Death during coronary angiography in a woman with cardiac amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis is a well-recognized systemic disease entity. Patients with cardiac amyloidosis have a poor prognosis; the median survival time after development of congestive heart failure is 4 months. We describe a 72-year-old woman with unsuspected cardiac amyloidosis who died during diagnostic coronary angiography. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this complication.     

Death during coronary angiography in a woman with cardiac amyloidosis

Amyloidosis is a well-recognized systemic disease entity. Patients with cardiac amyloidosis have a poor prognosis; the median survival time after development of congestive heart failure is 4 months. We describe a 72-year-old woman with unsuspected cardiac amyloidosis who died during diagnostic coronary angiography. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this complication.     

Stressful life events,family support and successful ageing in the Biafran War generation

Objectives: Although the developing countries contribute substantially to the population of the elderly, little is known about ageing in populous countries like Nigeria, particularly the Biafran War generation (BWG). Some of those who witnessed the Biafran War (also known as Nigerian Civil War) as children are well into late adulthood, while the majority of this pre-war/wartime cohort who are in their golden years will enter into later life in less than a decade from now. The aim of the present research was to examine the role of stressful life events and family support in successful ageing of the BWG.

Method: Data were collected using a self-administered survey completed by 453 members of the BWG who were ≥45 years. The survey included measures such as the Successful Ageing Inventory, Life Events Inventory, and family support subscale of Family Dynamics Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses of the study.

Results: The three dimensions of stressful life events (health events, interpersonal events and work-related/financial events) had moderate negative relationships with successful ageing. Family support was moderately and positively associated with successful ageing. For the moderation hypotheses, family support was a significant moderator of only the relationship between work-related stressful life events and successful ageing, especially for the <65 years subgroup.

Conclusion: Growing old can be a very positive experience for both the individual and the society. Family support provides social protection for older people, in the face of difficult socio-economic circumstances.     

Critical thinking intervention for stress reduction among undergraduates in the Nigerian Universities

Background:The stress level of undergraduates is increasing at an alarming rate. This study''s objective was to determine the effect of critical thinking intervention (CTI) for stress reduction among undergraduates in Nigerian Universities.Methods:This research used a pretest-posttest design. Participants were 103 undergraduates who had experienced a high level of stress. The Academic Stress Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Educational Stress Scale (ESSS) were the measures used for data collection in the study, while repeated measures analysis of variance was used for data analysis.Results:Before the intervention, assessment results showed that the stress level of participants was high, with no difference between those undergraduates in the treatment group and those in the no-treatment control group. After the intervention, the assessment results indicated a significant reduction in the undergraduates’ stress level in the treatment group compared to those in the no-treatment control group. Further significant reduction was observed in the undergraduates’ stress level in the treatment group compared to those in the no-treatment control group after follow-up assessment.Conclusion:The authors concluded that CTI intervention was significantly effective for stress reduction among undergraduates in Nigerian Universities. Therefore, counselors are called upon to adopt the principle of CTI intervention to help patients under stress reduce their stress levels.