abstract: Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy is a major public health concern. Studies have reported more than 70% of pregnant women gain excessive weight which may pose increased maternal and fetal risks. Little is known about the relationships of GWG to behavioral factors (i.e., physical activity, sleep, social support) and maternal mental health (i.e., stress, anxiety, depression) during pregnancy. This descriptive, cross-sectional study explored the relationships of GWG to behavioral factors and maternal mental health during pregnancy. Secondarily, this study described the preferences, uses of, and interests in alternative approaches as well as the mental health differences between users and non-users of alternative approaches during pregnancy. A national survey was administered to women ≥8 weeks pregnant, ≥18 years old, and residing in the United States (N=968). Bivariate correlations were used to determine relationships between GWG and variables of interest. Independent t-tests were used to observe mental health differences between users and non-users of alternative approaches. Data were analyzed throughout pregnancy and by trimester. Throughout pregnancy, significant relationships were found in GWG to stressful events (r=-.112, p<.01), depression (r=.066, p<.05), mindfulness (r=-.067, p<.05), and sleep (r=.089, p<.01). When GWG was assessed by trimester, stressful events were significant in the second (r=-.216, p<.01) and third trimesters (r=-.085, p<.05). Depression remained positively related to GWG in the first (r=.409, p<.01) and second trimesters (r=.162, p<.01). A positive relationship emerged between GWG and anxiety in the first trimester (r=.340, p<.01) and physical activity became significant in the second (r=-.136; p<.05) and third trimesters (r=-.100; p<.05). Mindfulness was the only variable significantly related to GWG throughout all time points. Mean anxiety (d=.236; p=.001) and depression (d=.265; p<.001) scores were significantly lower in users compared to non-users of alternative approaches throughout pregnancy and when assessed by trimester anxiety (d=.424; p=.001) and depression (d=.526; p<.001) were significant in the second trimester. This study provides a framework for future analyses in GWG and maternal mental health. The information presented here may inform future interventions to test the effectiveness of alternative approaches to simultaneously manage maternal mental health and GWG due to the integrative nature of alternative approaches. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Exercise and Wellness 2015

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-09-21T12:18:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 rogersteixeirasoares.pdf: 691520 bytes, checksum: f91c2155ef7720c4ceeca6b9bc70dff0 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Diamantino Mayra (mayra.diamantino@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-09-26T20:26:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 rogersteixeirasoares.pdf: 691520 bytes, checksum: f91c2155ef7720c4ceeca6b9bc70dff0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-26T20:26:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 rogersteixeirasoares.pdf: 691520 bytes, checksum: f91c2155ef7720c4ceeca6b9bc70dff0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-25 / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Este trabalho analisa o paradigma médico-espírita, proposto por médicos espíritas, e as estratégias empreendidas para legitimá-lo frente à sociedade e à medicina oficial na atualidade. Os proponentes desse paradigma estão organizados em associações denominadas Associações Médico-Espíritas (AMEs), cuja história abordaremos sucintamente. Essas associações, coordenadas pela Associação Médico-Espírita do Brasil (AME-Brasil), criada em São Paulo, em 1995, estão presentes em várias cidades e Estados, totalizando 36 entidades. Os seus associados têm publicado livros, promovido palestras, congressos e campanhas com o escopo de obter mudanças nos conceitos da medicina oficial. Além de analisarmos as estratégias de legitimação utilizadas pelos médicos associados às AMEs, analisamos também a maneira como eles aliam ciência e religião num só paradigma. / This study analyzes the medical-spiritist paradigm proposed by Spiritist physicians and the strategies to legitimize it before society and the official medicine at present. Proponents of this paradigm are organized into associations named as Medical-Spiritist Associations (AMEs), whose history we discuss briefly. These associations, coordinated by the Spiritist Medical Association of Brazil (AME-Brazil), were created in São Paulo in 1995 and are present in several cities and states, totaling 36 entities. Its members have been publishing books, promoting lectures, conferences and campaigns, aiming at achieving changes in concepts of official medicine. Besides analyzing the strategies used by physicians associated with the AMEs in order to achieve legitimacy, we also analyze how science and religion are combined into a single paradigm.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of non-infectious diseases that cause hyperglycemia. DM symptoms were first clinically described by ancient Greek physicians whose prescriptions included plant-based remedies. Today, DM affects >400 million people globally and prevalence rates are rapidly increasing in developing countries where basic healthcare relies on local knowledge of botanical remedies. Many developing countries are home to diverse peoples and plants—providing fodder for varied plant-selection strategies and unique botanical pharmacopoeias. I addressed the plant-selection strategies used in a multi-ethnic, developing country, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), to ascertain their role in shaping the local antidiabetic pharmacopoeia and to assess their benefits and risks in identifying safe and useful remedies. Using literature reviews, field surveys, and laboratory bioassays, I completed three categories of analysis. Ethnobotanical analyses showed that T&T’s antidiabetic pharmacopoeia is primarily of recent origin as >50% of the 48 historical DM remedies were Neotropical natives, including congenerics of well-known medicinal Paleotropical genera. Nevertheless, conservative knowledge transmission was also evident as several Paleotropical species of T&T’s pharmacopoeia, including Momordica charantia and Catharanthus roseus were also used in Africa, India and across the Caribbean. Paleotropical natives with a long history of use are likely to be safer remedies. Ethno-medicinal analyses of the pre- and post-2000 DM remedies of T&T, totaling 99 species, suggest that the centuries-old hot/cold folk disease-model was the model predominantly used in plant-selection. Parallels found between T&T folk concepts and biomedical mechanisms of DM provide probable bases for efficacy but the chronic use of purgatives and bitter-tasting plants is likely to be risky. Phytochemical analyses revealed that 69% of the tested plant extracts contained phenolic compounds, with more than half producing >80% alpha-glucosidase inhibition. Phenolic content and alpha-glucosidase inhibition were strongly correlated among food plants used as medicines, suggesting higher probability of selection as a result of non-target effects. The medicinal use of food plants may provide the best margins of safety and efficacy in identifying antidiabetic remedies. Together, these analyses showed how culture-specific plant-selection strategies can identify safe, useful remedies for developing countries to address their increasing DM prevalence in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.

Women’s mortality rate in the United States has increased in almost every age group in the past several years. However, more women in the United States are choosing yoga as a complementary health approach to improve general well-being. Thus, research on yoga and other factors that affect women’s health in the United States may inform public health initiatives to address the health disparities in women’s mortality rates. Grounded in the health belief model, the purpose of this study was to explore whether the factors of practicing the components of yoga, doctor’s recommendation for increased physical activity, body mass index (BMI) categories, hypertension, high cholesterol, age, and occupation predicted the self-rated health of women. This cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the 2017 National Health Interview Survey included 14,464 female respondents, and ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to examine the data. The results showed that self-reported participation in yoga, breathing as a part of yoga, and meditation as a part of yoga was associated with higher self-rated health. Additionally, participants with healthy weight BMI, teachers, and participants who did not receive recommendations for increased physical activity and did not have hypertension or high cholesterol were more likely to report better self-rated health. Based on the results of this study, public health researchers may continue to explore the effects of yoga on women and how a yoga-based population health intervention could help women in the United States live longer and healthier lives.

The interest of anthropology of religion often focuses on the view of life and values of practitioners of a religion or spiritual system and the following text is put into the same context. This master thesis deals with the Reiki phenomenon - originally eastern spiritual technique that was, just like other similar philosophical-spiritual systems, spread out in America and Europe in the second half of twentieth century. Reiki has another distinct feature, besides spirituality. It is its affiliation to so called healing systems because of which I do not consider it purely spiritual system, but rather specific spiritual praxis with healing aspect that is historically connected with medical environment. I base my theory not only on anthropology of religion, but I also think in terms of medical anthropology and the theory of embodiment. Through explaining of basic Reiki principles, I am showing that the world of Reiki practitioners is to a certain extent divided. The evolution of the teaching led to many significantly different modifications and to current state, where these modifications coexist and make one single definition of the teaching very difficult. The perspective of embodiment allows me to focus more in detail on the healing praxis itself and its most important aspect - the body, which I see...

Bakgrund: Komplementär och alternativmedicin (KAM) är ett samlingsbegrepp för tusentals olika metoder och terapier som mestadels eller delvis står utanför den konventionella etablerade vården. De senaste årtiondena har KAM blivit en allt vanligare inslag i människors liv. Vårdpersonal möter KAM i sitt jobb antingen för att man integrerat metoder eller för att de möter patienter som använder KAM. WHO har uppmärksammat betydelsen av KAM som komplement till konventionell vård och menar att KAM bör bli en självklar del inom den etablerade vården. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka sjuksköterskors förhållningssätt till KAM.  Metod: Metoden är en litteraturöversikt. Artiklar söktes i tre databaser och 14 vetenskapliga originalartiklar valdes ut till resultatet, tio kvantitativa, två kvalitativa och en två med mixad metod. Artiklarna analyserades enligt Forsberg och Wengströms (2015) analys i fem steg.  Resultat: Resultatet utmynnade i fyra teman som var: KAM som en väg till holistisk vård, KAM som ett viktigt komplement till konventionell vård, Efterfrågan på kunskap och utbildning och Patientsäkerhet och efterfrågan på evidens.  Slutsats: Sjuksköterskorna upplever KAM som ett komplement till konventionell vård, då det bidrar till en mer holistisk vård. Det finns dock en bristande kunskap hos sjuksköterskor om KAM, som skulle kunna kompletteras med mer utbildning. Efterfrågan på mer evidens framkom också. / Background: Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) is a generic term for thousands of methods that for the most part or partly is practiced outside of conventional care. The latest decades CAM has seen an upswing and have become more common in the everyday life of people. Caregivers encounter CAM in their job either because CAM have been integrated or because of that they meet patients that use CAM. WHO has brought up the significance of CAM as a complement to conventional care and claim that CAM should become a given part within the established healthcare.  Aim: The aim was to examine nurses’ approach to CAM.   Method: The method is a literary review. Articles was searched in three databases and 14 scientific articles were selected, ten of quantitative design, two of qualitative design and two with a mixed methods design. The articles were analyzed according to Forsberg and Wengströms (2015) analysis in five steps. Results: The results were summarized in four themes that was: CAM as a way to holistic healthcare, CAM as an important complement to conventional healthcare, A demand for knowledge and education and Patient safety and a demand for more evidence.  Conclusion: The nurses perceive CAM as a complement to conventional care, as it contributes to a holistic healthcare. However, there is a lack of knowledge of among nurses about CAM that could be supplemented with more training. There is a need for more evidence and research.

Chronic diseases are among the leading causes of death globally, and as much as 80% of these deaths are reported to be preventable with proper diet and lifestyle. Although extensive research has demonstrated that the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables offers protective health effects from many chronic illnesses, populations in both developed and developing nations consistently fall short of the recommended intake of 5 or more servings a day. This study investigated the effects of daily consumption of Green Smoothies for 4 consecutive weeks on blood pressure and health-related quality of life. Green Smoothies are a blended drink consisting of fruit, leafy greens and water. The study was a randomized controlled trial with a final sample of 29 volunteer participants. Data were collected at baseline and post-intervention and included anthropometric and physiologic measures, as well as a nutrition survey. The treatment group demonstrated trends toward improvements in waist circumference (p = 0.026), waist-to-hip ratio (p = 0.05), and symptoms of burden linked to diet (p = 0.04), small intestine (p = 0.04), large intestine (p = 0.05), and mineral needs (p = 0.04). Despite the lack of statistically significant reductions in blood pressure, the trend toward improvements in waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio are considered to be useful and informative of health risk. Thus, the results of this study provide preliminary support for the consumption of Green Smoothies as a possible primary prevention effort for chronic conditions. It may also help to reduce health risks or even reverse the effects of chronic conditions.

As of January 2017, the U.S. poultry industry banned the use of antibiotics and now relies on alternatives such as probiotics to help protect animal health. Although probiotic use is not a new concept in the poultry industry, identifying the best combination of bacterial strains to generate an effective probiotic formula requires further investigation. This study aimed to detect a probiotic product of four bacterial strains (Pedioccoccus acidilactici, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Bacillus subtilis) in a feeding trial with broiler chickens. Birds given the probiotic were predicted to show an improved growth performance with the probiotics colonizing the gut. Ninety-six broiler chickens were equally divided into 3 treatment and 3 control pens. During the 25-day experiment, birds were fed a starter diet (days 0-11) and a grower diet (days 12-25). Experimental birds were administered the probiotic product via the drinking water at a concentration of 3.1×104 CFU/ml. Control birds had an equivalent amount of dextrose filler added to their water supply. Feces were collected hourly on day one and daily thereafter. On days 1, 22, and 25 of the experiment, 2 birds from each pen were euthanized for gut sampling. Lumen and mucosa samples were collected from the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and ceca. Species-specific and strain specific PCR primers were employed for probiotic detection. Wild strains of P. acidilactici, P. pentosaceus, and L. plantarum were detected in the feeds, inhibiting detection of the probiotic strains when using species-specific PCR primers. Strain-specific primers were used to detect the probiotic Pedioccoccus acidilactici and Lactobacillus plantarum strains. B. subtilis was detected in feces within one hour of probiotic administration and was predominantly detected in experimental birds only. Both P. acidilactici and L. plantarum probiotic strains were initially detected in the feces of treated birds within two hours of probiotic administration and again ten days later. Both L. plantarum and B. subtilis were seen only in treated bird gut samples. L. plantarum was predominantly detected in the ceca near the end of the small intestine. P. pentosaceus was observed more often in treated gut samples and P. acidilactici was the least commonly detected probiotic strain. All administered bacteria were rarely seen in mucosa samples. Feed-endogenous P. acidilactici and L. plantarum strains became progressively more detectable in the mucosa along the gastrointestinal tract suggesting gut colonization, however, probiotic strains did not appear to colonize the mucosa of treated birds. Although probiotic strains were no longer detected after product removal, all probiotic strains were detected in feces and gut samples during probiotic administration, suggesting the bacteria can colonize the gut. Probiotic supplementation did not result in significant differences in body weight gain, feed intake, or feed conversion ratio. However, birds growing in a more stressful environment than the carefully controlled experimental set up used here may show probiotic-related effects. This study identified that the probiotic bacteria appeared to survive the gastrointestinal tract, exhibited a transit time of 1-2 hours, could possibly colonize chickens, and localized near the end of the chicken gut.

No description available.

Following cultural anthropological inquiry, this dissertation examines the adoption of shamanic healing techniques into Western medicine and the resultant hybrid modality of health care fostered by two disparate healing traditions. As the U.S. populace increasingly turns to alternative forms of healing in conjunction with, or in lieu of, conventional Western medicine, shamanic healing has been added to the list of recognized non-conventional therapies. Shamanism, once prevalent throughout most of the world in various cultural forms, is purported to be the oldest healing modality, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia. Historical excoriation and extermination from religious and political dogma have plagued shamanic cultures for centuries while their healing practices have been rebuked by Western concepts emergent from the Scientific Revolution--whereupon the Cartesian Split and a corporeal view of the body transformed the field of medicine. In the United States, over the last decade, a new and growing subculture of health care practitioners, including "Western" educated medical practitioners, is seeking out shamanic training for personal and professional development. This study examines how the adoption of a healing paradigm borne out of indigenous cultures oriented toward communal living and local economies is adapted to a Western culture steeped in individualism, commercialization, and commodification. Through surveys, interviews, and ethnographic research, the investigator provides numerous examples and analysis of the practice of shamanic healing techniques in medical clinics, health care centers, and hospitals. In particular, this study will focus on the shamanic training of health care practitioners, their motivations, the manner in which they incorporate shamanic healing techniques into their treatment protocols, as well as patient/colleague/administrative responses and institutional barriers. A comparative analysis provides discussion on both the metamorphosis of shamanic healing traditions appropriated within a biomedical framework as well as the influence of spiritually-based healing practices upon the established medical culture in the United States today. Through the lens of highlighted individual experiences, the investigator offers insight into an emerging hybrid healing modality embedded in cultural contrasts that also serves as a catalyst for the renegotiation of the meaning of healing.