Do those over 80 years of age seek more or less medical help? A qualitative study of health and illness beliefs and behaviour of the oldest old

Increasing longevity and prevalence of long-term conditions contribute to older adults being the greatest users of health services. However, relatively little is known about the health and illness beliefs of the oldest old or how they decide to seek help in response to symptoms. Through analysis of in-depth interviews with day centre attendees aged 80-93, we find that a moral, hierarchical approach to health problems and help-seeking exists; similar to Cornwell's. findings among 50-60 year-olds of a similar social group 30 years ago. However, when acting independently, those in their eighties and nineties report modifying their health and illness beliefs and behaviour, in response to their own perceived old age. Some health problems are 'demedicalised', being increasingly attributed to age and by being self-managed. Others are perceived as potentially more serious, leading to increased consultation with medical services. When obliged to act outside their moral belief-behaviour framework by others, the participants expressed feelings of disempowerment, yet resisted modifying their moral beliefs. This may represent resistance to adopt the 'sick role', while seeking to maintain control over uncertain health as functional dependence and frailty increases. This study furthers theoretical understanding of the health and illness beliefs and behaviour of the oldest old, with important practical implications

Amnesia and Pain Relief after Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in a Cancer Pain Patient: A Case Report

The mechanism of chronic pain is very complicated. Memory, pain, and opioid dependence appear to share common mechanism, including synaptic plasticity, and anatomical structures. A 48-yr-old woman with severe pain caused by bone metastasis of breast cancer received epidural block. After local anesthetics were injected, she had a seizure and then went into cardiac arrest. Following cardiopulmonary resuscitation, her cardiac rhythm returned to normal, but her memory had disappeared. Also, her excruciating pain and opioid dependence had disappeared. This complication, although uncommon, gives us a lot to think about a role of memory for chronic pain and opioid dependence

A role for the CAMKK pathway in visual object recognition memory

The role of the CAMKK pathway in object recognition memory was investigated. Rats’ performance in a preferential object recognition test was examined after local infusion into the perirhinal cortex of the CAMKK inhibitor STO-609. STO-609 infused either before or immediately after acquisition impaired memory tested after a 24h but not a 20min delay. Memory was not impaired when STO-609 was infused 20min after acquisition. The expression of two downstream reaction products of CAMKK was measured by immunohistochemical staining for phospho-CAMKIThr177 and phospho-CAMKIVThr196 at 10, 40, 70 and 100 min following the viewing of novel and familiar images of objects. Processing familiar images resulted in more pCAMKI stained neurons in the perirhinal cortex than processing novel images at the 10min and 40min delays. Perirhinal neuronal counts for pCAMKIV were lower than for pCAMKI and no differential effects of processing novel and familiar images were found for pCAMKIV. Prior infusion of STO-609 caused a reduction in pCAMKI stained neurons in response to viewing either novel or familiar images, consistent with its role as an inhibitor of CAMKK. The results establish that the CAMKK pathway within the perirhinal cortex is important for the consolidation of object recognition memory. The immunohistochemical imaging for pCAMKI indicated that CAMKI might be involved in reconsolidation mechanisms for familiar stimuli in addition to consolidation mechanisms for novel stimuli. The activation of pCAMKI after acquisition is earlier than previously reported for pCAMKII. In contrast to CAMKI and CAMKII, CAMKIV appears to be unimportant for perirhinal recognition memory processes

The sociology of pharmaceuticals: progress and prospects

This paper takes a critical look at progress and prospects regarding the sociology of pharmaceuticals over the years. Key themes examined include: (i) medicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation; (ii) regulation; (iii) consumption and consumerism; (iv) expectations and innovation. Papers in the monograph are also introduced and discussed in relation to these themes. The paper concludes with some further comments and reflections on progress and prospects in this field, emphasising the continuing importance of sociological engagement with these personal and political issues in the 21st century

Arousal modulation of memory and amygdala‐parahippocampal connectivity: A PET‐psychophysiology study in specific phobia

Phobic fear is accompanied by intense bodily responses modulated by the amygdala. An amygdala moderated psychophysiological measure related to arousal is electrodermal activity. We evaluated the contributions of electrodermal activity to amygdala‐parahippocampal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during phobic memory encoding in subjects with spider or snake phobia. Recognition memory was increased for phobia‐related slides and covaried with rCBF in the amygdala and the parahippocampal gyrus. The covariation between parahippocampal rCBF and recognition was related to electrodermal activity suggesting that parahippocampal memory processes were associated with sympathetic activity. Electrodermal activity further mediated the amygdala effect on parahippocampal activity. Memory encoding during phobic fear therefore seems contingent on amygdala's influence on arousal and parahippocampal activity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86974/1/j.1469-8986.2011.01231.x.pd