Therapy with religious couples

Although 95% of married couples identify with a particular religion, there is great variation in how couples rely on their religion to define or structure their relationship. Various denominations will imply particular “rules” or will shape how the couple deals with interpersonal and family challenges, such as sexuality, parenting, and power. In this article, we review couple relationships within a religious context and advance several treatment principles for treating religious couples. We present a clinical case to illustrate marital therapy with a religious couple, with an Adlerian context. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 65:1–13, 2009.     

Formulas Used by Tibetan Doctors at Men‐Tsee‐Khang in India for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Their Correlation with Pharmacological Data

The aim of the present study was to identify formulas used at Men‐Tsee‐Khang (Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute), India, for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders and to compare the Tibetan usage of particular ingredients with pharmacological data from the scientific database. Using ethnographic methods, five doctors were selected and interviewed. A correlation was observed between central nervous system disorders and rLung, one of the three humors in Tibetan medicine, which imbalance is the source of mental disorders, and ten multi‐ingredient formulas used to treat the imbalance of this particular humor were identified. These formulas utilize 61 ingredients; among them were 48 plant species. Each formula treats several symptoms related to rLung imbalance, so the plants may have therapeutic uses distinct from those of the formulas in which they are included. Myristica fragrans, nutmeg, is contained in 100% of the formulas, and its seeds exhibit stimulant and depressant actions affecting the central nervous system. Preclinical and clinical data from the scientific literature indicate that all of the formulas include ingredients with neuropsychiatric action and corroborate the therapeutic use of 75.6% of the plants. These findings indicate a level of congruence between the therapeutic uses of particular plant species in Tibetan and Western medicines. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西藏西部地区儿童高原性心脏病临床分析及前列地尔靶向治疗评价

目的：探讨西藏西部地区儿童高原性心脏病的临床特点及应用前列地尔靶向治疗的临床疗效及安全性。方法：选择日喀则人民医院儿科2018年1月至10月收治的50例高原性心脏病患儿，随机分为观察组和对照组各25例。对照组患儿予以常规治疗：卧床休息，必要时镇静、吸氧、控制感染、利尿减轻心脏负荷、纠正水电解质酸碱平衡紊乱等处理。观察组患儿在常规治疗基础上应用前列地尔（凯时）5~10 ng/（h·kg）静脉泵入12 h，连续7~15 d。记录治疗前后患儿的血流动力学改变及超声心动图变化。结果：观察组患儿治疗后的肺动脉压下降程度、心脏超声指数上升程度均大于对照组（P均<0.05），且平均体动脉压治疗前后无明显变化（P>0.05），未发现明显不良反应。结论：高原性心脏病是西藏西部地区小儿常见的心脏疾病，呼吸道感染为常见诱发因素。前列地尔治疗小儿高原性心脏病，可有效降低肺动脉压力，改善患儿心功能，且无不良反应，初步评估安全性良好。     

Effects of long use of a beta-blocker, carteolol, on exercise hemodynamics in hypertensives

The symptom limited maximal exercise was performed by a supine bicycle ergometer before and 12 weeks after oral carteolol therapy in 10 patients with essential hypertension of WHO Stage 1 and 2. At rest, arterial blood pressure (BP) and venous pressure (VP) significantly declined after therapy, while heart rate (HR), cardiac index (CI), stroke index (SI) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were not significantly changed. The maximal exercise work of post-therapy was similar to that of pre-therapy in 9 patients and increased in one. When compared with the pre-therapy values at each work load of exercise, carteolol caused significant decreases in systolic BP, mean BP, HR and CI, and a significant increase in SVR, while SI and VP were not significantly changed. Plasma levels of renin activity, aldosterone, and catecholamines were not altered by carteolol throughout the study at rest and with exercise. It may be concluded that the inhibition of HR increase by carteolol results in a reduced cardiac output during moderate and severe exercise and then suppresses the elevation of BP, so that carteolol makes it possible to achieve more exercise with less cardiac work.