Gender Differences in Patients with Intravenous Thrombolytic and Conservative Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Stoke is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. For decades, scientists have been developing techniques with goals to lower the incidence of stroke or eliminate it entirely. Biomedical engineers and Doctors at the Paracelsus Medical University have theorized that administering thrombolysis into a stroke inclined patient might reduce the chances the patient will have another stroke so an experiment was developed to test for validity. In the experiment conducted by analysts at the Paracelsus Medical University, over 2800 Ischemic stroke patients were admitted to the stroke unit and tested using thrombolytic treatment through an IV. After all the testing had commenced, results displayed a significant improvement in both genders after thrombolytic treatment, almost a 22.9% turnover. This being said, women had less of an improvement when it came to thrombolytic treatment showing that the utility of the thrombolytic treatment could be linked to the sex of a the patient.

Death by stroke has been tied throughout my family lineage, which is one of the reasons I found this article interesting.  There are many theories saying that stroke is linked to genetics and can be passed down a family line so any improvement for stroke patients could be used on me and my future family.

http://www.omicsonline.org/gender-differences-in-patients-with-intravenous-thrombolytic-and-conservative-treatment-for-acute-ischemic-stroke-2155-9562.1000117.php?aid=1627

Autonomous Biofeedback Therapy via Trance Induction for Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study focuses on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the therapy of some of the pervasive symptoms which interrupt attempts at normal life. Sugarman et al. specifically target hypnosis as the best means to alleviate ASD symptoms.

“Cognitive rigidity manifests by repetitive physical, often inappropriate, behaviors (spinning, twirling, rocking, tapping), narrowed perseverative foci of attention and interests, and resistance to change. This range of behaviors is commonly referred to as “Restrictive Repetitive Behaviors” (RRBs). Sugarman et al. view RRBs as self-induced therapeutic mechanisms that cope with inherent anxiety.

One form of therapy is autonomic biofeedback training. “Biofeedback is well established as a method for improving autonomic control and has been used extensively with children. Most systems translate physiological measurements into audiovisual effects that users can learn to control. Skin conductance, respiratory rate, peripheral skin temperature, and heart rate…In therapy, biofeedback training induces behavioral change by linking operant conditioning with cognitive anchors. In the same way that looking into a mirror causes us to change our facial expression, audiovisual information that changes with a physiological signal compels us to discern and control the direction of that signal.”

Sugarman et al. propose that children and patients with ASD and RRBs engage in autonomic biofeedback training through their RRBs to counteract stress. They theorize that patients may use their experiences with RRBs to modify their reactions: instead of externalizing and showing the physical effects of the RRB, the patient would internalize and only feel the comforting effects of the RRB.

One of the simpler ways to show the patients how to condition themselves is via guided conditioning through hypnosis. “[Sugarman et al.] consider clinical hypnosis an interpersonal interaction that utilizes focused, intensified, and internally-directed concentration…to cultivate change in maladaptive psychophysiological reflexes…It is theorized that this intensified attentional trance state more efficiently and effectively…leads to changes in psychophysiological reflexes by inducing plasticity of neurophysiological interactions.”

Sugarman et al. include a vignette depicting a successful case in which a similar strategy was utilized. If this therapy proves effective generally, then autonomous biofeedback through trance induction could, like the vignette, help thousands of those with ASD overcome typical struggles of daily life.

URL cited: http://www.tandfonline.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.2013.768197#.UqFmgvRDtiM