Long-Term Effects of Maternal Smoking on Quality of Life. Results from the Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959–61

The Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959–61 is a prospective longitudinal perinatal study that included all deliveries (over 20 weeks gestation, birthweight over 250 g) that took place at the University Hospital (Rigshospitalet) in Copenhagen, Denmark during the period of September 21, 1959 to December 21, 1961 and used in this follow-up study to investigate the connection between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the quality of life of the child 31 to 33 years later. The latest follow-up study from the cohort was performed in 1993 and 7,222 of the surviving children were identified (now aged between 31 and 33 years) and contacted with a nonanonymous questionnaire on several aspects of quality of life issues.There were 4,626 usable responses (f = 2,489, m = 2,131) corresponding to a response rate of 64.1%. The children whose mothers were nonsmokers or smoked less than three cigarettes a day had a quality of life that was 2.7% better than those children whose mothers had smoked over ten cigarettes per day. At first glance these figures seem small; however, when compared with other early life factors we see that mothers smoking more than ten cigarettes per day is one of the most important early predictors in our study for the quality of life (QOL) of the child as an adult. As most people in our study have a QOL rating between 55% and 85%, 2.7% is about 10% of normal variation. It seems that exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy has a small but significant effect on the quality of life in later adult life. However, the underlying causal factor for this reduction in quality of life remains unclear. Nevertheless, pregnant mothers should be made aware of the potential long-term effects smoking can have on their children

Østen t/r med Ø. K.

I årene 1982 til 1992 var Ole Ventegodt museumsinspektør på Orlogsmuseet. Han har dog også en fortid som skibsfører samt 15 års tjeneste i Orlogsflåden. Her fortæller Ole Ventegodt, der har sejlet som styrmand i Ø.K, om hvordan en typisk rejse til Østen med el aj Ø.K. 's stykgodsskibe kunne forløbe i begyndelsen af 1950'erne

Clinical Holistic Medicine: Factors Influencing The Therapeutic Decision-Making. From Academic Knowledge to Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual “Crazy” Wisdom

Scientific holistic medicine is built on holistic medical theory, on therapeutic and ethical principles. The rationale is that the therapist can take the patient into a state of salutogenesis, or existential healing, using his skills and knowledge. But how ever much we want to make therapy a science it remains partly an art, and the more developed the therapist becomes, the more of his/her decisions will be based on intuition, feeling and even inspiration that is more based on love and human concern and other spiritual motivations than on mental reason and rationality in a simple sense of the word. The provocative and paradoxal medieval western concept of the “truth telling clown”, or the eastern concepts of “crazy wisdom” and “holy madness” seems highly relevant here. The problem is how we can ethically justify this kind of highly “irrational” therapeutic behavior in the rational setting of a medical institution. We argue here that holistic therapy has a very high success rate and is doing no harm to the patient, and encourage therapists, psychiatrists, psychologist and other academically trained “helpers” to constantly measure their own success-rate. This paper discusses many of the important factors that influence clinical holistic decision-making. Sexuality could, as many psychoanalysts from Freud to Reich and Searles have believed, be the most healing power that exists and also the most difficult for the mind to comprehend, and thus the most “crazy-wise” tool of therapy

Clinical Holistic Medicine: The Case Story of Anna. III. Rehabilitation of Philosophy of Life During Holistic Existential Therapy for Childhood Sexual Abuse

When we experience life events with overwhelming emotional pain, we can escape this pain by making decisions (in our mind) that transfer responsibility from our existence to the surrounding world. By doing this, we slowly destroy the essence of our being, health, quality of life, and ability to function. The case of Anna is an excellent example of such a systematic destruction of self, done to survive the extreme pressure from childhood abuse and sexual abuse. The case study shows that the damage done to us by traumatic events is not on our body or soul, but rather our philosophy of life. The important consequence is that we can heal our existence by letting go of the negative decisions taken in the past painful and traumatic situations. By letting go of the life-denying sentences, we come back to life and take responsibility for our own life and existence. The healing of Annas existence was done by existential holistic therapy. Although the processing did not always run smoothly, as she projected very charged material on the therapists on several occasions, the process resulted in full health and a good quality of life due to her own will to recover and heal completely. The case illustrates the inner logic and complexity of intensive holistic therapy at the most difficult moment, where only a combination of intensive medical, psychiatric, and sexological treatment could set her free. In the paper, we also present a meta-perspective on intensive holistic therapy and its most characteristic phases

Value priorities and their relations with quality of life in the Baby Boomer generation of Lithuanian nurses: a cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The understanding of the values of nurses is especially important, since nurses constitute 80% of workforce in the healthcare system in Lithuania. In addition to that, nursing is one of the major constituents of healthcare. The aim of this study was to determine what values predominate in the cohort of Baby Boomer nurses, and to evaluate the relation of these values with quality of life using M. Rokeach's terminal and instrumental values scale. M.Rokeach distinguished terminal values (such as world peace, wisdom, and happiness), which are preferred end-states of existence, and instrumental values (such as responsibility and cooperation), which are preferred modes of conduct.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a representative anonymous questionnaire-based inquiry of nurses working in regional hospitals of Lithuania. The nurses who participated in the study were distributed into four work cohorts: the Veterans, the Baby Boomers, the Generation Xers, and the Generation Nexters. The majority of the nurses belonged to the Baby Boomers and the Generation Xers cohorts. Since in Lithuania, like in the whole Europe, the representatives of the Baby Boomers generation are predominating among working people, we selected this cohort (N = 387) for the analysis. The survey data was processed using the SPSS statistical software package</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The main values in life were family security, tranquility, and a sense of accomplishment. However, such values as true friendship, equality, and pleasurable and leisured life were seen as rather insignificant. The most important instrumental values were honesty, skillfulness, and responsibility. Our study showed a statistically significant (albeit weak) correlation between the QOL and terminal values such as the sense of accomplishment, tranquility, equality, and pleasure, as well as the instrumental value – obedience. We detected a statistically significant relationship between good QOL and satisfaction with oneself, relationships with the surrounding people, and friends' support.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings of our study showed that, although Lithuania was under a totalitarian regime for 50 years, both the terminal and the instrumental values of the Baby Boomers generation are very similar to those of the same generation in other countries.</p

Pregnant women with bronchial asthma benefit from progressive muscle relaxation: A randomized, prospective, controlled trial

Background: Asthma is a serious medical problem in pregnancy and is often associated with stress, anger and poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on change in blood pressure, lung parameters, heart rate, anger and health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Methods: We treated a sample of 64 pregnant women with bronchial asthma from the local population in an 8-week randomized, prospective, controlled trial. Thirty-two were selected for PMR, and 32 received a placebo intervention. The systolic blood pressure, forced expiratory volume in the first second, peak expiratory flow and heart rate were tested, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and Health Survey (SF-36) were employed. Results: According to the intend-to-treat principle, a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and a significant increase in both forced expiratory volume in the first second and peak expiratory flow were observed after PMR. The heart rate showed a significant increase in the coefficient of variation, root mean square of successive differences and high frequency ranges, in addition to a significant reduction in low and middle frequency ranges. A significant reduction on three of five State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory scales, and a significant increase on seven of eight SF-36 scales were observed. Conclusions: PMR appears to be an effective method to improve blood pressure, lung parameters and heart rate, and to decrease anger levels, thus enhancing health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Impact of Poor Quality of Life on Adolescents in Rural Kentucky: A Brief Report

In many rural areas in Kentucky, adolescents lack the basic assets for a good quality of life, such as having caring adults, a safe place and useful activities after school. Methods: Analysis of data from middle and high school students referred to a comprehensive school based health promotion center (SBHPC). Results: From august 2006 to February 2008, a total of 382 students (200 female, 182 male, aged 12-18 years) were referred to the SBHPC for help. Only two (0.5%) students had two parents living with them and 12 (3.1%) had safe, organized after school activities. 19.9% of the total were suicidal, 27.2% used drugs, 44% smoked, 26.7% used alcohol, 45% were depressed, 29.3% had conduct problems, 37.4% had school problems, 43% were overweight, 50% lacked safety procedures (seat belts, access to guns) and 17.5% had other mental health problems. Conclusions: Poor quality of life is a major factor leading to negative outcomes in rural adolescents

Impact of Poor Quality of Life on Adolescents in Rural Kentucky: A Brief Report

In many rural areas in Kentucky, adolescents lack the basic assets for a good quality of life, such as having caring adults, a safe place and useful activities after school. Methods: Analysis of data from middle and high school students referred to a comprehensive school based health promotion center (SBHPC). Results: From august 2006 to February 2008, a total of 382 students (200 female, 182 male, aged 12-18 years) were referred to the SBHPC for help. Only two (0.5%) students had two parents living with them and 12 (3.1%) had safe, organized after school activities. 19.9% of the total were suicidal, 27.2% used drugs, 44% smoked, 26.7% used alcohol, 45% were depressed, 29.3% had conduct problems, 37.4% had school problems, 43% were overweight, 50% lacked safety procedures (seat belts, access to guns) and 17.5% had other mental health problems. Conclusions: Poor quality of life is a major factor leading to negative outcomes in rural adolescents

Quality of Life and Adolescents in Rural Kentucky

In many rural areas in Kentucky, adolescents lack the basic assets for a good quality of life, such as having caring adults, a safe place and useful activities after school. In this chapter we analyze data from middle and high school students referred to a comprehensive school based health promotion center (SBHPC). From August 2006 to February 2008, a total of 382 students (200 female, 182 male, aged 12-18 years) were referred to the SBHPC for help. Only two (0.5%) students had two parents living with them and 12 (3.1 %) had safe, organized after school activities. 19.9% of the total were suicidal, 27.2% used drugs, 44% smoked, 26.7% used alcohol, 45% were depressed, 29.3% had conduct problems, 37.4% had school problems, 43% were overweight, 50% lacked safety procedures (seat belts, access to guns) and 17.5% had other mental health problems. Conclusions: Poor quality of life is a major factor leading to negative outcomes in rural adolescents