Articles: disease.
-
Three fundamental fears - anxiety sensitivity (AS), injury/illness sensitivity (IS) and fear of negative evaluation (FNE) - have been proposed to underlie common fears and psychopathological conditions. In pain research, the relation between AS and (chronic) pain processes was the subject of several studies, whereas the possible role of IS has been ignored. The current research examines the role of IS with respect to various pain-related variables in two studies. ⋯ The main hypothesis of the current study states that IS is a stronger predictor than AS of pain catastrophizing and fear of pain as assessed by self-report measures, and of pain tolerance and anticipatory fear of pain as assessed in a pain induction study. This hypothesis could be confirmed for all variables, except for pain tolerance, which was not predicted by any of the three fundamental fears. The current study can be considered as an impetus for devoting attention to IS in future pain research.
-
The changes in the physical development of frequently ill children (FIC) aged 3-7 years are considered. The rate of an increase in the height and body weight of FIC has been found to differ from that of these indices in occasionally ill children (OIC). ⋯ In both groups, these deviations are more frequently encountered in boys than in girls. Creating the optimum conditions for children's physical development care and promotion will substantially improve their health status, increase the number of children annually stricken off the register of FIC, and reduce the number of days missed by a child for sickness.
-
Hepatitis C virus remains a large health care burden to the world. Incidence rates across the world fluctuate and are difficult to calculate given the asymptomatic, often latent nature of the disease prior to clinical presentation. Prevalence rates across the world have changed as well with more countries aware of transfusion-related hepatitis C and more and more evidence supporting intravenous drug use as the leading risk factor of spread of the virus. This article reviews current hepatitis C virus prevalence and genotype data and examines the different risk factors associated with the virus.
-
Abstract ethics mostly focuses on what we do. One form of action is a speech act. What we say can have profound effects. ⋯ To complicate matters, there can be moral reasons for overriding what is good for the patient. What kind of admonishments should we make to a badly behaved patient? What is the value of authenticity in our communication with the people we love? These questions demand an ethical defence of those speech acts which are painful to hear but which need to be said, and of those which go wrong despite the best efforts of the wellwisher. We offer an ethical account, identifying permissible and impermissible justifications for the things we say to a person with a serious injury or illness.