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Biomedical subjects

P McCabe

Publications and source records attributed to P McCabe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Cognitive-behavioral stress management increases free testosterone and decreases psychological distress in HIV-seropositive men.

The effects of a 10-week group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention on psychological distress and plasma free testosterone in symptomatic, HIV-seropositive men were examined. Participants were randomized to either CBSM (n = 42) or a wait-list control group (n = 23). Men in the CBSM intervention showed significant increases in testosterone, whereas control participants showed significant decreases. Those participating in CBSM had significant distress reductions, whereas controls showed no such change. Alterations in free testosterone were inversely related to changes in distress states over time, independent of any changes in cortisol. These findings demonstrate that a short-term CBSM intervention increases free testosterone levels among symptomatic, HIV-seropositive men, and alterations in free testosterone are associated with changes in psychological distress observed during CBSM.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Naturopathy, Nightingale, and nature cure: a convergence of interests.

Naturopathy is making a strong resurgence in many Western countries, and its philosophical and theoretical basis has much in common with nursing theories of health. This article will give an overview of naturopathy, its origins in Hippocratic medicine and nature cure, and its re-emergence during the Victorian era in the context of a renewal of interest in health. The question is posed, 'To what extent did the nature cure movement of last century influence the thinking of Florence Nightingale?' An examination of her writings supports the hypothesis that nature cure was a significant influence on Nightingale's understanding of health and healing. Contemporary nursing theory is also congruent with naturopathic principles in significant ways, and a convergence between the two disciplines is emerging.

History, 19th Century↗
PubMed2000

Evaluating the effectiveness of a vision rehabilitation intervention using an objective and subjective measure of functional performance.

PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that vision rehabilitation using optometry, occupational therapy and social work services increases patients' functional ability and to assess whether involving families in the intervention results in more successful outcomes. METHODS: We conducted an outcome study of 97 patients new to the Vision Rehabilitation Service. Subjects were between the ages of 19 and 91 years, with a median age of 76. Their visual acuities were 20/100 or worse in the better eye, with 50% of the subjects having acuities worse than 20/200. Macular degeneration was the most prevalent diagnosis. Subjects were assigned to either an individually focused (n=48) or a family focused (n=49) intervention. The outcome measure was change in function, as assessed by speed and accuracy of performance (objective measure) and by the patients' self-reports of difficulty and dependency in performing daily activities (subjective measures). Data were collected before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Most patients had documented improvement after rehabilitation on both objective (p=.0001) and subjective (decreased dependency, p=.01) measures of function. The sample size did not provide adequate statistical power to show differences between family focused and individually focused interventions. CONCLUSIONS: This study documents significant improvement after vision rehabilitation for a predominantly elderly population. Patients in both family and individually focused interventions improved comparably.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

Cognitive-behavioral stress management buffers decreases in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and increases in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio and reduces mood disturbance and perceived stress among HIV-seropositive men.

This study examined the effects of a 10-week cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention on dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels and the ratio of cortisol to DHEA-S (cortisol/DHEA-S), potential surrogate adrenal markers of HIV disease progression, in relation to alterations in mood and distress. HIV-seropositive men were randomized to either a group-based CBSM intervention (n = 43) or to a wait-list control group (n = 24), with both hormonal and distress measures assessed just prior to and immediately following the 10-week period. Results showed that CBSM buffers decreases in DHEA-S and increases in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio. Further examination also revealed that changes in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio were significantly and positively related to changes in total mood disturbance and perceived stress over time. These findings demonstrate that a short-term CBSM intervention can buffer against decrements in DHEA-S and increments in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio among symptomatic, HIV-positive men, and that alterations in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio move in concert with changes in mood and distress observed during CBSM.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Primary progressive semantic aphasia: a case study.

A longitudinal case study of a patient with a progressive loss of meaning of objects with preserved phonology and syntax is presented. Repeated measures of language, praxis, visual cognition, and semantic processing were carried out. The patient still has preserved conversational speech, social skills, and orientation in her 8th year of her illness, but shows severe anomia and comprehension deficit in all modalities of stimulus presentation. In addition to standardized tests of language, cognition, and memory, specific experiments of categorization, modalities of word access, item consistency, category specificity, and definition of words were carried out. Results indicate a frequency dependent loss of meaning that was consistent in all modalities and throughout all object categories. However, the relative preservation of visual categorization of all categories tested and the language based categorization of animals suggested some fractionation of semantic memory. Relative preservation of autobiographical and personal memories versus semantic memory was a striking observation. Evidence for selective impairment of central semantic processing was obtained from experiments indicating item consistency of loss and the lack of semantic cuing. Neuroimaging evidence of left temporal lobe atrophy and the classical picture is compatible with similar cases published under the term semantic dementia or "transcortical sensory aphasia with visual agnosia" and suggest the diagnosis of Pick's disease.

Anomia↗
PubMed1997

Cognitive-behavioral stress management decreases dysphoric mood and herpes simplex virus-type 2 antibody titers in symptomatic HIV-seropositive gay men.

This study tested the effects of a 10-week group cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention on mood and immunologic parameters in HIV-seropositive gay men whose disease had progressed to a symptomatic stage. Men were randomized to either CBSM or a modified waiting-list control group. The CBSM intervention significantly decreased self-reported dysphoria, anxiety, and total distress. Individuals who practiced relaxation more consistently had significantly greater drops in dysphoria. The intervention also decreased herpes simplex virus-Type 2 (HSV-2) immunoglobulin G antibody titers. The control group showed no significant changes in either mood or antibody titers. Individual difference analyses revealed that decreases in dysphoria significantly predicted lower HSV-2 antibody titers by the end of the 10-week period. Neither group displayed changes in HSV-Type 1 antibody titers or in CD4+ or CD8+ cell numbers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Identification of a novel guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the Rho GTPase.

The Rho GTPase promotes proliferation and cytoskeletal rearrangements in mammalian cells. To understand the regulation of Rho, it is important to characterize guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), which stimulate the dissociation of GDP and subsequent binding of GTP. Using Rho as an affinity ligand, we have isolated a 115-kDa protein (p115-RhoGEF) that binds specifically to the nucleotide-depleted state. A full-length cDNA encoding p115-RhoGEF was isolated, and its protein product, which exhibited sequence homology to Dbl and Lbc, catalyzed the exchange of GDP for GTP specifically on Rho and not on the Rac, Cdc42, or Ras GTPases. p115-RhoGEF is capable of regulating cell proliferation, as determined by its ability to induce the transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. Northern and Western analysis suggests that p115-RhoGEF is ubiquitously expressed. These results indicate that p115-RhoGEF may be a general regulator of Rho and its associated cellular phenotypes.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1994

Effects of aerobic exercise training on lymphocyte subpopulations.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of an aerobic exercise training program on subpopulations of lymphocyte phenotypes. Fourteen healthy but sedentary males, 18-40 years of age, were randomly assigned to either an aerobic exercise training or control condition. Aerobic exercise training consisted of three 45-minute sessions of cycle ergometry exercise per week at 70-80% of age-predicted maximum heart rate for ten weeks. The aerobic exercise training resulted in a significant decrease in submaximal heart rate from 176 to 150 beats per minute to a fixed work rate of 150 watts (p < .01). This training effect was accompanied by increases in the resting level of the following lymphocyte subpopulations: CD2 (1717 vs 2183 mm3; p < .01), CD4 (942 vs 1280 mm3; p < .01), CD45RA+CD4+ (312 vs 595 mm3; p < .01), CD8 (655 vs 816 mm3; p < .05), and CD20 (162 vs 244 mm3; p < .01) cell counts. These findings indicate that several lymphocyte subpopulations are increased following a 10-week program of aerobic exercise training.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Nursing diagnosis and natural therapies. A symbiotic relationship.

Work with nursing diagnosis has provided a classification system for what nursing does and has helped to focus nursing interventions to include more independent nursing care. Natural therapies (an umbrella term covering the many healing and health promotion modalities, traditional and modern, that do not use prescription pharmaceuticals or surgery) are among the more independent care modalities available to nursing. Accepted nursing interventions cover a growing number of practices, such as progressive relaxation, guided imagery, yoga, therapeutic touch, music therapy, active listening, aromatherapy, reflexology, advocacy, and centered presence. Most of these nursing interventions would seem to fit comfortably within the realm of natural therapies. As the illness-healing paradigms shift and converge, and the concept of holism rises more and more to the fore, the role of the nurse is shifting from caregiver to healer. Nursing diagnosis, as a classification system for nursing phenomena, can serve as a mechanism to enhance visibility of this healing role of the nurse.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMed1994

Assessment of functional vision performance: a new test for low vision patients.

Measures of functional vision are needed to assess elderly low vision patients, their success in using devices, and their ability to manage outside the treatment setting. A new test devised to measure functional ability through the performance of everyday tasks was administered to 94 patients who had acuities of 20/100 or worse in their better eye. Consisting of three versions and four subtests: spot reading, short-term text reading, identifying paper currency and clock reading, the test used standardized items and was timed. In a multiple regression model predicting test performance higher scores were associated with better near acuity (P = .002), higher education (P = .022) and higher levels of self-reported visual skills (P = .072). These predictors plus distance acuity, age and sex only accounted for 35 percent of the variance in test scores. Repeated administration of the test to a different group of 21 patients showed the test to be reliable (intraclass correlation = .85, P < .01) and to have no practice or version effects or differences between raters. This new test may be useful for natural history studies and clinical trials involving low vision patients but further evaluation of its sensitivity to change over time is required.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Natural therapies in Australia: a nurse-naturopath's view.

As a health care professional with a special interest in natural medicine, I have had the good fortune to live and work in Australia at a time when tremendous development has occurred in this exciting field. Like North America, Australia has an indigenous population with a long history of natural medicine, a number of traditional systems of medicine transplanted via migration, and not a few fringe therapies recently rediscovered. A confusing array of terms is used to describe this broad collection of therapies. My own preference is for "natural" therapies/medicine, which originally indicated nonuse of drugs and surgery. This leaves a broad scope for use of other substances and processes, although it remains a problematic term. (For example, is a vitamin pill, a synthetic and concentrated product of technology, "natural"?) This article briefly describes the current status of natural therapies in Australia, and some of the ways that nurses are involved in the growing use and acceptance of natural therapeutic interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Who should log SHIPS? The accuracy of Scottish Hospital Morbidity Data for Wilson's disease.

We have studied the accuracy of the hospital diagnostic data for Wilson's disease (WD) in Scotland. The computerised records of the Scottish Hospital In-Patient Statistics provided information on 41 patients, coded as having been discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of WD. Review of the patients' case notes revealed that 12 (29.6%) did not have WD, although half of these cases had 'query Wilson's disease' on the discharge summary or letter. In the other six cases, errors arose due to miscoding by the medical records staff.

Abstracting and Indexing↗