Development and Evaluation of SENSE-ational Mealtimes: a Book for Families with Mealtime Difficulties

Many families with young children experience mealtime difficulties whereby the child eats a limited range of foods and/or refuses new food. Clinical interventions typically include behaviour training, enhancement of parenting skills and nutrition education. Clinical experience and a review of the literature across several domains suggested that interventions that optimise reflective functioning and understandings about sensory preferences at mealtimes are needed for both mild and complex mealtime difficulties. This study describes the development of the SENSE-ational Mealtimes book for families with mealtime difficulties and reports the findings of the initial evaluation. A questionnaire was used to assess the change in the frequency of difficult mealtimes, level of concern, understandings, feelings and goals of mothers 2 months after the book was distributed in a community setting. Mothers also provided feedback regarding helpfulness of the book, needs of families and recommendations. There was a statistically significant improvement in all aspects, namely frequency of mealtime difficulties, level of concern, understandings, feelings and goals. The subjective data indicated that the concepts instrumental in enhancing most mothers' understandings were how sensory preferences and past experiences of all members of the family had an impact on mealtime interactions. Initial evaluation suggests that wide-spread access to the SENSE-ational Mealtimes book could be an inexpensive approach to reduce the costs of adverse effects of mealtime difficulties on the emotional well-being of families and dietary intake of children. Mothers unanimously recommended the SENSE-ational Mealtimes book for both targeted prevention of and early intervention with mealtime difficulties in families

Prostate cancer, treatment modalities and complications: an evaluation of the scientific literature

Prostate (PR) cancer (CA) is one of the most common malignant neoplasms in men all over the world. In general, if prostate cancer (PC) is detected early, treatment usually involves either surgical removal of the prostate or radiotherapy (RT). Hormone Therapy (HT) or chemotherapy (CH) is the preferred treatment for more advanced cases of PC or if CA spreads beyond the PT. A number of complications, such as urinary incontinence (IU) or erectile dysfunction (ED), can be associated with some modalities of treatment of the PC. The aim of this work is to evaluate, in PubMed, the number of publications related with prostate cancer and the main modalities of treatment, as well as some clinical complications. The searches were performed in PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi) in the period 1950 to 2008 using the words: (i) CA, (ii) CA and PR or penis or testis, (iii) CA and PR and RT, CA and PR and surgery (SU), CA and PR and CH and, CA and PR and HT and (iv) CA and PR and RT and IU or ED, CA and PR and SU and IU or ED, CA and PR and CH and IU or ED and, CA and PR and HT and CH and IU or ED, and (V) PC and the same modalities of treatment. The data was obtained on July 20th, 2008. PC, as expected has been cited extensively and surgery has been identified as the most widely referenced modality of treatment. Furthermore, urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction are important complications that have attracted significant scientific interest. In conclusion, these findings have shown the relevance of the PubMed to analyze quantitatively the publications in cancer and this information could be worthwhile in aiding the comprehension of some clinical aspects related with PC, as well as the development of preventative actions. The analysis of the scientific interest, considering the number of publications in the PubMed, reveals research trends in the field and demonstrates the importance of the surgical procedures in the treatment of the prostate cancer. Moreover, this finding is relevant due to the fact that surgery is the treatment of choice when early detection of PC is achieved. However, it is important to consider clinical complications related to such procedures, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunctions that can reduce the quality of life of the patient

Aging of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract: a complex organ system

Gastrointestinal disorders are a major cause of morbidity in the elderly population. The gastrointestinal tract is the most complex organ system; its diverse cells perform a range of functions essential to life, not only secretion, digestion, absorption and excretion, but also, very importantly, defence. The gastrointestinal tract acts not only as a barrier to harmful materials and pathogens but also contains the vast number of beneficial bacterial populations that make up the microbiota. Communication between the cells of the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous and endocrine systems modifies behaviour; the organisms of the microbiota also contribute to this brain–gut–enteric microbiota axis. Age-related physiological changes in the gut are not only common, but also variable, and likely to be influenced by external factors as well as intrinsic aging of the cells involved. The cellular and molecular changes exhibited by the aging gut cells also vary. Aging intestinal smooth muscle cells exhibit a number of changes in the signalling pathways that regulate contraction. There is some evidence for age-associated degeneration of neurons and glia of the enteric nervous system, although enteric neuronal losses are likely not to be nearly as extensive as previously believed. Aging enteric neurons have been shown to exhibit a senescence-associated phenotype. Epithelial stem cells exhibit increased mitochondrial mutation in aging that affects their progeny in the mucosal epithelium. Changes to the microbiota and intestinal immune system during aging are likely to contribute to wider aging of the organism and are increasingly important areas of analysis. How changes of the different cell types of the gut during aging affect the numerous cellular interactions that are essential for normal gut functions will be important areas for future aging research

Maternal Psychopathology and Child Risk Factors in Infantile Anorexia

Objective: This study examines a transactional and multirisk model for Infantile Anorexia (IA) and investigates the contributions of the parent, the child, and dyadic interactional variables related to this feeding disorder. Method: The sample consisted of 371 mother-child pairs (children aged 6-36 months), of which 187 pairs of mothers and normally developing children (ND-group), and 184 mothers and IA children. All dyads were videotaped during feeding; mothers completed questionnaires assessing their psychological profiles and eating attitudes, as well as their children's temperament and emotional/behavioral functioning. Results: Analyses revealed that the IA-group showed higher scores in symptomatic characteristics both of the mother and of the child, and dysfunctional interactions during feeding as compared with the ND-group. Further analyses revealed that both child and maternal characteristics are significant predictors of dyadic interactional conflict. Discussion: Results confirm that a multidimensional assessment is critical in the evaluation of IA. (C) 2009 by Wiley Periodicals. Inc