Psychological stress and arterial pulse transit time

Progress in isolating the psychological factors contributing to the development of arterial hypertension has been retarded by the absence of suitable, non-invasive and continuous measures of significant aspects of cardiovascular activity. Pulse transit time may help to resolve this problem since it reflects changes in arterial elasticity and diastolic blood pressure. A method of recording pulse transit time is described. Significant decreases in pulse transit time were observed in response to a cold pressor test, a video game, a reaction-time task and problem solving, regardless of site of measurement or method of pulse transduction.     

Psychological stress, drug-related cues and cocaine craving

RATIONALE: While several environmental situations may produce cocaine craving, there is little research on whether patterns of drug cue reactivity are similar across different environmental situations. OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether two different environmental situations, psychological stress and drug cues, produce similar or varying patterns of cue reactivity in 20 cocaine dependent individuals. METHODS: All subjects participated in a single laboratory session and were exposed to stress, drug cues and neutral-relaxing imagery conditions. Cocaine and alcohol craving, emotion state ratings, subjective anxiety, heart rate and salivary cortisol measures were assessed. RESULTS: Significant increases in cocaine and alcohol craving were observed with stress and drug cues imagery but not with neutral-relaxing imagery. In addition, stress and drug cues situations produced similar increases in subjective anxiety, heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. Significant increases in negative emotion ratings and decreases in positive emotion ratings were found for stress and drug cues conditions as compared to the neutral condition. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that a similar and comparable pattern of cue reactivity is induced by stress and drug cue manipulations. Furthermore, the comparable increases in subjective anxiety and negative affect observed with stress-induced and drug cue-induced craving provides support for the negative reinforcement model of drug craving and relapse. The negative affectivity co-occurring with the craving state appears to be an important target in the development of new treatments for cocaine dependence.     

Psychological stress increases pituitary cyclic AMP

Exposure to physical stressors has been shown to produce increases in pituitary cyclic AMP in laboratory rats. In this experiment, the generality of these findings has been extended to include a psychological stressor, defined as returning the animals to a situation in which they had been exposed to footshock for four days. Rats in the psychological stress group exhibited increases in pituitary cyclic AMP and in plasma corticosterone and prolactin which were similar to those seen in animals that received the physical stressor on the test day. At present it is not known whether the effects are due to associative conditioning or to sensitization of the neuroendocrine system following repeated presentations of the physical stressor.     

Psychological stress and rewarding effect of alcohol]

It has long been postulated that an interaction between ethanol and stress may play an important role in the etiology of alcoholism. In the present review, we focused on an interaction between ethanol and stress in the mechanism of psychological dependence on ethanol. Ethanol with conditioned fear stress (CFS), but not without the stress, induced a significant place preference. These results suggest that psychological stress may play an important role in the rewarding effect of ethanol. It has been hypothesized that activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system mediated by the endogenous opioid system may be particularly important in the rewarding mechanism of ethanol. It appeared that mu- and delta-opioid receptors might play critical roles in the development of the rewarding effect of ethanol under the stress. Under psychological stress, the rewarding effect of ethanol through the activation of mu- and/or delta-opioid receptors was found to results the activation of dopamine D1 and/or D2 receptors. Additionally, a subtype of serotonin (5-HT) receptors, 5-HT3 receptor, was shown to be involved in the rewarding mechanism of ethanol through the activation of mu- and delta-opioid receptors. In conclusion, psychological stress may be an important factor in the development of the rewarding effect of ethanol and may potentiate the rewarding mechanism. 5-HT3 receptor, is likely to be involved in the rewarding mechanism of ethanol under stress. Dopamine D1 and D2 receptors may also be implicated in the rewarding mechanism of ethanol under stress.     

癌症患者的心理干预

癌症是严重危害人类身心健康的一种慢性疾病,患者一旦被确诊,患者及家属都会产生极大的心理压力,这种压力常表现为抑郁、焦虑等负面情绪,而且这些负面情绪会贯穿于诊断、治疗、康复以及终末期治疗的全部过程。目前。癌症的主要治疗手段有手术、放疗、化疗以及分子靶向药物治疗,为了达到延长生存期和提高生活质量的治疗目的,医护人员必须对患者及家属进行心理干预,以纠正负面情绪。笔者认为,护理工作不仅只是被动地执行医嘱,而应该是关心患者的整体护理,肿瘤科的护理工作者应加强肿瘤基础知识学习,加强心理学知识的培训,掌握癌症发生发展的基本知识,了解患者的心理特征,掌握一定的心理治疗技术,对患者进行心理干预性护理。通过健康宣教的方式帮助患者建立健康的生活方式和合理的饮食结构;针对患者在诊断、治疗、康复等不同阶段,各患者不同的心理问题通过心理疏导的方式进行干预性护理：对于抑郁、焦虑症状严重的患者应用疏肝解郁类中药进行辩证调护。     

急诊科护士心理压力因素分析和干预措施

目的：分析综合医院急诊科护士心理压力因素和心理问题,以及干预措施。方法：应用一般问卷随机抽查本市4家综合性医院91名护士。结果：压力来源以工作压力和负荷大最多,占89．01％;心理问题以精神紧张多见,占71．43％。结论：给予急诊科护士人文关怀和开展心理健康教育有助于其保持积极乐观的心态,减少心理问题的发生。     

Psychological stress, performance, and injury in sport.

This paper reviews the empirical literature on psychological stress in sport, and the effects that such stress may have upon performance, vulnerability to injury, and rehabilitation from injury. It also examines the strategies that sports performers could use to overcome these effects. The major sources of stress that have been reported by sports performers include fear of failure, concerns about social evaluation by others (particularly the coach), lack of readiness to perform, and loss of internal control over one's environment. Various models and theories of the effects of such stress upon performance and vulnerability to injury are reviewed, including multidimensional anxiety theory and a catastrophe model of anxiety and performance. The cognitive and physiological processes which are thought to underly these effects are also reviewed, together with the intervention strategies that are implied by these processes. Research on the psychological stress that appears to be experienced by performers when they are injured is very limited. However, that which is available suggests that many of the same psychological skills that are thought to enhance performance can also be used to reduce the risk of injury, and promote a speedy recovery from injury. These include goal-setting, imagery, self-talk, and relaxation skills.     

Psychological stress and environmental adaptation in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats

In this study, we report differential behavioural and cognitive effects, as assessed in the open-field and the Morris water maze, following psychological stress in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats. Three stress conditions were evaluated: nonstress, mild stress and powerful stress. Mild stress consisted of exposure to an avoidance box but without shock, while in the powerful stress condition animals were exposed to an electric shock. The results revealed distinct effects in the differentially housed animals. Prior exposure to a mild stress enhanced escape performance in the water maze in enriched but not impoverished animals. However, preexposure to powerful stress negatively affected animals from both housing conditions in the water maze task, but with the enriched animals less affected than impoverished animals. In the open-field test, stress preexposure reduced locomotion counts in both the differentially housed animals. In addition, the results showed that the enrichment effect on emotional reactivity in the open-field is long-lasting and persists even after extensive training and housing in standard laboratory conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the nature of the behavioural and learning differences between the differentially housed animals.     

Targeting oxidative stress in cancer

Importance of the field: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) occur as natural by-products of oxygen metabolism and have important cellular functions. Normally, the cell is able to maintain an adequate balance between the formation and removal of ROS either via anti-oxidants or through the use specific enzymatic pathways. However, if this balance is disturbed, oxidative stress may occur in the cell, a situation linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancer.

Areas covered in this review: HDACs are important regulators of many oxidative stress pathways including those involved with both sensing and coordinating the cellular response to oxidative stress. In particular aberrant regulation of these pathways by histone deacetylases may play critical roles in cancer progression.

What the reader will gain: In this review we discuss the notion that targeting HDACs may be a useful therapeutic avenue in the treatment of oxidative stress in cancer, using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), NSCLC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as examples to illustrate this possibility.

Take home message: Epigenetic mechanisms may be an important new therapeutic avenue for targeting oxidative stress in cancer.     

Psychological stress enhances noradrenaline turnover in specific brain regions in rats

Concentrations of noradrenaline (NA) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol sulfate (MHPG-SO₄) in the hypothalamus, amygdala, cerebral cortex and pons+medulla oblongata were examined in male Wistar rats exposed to foot-shock or to psychological stress for 1 hour. Animals in the psychological stress group were prevented from receiving foot shock, but were exposed to responses of shocked rats. Foot shocked rats exhibited a significant reduction in NA content and a significant elevation in MHPG-SO₄ level in all brain regions when compared to control rats which were neither shocked nor exposed to shocked rats. Rats exposed to the psychological stress displayed a significant reduction of NA level in the amygdala, significant elevation of MHPG-SO₄ content in the hypothalamus and amygdala, and a moderate elevation of plasma corticosterone level. These results suggest that psychological stress produces mild enhancement of NA release preferentially in the hypothalamus and amygdala; while foot shock stress elicits a more intense response of noradrenergic neurons in more extended brain regions.     

乳腺癌患者放疗的心理分析与护理干预

目的讨论乳腺癌患者接受放射治疗的心理状态,及时针对性护理干预对治疗和预后的重要意义.方法就诊时或入院时沟通心理调查,住院治疗期间心理追踪调查和出院随访调查.结果本组接受放疗患者存在心理障碍较多,经针对性护理干预,较好地支持临床治疗.结论对接受放射治疗的乳腺癌患者应进行心理调查,及时介入针对性护理干预,使其顺利完成全程治疗回归社会.     

乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性及其影响因素分析

目的对乳腺癌术后患者的心理弹性进行现状调查,并对其相关影响因素进行分析;为增强乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性、提高乳腺癌术后患者生活质量提供科学依据。方法采用横断面调查方法对惠州市某三甲医院肿瘤门诊的220例乳腺癌术后患者,应用一般情况调查表、心理弹性量表、一般自我效能感量表、家庭坚韧力量表、社会支持评定量表进行现状调查,分析影响乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性的相关因素。乳腺癌术后患者的心理弹性与自我效能感、家庭弹性力量、社会支持量采用Pearson相关分析,以心理弹性为因变量,单因素分析有统计学意义的变量纳入方程进行多元回归分析。结果乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性较差,其心理弹性与自我效能感(r=0.191,P0.01)、家庭弹性(r=0.478,P0.01)、社会支持(r=0.718,P0.01)呈正相关,多元线性回归分析显示肿瘤分期、辅助治疗疗程、术后参与锻炼强度、家庭坚韧力承担、控制两个维度、社会支持主观支持维度,6个因子进入回归方程,可解释乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性的60.1%。结论可通过对肿瘤分期等6个因素的干预增强乳腺癌术后患者心理弹性。     

乳腺癌患者心理问题与护理对策

乳腺癌是女性常见的恶性肿瘤之一。随着医学科学技术的不断进步，乳腺癌患者的五年生存率不断提高，但乳腺癌依然严重危害女性的身心健康，并且对家庭成员的心理同样带来不良影响，这些影响贯穿在整个疾病诊治的全过程。现将近年来对乳腺癌患者心理问题的认识及护理干预综述如下。……     

乳腺癌患者心理问题与护理对策

乳腺癌是女性常见的恶性肿瘤之一。随着医学科学技术的不断进步 ,乳腺癌患者的五年生存率不断提高 ,但乳腺癌依然严重危害女性的身心健康 ,并且对家庭成员的心理同样带来不良影响 ,这些影响贯穿在整个疾病诊治的全过程。现将近年来对乳腺癌患者心理问题的认识及护理干预综述如下。1　乳腺癌患者的心理问题及对策1 1　确诊后的心理问题及对策　乳腺癌患者在疾病确诊后 ,即可出现强烈的心理反应。林世芳等[1] 运用心理健康调查表对 1 2 3例乳腺癌患者进行测试 ,结果显示 ,当得知自己被确诊为乳腺癌时 ,97%的患者出现不同程度和类型的焦虑情绪…