The clinical effectiveness of healing touch

OBJECTIVES: (1) to determine the clinical effectiveness of Healing Touch (HT) on variables assumed to be related to health enhancement; (2) to determine whether practitioner training level moderates treatment effectiveness. DESIGN: Mixed-method repeated measures design with quasi-experimental and naturalistic approaches, paired with nomothetic and idiographic analyses. SETTING/LOCATION: Practitioner's offices or client's home. SUBJECTS: Twenty-two (22) clients who had never experienced HT. Interventions: Three treatment conditions: no treatment (NT), HT only (standard HT care), and HT+ (Standard HT care plus music plus guided imagery). OUTCOME MEASURES: Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations in saliva, self-reports of stress levels, client perceptions of health enhancement, and qualitative questionnaires about individual effects. RESULTS: Clients of practitioners with more training experienced statistically significant positive sIgA change over the HT treatment series, while clients of practitioners with less experience did not. Clients reported a statistically significant reduction of stress level after both HT conditions. Perceived enhancement of health was reported by 13 of 22 clients (59%). Themes of relaxation, connection, and enhanced awareness were identified in the qualitative analysis of the HT experience. Pain relief was reported by 6 of 11 clients (55%) experiencing pain. CONCLUSIONS: The data support the clinical effectiveness of HT in health enhancement, specifically for raising sIgA concentrations, lowering stress perceptions and relieving pain. The evidence indicates that positive responses were not exclusively as a result of placebo, that is, client beliefs, expectations, and behaviors regarding HT.     

The role of personality and other factors in a mother's decision to initiate breastfeeding.

The objective of the study was to measure the impact of personality and other factors on the decision to initiate breastfeeding. Mothers were enrolled (24-96 hours postpartum) and were classified as fully breastfeeding, formula-feeding, or combination-feeding. A semi-structured interview about maternal sociodemographics and attitudes and a standardized personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) were conducted. Eighty-seven mothers completed the study: 50 breastfeeders, 6 combination feeders, and 31 formula feeders. Because of small numbers, combination-feeder mothers (n = 6) were excluded from analyses. Maternal age, marriage, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and formula-feeding groups differed on 3 personality domains: extraversion (53.3 breastfeeding vs 46.9 formula-feeding, P = .002), openness (51.6 vs 46.2, P = .008), and agreeableness (48.5 vs 41.5, P = .01). In a multiple variable logistic regression model, extraversion (P = .03) and openness (P = .003) remained significant. Sociodemographics, experiential factors, and specific personality characteristics of mother were independently associated with maternal feeding decision.     

Biopsy in laparoscopically diagnosed endometriosis

A series of 273 consecutive patients with the primary complaint of pelvic pain were laparoscopically diagnosed as having endometriosis. Peritoneal and/or ovarian biopsy was performed at the endometriosis site or sites in 115 patients. Histologic confirmation of endometriosis was established in 64% of those patients. The severity of the disease did not correlate with positive or negative biopsy results. Thus, the diagnosis of endometriosis may not be histologically confirmed, even in the presence of grossly visible disease. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of the disease should not depend upon histologic confirmation.     

Incarcerated tubal herniation, an unusual complication of operative laparoscopy and an odd cause of pelvic pain

Tubal herniation after laparoscopic surgery to relieve pelvic pain and adhesions was associated with long-term, chronic pelvic pain in the left lower quadrant. Laparoscopy was performed to diagnose and reduce the herniation. Review of the literature revealed no previous report of this complication.     

Dietary exposure to whey proteins alters rat mammary gland proliferation, apoptosis, and gene expression during postnatal development

We have found that AIN-93G diets made with whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) reduce 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced tumor incidence in Sprague-Dawley (Harlan) rats relative to those fed a diet with casein (CAS). Herein, we replicated these findings in another Sprague-Dawley substrain (Charles River) and examined whether WPH protective effects were associated with altered mammary gland differentiation status and expression of the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted in chromosome ten (PTEN). Mammary tumor incidence was lower in DMBA-treated rats fed WPH than in those fed CAS. Mammary glands of WPH- and CAS-fed rats were isolated at weaning [postnatal day (PND) 21-28] and at an early adult stage (PND 50-53) and analyzed for proliferative (proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunoreactivity), apoptotic (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxy-UTP nick-end labeling), and differentiation (beta-casein) indices, as well as for PTEN mRNA and protein levels. PND 50-53 rats fed WPH showed decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis in mammary structures, coincident with increased mammary beta-casein gene expression, decreased terminal end-bud numbers, and increased ductal lengths, relative to same-age CAS-fed rats. When challenged with DMBA for 24 h, mammary glands of PND 53 CAS-fed rats had decreased cell survival in both terminal end buds and ductal epithelium, while the mammary glands of WPH-fed rats were not altered from pre-DMBA levels. At 7 d post-DMBA, mammary glands of CAS- and WPH-fed rats exhibited comparable apoptotic indices. Mammary PTEN expression was higher in WPH- than in CAS-fed rats at PND 21-28, but was not different in young adults fed either diet. Results demonstrate that dietary WPH advances mammary gland differentiation during neonatal development and suggest that the transiently increased expression of the pro-apoptotic signal PTEN during a sensitive developmental window may partly underlie the cancer protective effects of WPH.