Cancer worry among Norwegian male BRCA1/2 mutation carriers

This qualitative study explored the experiences of Norwegian men after being identified as BRCA 1/2 mutation-positive. Only limited knowledge is available on this topic; therefore, the aim of this study was to gain a deeper insight from the men’s own perspectives. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 15 men and seven of their partners. The participants described fear of cancer development, and two main narrative patterns were identified: fear for their own health, including fear of developing cancer, and negative feelings about responsibility for others’ health. The men expressed fear of developing cancer themselves and described a need for genetic risk information. They were also deeply concerned about how the mutation might affect their children and other relatives. There is a need for guidelines concerning genetic risk information and follow-up programs for male BRCA 1/2 mutation carriers. This study adds valuable contextual insights into their experiences of living with fear of cancer

The ambivalence of losing weight after bariatric surgery

This study is grounded in a phenomenological lifeworld perspective. It aims at providing rich descriptions of lived experience of the process of losing weight after obesity surgery. Two women participated in in-depth interviews four times each during the first postoperative year. Based on the women's experiences, a meaning structure—the ambivalence of losing weight after obesity surgery—was identified across the women's processes of change. This consisted of five core themes: movement and activity—freedom but new demands and old restraints; eating habits and digestion—the complexity of change; appearance—smaller, but looser; social relations—stability and change; and being oneself—vulnerability and self-assurance. These core themes changed over time in terms of dominance. The experience of ambivalence is discussed according to a phenomenological perspective of the body as lived experience

Fe-Mg interdiffusion rates in clinopyroxene: Experimental data and implications for Fe-Mg exchange geothermometers

Chemical interdiffusion of Fe-Mg along the c-axis [001] in natural diopside crystals (XDi = 0.93) was experimentally studied at ambient pressure, at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1,200 °C and oxygen fugacities from 10-11 to 10-17 bar. Diffusion couples were prepared by ablating an olivine (XFo = 0.3) target to deposit a thin film (20-100 nm) onto a polished surface of a natural, oriented diopside crystal using the pulsed laser deposition technique. After diffusion anneals, compositional depth profiles at the near surface region (~400 nm) were measured using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. In the experimental temperature and compositional range, no strong dependence of DFe-Mg on composition of clinopyroxene (Fe/Mg ratio between Di93-Di65) or oxygen fugacity could be detected within the resolution of the study. The lack of fO2-dependence may be related to the relatively high Al content of the crystals used in this study. Diffusion coefficients, DFe-Mg, can be described by a single Arrhenius relation with (Formula presented). DFe-Mg in clinopyroxene appears to be faster than diffusion involving Ca-species (e.g., DCa-Mg) while it is slower than DFe-Mg in other common mafic minerals (spinel, olivine, garnet, and orthopyroxene). As a consequence, diffusion in clinopyroxene may be the rate-limiting process for the freezing of many geothermometers, and compositional zoning in clinopyroxene may preserve records of a higher (compared to that preserved in other coexisting mafic minerals) temperature segment of the thermal history of a rock. In the absence of pervasive recrystallization, clinopyroxene grains will retain compositions from peak temperatures at their cores in most geological and planetary settings where peak temperatures did not exceed ~1,100 °C (e.g., resetting may be expected in slowly cooled mantle rocks, many plutonic mafic rocks, or ultra-high temperature metamorphic rocks)

Re-embodying Eating: Patients’ Experiences 5 Years After Bariatric Surgery

Health experts advise and expect patients to eat healthily after bariatric surgery. For patients, difficulties with eating might have been a long-standing, problematic part of life—a part that is not necessarily healed by surgery. Empirical research on patients’ experiences of eating practices after bariatric surgery is lacking. Aiming to contribute to the development of clinical practice, we explored meanings attached to eating in the long term and sought descriptions of change and bodily sensations. We interviewed 14 patients at least 5 years after bariatric surgery. The surgical restriction forced changes in the way patients sensed their own body in eating, but the uncertainty related to maintaining weight loss in the long term remained. Meanings attached to eating transcended food as choices situated in a nourishment and health perspective, and were not necessarily changed. Eating was an existential and embodied practice, which remained an ambiguous and sensitive matter after surgery

The effectiveness of nursing interventions for breathlessness in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim To critically review and synthesize the findings of studies that evaluated the effectiveness of nursing interventions for improving breathlessness in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Background Systematic reviews of nursing interventions for breathlessness in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have not been specifically addressed. Design Systematic review with meta‐analysis. Data sources A systematic search of Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Embase was performed for studies published between January 2000 and June 2017. Review methods Risk of bias, data extraction and meta‐analysis were conducted using Cochrane methodology. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. Results Twenty papers were included. A meta‐analysis of interventions performed at home, including two trials, showed a significant effect in favour of experimental groups for the symptom score of the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire compared with controls. A meta‐analysis of interventions performed in clinics with home follow‐up showed a significant effect in favour of experimental groups for the mastery and fatigue scores of the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire compared with controls. In this category of intervention, an additional meta‐analysis showed a significant effect in favour of experimental groups for the symptom, activity and total scores of the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire compared with controls. The quality of evidence was assessed to be very low to moderate. Conclusion The results are equivocal as to whether nursing interventions performed at home and nursing interventions performed in hospital with follow‐up improve breathlessness in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease