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Biomedical subjects

M Olson

Publications and source records attributed to M Olson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Stress-induced immunosuppression and therapeutic touch.

OBJECTIVE: The specific aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in reducing the adverse immunological effects of stress in a sample of highly stressed students. Long-term goals are to develop methods by which a variety of stress-reduction techniques can be tested for efficacy. DESIGN: Experimental. SETTING: A large urban medical university in a southern coastal city. SUBJECTS: Healthy medical and nursing students who are taking professional board examinations. INTERVENTION: Therapeutic touch. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: T-lymphocyte function (CD25) and immunoglobulin levels. RESULTS: Subjects who received therapeutic touch and subjects who did not had significantly different levels of IgA and IgM; CD25 (mitogen-stimulated T-lymphocyte function) and IgG levels differed in the expected direction between the two groups, but the differences were not statistically significant. Apoptosis (programmed cell death) was significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The small sample size requires cautious interpretation of the results. This is a pilot study designed to provide evidence to show that further study of therapeutic touch as an intervention that may be useful in reducing the adverse immunologic consequences of anxiety related to stress in otherwise healthy students is warranted. Change in immune function related to anxiety and the relief of anxiety can be measured. Subsequent power analysis suggests sample sizes of 90 subjects per group are required to confirm the conclusions.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Limited efficacy of preoperative computed tomographic scanning for the evaluation of lymph node metastasis in patients before radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of preoperative computed tomographic (CT) scanning in patients with presumed localized prostatectomy prior to radical retropubic prostatectomy. METHODS: A retrospective study of 173 consecutive patients believed to be candidates for radical retropubic prostatectomy who underwent preoperative CT scanning regardless of preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value, clinical stage, or Gleason grade was undertaken. All patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy with bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection or aspiration needle biopsy of abnormal nodes on CT scanning. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-five of 173 patients (95.4%) were believed to have normal CT scans preoperatively. Of these 165 patients, 156 (94.5%) were found to have negative lymph nodes confirmed histologically at the time of lymphadenectomy. Nine patients (5.5%) were found to have lymph node metastases confirmed histologically, despite a negative CT scan. Computed tomographic scanning understaged 9 of 12 (75%) patients with proven metastases. Incidental abdominal pathology of clinical significance was documented in 4 patients (2.3%), including 2 with renal cell cancers, 1 with colon cancer, and 1 with a large (8 cm) abdominal aortic aneurysm. Prostate-specific antigen levels in patients with metastatic lymph nodes ranged from 0.7 to 130 ng/mL (Hybritech Tandem assay), with a mean level of 42 ng/mL. Although 9 of 33 patients (27.3%) with PSA levels greater than 25 ng/mL had node metastases, only 3 of these 33 patients (9.1%) were correctly diagnosed by CT scanning. CONCLUSIONS: Although additional numbers of patients with high PSA levels need to be evaluated, we could not find any justification for routine preoperative CT scanning in patients with a PSA of less than 25 ng/mL. These results suggest that significant savings can be realized by abandoning the practice of routine CT scanning for lymph node metastasis in all patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

Dietary satisfaction correlated with adherence in the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study.

OBJECTIVE: To measure satisfaction with modified protein eating patterns and the relationship of satisfaction to adherence and sociodemographic factors in a clinical trial. DESIGN: Participants completed the Dietary Satisfaction Questionnaire at baseline, at 6-month follow-up visits, at annual visits, and at the final visit. Satisfaction with diet was rated on a visual analog scale from 1 (dislike extremely) to 5 (like very much). Adherence to protein goals was assessed using urine urea nitrogen excretion from monthly 24-hour urine samples. SUBJECTS: 840 adults with chronic renal disease. INTERVENTION: Individual participants, randomly assigned to a usual-protein, low-protein, or very-low-protein group, received monthly counseling from a dietitian for an average of 26 months. STATISTICS: Analyses of variance and two-sample t tests compared, among study/diet groups, satisfaction with diet, its relationship to adherence and sociodemographic characteristics, and changes in satisfaction over time. Paired t tests compared changes within diet groups from baseline to final visit. RESULTS: From the baseline visit to the final visit, satisfaction with the prescribed eating pattern increased slightly in the usual-protein group, declined slightly in the low-protein group, and declined significantly in the very-low-protein group. Participants in all of the eating pattern groups who were more satisfied at the final visit had mean protein intakes closer to their assigned protein goals. This relationship was significant in the low-protein group (P < .05). In men, satisfaction with diet declined significantly from baseline to the final follow-up visit in the very-low-protein group. APPLICATIONS: The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Dietary Satisfaction Questionnaire may be useful in other research and clinical settings to assess and enhance dietary adherence.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Antibiotic pharmacokinetics in the inflamed prostate.

We hypothesized that altered pharmacokinetics in the inflamed prostate gland might account for the treatment failure of clinically diagnosed chronic bacterial prostatitis. We employed a rat model of chronic bacterial prostatitis to investigate any pharmacokinetic differences that may exist between uninflamed and inflamed prostate glands. Four groups of animals were studied (treated and untreated control and prostatitis groups). Seven days of norfloxacin therapy cured 60% of the animals with well-established bacterial prostatitis compared with a spontaneous cure rate of 10% in the nontreated prostatitis animals. Norfloxacin levels did not change significantly between the infected and noninfected prostate glands. We conclude that failure of antibiotic therapy in chronic bacterial prostatitis is not due to significantly altered norfloxacin pharmacokinetics in the chronically inflamed prostate gland but rather to the difficulty of eradicating protected bacterial microcolonies within an infection-induced altered microenvironment deep within the prostate gland.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Willingness to perform euthanasia. A survey of physician attitudes.

BACKGROUND: In the United States, few studies have examined important variables in physician attitudes toward the practice of euthanasia, such as the patient's underlying disease, mental capacity, and age, and the physician's specialty and religion. We administered a case-based survey to analyze the impact of such specific variables on physician attitudes toward the practice. METHODS: A four-section survey solicited (1) physician responses to three hypothetical cases in which patients requested euthanasia; (2) physicians' general opinions about euthanasia and how its legalization might affect them personally and professionally; and (3) demographic information. Analysis focused on physicians' characteristics as they related to their responses to the various aspects of euthanasia elicited in the survey. Univariate and multivariate analyses, using logistic regression, were performed. RESULTS: Completed and analyzable surveys were returned by 740 physicians. We found that physicians felt more comfortable with euthanasia requests from nondecisional, nonterminal patients who had left advance directives than they did with requests from decisional patients suffering from grave illnesses or injuries, or from decisional patients who had early signs of a progressive but nonlethal neurologic disease. We also found that physicians' specialties and religions correlated with their responses to the hypothetical cases and with their generalized attitudes toward euthanasia. CONCLUSIONS: Given the disparity in responding physicians' attitudes toward euthanasia, along with the fact that values based on religious affiliation or profession may underlie many physicians' opposition to the practice, we conclude that if euthanasia is to be legalized, safeguards protective of patients and physicians must be incorporated.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Bacterial biofilms: influence on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections.

The bacterial biofilm theory which describes bacterial populations in natural and pathogenic ecological systems in terms of a free-floating or 'planktonic' population of bacteria interacting with a more important matrix enclosed 'sessile' population of bacteria associated with or adherent to a surface, may help explain some of the problems linked to our understanding the nature of urinary tract infections. This paper reviews the role of bacterial biofilm formation in catheter-associated infection, prostatitis and struvite (infected stone) calculogenesis stressing, the importance of bacterial biofilms in the pathogenesis, persistence and hence the treatment of urinary tract infection.

Biofilms↗
PubMed1994

Treatment of ABO hemolytic disease with synthetic blood group trisaccharides.

Thirteen infants, 10 with A-O and 3 with B-O hemolytic disease of the newborn (ABO-HDN), were treated with synthetic A or B blood group trisaccharides (ATS, BTS) which cause dissociation of maternal antibody bound to infant red cells. The clinical outcome was compared with that of a control group of 21 infants treated with phototherapy during the preceding year. Exchange transfusion was required in 2 out of 13 infants in the experimental group and in 7 in the control group. A randomized prospective controlled study is necessary to confirm these results.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1993

Effect of enamel bleaching on the bonding strength of orthodontic brackets.

Various whitening/bleaching systems have been introduced on the market, including an over-the-counter external bleaching material, containing carbamide peroxide. It has been suggested that the process might alter the enamel surface structure in a manner similar to acid etching. Orthodontists are interested in determining whether the process will alter the adhesive characteristics of orthodontic bonding systems. The results of this study indicate that the use of 10% carbamide peroxide did not result in significant changes in the shear debonding strength of orthodontic brackets.

Carbamide Peroxide↗
PubMed1993

Life satisfaction, life review, and near-death experiences in the elderly.

When 145 senior citizens living independently in the community were surveyed for incidence of near-death experiences (NDEs), 46 of the seniors believed they had had a "close call" with death. Twelve of those reported that they had had an unusual experience during their close call and were subsequently interviewed. Their stories were evaluated using research criteria to document sufficient number of characteristics of an NDE for inclusion in research data and if that set of characteristics of the NDE included a life review component. They were also compared to a non-NDE group on the Life Satisfaction Index, to determine if life review in the context of an NDE helped older people feel more satisfied with life. There was no correlation, because surprisingly, although older people do have NDEs at least as often as other groups, the life review does not seem to be a part of it. So the reasons for scores on the LSI-A are not attributable to the life review. Reasons for this finding are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Therapeutic touch and post-Hurricane Hugo stress.

This repeated-session design sought to answer questions about the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in reduction of stress for 23 individuals following a natural disaster. In addition, methodological issues related to the average length of time for a therapeutic-touch treatment and a method of documenting the nonverbal interaction between subject and toucher were investigated. Findings indicate that stressed people report themselves to be less stressed following therapeutic touch (p = .05). Time of therapeutic-touch intervention varied significantly between the touchers, with a range of 6.8 to 20 minutes. Qualitative data examining the interaction of toucher and subject raised a number of questions that require further study.

Adolescent↗