A STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTED YOGA ON THE LEVEL OF ANXIETY, PREGNANCY DISCOMFORTS, CLINICAL PARAMETERS, MATERNAL AND NEONATAL OUTCOME AMONG PRIMIGRAVIDA WOMEN

Background: Pregnancy is a wonderful landmark in the life of a woman. It is the origin of human life. Pregnancy is a time of physical and hormonal changes and of emotional and psychological preparation for motherhood. Comforting techniques may enhance the women to settle and provide with an appreciation of personal capabilities. Therefore yoga can be an effective way to emancipate women during labour and to assist in attaining and maintaining their optimal level of functioning. Yoga is the great way to stay fit during pregnancy because yoga posture can easily meet the needs of pregnant women. It educates pregnant women to listen to their body and reduce stress and anxiety, and to calm the mind. Methodology: The research approach selected for this study was Quasi experimental -Pre and Post test design. The intervention for study group consisted of selected yoga which includes Asanas (tadasana, utkatasana, katichakrasana, konasana, ardhatitali, purnatitali), pranayama (nadishodhana, bhramari, sheetkari, sheetali, OM chanting), ashwini mudra, deep relaxation practice from 28th weeks of pregnancy till delivery. Result: There was a significant reduction in level of anxiety and pregnancy discomfort for primigravida women and improved maternal and neonatal outcome. The selected yoga was found to be effective in reduction of anxiety and pregnancy discomfort and improved the maternal and neonatal outcome for study group. Conclusion: Regular practices of selected yoga were effective in minimizing the level of anxiety during pregnancy, pregnancy discomfort and improving maternal and neonatal outcome.

Urticaria successfully treated with mindfulness and nutraceutical supplements

Background and purpose: To describe a patient with urticarial lesions which was successfully treated with mindfulness and nutraceuticals.Material and methods: Literature review and case report.Case report: A 20-year-old female patient with an unmarked past medical history presented with diffuse pruritic urticarial lesions associated with breathless and severe fatigue, lasting for 5 months. The lesions covered all body, except palms and plants. Hospitalized for three days, she received dexamethasone, promethazine, and subcutaneous adrenalin and discharged with fexofenadine, prednisone, and ranitidine. Mindfulness and relaxation practice were instructed and some nutraceuticals. After two months, she returned asymptomatic, without any new episodes of urticaria or fatigue. Conclusion: Most of the chronic urticaria patients are treated with antihistamines and/or steroids. This case illustrates an alternative holistic approach, combining mindfulness and relaxation practices with nutraceuticals. This alternative therapeutical strategy should be explored by back to back comparison to the conventional pharmaceutical approach.

Efficacy of a symptom self-management program with virtual reality device on inpatients post-acute myocardial infarction: A pilot randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. AMI is associated with poorer quality of life and other psychological symptoms (such as stress, depression and anxiety). Effective psychosocial interventions are essential to help patients post-AMI manage with the psychological symptoms. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test the efficacy of a newly-developed symptom self-management program on health outcomes among inpatients post-AMI METHODS A pilot randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial was utilized. A convenient sample of 90 was recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore. Adult inpatients with stable post-AMI were randomly assigned to the following three groups: IManage-VR, IManage-FF or control group. The IManage-VR and IManage-FF groups received standard care and a symptom self-management program through virtual-reality device or face-to-face method respectively. Two researchers delivered the interventions and assisted with relaxation practice. The control group received only standard care. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires and physiological instruments. Data analyses included univariate statistics, analysis of variance and repeated measure analysis of variance. RESULTS A total of 90 participants were recruited with 30 in each group. Results indicated that participants in the IManage-VR and IManage-FF group had significantly greater relaxation levels (Partial η2 = 0.11, 0.16), lower objective stress (Partial η2 =0.14, 0.06), and greater knowledge (Partial η2 = 0.62, 0.75) than those of the control group. The two intervention groups had lower subjective stress (Partial η2 = 0.04), depression (Partial η2 = 0.01), and anxiety (Partial η2 = 0.03) than the control but such differences did not achieve statistical significance. Furthermore, most participants (>90%) in the IManage-VR and IManage-FF groups reported that they were satisfied with the programs and they provided positive comments on the contents, educational materials and relaxation practice. CONCLUSIONS This pilot study supports the potential benefits and feasibility of the IManage-VR and IManage-FF interventions on stress, perceived relaxation, knowledge and patient satisfaction. Findings contribute to the current literature on psychosocial interventions for AMI where psychosocial educational materials could be added into the current cardiac rehabilitation programs. Future RCTs with multi-centered sites and larger sample size are required to further test the intervention. CLINICALTRIAL This study has been registered with International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial. Registration Number: ISRCTN61027816. http://www.controlled-trials.com/ ISRCTN61027816.

Brief Relaxation Practice Induces Significantly More Prefrontal Cortex Activation during Arithmetic Tasks Comparing to Viewing Greenery Images as Revealed by Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Background: There is little understanding on how brief relaxation practice and viewing greenery images would affect brain responses during cognitive tasks. In the present study, we examined the variation in brain activation of the prefrontal cortex during arithmetic tasks before and after viewing greenery images, brief relaxation practice, and control task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Method: This randomized controlled study examined the activation patterns of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in three groups of research participants who were exposed to viewing greenery images (n = 10), brief relaxation practice (n = 10), and control task (n = 11). The activation pattern of the PFC was measured pre- and post-intervention using a portable fNIRS device and reported as mean total oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO μm). Primary outcome of the study is the difference in HbO μm between post- and pre-intervention readings during a cognitive task that required the research participants to perform arithmetic calculation. Results: In terms of intervention-related differences, there was significant difference in average HbO μm when performing arithmetic tasks before and after brief relaxation practice (p < 0.05). There were significant increases in average HbO μm in the right frontopolar cortex (p = 0.029), the left frontopolar cortex (p = 0.01), and the left orbitofrontal cortex (p = 0.033) during arithmetic tasks after brief relaxation practice. In contrast, there were no significant differences in average HbO μm when performing arithmetic tasks before and after viewing greenery images (p > 0.05) and the control task (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Our preliminary findings show that brief relaxation practice but not viewing greenery images led to significant frontal lobe activation during arithmetic tasks. The present study demonstrated, for the first time, that there was an increase in activation in neuroanatomical areas including the combined effort of allocation of attentional resources, exploration, and memory performance after the brief relaxation practice. Our findings suggest the possibility that the right frontopolar cortex, the left frontopolar cortex, and the left orbitofrontal cortex may be specifically associated with the benefits of brief relaxation on the brain.

Placebo effects on the quantity and quality of relaxation training

Many people find it difficult to practice progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) regularly. We attempted to improve relaxation quantity (i.e. adherence), and relaxation quality via placebo. A total of 100 women were randomly assigned to a standard group, which practiced PMR at home every day for two weeks, or a placebo group, which practiced PMR for two weeks with additional daily placebo treatment. To monitor adherence to relaxation practice, we used a smartphone app. The placebo group practiced more often than the standard group. Both groups did not differ in their reported relaxation level after the daily exercises.

Diagnósticos de enfermagem à mulher com infecção puerperal

RESUMO Objetivo: identificar diagnósticos de enfermagem à mulher com infecção puerperal. Método: trata-se de estudo bibliográfico, descritivo, tipo revisão integrativa. Pesquisaram-se artigos nas bases de dados LILACS, MEDLINE e Biblioteca Virtual SciELO entre os anos de 2007 a 2016. Analisaram-se os dados de forma descritiva pelos resultados apresentados em figuras. Resultados: totalizaram-se 70 artigos e, após refinamento, 13 foram elegíveis para a discussão com a literatura. Conclusão: conclui-se que os diagnósticos de enfermagem, planejados pelo enfermeiro, avaliam os sentimentos maternos, estimulam a prática de relaxamento, promovem a autoestima às usuárias, transmitem confiança e dinâmica familiar, investigam fatores que aliviam a dor das puérperas e orientam procedimentos do autocuidado quanto ao banho e higiene do recém-nascido. Transmite-se confiança de quanto a usuária necessita para lidar com a situação atual, examinando a pele adjacente para detectar sinais flogísticos, estimulando a ingestão adequada de alimentação rica em fibras, conforme a prescrição médica, encorajando a puérpera em suas necessidades fisiológicas sem medo de se esforçar e estimulando a deambulação. Descritores: Gestantes; Parturientes; Hemorragia Pós-Parto; Mortalidade Materna; Infecção Puerperal; Saúde da Mulher.ABSTRACTObjective: to identify nursing diagnoses to women with puerperal infection. Method: this is a bibliographic, descriptive, integrative review type study. Articles in the LILACS, MEDLINE and SciELO Virtual Library databases were searched between 2007 and 2016. The data was analyzed in a descriptive way by the results presented in figures. Results: totaling 70 articles, and after refinement, 13 were eligible for discussion with the literature. Conclusion: Nursing diagnoses, planned by nurses, evaluate maternal feelings, stimulate relaxation practice, promote self-esteem among users, transmit confidence and family dynamics, investigate factors that relieve pain of puerperal women, and guide patient self-care about bathing and hygiene of the newborn. Reliability of how much the wearer needs to deal with the current situation is examined by examining adjacent skin for phlogistic signs, stimulating the appropriate intake of fiber-rich diet as prescribed by the physician, encouraging the puerpera in her physiological needs without fear of to strive and stimulate walking. Descriptors: Pregnancy; Parturient; Pospartum Hemorrhage; Maternal Mortality; Puerperal Infection; Women´s Health.RESUMENObjetivo: identificar diagnósticos de enfermería a la mujer con infección puerperal. Método: se trata de estudio bibliográfico, descriptivo, tipo revisión integrativa. Se investigaron artículos en las bases de datos LILACS, MEDLINE y Biblioteca Virtual SciELO entre los años de 2007 a 2016. Se analizaron los datos de forma descriptiva por los resultados presentados en figuras. Resultados: se totalizaron 70 artículos y, después de refinamiento, 13 fueron elegibles para la discusión con la literatura. Conclusión: se concluye que los diagnósticos de enfermería, planificados por el enfermero, evalúan los sentimientos maternos, estimulan la práctica de relajación, promueven la autoestima a las usuarias, transmiten confianza y dinámica familiar, investigan factores que alivian el dolor de las puérperas y orientan procedimientos del. autocuidado en cuanto al baño e higiene del recién nacido. Se transmite la confianza de cuánto la usuaria necesita para lidiar con la situación actual, examinando la piel adyacente para detectar señales flogistas, estimulando la ingestión adecuada de alimentación rica en fibra, conforme a la prescripción médica, alentando la puérpera en sus necesidades fisiológicas sin miedo de se esforzar y estimulando la deambulación. Descriptores: Embarazo; Mujeres Embarazadas; Hemorragia Posparto; Mortalidad Materna; Infección Puerperal; Salud de la Mujer.

Stressed, Sedentary, or Centered? How to Create a Culture of Well-Being in Your Classroom with Centered Well-Being Breaks

The CenteredBeing method (Carmack, 2008, 2011, 2014) has been called a "new office habit" by the Washington Post (2012) and has been practiced by over 30,000 practitioners worldwide, including the Pan American/World Health Organization. This session, led by creator Suzie Carmack, PhD, MFA, MEd, ERYT (a Mason graduate and current adjunct faculty member), will teach attendees how to bring the evidence-based CenteredBeing method into their classrooms and also into their day as a "centering" well-being break. Specifically, attendees will learn how basic yoga therapy exercises can improve functional health by fighting the 28 different health outcomes that have been linked to stress and sedentarism (Booth, 2001). Attendees will learn how to link these movements with easy-to-follow mindfulness and relaxation practice techniques and positive communication strategies, in ways that simultaneously foster physical, mental, social, and comprehensive well-being. The session, which has been shared with over 100 organizations previously, is delivered in an experiential learning style, culminating with the opportunity for participants to share the method in a small group practice. Attendees will complete the session (1) able to practice the CenteredBeing method to sustain their own well-being and (2) empowered to lead CenteredBeing (centered well-being) breaks in their classrooms.