSYCHIATRY CLINIC

Wolf-Klein and colleagues' clock drawing test (CDT) performance was compared with Pfeiffer's Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (Pfeiffer) scores in 145 outpatient geropsychiatry patients. Although normal CDT results were almost always associated with normal Pfeiffer scores, 21% of Pfeiffer normal individuals drew abnormal clocks. Age, but not gender or education, was significantly associated with this finding. Almost all the Pfeiffer normal subjects who drew abnormal clocks were diagnosed with primary psychiatric disorders (85%) or neurologically based organic mood and anxiety disorders (12%); only one (3%) had dementia. We suggest the discrepant performance between the CDT and Pfeiffer may result from psychiatric illness. Contributing to this may be CDT sensitivity to executive skills dysfunction. This dyscontrol can occur in patients with dementia and other neurological disorders, but also presents in some primary mental disorders. Older age may heighten this impairment. In a typical geropsychiatry clinic, the CDT will not have high specificity for Alzheimer's disease as reported by Wolf-Klein and her colleagues. This results from the presence of many patients with primary psychopathology, some of whom will draw abnormal clocks, and a limited number with dementia—particularly Alzheimer's disease. Abnormal CDT results of geropsychiatry outpatients must therefore be interpreted carefully. Additional conclusions regarding the study results are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EFFECTS OF HOSTILITY AND STRESS ON AFFECTIVE VERBAL LEARNING IN WOMEN

The current experiment investigated the effects of hostility on affective verbal learning and physiological regulation in high and low hostile women. The Auditory Affective Verbal Learning Test (AAVLT) was administered to women in either a cold pressor or no cold pressor condition. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were recorded before and after the cold pressor or no cold pressor manipulation. Results indicated that high hostile women learned fewer words across conditions. The cold pressor primarily influenced neutral learning in high and low hostile participants. Additionally, primacy and recency effects of the AAVLT were replicated.     

BONE DENSITY IN MYELOMENINGOCELE: THE EFFECTS OF AMBULATORY STATUS AND OTHER FACTORS

Measurements were made of distal radius, mid-radius, tibia and metatarsal bone-density of 80 patients with myelomeningocele (17 thoracic, six L1/L2, 13 L3, 30 L4, 14 L5/sacral). For the upper extremity the bone density primarily was low in the thoracic patients, but in the tibia and metatarsal it showed a more linear correlation with neurological levels. The effect of age was highly significant at all sites; after controlling for this, the neurological level was a significant determinant of bone density at all sites, and this effect was greater in older children. Patients with impaired ambulation had decreased bone-density in the distal radius, tibia and metatarsal, but not in the mid-radius. Race had no significant effect on density after accounting for differences in neurological level. Weight for height and multiple fractures did not correlate with bone density. Although ambulatory status (weight-bearing stresses) and neurological status (muscle stresses) are both important factors in bone density, this study suggests that the latter is a more important determinant.     

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE OF MENOPAUSE AND CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNE HYPERSENSITIVITY IN RIGHT- AND LEFT-HANDED WOMEN

The aim of this work was to study the relationship between age of menopause and cell-mediated immune hypersensitivity in right- (N = 32) and left-handed (N = 15) women who had experienced menopause after age of 34 at least one year before interview. Age of menopause was higher in right-handed than left-handed women. Cell-mediated immunity was higher in left-handers than right-handers. Hand-preference correlated with age of menopause, but inversely correlated with tuberculin reaction and percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes; age of menopause correlated with cell-mediated immunity. The results suggested that early menopause in left-handed women may be due to a more active immune system, especially cell-mediated immunity.     

ALCOHOLIC TENDENCY AND EEG AROUSAL IN WOMEN: EFFECTS OF FAMILY HISTORY AND PERSONALITY UNDER EMOTIONAL STIMULATION

Alcoholism runs in families and is influenced by both genetic and personality factors. Important questions remain, however, as to just how neurological functioning is affected by these predispositions. As a result, the present study assessed the effects of both familiality and personality factors on electroencephalographic (EEG) responses. College students were prescreened for family history (FH) of and personality predisposition (PAP) toward alcoholism, and 60 subjects were assigned to four extreme groups representing the crossover of the familial and personality dimensions. Each participant was exposed to nonverbal positive and negative emotional stimuli. Electroencephalography was recorded at frontal, parietal, and temporal sites in both hemispheres throughout and analyzed to assess response in the fast and slow alpha and beta ranges. Results showed that those with either a positive family history of alcoholism alone or predisposing personality characteristics alone were less aroused than those without predispositions. However, those high on both dimensions had lower arousal than subjects in other cells. Findings were interpreted as supporting the theoretical inverted U-shaped relationship of arousal input to arousal output.