A study on the relation between sex steroids and divalent cations in women of menopausal and reproductive age group

Background: Menopause is the time when permanent cessation of menstruation occurs following the loss of ovarian activity. Though there is a relation between the divalent cations and sex hormones, and the lack of sufficient literature on their relation with sex hormones, the present study was conducted to compare and correlate the relation between levels of sex hormones and divalent cations in normal healthy menopausal women and the different phases of menstrual cycle in healthy women of reproductive age group.Methods: The study was performed after institutional ethical clearance and informed consent from all the subjects. The study included three groups of 30 subjects each of reproductive age and postmenopausal women with less than 10 years of menopause and more than 10 years of menopause. Blood samples were obtained from the control group, one each in early follicular phase, ovulatory phase and during luteal phase for estimation of calcium, magnesium and the level of sex hormones and compared with that of postmenopausal group using commercially available kit. The values are expressed as mean ± S.D. The comparison between the different phases of menstrual cycle in reproductive age group with menopausal women was performed using student t test. Correlation between different parameters were done using Pearson correlation test. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: The correlation of progesterone with magnesium and calcium/magnesium ratio in women of reproductive age group was significant. The correlation of estrogen with calcium and magnesium in women more than 10 years after menopause was found to be significant.Conclusions: A low level of estrogen supplementation may be more acceptable, because of its negative correlation with serum magnesium, and thus helping to maintain an adequate protective level of Mg2+ circulating in the blood. Therefore, it is necessary for maintaining optimum Ca2+/Mg2+ ratio, to increase the efficacy of HRT and decrease the complications of high calcium intake in women after menopause.

The Association between the Use of Mind-body Therapies and U.S. Adults with Depressive Symptoms, National Health Interview Survey 2012

BACKGROUND The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has dramatically increased over the years since 1990. It is one of the fastest growing fields in healthcare and it is widely used today in the United States. Most people utilizing CAM approaches are seeking ways to improve overall health and well-being to relieve symptoms associated with body aches such as neck and back pain, stiffness, chronic illnesses, anxiety and depression, and side effects of conventional medicine. Symptoms of depression can lead to major depression, which is consequentially a major public health problem in the United States. In 2014, more than 1 out of 20 Americans have been reported to have moderate to high depressive symptoms. While depression is treatable with western medication, many have found that the use of mind and body approaches such as mediation, chiropractic/osteopathic manipulation, and yoga show great benefit in improving the cognitive symptoms of depression without medication side effects. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to assess the association between the use of mind-body therapy and depressive symptoms. The analyses presented focus on determining whether mind-body therapy users are more or less likely to be depressed. METHODS This study used a secondary and cross-sectional data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative household interview survey. The Adult Sample and the Adult Alternative datasets were used, and consisted of 34,525 participants. The sample was exclusive to adults ≥ 18 years of age. Analyses were conducted with 11,143 adults with depressive symptoms. The dependent variables were defined as self-reported response of emotional distress, the independent variable as Mind-Body Therapies users. SAS 9.4 was used to conduct descriptive, binomial, multinomial logistic regression analyses, and generalized linear mixed model. The level of significance of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS In the weighted unadjusted model, the association between the use of at least one mind-body therapy and depressive symptoms was statistically significant, with an odd ratio of 1.51 and 95% CI (1.26, 1.81). The number of mind-body therapies used [OR= 1.13, 95% CI (1.09, 1.17)] and the most commonly used mind-body therapies [OR= 1.51, 95% CI (1.27. 1.81)] also yielded statistically significant association with depressive symptoms. In the weighted adjusted binomial logistic regression model, only the number of mind-body therapies used [OR=1.09, 95% CI (1.06, 1.18)] yielded a statistically significant association with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION A negative association was found between the use of mind-body therapy and mental health among U.S. adults in all unadjusted models. Mind-body therapies users were found to be more depressed individuals. These results support the literature reviews that mind-body therapies users are more likely to be depressed. KEYWORDS Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Mind-Body Therapies; Mindfulness Intervention; Depressive Symptoms; Depression; Psychological distress; Mental Health; Mental Treatment; Multilevel Modeling; NHIS 201

Nutrition on wheels business plan: A strategic analysis

Describes the business plan for an entrepreneurial venture called Nutrition on Wheels, which will be the first locally owned and operated gourmet diet food delivery service in the Coachella Valley of California. The service will provide customized meals to fit the specific dietary needs of its customers. Covers the essential components of the business plan for Nutrition on Wheels including industry analysis, market potential, marketing plans, organization and operational plans, strategic management and a financial plan

Risk assessment tools in criminal justice and forensic psychiatry: The need for better data

Violence risk assessment tools are increasingly used within criminal justice and forensic psychiatry, however there is little relevant, reliable and unbiased data regarding their predictive accuracy. We argue that such data are needed to (i) prevent excessive reliance on risk assessment scores, (ii) allow matching of different risk assessment tools to different contexts of application, (iii) protect against problematic forms of discrimination and stigmatisation, and (iv) ensure that contentious demographic variables are not prematurely removed from risk assessment tools

Review of Open Country, Iowa: Rural Women, Tradition and Change.

This book adds to a neglected area of research, rural women. Through the use of reminiscence, census data, agricultural surveys, interviews, and observations during a year of residency in a rural Iowa county, Deborah Fink examines women\u27s experience as members of a rural social system in which farming has been, until recently, considered a viable and valued opportunity, albeit a gender restricted occupation

Situating my positionality as a Black woman with a dis/ability in the provision of equity-focused technical assistance: a personal reflection

In this essay, I reflect on how an equity-focused technical assistance (TA) practitioner who holds intersectional minoritized social identities is in a unique position to introduce tensions in the TA activity system, disrupt marginalizing dominant narratives about difference, and affect educators’ development of new ideas about the treatment of difference in schools. To start, I situate myself as the TA provider by focusing specifically on the socio-historical context in which I experienced public K-12 education as a Black, woman with a dis/ability. Next, I outline three reflections related to my experience with the treatment of difference during that time, particularly in terms of race and dis/ability; I consider how my personal history informs my current interactions within the provision of equity-focused TA. I identify three marginalizing impacts resulting from educators’ treatment of my and other students’ difference; and describe three strategic moves I employ to disrupt and mitigate these impacts. Additionally, I reflect on the question: How might my social identities, intersectional education history, and lived experiences serve as instruments that evoke tensions and affect interactions within the TA activity system

Bullous hemorrhagic lichen sclerosus of the breast: a report of two cases and review of the literature

Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic dermatologic condition characterized by atrophic porcelain-appearing plaques that can cause intense discomfort and eventually lead to destruction of local architecture. Lichen sclerosus most commonly arises in the anogenital area, but up to 20% of cases can present on extragenital skin. Rarely, LS can also present with hemorrhage and bullae; the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. We report two cases of bullous hemorrhagic LS of the breast arising in 66-year-old and 77-year-old women. Bullous hemorrhagic LS of the breast is exceedingly rare, with few reported cases, and presents a diagnostic challenge to clinicians

Epiduraalipuudutuksen yhteys äidin synnytyskokemukseen : Kirjallisuuskatsaus

Yksi synnytyksen hoidon keskeisistä tavoitteista on positiiviseen synnytyskokemukseen pyrkiminen. Tämä edellyttää ymmärrystä synnytyskokemukseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä, joista yksi on synnytyksen aikana käytetty kivunlievitysmenetelmä. Suomessa epiduraalipuudutus on yleistynyt kivunlievitysmenetelmänä viime vuosikymmenien aikana ja synnyttäjistä noin puolet saa epiduraalipuudutuksen alatiesynnytyksen yhteydessä. Epiduraalipuudutuksen yhteyttä äidin synnytyskokemukseen ei ole kuitenkaan Suomessa laajemmin tutkittu. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on koota kirjallisuuskatsauksen muodossa tietoa epiduraalipuudutuksen yhteydestä äidin synnytyskokemukseen. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on tuoda kätilöiden ja kätilöopiskelijoiden ulottuviin uusin aiheeseen liittyvä tutkimustieto ja kehittää epiduraalipuudutuksen ottavien synnyttäjien kätilötyötä. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin syksyn 2016 ja kevään 2017 aikana kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Kirjallisuuskatsaus muodostui viidestä vaiheesta, jotka olivat tutkimuskysymyksen määrittäminen, tiedonhaku, tutkimusten valitseminen sekä tulosten analysointi ja raportointi. Tiedonhaun perusteella kirjallisuuskatsaukseen valikoitui 11 alkuperäistutkimusta, joiden sisältö analysoitiin induktiivisen sisällön analyysin avulla. Tutkimustulosten mukaan synnytyksen aikaisella epiduraalipuudutuksen käytöllä on useita erilaisia yhteyksiä äidin synnytyskokemuksen muodostumiseen. Opinnäytetyön tulokset käsittelevät epiduraalipuudutuksen valitsemista ja päätökseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä, synnyttäjien suhtautumista epiduraalipuudutukseen ja sen herättämiä tunteita sekä erilaisia puudutteen käytännön vaikutuksia. Tutkimusten mukaan epiduraalipuudutus ei tehokkuudestaan huolimatta takaa laadukasta synnytyskokemusta.A positive childbirth experience is one of the main goals of midwifery care during labour. Therefore, it is important to understand the different factors that influence the formation of the childbirth experience, one of which is the pain relief method used during labour. The use of labour epidural analgesia has become increasingly popular in Finland during the last decades with over half of the mothers receiving it during normal vaginal birth. However, the connection of labour epidural analgesia to the mothers’ childbirth experience has not been widely researched in Finland. The purpose of the thesis was to collect information about the connection of labour epidural analgesia to the mothers’ childbirth experience by the means of a literature review. The objective was to gather the latest research knowledge on the subject for the use of midwifes and midwifery students. Another objective was to develop the midwifery care of mothers who receive epidural analgesia during labour. The thesis was carried out during the autumn of 2016 and spring 2017 as a descriptive literature review. The review consisted of five phases which were defining the research question, conducting a literature search, selection of relevant studies and the analysis and reporting of the results. After data collection, 11 original reasearch articles were included in the review, and their content was construed using inductive content analysis as a method. The main themes of the results included choosing epidural analgesia, the mothers’ attitudes towards epidural analgesia and the feelings associated with its use and the practical effects of labour epidural analgesia. According to the results, epidural analgesia does not guarantee a positive childbirth experience despite its effectiveness

Specialty choice in UK junior doctors: Is psychiatry the least popular specialty for UK and international medical graduates?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the UK and many other countries, many specialties have had longstanding problems with recruitment and have increasingly relied on international medical graduates to fill junior and senior posts. We aimed to determine what specialties were the most popular and desirable among candidates for training posts, and whether this differed by country of undergraduate training.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a database analysis of applications to Modernising Medical Careers for all training posts in England in 2008. Total number of applications (as an index of popularity) and applications per vacancy (as an index of desirability) were analysed for ten different specialties. We tested whether mean consultant incomes correlated with specialty choice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In, 2008, there were 80,949 applications for specialty training in England, of which 31,434 were UK graduates (39%). Among UK medical graduates, psychiatry was the sixth most popular specialty (999 applicants) out of 10 specialty groups, while it was fourth for international graduates (5,953 applicants). Among UK graduates, surgery (9.4 applicants per vacancy) and radiology (8.0) had the highest number of applicants per vacancy and paediatrics (1.2) and psychiatry (1.1) the lowest. Among international medical graduates, psychiatry had the fourth highest number of applicants per place (6.3). Specialty popularity for UK graduates was correlated with predicted income (p = 0.006).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the number of applicants per place, there was some consistency in the most popular specialties for both UK and international medical graduates, but there were differences in the popularity of psychiatry. With anticipated decreases in the number of new international medical graduates training in the UK, university departments and professional associations may need to review strategies to attract more UK medical graduates into certain specialties, particularly psychiatry and paediatrics.</p