Biomedical subjects

Yaacov Drory

Publications and source records attributed to Yaacov Drory.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Coronary artery disease and risk factors in people with posttraumatic vision loss.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and its risk factors in people with posttraumatic vision loss (PTVL). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, controlled study. SETTING: The general community. PARTICIPANTS: Study groups included 82 subjects with PTVL, 49 siblings, 58 blind subjects with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and the general population in Israel. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sociodemographic and biomedical data collected by using a structured questionnaire and medical records. RESULTS: The prevalence of CAD among subjects with PTVL (24%) was 2 to 3 times higher than the control groups ( P <.001). However, the prevalence of the CAD risk factors in these subjects was similar to or lower than those in the control groups. For example, significantly fewer subjects with PTVL were physically inactive (16%) than patients with RP (55%, P <.01). The only variable that was significantly associated with CAD prevalence was the cause of blindness-that is, trauma versus disease; the odds of having CAD after traumatic vision loss was 3.75 times higher than after RP. CONCLUSIONS: People with PTVL exhibit elevated rates of risk for CAD similar to those of other groups with physical disability. The traumatic injury that caused vision loss might be an important factor underlying that risk.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Resumption and maintenance of employment after a first acute myocardial infarction: sociodemographic, vocational and medical predictors.

In a community cohort of 833 women and men aged <60 years, employed at the time of a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the relation of sociodemographic, vocational, and medical variables to the following three aspects of employment was investigated longitudinally: resumption of employment anytime within 5 years after AMI, resumption of employment within 3 months of the AMI, and maintenance of employment 5 years after AMI. Different sets of characteristics of persons with a first AMI were related to the different criteria of employment. Only sociodemographic and vocational variables were related to early resumption of employment, whereas maintenance of employment 5 years after AMI was influenced by both medical and nonmedical variables. These results support the importance of examining different aspects of resumption and maintenance of employment after AMI. They also suggest that early resumption of employment after AMI and employment anytime 5 years after AMI are more a function of the sociodemographic and vocational characteristics of the person with the AMI than of that person's medical condition, whereas long-term maintenance of employment after an AMI is also related to the person's medical condition.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2003

Long-term mental health of women after a first acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the long-term psychologic well-being and psychologic distress, after a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI), of women with those of men and those of a normative community sample of women and to examine the relation of sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables to the long-term psychologic well-being and psychologic distress of women. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Eight medical centers in central Israel. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-two women (age range, 30-65y) with documented first AMI. INTERVENTIONS: Sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic data were collected before hospital discharge (T1). Psychologic well-being and psychologic distress were assessed 5 years after AMI (T2) with the Mental Health Inventory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relations among the outcome variables, psychologic well-being, and psychologic distress at T2 and the predictors, sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables at T1. RESULTS: Women had less long-term psychologic well-being and more psychologic distress after AMI than did men or the normative sample of women. Depression and concomitant medical problems were related to women's psychologic well-being; depression alone was related to their long-term psychologic distress. CONCLUSIONS: Women with an AMI are more likely than men to have reduced psychologic well-being and increased psychologic distress. In addition, diminished mental health was related to medical and psychologic pathogenic factors.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

An epidemiological study of depressive symptomatology among Israeli adults: prevalence of depressive symptoms and demographic risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common, under-recognized disorder that causes a great burden on the individual, the family and the community. Depressive symptomatology has serious effects on the psychological and medical condition of patients, and also disrupts their well-being and daily activities. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in the Israeli population, and its relation to demographic variables and perceived health. METHODS: A random sample of 937 Israeli adults filled out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) together with a demographic questionnaire. RESULTS: 21.5% scored positively for depressive symptomatology (BDI > 9). 3.8% reached a BDI score in the range of severe depression. Female gender, old age, lower education, immigrant status, manual work and lower income were associated with increased rates of depressive symptomatology. Poor perceived health was also associated with depressive symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of depressive symptomatology in this study are similar to those found in other studies, performed mostly in Western countries. Despite several methodological limitations, we conclude that the rate and the demographic risk factors of depression in Israel are similar to that of other developed and Western countries.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Long-term mental health of men after a first acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the differential and independent impact of sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables assessed at hospital discharge on patients' short- and long-term mental health. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Eight medical centers in central Israel. PARTICIPANTS: Male Israeli patients (N = 209; age range: 30-65 y) with documented first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). INTERVENTION: Subjects were interviewed 3 times, once (T1) before hospital discharge, a second time (T2) at 3 to 6 months after discharge, and a third time (T3) at 5 years post-AMI. Sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic data were elicited at the first interview and completed with medical information in the files. Psychologic well-being and psychologic distress were evaluated by the Mental Health Inventory at the second and third interviews. These 2 outcome variables were compared with normative community data on these aspects of mental health. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relation between the independent variables, sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables, and the dependent variables, psychologic well-being and psychologic distress, at T2 and T3. RESULTS: Depression, perceived health, sense of coherence, social support, and educational level at discharge predicted aspects of mental health 3 to 6 months and 5 years post-AMI. However, only psychologic distress differentiated between the research participants and the normative community sample of men. CONCLUSIONS: A first episode of AMI appears to increase psychologic distress more than it decreases psychologic well-being both 3 to 6 months and 5 years post-AMI. Educational level and sense of coherence may serve as protective factors, whereas depression may foster vulnerability to distress and impaired psychologic well-being.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Sexual activity of women and men one year before a first acute myocardial infarction.

A decrease in sexual activity after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) for both women and men has been reported with one study suggesting that this reduction in sexual activity may precede rather than proceed the AMI. The present study compared the sexual activity of women and men before AMI to the sexual activity of a normative community sample of women and men, to examine whether the above reduction in sexual activity is especially characteristic of women and men who later incur an AMI. This study also investigated the association between selected medical and sociodemographic variables and sexual inactivity of women and men before an AMI. During an interview before discharge,138 women and 760 men who were hospitalized due to a first AMI responded to a question regarding the frequency of their sexual activity 1 year before the AMI. Their sociodemographic and medical background was obtained from the interview and the medical charts. When compared to a normative sample, only women reported significantly less sexual activity during the year before their AMI. These women were also found to be at a disadvantage when compared to men on many of the sociodemographic and medical variables shown to contribute to sexual inactivity for both men and women. However, the higher percent of sexual inactivity for women during the year before AMI may not only be due to women's higher morbidity and lower sociodemographic status. Other variables not included in this study, but associated with gender, could account for this result.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

[Physical activity for the elderly].

UNLABELLED: Prolongation of life expectancy requires inevitable care for the quality of life of the elderly. Regular physical activity has a very important role in preserving the quality of life and independence, and not only reducing illness and mortality. A better understanding of this issue should enable us to set guidelines for regular physical activity for the elderly. The reaction to regular physical activity of older adults without cardiovascular diseases is similar to the reaction of young people to regular physical activity. In men, the mechanism of cardiovascular adaptation is mainly central, while in old women it is mainly peripheral. Elderly with cardiovascular diseases suffer from oxygen consumption and cardiac output reduction, compared to healthy old people. They also enjoy the cardiovascular benefits of aerobic physical activity and gain the risk factors profile improvement. Therefore, it is recommended to include aerobic physical activity as an integrative part of the daily lifestyle. Resistance strength training in elderly of both sexes leads to similar or even higher values for muscle mass and strength compared to young people, reduces the body fat mass, body weight and helps to preserve the active tissue mass. More beneficial effects of physical activity are: an improvement of posture and physical stability, improved flexibility and mobility capacity, a better cognitive function and a lower level of depression. The beneficial effects of physical activity in the very aged and frail elderly include physiological, metabolic, psychological and functional adaptations, which can substantially contribute to the quality of life and cannot be achieved by other treatments. SUMMARY: Participation in a regular physical activity program is an effective and secure means to avoid and reduce the functional decline associated with aging and to improve the quality of life. The recommended exercise program is multifactorial and includes aerobic and resistance training, and exercises of balance and flexibility.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Rehabilitation in Older Coronary Patients.

Modern medicine dictates a more active therapeutic approach in the geriatric population. This review summarizes relevant data on cardiac rehabilitation in patients aged 65 years or older. The cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly are similar to those in younger people; thus, treating hypertension or hypercholesterolemia, cessation of smoking, and changing of life style and proper diet are recommended regardless of age. Cardiovascular function gradually declines with age, and the incidence of atherosclerotic heart disease increases. Rehabilitation programs for elderly patients with postmyocardial infarction should be specifically designed, particularly for exercise training. Special attention should be paid to warm-up and cool-down periods, upgrading the intensity of exercise, and programming the muscular conditioning component. On the whole, cardiac rehabilitation in the elderly is cost-effective. It should consider the individual's general health, risk factor profile, cardiac status, and mental response.

Journal Article↗