Facilitating Perinatal Grieving Between the Mother and the Father

Society often expects mothers and fathers to share equally in the perinatal grief process because the child was a common bond between them. Unfortunately, in perinatal grief, this is not always the case. The mother and the father can experience incongruent grieving and use discordant coping mechanisms. It is important to evaluate these differences to facilitate communication between the distraught parents. Improved communication can in turn facilitate the grieving process.     

HLA-DPB1 gene polymorphism and multiple sclerosis: a large case-control study in the southwest of France

The polymorphism at the HLA-DPB1 locus has been characterized in a large number of patients with multiple sclerosis (n = 112) and in healthy controls (n = 115). Both patients and controls lived in the southwest of France (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques) and had similar ethnic background. The typing procedure involved the selective amplification of the second exon of the DPB1 locus by polymerase chain reaction, followed by hybridization of the amplified DNA with 14 sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes. Individual alleles were identified by the pattern of hybridization of the different probes. The distribution of the DPB1 alleles was not significantly different in multiple sclerosis patients and controls (p = 0.11). This does not corroborate the reported association of multiple sclerosis with the primed lymphocyte typing (PLT)-defined DPw4 specificity and is not in favour of a role played by polymorphic residues of the DP molecule in susceptibility to multiple sclerosis.     

A self-reported survey of Alzheimer's centers in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Directors of nursing at 23 nursing homes with Alzheimer's units in Southwestern Pennsylvania completed a self‐reported survey of 12 questions. Responses from the self‐administered questionnaires (100% response rate) revealed a wide variation in the staff categories assessing the oral health status of newly admitted residents with AD. The respondents described oral examinations that were incomplete when compared to the oral indicators listed in the Minimum Data Set. All nursing homes reported that oral hygiene was provided each day. The number of residents in a facility had a significant effect on the frequency of oral hygiene provided. Only 52% of the facilities reported yearly oral examinations for this population. According to the respondents, dental treatment was typically performed on‐site. The oral health care costs were paid by Medicare, Medicaid, the residents/family members, or by other undescribed resources. Insufficient time, staff, and training, as well as uncooperative behavior, were identified as barriers to optimum oral health care for residents with AD. Additional staff, specialized training, and increased government reimbursement were suggested to improve the oral health care for this group of older adults. For future studies, review of medical records and on‐site evaluation of the oral health care at these facilities should be required to verify the reported practices.