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BACKGROUND: A majority of cancer survivors experience debilitating effect(s) related to their cancer diagnosis and treatments across physical, psychological, social, and spiritual domains. Timely and innovative solutions are needed to address the adverse treatment-related effects and often disjointed services that breast cancer patients face. Recent studies suggest that the majority of breast cancer survivors are using complementary and alternative medicine at some point along their cancer trajectory. In recent years, scientists and clinicians have examined the effects of yoga therapy among cancer patients and survivors. The current study examined the perceived feasibility of implementing yoga therapy as a treatment service for breast cancer patients at a large urban cancer center in Canada.METHODS: A mixed-methods approach that included focus groups and self-reported surveys with health care providers (HCPs) and breast cancer patients was used in this research. RESULTS: Overall, results indicated that breast cancer patients and HCPs were supportive and eager for the implementation of a yoga therapy program. Six themes emerged from the analysis of the focus group and the survey data: (1) the availability of resources and accessibility of yoga therapy, (2) the credibility and transparency of yoga therapy, (3) the understanding of yoga therapy, (4) an educational component, (5) the therapeutic context, and (6) the integration of yoga therapy. Specific facilitators and barriers became evident within these themes. CONCLUSIONS: Although enthusiasm for the implementation of an integrative yoga therapy program was apparent among both breast cancer survivors and HCPs, barriers were also identified. The findings of this study are currently being used to inform a large-scale program of research aimed at developing integrative treatment services for breast cancer patients, beginning with yoga therapy.

The environment that we construct affects both humans and our natural world in myriad ways. There is a pressing need to create healthy places and to reduce the health threats inherent in places already built. However, there has been little awareness of the adverse effects of what we have constructed-or the positive benefits of well designed built environments. This book provides a far-reaching follow-up to the pathbreaking Urban Sprawl and Public Health, published in 2004. That book sparked a range of inquiries into the connections between constructed environments, particularly cities and suburbs, and the health of residents, especially humans. Since then, numerous studies have extended and refined the book's research and reporting. Making Healthy Places offers a fresh and comprehensive look at this vital subject today. There is no other book with the depth, breadth, vision, and accessibility that this book offers. In addition to being of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students in public health and urban planning, it will be essential reading for public health officials, planners, architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, and all those who care about the design of their communities. Like a well-trained doctor, Making Healthy Places presents a diagnosis of--and offers treatment for--problems related to the built environment. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, with contributions from experts in a range of fields, it imparts a wealth of practical information, with an emphasis on demonstrated and promising solutions to commonly occurring problems.

<p>Mindfulness training may disrupt the risk chain of stress-precipitated alcohol relapse. In 2008, 53 alcohol-dependent adults (mean age = 40.3) recruited from a therapeutic community located in the urban southeastern U.S. were randomized to mindfulness training or a support group. Most participants were male (79.2%), African American (60.4%), and earned less than $20,000 annually (52.8%). Self-report measures, psychophysiological cue-reactivity, and alcohol attentional bias were analyzed via repeated measures ANOVA. Thirty-seven participants completed the interventions. Mindfulness training significantly reduced stress and thought suppression, increased physiological recovery from alcohol cues, and modulated alcohol attentional bias. Hence, mindfulness training appears to target key mechanisms implicated in alcohol dependence, and therefore may hold promise as an alternative treatment for stress-precipitated relapse among vulnerable members of society. Keywords--alcohol dependence, attentional bias, heart-rate variability, mindfulness, stress, thought suppression</p>
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Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action -- and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group.

Objective: To update and expand The North American Menopause Society's evidence-based position on nonhormonal management of menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms (VMS), previously a portion of the position statement on the management of VMS. Methods: NAMS enlisted clinical and research experts in the field and a reference librarian to identify and review available evidence. Five different electronic search engines were used to cull relevant literature. Using the literature, experts created a document for final approval by the NAMS Board of Trustees. Results: Nonhormonal management of VMS is an important consideration when hormone therapy is not an option, either because of medical contraindications or a woman's personal choice. Nonhormonal therapies include lifestyle changes, mind-body techniques, dietary management and supplements, prescription therapies, and others. The costs, time, and effort involved as well as adverse effects, lack of long-term studies, and potential interactions with medications all need to be carefully weighed against potential effectiveness during decision making. Conclusions: Clinicians need to be well informed about the level of evidence available for the wide array of nonhormonal management options currently available to midlife women to help prevent underuse of effective therapies or use of inappropriate or ineffective therapies. Recommended: Cognitive-behavioral therapy and, to a lesser extent, clinical hypnosis have been shown to be effective in reducing VMS. Paroxetine salt is the only nonhormonal medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the management of VMS, although other selective serotonin reuptake/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, gabapentinoids, and clonidine show evidence of efficacy. Recommend with caution: Some therapies that may be beneficial for alleviating VMS are weight loss, mindfulness-based stress reduction, the S-equol derivatives of soy isoflavones, and stellate ganglion block, but additional studies of these therapies are warranted. Do not recommend at this time: There are negative, insufficient, or inconclusive data suggesting the following should not be recommended as proven therapies for managing VMS: cooling techniques, avoidance of triggers, exercise, yoga, paced respiration, relaxation, over-the-counter supplements and herbal therapies, acupuncture, calibration of neural oscillations, and chiropractic interventions. Incorporating the available evidence into clinical practice will help ensure that women receive evidence-based recommendations along with appropriate cautions for appropriate and timely management of VMS.

Background The mind's ability to think about the mind has attracted substantial research interest in cognitive science in recent decades, as ‘theory of mind’. No research has attempted to identify the brain basis of this ability, probably because it involves several separate processes. As a first step, we investigated one component process – the ability to recognise mental state terms. Method In Experiment 1, we tested a group of children with autism (known to have theory of mind deficits) and a control group of children with mental handicap, for their ability to recognise mental state terms in a word list. This was to test if the mental state recognition task was related to traditional theory of mind tests. In Experiment 2, we investigated if in the normal brain, recognition of mental state terms might be localised. The procedure employed single photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT) in normal adult volunteers. We tested the prediction (based on available neurological and animal lesion studies) that there would be increased activation in the orbito-frontal cortex during this task, relative to a control condition, and relative to an adjacent frontal area (frontal-polar cortex). Results In Experiment 1, the group with autism performed significantly worse than the group without autism. In Experiment 2, there was increased cerebral blood flow during the mental state recognition task in the right orbito-frontal cortex relative to the left frontal-polar region. Conclusions This simple mental state recognition task appears to relate to theory of mind, in that both are impaired in autism. The SPECT results implicate the orbito-frontal cortex as the basis of this ability.

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, depression, diabetes self-care, and health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. Seventy-five participants (mean age = 63.4, SD = 10.2) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, and the Short-Form-12v2 Health Survey. We used correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. Mindfulness was not correlated with diabetes self-care. However, mindfulness was negatively correlated with depression and positively correlated with mental health-related quality of life. In a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience were significant predictors of lower depression scores and better mental health-related quality of life scores after controlling for age and medical comorbidities. Dispositional mindfulness and, in particular, the ability to accept and respond to moment-to-moment experiences in a nonreactive way is associated with better mental health in type 2 diabetes. Longitudinal studies linking changes in various mindfulness facets over time, with and without training, to changes in diabetes outcomes are needed to further understand the role of mindfulness in this population.

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, depression, diabetes self-care, and health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. Seventy-five participants (mean age = 63.4, SD = 10.2) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, and the Short-Form-12v2 Health Survey. We used correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. Mindfulness was not correlated with diabetes self-care. However, mindfulness was negatively correlated with depression and positively correlated with mental health-related quality of life. In a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience were significant predictors of lower depression scores and better mental health-related quality of life scores after controlling for age and medical comorbidities. Dispositional mindfulness and, in particular, the ability to accept and respond to moment-to-moment experiences in a nonreactive way is associated with better mental health in type 2 diabetes. Longitudinal studies linking changes in various mindfulness facets over time, with and without training, to changes in diabetes outcomes are needed to further understand the role of mindfulness in this population.

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, depression, diabetes self-care, and health-related quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. Seventy-five participants (mean age = 63.4, SD = 10.2) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, and the Short-Form-12v2 Health Survey. We used correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. Mindfulness was not correlated with diabetes self-care. However, mindfulness was negatively correlated with depression and positively correlated with mental health-related quality of life. In a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience were significant predictors of lower depression scores and better mental health-related quality of life scores after controlling for age and medical comorbidities. Dispositional mindfulness and, in particular, the ability to accept and respond to moment-to-moment experiences in a nonreactive way is associated with better mental health in type 2 diabetes. Longitudinal studies linking changes in various mindfulness facets over time, with and without training, to changes in diabetes outcomes are needed to further understand the role of mindfulness in this population.

PurposeThis study aims to examine if mindfulness is associated with pain catastrophizing, depression, disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain (CNP). Method We conducted a cross-sectional survey with cancer survivors experiencing CNP. Participants (n = 76) were men (24 %) and women (76 %) with an average age of 56.5 years (SD = 9.4). Participants were at least 1 year post-treatment, with no evidence of cancer, and with symptoms of neuropathic pain for more than three months. Participants completed the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), along with measures of pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, pain interference, depression, and HRQOL. Results Mindfulness was negatively correlated with pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, pain interference, and depression, and it was positively correlated with mental health-related HRQOL. Regression analyses demonstrated that mindfulness was a negative predictor of pain intensity and depression and a positive predictor of mental HRQOL after controlling for pain catastrophizing, age, and gender. The two mindfulness facets that were most consistently associated with better outcomes were non-judging and acting with awareness. Mindfulness significantly moderated the relationships between pain intensity and pain catastrophizing and between pain intensity and pain interference. Conclusion It appears that mindfulness mitigates the impact of pain experiences in cancer survivors experiencing CNP post-treatment.

Far-reaching changes to the structure and function of the Earth's natural systemsrepresent a growing threat to human health. And yet, global health has mainly improved as these changes have gathered pace. What is the explanation? As a Commission, we are deeply concerned that the explanation is straightforward and sobering: we have been mortgaging the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present. By unsustainably exploiting nature's resources, human civilisation has flourished but now risks substantial health effects from the degradation of nature's life support systems in the future.

Far-reaching changes to the structure and function of the Earth's natural systemsrepresent a growing threat to human health. And yet, global health has mainly improved as these changes have gathered pace. What is the explanation? As a Commission, we are deeply concerned that the explanation is straightforward and sobering: we have been mortgaging the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present. By unsustainably exploiting nature's resources, human civilisation has flourished but now risks substantial health effects from the degradation of nature's life support systems in the future.

Discusses what social and emotional learning is; why it is necessary; what its key concepts and goals are; and why it is necessary to focus on social and emotional learning in the middle grades. Discusses how social and emotional learning is related to the social studies. Describes ways middle-school social-studies teachers can foster such learning. Notes teacher resources. (SR)

This paper proposes a novel hypothetical model integrating formerly discrete theories of stress appraisal, neurobiological allostasis, automatic cognitive processing, and addictive behavior to elucidate how alcohol misuse and dependence are maintained and re-activated by stress. We outline a risk chain in which psychosocial stress initiates physiological arousal, perseverative cognition, and negative affect that, in turn, triggers automatized schema to compel alcohol consumption. This implicit cognitive process then leads to attentional biases toward alcohol, subjective experiences of craving, paradoxical increases in arousal and alcohol-related cognitions due to urge suppression, and palliative coping through drinking. When palliative coping relieves distress, it results in negative reinforcement conditioning that perpetuates the cycle by further sensitizing the system to future stressful encounters. This model has implications for development and implementation of innovative behavioral interventions (such as mindfulness training) that disrupt cognitive-affective mechanisms underpinning stress-precipitated dependence on alcohol.

Contemporary developments in western health-care (Allopathy), though moving towards holism, lack an integrative conceptual foundation. This work offers a conceptual foundation for an interpretation of human-being that is holistic (conceptualizes mind/matter) and is compatible with western medical concepts. I offer a philosophical speculation portraying the holism of processes of health, illness, and healing. This speculation begins with an interpretation of human-being as a psycho-physical process of assimilation; in the personal locus of this process the mind-matter dichotomy dissolves. There are four sections in this work: (1) The statement of the philosophical speculation; this is the "Theory of Analogous Functioning" (T.A.F.). (2) This theory is set in a framework of analysis of systems of medicine as interpretations of the structural-functional nature of human-being. This analysis results in: (1) systems of medicine appearing as "meaning systems", that is, "lenses" through which physicians view patients; and, (2) clarification of the "comprehensive organic rationale" (COR) underlying holistic systems (Chinese, Asian Indian, T.A.F.). This analysis reveals the conceptual "form" common to these interpretations of the holistic nature of human-being. That is, a "generic form" of holism is revealed. (3) Discussion of the relation of four fields of thought to the holistic interpretation of human-being presented in T.A.F., in four appendices. Appendix A. Process philosophy. A.N. Whitehead and Hans Jonas. Discussion of the concepts "prehension" and "transcendence." Appendix B. Hermeneutics. Discussions of contemporary works supportive of process theories: R.C. Neville's theory of "value" in Nature; Richard Rorty, issues of western concepts of knowledge ("Mirroring of Nature"); and Mark Johnson's non-objectivist theory of meaning. Appendix C. Medical anthropology. A discussion of the relation of belief to healing. Appendix D. Systems of medicine. Five systems are discussed as "meaning systems": Allopathy, Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Tibetan Medicine. (4) A discussion of cancer from the process perspective of T.A.F. This perspective suggests some cancers may be the consequence of disrupted processes of personal psycho-physical assimilation. In summary, T.A.F. defines human-being as a locus of psycho-physical assimilation, and is the basis for a holistic system of diagnosis and therapy compatible with western medical perspectives. This theory rests upon a conceptual foundation identical in form to the conceptual foundations of traditional Chinese and Indian systems of health-care. Thus, T.A.F. rests upon philosophical resolution of the mind-matter dichotomy, and offers a method of analysis from which a system of holistic diagnosis and therapy can be developed.

Introduction: Cancer patients often choose complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in palliative care, often in addition to conventional treatment and without medical advice or approval. Herbal medicines (HM) are the most commonly used type of CAM, but rarely available on an in-patient basis for palliative care. The motivations which lead very ill patients to travel far to receive such therapies are not clear. A qualitative study was therefore carried out to investigate influences on choosing to attend a CAM herbal hospice, to identify cancer patients' main concerns about end-of-life care. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 32 patients were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Patients were recruited from Arokhayasala, a Buddhist cancer hospice in Thailand which provides CAM, in the form of HM, a restricted diet, Thai yoga, deep-breathing exercises, meditation, chanting, Dhamma, laughter and music therapy, free-of-charge. Results: The main factors influencing decision-making were a positive attitude towards HMs and previous use of them, dissatisfaction with conventional treatment, the home environment and their relationships with hospital doctors. Conclusion: Patients' own perceptions and experiences were more important in making the decision to use CAM, and especially HM, in palliative cancer care than referral by healthcare professionals or scientific evidence of efficacy. Patients were prepared to travel far and live away from home to receive such care, especially as it was cost-free. In view of patients' previously stated satisfaction with the regime at the Arokhayasala, these findings may be relevant to the provision of in-patient cancer palliative care to other patients. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

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