Stress-related Variables Research Articles

Stress regulation in drug-resistant epilepsy.

The prevalence of psychological distress, especially depressive and anxiety disorders, is higher in epilepsy than in other chronic health conditions. These comorbid conditions contribute even more than epileptic seizures themselves to impaired quality of life in patients with epilepsy (PWE). The link between these comorbidities and epilepsy appears to have a neurobiological basis, which is at least partly mediated by stress through psychological and pathophysiological pathways. The impact of stress in PWE is also particularly important because it is the most frequently reported seizure trigger. It is therefore crucial for clinicians to take stress-related conditions and psychiatric comorbidities into account when managing PWE and to propose clinical support to enhance self-control of stress. Screening tools have been specially designed and validated in PWE for depressive disorders and anxiety disorders (e.g. NDDI-E, GAD-7). Other instruments are useful for measuring stress-related variables (e.g. SRRS, PSS, SCS, MHLCS, DSR-15, ERP-R, QOLIE-31) in order to help characterize the individual "stress profile" and thus orientate patients towards the most appropriate treatment. Management includes both pharmacological treatment and nonpharmacological methods for enhancing self-management of stress (e.g. mindfulness-based therapies, yoga, cognitive-behavioral therapies, biofeedback), which may not only protect against psychiatric comorbidities but also reduce seizure frequency.

A preliminary study to assess the impact of maternal age on stress-related variables in healthy nulliparous women

PurposeChildbearing age has progressively increased in industrialized countries. The impact of this delay on motherhood, however, requires further research. MethodsThe study sample included a prospective cohort of healthy nulliparous pregnant women aged between 18 and 40 years (n=148) assessed at 38 weeks gestation (Time#1, T1), 48h after birth (Time#2, T2), and 3 months after birth (Time#3, T3). The effect of age on psychological, biological, and social variables was evaluated. Maternal psychological symptoms in terms of depression and anxiety were assessed at T1–T3; and parenting stress at T3. Stress biomarkers (cortisol, α-amylase) were determined in mothers at T1–T3. Questionnaires addressing social functioning (i.e., family functioning, maternal attitudes, and social support) were conducted at T3. Bayesian additive models were used to analyze the data. ResultsDepressive symptoms showed a steep increase starting from 35 years of age at T1 and an U-shaped relationship with a minimum around 30 years old at T3. The same results were observed for parenting stress. Cortisol levels increased sharply from 30 years of age at T3. Family functioning, maternal attitudes, and social support improved moderately from 30 years of age. ConclusionsPrenatal depressive symptoms were higher in older women, but postpartum depressive symptoms and parenting stress increased in both younger and older women. Nevertheless, cortisol levels just increased in older ages at postpartum. In contrast, social functioning (family functioning, maternal attitudes, and social support) improved with age. We conclude that these social advantages may compensate for other disadvantages of delayed childbearing (i.e., depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and high cortisol level).

Desplazamiento activo al colegio, salud positiva y estrés en niños españoles.

<p>La promoción de actividad física diaria en los jóvenes tal como el desplazamiento activo al colegio (usar medios de transporte activos tales como andar o bicicleta), puede tener importantes beneficios para la salud. El objetivo fue analizar la asociación entre el desplazamiento activo al colegio y variables de salud positiva y estrés en niños españoles. Participaron 366 niños (172 niñas) procedentes de cuatro colegios, entre los 7 y los 11 años de edad (media±DT 9,3±0,8<strong> </strong>años). Se utilizó un cuestionario semanal sobre el modo de desplazamiento al colegio que ha sido previamente sugerido en la literatura científica denominado <em>Modo y frecuencia de desplazamiento hacia y desde el colegio</em>. La felicidad subjetiva,<em> </em>el estado de bienestar subjetivo de tipo cognitivo y afectivo, el optimismo disposicional y el estrés se evaluaron con los cuestionarios de versión en castellano de <em>Subjective Happiness Scale,</em> <em>Satisfaction with Life Scale </em>y<em> Positive and Negative Affect Schedule </em>respectivamente. El desplazamiento activo al colegio se asocia de forma inversa con el estrés (ß =-0,235±0,079, <em>p</em>=,004) ajustando por sexo, edad y nivel de estudios de la madre. Los niños que se desplazan con mayor frecuencia de forma activa al colegio tienen un menor nivel de estrés. Son necesarias medidas que fomenten el desplazarse de forma activa al colegio, por los beneficios positivos que tiene sobre la salud física y emocional, vislumbrándose como una posibilidad de encauzar adecuadamente el estrés en los niños españoles.</p>

Oxidative stress, plasma/salivary antioxidant status detection and health risk factors

Background: Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of several diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, cancer, neurodegeneration.Aims and Objectives: Our study evaluated the oxidant/antioxidant status on a cohort of healthy patients matched with some independent variables as a basic individual redox balance monitor on a disease-prevention perspective.Materials and Methods: The anecdotic, retrospective and observational study included 200 apparently healthy volunteers after formal informed consent release whose personal history and physical examination had been recorded specifically on the following items: age, previous diseases, sport activities, smoking habit, balanced/unbalanced nutrition, current absence/presence of inflammatory processes, oral health hygiene, administration of oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women. No drug treatment was admitted in the recruited patients, up to 6 months before the evaluation. The laboratory instruments used were Point of care FRAS 4 Evolvo (H&D, Parma, Italy) measuring the oxidative stress in plasma samples and antioxidant capacity in plasma and saliva samples.Results: Two-hundred patients were recruited. Statistically relevant differences were observed in oxidative stress-related variables, namely a significant relationship between plasma oxidative stress level and female gender (p<0.01), between saliva antioxidant level and age (p=0.01), between plasma antioxidant level and unbalanced diet (p<0.01), between plasma oxidative stress level and inflammation in the oral cavity (p=0.04), and between saliva antioxidant level and inflammation in the oral cavity (p<0.01).Conclusions: A relationship between oxidative/antioxidant status and health risk factors has been outlined in our study; the achieved data are quite helpful, in the clinical practice, providing additional information on individual general health conditions, putatively related to prevention diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment effectiveness in some specific diseases.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(1) 2017 32-41

Effects of 12 Weeks of Yoga Training Program on Stress and Depression Index in Middle-Aged Women

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 12 weeks of yoga training program on stress level, depression level, and stress-related blood variables in middle-aged women. METHODS Twenty-six middle-aged women were volunteered to participate in this study as subjects, and they were randomly assigned to either yoga group (YOGA:13) or control group (CON:13). The subjects in YOGA group undertook the combined program of Hatha yoga for 60 min/session, three times per week for 12 weeks. The subjects in CON group were asked not to change their normal life style during the intervention period. Several variables related to stress level, depression level and as well as stress-related blood variables were measured and compared between pre test and post test in two groups. RESULTS Main effect of test as well as interaction between group and test were significant in stress level and depression level, and the both levels decreased significantly in YOGA group. Interaction between group and test were significant in cortisol and serotonin, and the cortisol increased significantly in CON group. Chromogranin A tended to be decreased in YOGA group and to be increased in CON group, although the changes failed to reach a statistically significant level. Interaction between group and test were significant in HDL-C, and the HDL-C increased significantly in YOGA group. Surrogate indices for insulin resistance and inflammation markers tended to be decreased more in YOGA group than CON group, although the changes failed to reach a statistically significant level. CONCLUSIONS These finding suggested that 12 weeks of yoga training program of would have positive effect on stress and depression relief. The effect of cortisol and stress hormone decrease and serotonin. 색인어: 요가, ì¤‘ë „ì—¬ì„±, ìŠ¤íŠ¸ë ˆìŠ¤, 우울증 Keywords: Yoga, Middel-age women, Stress, Depression

기업조직 특성에 따른 사무직 근로자의 직무스트레스와 조직효과성 간의 관계

본 연구는 대기업과 중소기업 사무직을 대상으로 직무스트레스 하부 요인과 조직효과성의 관계와 이를 통해 사무직 근로자의 직무스트레스 개선을 위한 관리 전략 수립에 필요한 근거자료를 제공하고자 한다. 조사내용은 개인의 일반적인 특성, 업무관련사항, 직무스트레스와 사회심리적 건강수준 및 조직효과성 평가를 위해 직무만족도, 직무몰입, 이직의도, 프리젠티즘을 포함하였다. 모든 평가 도구의 Cronbach's <TEX>${\alpha}$</TEX>값은 0.640~0.924로 만족할 만한 수준이였다. 자료 수집은 2014년 6월 26일~8월 1일까지 설문지 154부를 배포하였고, 150부를 최종 분석대상으로 하였다. 자료는 SPSS 23.0을 이용하여 카이제곱 검정, t-test, ANOVA, 다중회귀분석을 실시하였다. 대기업 모델에서는 직무스트레스 하부 요인 중 보상부적절이 직무만족도, 직무몰입, 이직의도에 통계적으로 유의한 관련성을 보였다(p<0.05). 중소기업 모델에서는 조직체계 요인이 직무만족도, 직무몰입에 유의한 관련성을 보였으며, 특히 이직의도는 직무스트레스 하부 요인 중 조직체계, 보상부적절, 조직문화와 밀접한 관련성을 보였다(p<0.05). 사회심리적 스트레스는 대기업 모델에서는 조직효과성과 유의한 관련성을 보이지 않았으나, 중소기업 모델에서는 프리젠티즘과 유의한 관련성을 보였다. 직무스트레스와 조직효과성의 관계는 조직특성에 따라 달라지므로, 직무스트레스 관리 계획 수립 시 해당 조직에 필요한 스트레스 관리 영역을 확인할 필요성을 제시했다는 측면에서 본 연구의 의의가 있다. The purpose of this study was to provide the evidence necessary to establish job stress management strategies to improve office workers conditions by looking at the impact on job stress factors depending on the nature of the organization. The stress related variables (job stress and psychological well-being) and organizational effectiveness variables (job satisfaction, job engagement, intention to leave, and presentieesm) was included. A total of 154 questionnaires were distributed from 26th June to 1 August 2014 and 150 people were analyzed. The results indicated that a lack of reward was negatively correlated with job satisfaction and job engagement, and positively correlated with the intention to leave (p<0.05) in a large-sized company model. Moreover, in a medium-sized company model, organizational injustice was statistically significant with job satisfaction and job engagement. Organizational injustice, lack of reward, and occupational climate was positively correlated with the intention to leave (p<0.05). This study has its significance in that it looked at the job stress as a predictive variable to explain the organizational effectiveness and highlights the need to establish a stress management strategy depending on the nature of the company.

Viewing Geometry Sensitivity of Commonly Used Vegetation Indices towards the Estimation of Biophysical Variables in Orchards

Stress-related biophysical variables of capital intensive orchard crops can be estimated with proxies via spectral vegetation indices from off-nadir viewing satellite imagery. However, variable viewing compositions affect the relationship between spectral vegetation indices and stress-related variables (i.e., chlorophyll content, water content and Leaf Area Index (LAI)) and could obstruct change detection. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the estimation of biophysical variables via vegetation indices for a wide range of viewing geometries. Subsequently, off-nadir viewing satellite imagery of an experimental orchard was analyzed, while all influences of background admixture were minimized through vegetation index normalization. Results indicated significant differences between nadir and off-nadir viewing scenes (∆R2 &gt; 0.4). The Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI), Normalized Difference Infrared Index (NDII) and Simple Ratio Pigment Index (SRPI) showed increased R2 values for off-nadir scenes taken perpendicular compared to parallel to row orientation. Other indices, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Gitelson and Merzlyak (GM) and Structure Insensitive Pigment Index (SIPI), showed a significant decrease in R2 values from nadir to off-nadir viewing scenes. These results show the necessity of vegetation index selection for variable viewing applications to obtain an optimal derivation of biophysical variables in all circumstances.

Comparative Analysis of Cardiovascular Function, Mental Health, Stress-related Variables According to Body Mass Index and Percent Body Fat in 20s Females

The primary purpose of the study was to compare cardiovascular function, mental health indices, stress-related variables according to body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (%BF) in 20s females. Sixty-eight women, aged 20-29 yrs, participated in the study as subjects. There were three groups, i.e., normal group (BMI 26 kg·m and 28%<%BF<40%; n=24). Cardiovascular function, mental health indices, stress-related blood variables were measured and compared among three groups. Main results of the present study were as follows: 1) SBP, DBP, mean arterial pressure, and RPP were significantly higher in obese group than normal group. 2) There were no significant differences in mental health indices among three groups. 3) Fasting plasma insulin, fasting plasma glucose, and CRP were significantly higher in obese group than normal weight obese group and normal group. It was concluded that there would be abnormal cardiovascular function, insulin resistance, and inflammation in general obese individuals in 20s females, not normal weight obese and normal individuals.

A 36-month follow-up prospective cohort study on peri-implant bone loss of Morse Taper connection implants with platform switching.

A prospective cohort study was designed to measure marginal bone level changes at 36-month follow-up and to evaluate the influence of biologically relevant, anatomic and stress-related variables. STROBE guidelines were followed. Totally, 748 implants were inserted into 350 patients. Standardized periapical radiographs were taken at 2- (stage-two surgery), 12-, 24-, and 36-month follow-ups. Descriptive statistics were used and inter- and intra-examiner reliability were determined. A mixed-model was used to evaluate predictor variables. Statistical analysis was performed at implant level (statistical significance: P < 0.05). A total of 34 (4.5%) implants failed; of the 34 implants, 6 were early failures (0.8%) and 28 were late failures (3.7%). A total of 576 implants reached 36-month follow-up (mean follow-up: 25.58 months; SD: 10.32). Mean marginal bone remodeling was -0.56 mm. (SD: 1.30; range: -6.80 ± 3.65). A statistically significant, higher marginal bone loss was found for subcrestal implants and subcrestal implants inserted into the maxilla, for implants inserted into patients aged over 50 years, and for early-delayed implants inserted into patients aged over 50 years. In conclusion, a low, mean crestal bone loss at 36-month follow-up was recorded but implant positioning in the apico-occlusal dimension was found to be the most significant variable that influenced bone loss. (J Oral Sci 58, 49-57, 2016).

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF COURT-TYPE TRADITIONAL THAI MASSAGE ON PRESSURE PAIN THRESHOLD AND PAIN INTENSITY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC TENSION-TYPE HEADACH

This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of the court-type traditional Thai massage (CTTM) on pressure pain threshold and pain intensity to treat patients suffering from chronic tension-type headaches (CTTHs) comparing with amitriptyline taking. A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Sixty patients diagnosed with CTTH were evenly divided into the treatment and control group. The treatment group received a 45-minute course of court-type traditional Thai massage the control group was prescribed to take 25 mg of amitriptyline once a day before bedtime lasted. The results were evaluated in short-term day 1 after intervention, The measurement consisted of Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Tissue hardness and pressure pain threshold (PPT). The results demonstrated that there was a significant decrease in pain intensity for the CTTM group at different assessment while a significant difference occurred between-group comparison (P<0.05). Moreover, the PPT of the CTTM group was significantly increased (P<0.05). It can therefore be concluded from the findings that CTTM seems to be an effective therapy for stress-related variables and increased the PPT as well as reducing pain intensity for the CTTHs.

Stigma and Mental Health Challenges in Medical Students

Historically, a stigma was a scar on the skin of ancient Greek criminals. It was a sign to all that these people were unsafe, unclean and unwanted. Stigma still persists today in the attitudes towards those who have mental health challenges. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the medical profession. Indeed, the 2008 Stigma Shout Survey of almost 4000 people using mental health services and carers revealed that healthcare professionals were a common source of stigma reported by people with mental illness. A recent study identified stigma to be a barrier to the use of mental health services by 30 % of medical students experiencing depression. There is a growing perception that science alone provides overall insufficient foundation for the holistic understanding of the interaction between health, illness and disease. The health humanities has emerged as a distinct entity in attempts to ameliorate the limitations in the provision of healthcare services and can broadly be described as the application of literature and art to medicine. Autobiographical narrative is gaining popularity among medical students with mental health challenges both as a means to campaign against stigma and as an effective form of adjunctive therapy. Indeed, a recent randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of Coming Out Proud with mental health challenges revealed immediate positive effects on stigma stress related variables. We herein provide a candid and courageous narrative from a British medical student who has first-hand experience of a psychotic episode in the context of a severe depressive illness.

The Effect of Urban Tree Canopy Cover and Vegetation Levels on Incidence of Stress-related Illnesses in Humans in Metropolitan Statistical Areas of Texas

One-third of Americans are reportedly living with extreme stress, with 75% to 90% of visits to primary care physicians being for stress-related problems. Past research found visiting green areas lowers blood pressure, reduces headache and fatigue, improves mood, and hastens recovery from stress. The main objective for this study was to determine if stress-related illness rates in regions of Texas were related to vegetation rates and tree canopy cover. Data on the stress-related illnesses of high blood pressure and heart attacks were collected from the Center for Health Statistics and the Texas Department of State Health Services for all 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in Texas. MSAs are counties or group of counties with a central city or urbanized area of at least 50,000 people. Percent canopy cover was calculated for each MSA using the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics National Land Cover Data canopy cover dataset. Vegetation rates for all the MSAs were examined and mapped for illustration using geographical information system (GIS) software. Visual relationships among the data were observed. Quantitative data were also analyzed. When mapping stress-related illness rate into MSA regions of Texas, no clear trend was observed with vegetation rates or percent tree canopy cover when compared with stress-related illness rates. Semipartial correlations were calculated to analyze the relationship between tree canopy cover and vegetation rate and stress-related illness rate variables after controlling the effect of external variables like income levels, age, population, and ethnicity. There was no significant positive or negative relationship found between stress-related illness data when compared with percent canopy and vegetation index for any the 25 MSAs of Texas.

Stress-related risk factors for depression in young girls

The prevalence of major depression in adolescents is remarkable. Stress has been hypothesised to contribute to the maintenance of depression in young patients. This study aims to elucidate stress-related predictive variables for the maintenance of depression in young girls. A longitudinal design with a time interval of six months was used to assess stress load and depression in 135 15-year-old girls. Stress was measured by the "Fragebogen zur Erhebung von Stress und Stressbewältigung im Kindes- und Jugendalter" and the cortisol awakening response as a biological indicator for hyperactivity of the HPA axis. Depression was quantified by the "Depressionsinventar für Kinder und Jugendliche". The data were analysed by multiple linear regression. When adjusting for initial depression, psychological stress load, physical stress symptoms, and stress vulnerability proved to be predictive for depression, whereas chronic stress neither at the psychological level nor as indicated by the cortisol awakening response had statistically significant effects. The results show the stability of depression in adolescent girls, but also prove an additional influence of acute stress variables.

Early life stress and macaque amygdala hypertrophy: preliminary evidence for a role for the serotonin transporter gene.

Background: Children exposed to early life stress (ELS) exhibit enlarged amygdala volume in comparison to controls. The primary goal of this study was to examine amygdala volumes in bonnet macaques subjected to maternal variable foraging demand (VFD) rearing, a well-established model of ELS. Preliminary analyses examined the interaction of ELS and the serotonin transporter gene on amygdala volume. Secondary analyses were conducted to examine the association between amygdala volume and other stress-related variables previously found to distinguish VFD and non-VFD reared animals.Methods: Twelve VFD-reared and nine normally reared monkeys completed MRI scans on a 3T system (mean age = 5.2 years).Results: Left amygdala volume was larger in VFD vs. control macaques. Larger amygdala volume was associated with: “high” cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of corticotropin releasing-factor (CRF) determined when the animals were in adolescence (mean age = 2.7 years); reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) of the anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC) during young adulthood (mean age = 5.2 years) and timid anxiety-like responses to an intruder during full adulthood (mean age = 8.4 years). Right amygdala volume varied inversely with left hippocampal neurogenesis assessed in late adulthood (mean age = 8.7 years). Exploratory analyses also showed a gene-by-environment effect, with VFD-reared macaques with a single short allele of the serotonin transporter gene exhibiting larger amygdala volume compared to VFD-reared subjects with only the long allele and normally reared controls.Conclusion: These data suggest that the left amygdala exhibits hypertrophy after ELS, particularly in association with the serotonin transporter gene, and that amygdala volume variation occurs in concert with other key stress-related behavioral and neurobiological parameters observed across the lifecycle. Future research is required to understand the mechanisms underlying these diverse and persistent changes associated with ELS and amygdala volume.

Efficacy of the Virtual Reality-Based Stress Management Program on Stress-Related Variables in People With Mood Disorders: The Feasibility Study

This study aimed to investigate the effect of a VR-based stress management program on people with mood disorders. A quasi-experimental study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Singapore, and a convenience sample of 22 was recruited. The program comprised three daily 1-hour sessions incorporating psychoeducation and VR-based relaxation practice. Participants who completed the program had significantly lowered subjective stress (t=6.91, p<0.001), depression (t=5.62, p<0.001), and anxiety (t=5.54, p<0.001); and increased skin temperature (F=17.71, p<0.001), perceived relaxation (F=26.20, p<0.001) and knowledge (F=13.77, p<0.001). Participants' feedback on the program was positive. Findings from this study contribute to improving clinical practice and serve as preliminary data to conduct more rigorous research in the future.

Efficacy of Relaxation Intervention on Pain, Self-Efficacy, and Stress-Related Variables in Patients Following Total Knee Replacement Surgery

Following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, patients frequently experience intense levels of pain, stress, and anxiety that may reduce their self-efficacy and thus affect their postoperative recovery. Relaxation intervention is beneficial to help patients manage physical pain and emotional tension. However, evidence for the efficacy of relaxation intervention on patients following TKR is still inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate whether a relaxation intervention helped to reduce pain, stress, and anxiety, and whether it helped to increase perceived relaxation and self-efficacy in patients following TKR. A single-group, pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was carried out at a tertiary hospital in Singapore. A convenience sampling of 18 participants was recruited. Patients received three-session, individual-based relaxation interventions comprised of breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, and guided imagery. Data were collected by self-reported questionnaires and physiologic measures and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t test, and repeated measure analysis of variance. Intent-to-treat analyses were used to deal with missing data. Following the intervention, participants reported significantly lower pain, stress, and anxiety and greater perceived relaxation and self-efficacy. Findings from this study contribute to both nursing science and clinical practice. The relaxation intervention can be offered as part of standard care for patients following TKR in hospitals.

Efficacy of Coming Out Proud to reduce stigma's impact among people with mental illness: pilot randomised controlled trial

Facing frequent stigma and discrimination, many people with mental illness have to choose between secrecy and disclosure in different settings. Coming Out Proud (COP), a 3-week peer-led group intervention, offers support in this domain in order to reduce stigma's negative impact. To examine COP's efficacy to reduce negative stigma-related outcomes and to promote adaptive coping styles (Current Controlled Trials number: ISRCTN43516734). In a pilot randomised controlled trial, 100 participants with mental illness were assigned to COP or a treatment-as-usual control condition. Outcomes included self-stigma, empowerment, stigma stress, secrecy and perceived benefits of disclosure. Intention-to-treat analyses found no effect of COP on self-stigma or empowerment, but positive effects on stigma stress, disclosure-related distress, secrecy and perceived benefits of disclosure. Some effects diminished during the 3-week follow-up period. Coming Out Proud has immediate positive effects on disclosure- and stigma stress-related variables and may thus alleviate stigma's negative impact.

Relationship between stress-related exsanguination blood variables, vocalisation, and stressors imposed on cattle between lairage and stunning box under conventional abattoir conditions

Physiological and behavioural reactions of cattle to handling procedures in a commercial abattoir (electrical prodding actions and duration of the animals׳ stay in the stunning box) were evaluated and set in relation to sex, breed type, and carcass weight. A total of 192 cattle comprised of 45 bulls, 61 steers, and 86 heifers from different breed types (30 dairy breed, 70 beef breed, and 92 crossbreds) were observed from lairage to slaughter during one day. The frequency of electrical proddings and the waiting time in the stunning box was recorded for each individual. As a measure of a behavioural stress response, the number of vocalising animals was recorded. Exsanguination blood serum samples were analysed for cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations. Forty-nine animals received no electrical prods; 117 animals were prodded one to three times, and 24 animals received between 4 and 9 prods. Thirteen per cent of all animals were recorded as vocalisers. There was a trend (P=0.07) that heifers vocalised more than bulls and steers. Mean levels per ml of blood were 77.2ng cortisol (SE=68.8), 5.7μmol glucose (SE=1.3), and 6.7μmol lactate (SE=3.3). Cortisol concentrations were lower in bulls than in steers and in heifers (P<0.01), and concentrations above 90ng/ml were measured in 21.3% of the steers and 27.8% of the heifers, but not in the bulls. Lactate and glucose concentrations were not influenced by sex. Breed type had no influence on any of the stress-indicating traits. Prodding categories were not related with concentrations of the blood variables and the number of vocalising animals. A longer stay in the stunning box led to increased cortisol concentrations (P<0.05), but had no influence on lactate and glucose concentrations or on the number of vocalising animals. In conclusion, stress levels were relatively high in the present case, but it was not possible to relate the stress indicators unequivocally to the potential factors of influence investigated.

The psychoneuroimmunological effects of music: A systematic review and a new model

There has been a growing interest over the past decade into the health benefits of music, in particular examining its psychological and neurological effects. Yet this is the first attempt to systematically review publications on the psychoneuroimmunology of music. Of the selected sixty-three studies published over the past 22 years, a range of effects of music on neurotransmitters, hormones, cytokines, lymphocytes, vital signs and immunoglobulins as well as psychological assessments are cataloged. Research so far points to the pivotal role of stress pathways in linking music to an immune response. However, several challenges to this research are noted: (1) there is very little discussion on the possible mechanisms by which music is achieving its neurological and immunological impact; (2) the studies tend to examine biomarkers in isolation, without taking into consideration the interaction of the biomarkers in question with other physiological or metabolic activities of the body, leading to an unclear understanding of the impact that music may be having; (3) terms are not being defined clearly enough, such as distinctions not being made between different kinds of stress and 'music' being used to encompass a broad spectrum of activities without determining which aspects of musical engagement are responsible for alterations in biomarkers. In light of this, a new model is presented which provides a framework for developing a taxonomy of musical and stress-related variables in research design, and tracing the broad pathways that are involved in its influence on the body.

Does stress affect the joints? Daily stressors, stress vulnerability, immune and HPA axis activity, and short-term disease and symptom fluctuations in rheumatoid arthritis

ObjectivesBoth stressors and stress vulnerability factors together with immune and hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity components have been considered to contribute to disease fluctuations of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid...