Relationship between Defenses,Personality, and Affect During a Stress Task in Normal Adolescents

Objective Although there are extensive data on the relationship between personality and stress reactivity in adults, there is little comparable empirical research with adolescents. This study examines the simultaneous relationships between long term functioning (personality, defenses) and observed stress reactivity (affect) in adolescents. Methods High school students (N = 169; mean age 16; 73 girls) were asked to participate in two conditions of the Stress Induced Speech Task (SIST): Free Association and Stressful Situation. Immature and mature defenses, distress and restraint personality dimensions, and negative and positive affect were examined. Results Greater reported use of immature defenses was significantly associated with negative affect, whereas greater reported use of mature defenses was significantly associated with greater positive affect. Although personality style was also a significant predictor of negative affect across two out of three conditions, defenses were better overall predictors of affect than were personality dimensions. Gender was also a significant predictor of negative affect, wherein girls reported more negative affect than boys. Discussion Defenses and personality style predict affective response during a moderately stressful task. Immature defenses and, to a lesser extent, the distress personality dimension predict mobilization of negative affect, whereas mature defenses predict the reporting of positive affect. These results relate to processes central to psychotherapy: defensive responding, personality style, and affective reactivity during the recounting of stressful events.     

Plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid fatty acid profile in professional basketball and football players

The effect of intensive long-term physical activity on phospholipid fatty acid (FA) composition has not been studied thoroughly. We determined plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid FA status of professional basketball and football players. Our results showed differences in plasma FA profile not only between sportsmen and sedentary subjects, but also between two groups of sportsmen. Plasma FA profile in basketball players showed significantly higher proportion of n-6 FA (20:3, 20:4, and 22:4) and total polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) than controls, while football players had higher palmitoleic acid (16:1) than basketball players and controls. Total PUFA and 22:4 were also higher in basketball than in football players. Erythrocyte FA profile showed no differences between football players and controls. However, basketball players had higher proportion of 18:0 than controls, higher saturated FA and lower 18:2 than two other groups, and higher 22:4 than football players. These findings suggest that long-term intensive exercise and type of sport influence FA profile.     

Health,ageing and private health insurance: baseline results from the 45 and Up Study cohort

Background

This study investigates the relationships between health and lifestyle factors, age and private health insurance (PHI) in a large Australian population-based cohort study of people aged 45 years and over; the 45 and Up Study. Unlike previous Australian analyses of relationships between health, lifestyle and PHI, it incorporates adjustment for multiple confounding socioeconomic and demographic factors. Recruitment into the 45 and Up Study began in February 2006 and these analyses relate to the first 103,042 participants who joined the study prior to July 2008.

Results

The proportion with PHI decreased with increasing age. The factors independently and most strongly associated with having PHI were: higher income; higher educational attainment; not holding a health care concession card; not being of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander origin; being a non-smoker; high levels of self-rated health and functional capacity; and low levels of psychological distress. These factors increased the probability of having PHI by 16% to 125%, compared to individuals without these characteristics. PHI coverage was significantly but only marginally higher in people reporting non-melanoma skin cancer (adjusted RR 1.04, 95%CI 1.03–1.05), prostate cancer (1.09, 1.06–1.11) or an enlarged prostate (1.07, 1.06–1.09), those reporting a family history of a range of conditions (e.g. 1.02, 1.01–1.03 for a family history of heart disease; 1.03, 1.02–1.04 for a family history of prostate cancer) and lower in people reporting diabetes (0.92, 0.91–0.94) or stroke (0.91, 0.88–0.94), compared to people who did not have these medical or family histories. PHI was higher in those reporting certain surgical procedures with RRs (95%CI) of 1.12 (1.09–1.15) for hip replacement, 1.10 (1.08–1.13) for knee replacement and 1.12 (1.09–1.15) for prostatectomy, compared to those not reporting these interventions.

Conclusion

Compared to the rest of the study population, those with PHI are richer, better educated, more health conscious, in better health and more likely to use certain discretionary health services. Hence, PHI use is generally highest among those with the least need for health care. Whether or not people have PHI is more strongly associated with demographic and lifestyle factors than with health status.

     

The association of multiple sclerosis and Hodgkin's disease: the role of Epstein-Barr virus infection

The aetiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still an unresolved question. Several recently reported studies are implicating Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as one of the key players in MS pathogenesis. We present a 21-year-old male patient with a history of EBV-related infectious mononucleosis in puberty and Hodgkin's disease two years previously treated with irradiation and chemotherapy. The patient presented with spastic paraparesis that resolved promptly on corticosteroid treatment. There were no signs of Hodgkin's disease relapse. In the next three years he had three more bouts of the disease and he was diagnosed with relapse-remitting MS. There is evidence of EBV involvement in MS pathogenesis; the association of MS with EBV-related infectious mononucleosis and Hodgkin's disease being just one of them. Although there are many unanswered questions, it is clear that without EBV seropositivity MS in adults is extremely rare.     

Tyrosine hydroxylase cells appearing in the mouse striatum after dopamine denervation are likely to be projection neurones regulated by L-DOPA

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive (ir) neurones are detected in the striatum of animals after dopamine depletion and also in human parkinsonian patients. Although there is extensive evidence for TH-ir neurones in the lesioned rodent striatum, there are few details regarding the molecular phenotype of these neurones, regulation of their TH expression after l -3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatment and their function. In the present study, we examined the time-course of appearance of TH-ir neurones in the mouse striatum after 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion and determined their molecular phenotype. We found that TH-ir neurones appeared in the striatum as early as 3 days after a 6-OHDA lesion. By 1 week after the lesion, the number of TH-ir neurones started to decrease and this decrease progressed significantly over time. Treatment with L-DOPA increased both the number of TH-ir neurones and the intensity of their immunolabelling. The TH-ir neurones that appear after the 6-OHDA lesion in the striatum are not newly generated cells as they did not incorporate 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine. We found that the vast majority of TH-ir neurones colocalized with dynorphin and enkephalin, suggesting that they are projection neurones of the direct and indirect striatal output pathways. TH-ir neurones did not express the dopamine transporter but half of them expressed amino acid decarboxylase, an enzyme required for dopamine synthesis. Finally, striatal TH-ir neurones are functionally active, expressing the neuronal activation marker FosB in response to L-DOPA treatment. Promotion of these striatal TH-ir neurones may be beneficial in Parkinson's disease, particularly in the early stages when dopamine denervation is incomplete.     

Complexity of heartbeat interval series in young healthy trained and untrained men

The origin of heart rate variability (HRV) is largely in parasympathetic activity. The direct influence of sympathetic activity and other control mechanisms, especially at an increased HR, is not well understood. The objectives of the study were to investigate the influence of increasing HR on the properties of heartbeat interval (RR) series in young healthy subjects. ECG was recorded in 9 trained and 11 untrained young men during supine rest, standing, incremental running exercise and relaxation. During exercise, a breath-to-breath gas exchange was monitored. The RR time series analysis included the spectral analysis, detrended fluctuations analysis method and sample entropy (SampEn) calculation. During exercise, spectral powers were reduced dramatically in both groups. The dependence of short-term scaling exponent (alpha(1)) on the RR included a characteristic maximum, while SampEn for the same value of the RR had a minimum. The value of HR corresponding to the maximum of alpha(1) and minimum of SampEn (IHR) corresponded to the intrinsic HR obtained by an autonomic blockade. In trained subjects, the curves alpha(1) versus RR and SampEn versus RR were moved toward larger RR, compared with control. For HR values higher than IHR, alpha(1) decreased and SampEn increased. These results reveal that the complexity of the heart rhythm above intrinsic HR decreases with an increase in HR. We suggest that at the highest HR intrinsic heart control is reflected in the heart rhythm. We point out the possibility of developing a new non-invasive method for the determination of intrinsic HR from the curve alpha(1) versus RR.