Wholistic News Reviews: Traditional, Complementary, Alternative, and Psycho-Social Modalities of Treatment

by Larry Lachman, PsyD

Download PDF

Return to Master Table of Contents

Keeping Job Stress to Yourself Can Hurt Your Heart

In a prospective cohort study involving 2,755 men in the workplace, Dr. Constanze Leineweber and colleagues at Stockholm University’s Stress Research Institute found that male employees who did not show their feelings when believing they were being mistreated on the job had twice as likely a chance to have a heart attack in a ten year period than those men who did express their true feelings. When assessing the 47 men out of the entire sample who did end up having heart attacks or who died from a heart attack, they found that the use of a “covert coping” style led to a 2.29 times higher risk of a myocardial infarction than those who did not use this coping strategy. The researchers conclude that covert coping in the workplace “…is strongly related to increased risk of hard-end-point cardiovascular disease.”

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2009; doi: 10.1136

A Child’s Asthma Can Be Made Worse By The Mother’s Depression

Dr. Michiko Otsuki from the University of South Florida along with colleagues at John Hopkins Children’s Center in Maryland found that a mother’s depression can antecedently worsen their child’s asthma rather than it being a result of their child being sick. The researchers studied 262 mothers of African American children who had asthma by giving them telephonically an 11 item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Scale which revealed that children who had mothers who reported less depression had less frequent asthma symptoms themselves. Dr. Otsuki and colleagues conclude, “…it may seem that we’re dealing with a chicken-egg situation…the fact that mom’s depression was not affected by how often her child had symptoms…suggested which factor comes first…” (the depression).

Journal of Pediatric Psychology (2009; doi:10.1093)

Male and Female Teen Delinquent Behavior and Alcohol Use

Dr. Jenny Eklund and colleagues at the Centre for Health Equity Studies, at the Stockholm University/Karolinska Institute in Sweden studied 406 male and 532 female eighth graders with the average age of 14 by using a five point self-rating alcohol use and delinquent behavior scale and found that those adolescents who reported the highest occurrence of alcohol use or drunkenness also exhibited a pattern of either serious non-violent delinquent behaviors or violent behaviors. Seventy point two percent of the male subjects and 59.2% of the female subjects had committed at least one violent act with 23.3% of the males and 15% of the females reporting drinking large amounts of alcohol and 25.95% of the males and 21.4% of the females reporting getting drunk. The researchers conclude, “…Concerning alcohol use, drinking large amounts of alcohol was more common among males, while there was no sex difference in reported drunkenness. The lack of correspondence between these findings might partly be explained by the fact that females are more easily influenced by alcohol than males, due to size and metabolic differences… Our findings further support previous research reporting an association between antisocial behavior and alcohol use or misuse in adolescents … despite the different occurrence of delinquent behavior and alcohol use among males and females, the relationship between delinquent behavior and alcohol use appears to be similar for both sexes…”

Alcohol and Alcoholism 2009; 44(6), 607-614

Women in the United States Avoiding Preventative Health Care Due to Stress

Dr. Whitney Witt and colleagues at the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin studied 9,166 women aged 18-49 who took part in the 1998 National Health Interview Survey in the Sample Adult Core component and found that women who were psychologically distressed (27%) were more likely to delay obtaining routine preventative health care and health insurance – as well as not having a standard medical location to receive their care – as compared to non-distressed women in the sample (21.8%). The researchers conclude, “…Approximately one in five women did not receive a routine physical exam in the last two years and delayed routine care was more frequent for women with psychological distress than (for) women without….”

Journal of Primary Prevention 2009; 30(5), 531-547

Type-2 Diabetic Women and Folic Acid/B Vitamin Treatment Lowering Homocysteine Levels – Effective or Ineffective?

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood that has been linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk and possibly to arterial damage as well as contributing to the cause or onset of Type-2 Diabetes. Dr. Yiqing Song and colleagues at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, researched whether lowering the blood levels of homocysteine by the use of B vitamins and folic acid would prevent the risk of developing Type­2 Diabetes. The researchers conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 5, 442 women professionals 40 years of age or older with a history of cardiovascular disease or who had the presence of CVD risk factors. Of these subjects, 4252 were free of diabetes at baseline. Those in the experimental group received 2.5 mg of folic acid, 50mg of vitamin B-6 and 1 mg of vitamin B-12 daily. The results showed that there was no difference in the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes between the experimental/active treatment group and the control group DESPITE significantly lowering homocysteine levels. The researchers conclude, “…Lowering homocysteine levels by daily supplementation with folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 did not reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes among women at high risk for CVD…”

Diabetes 2009; 58(8),1921-1928

Salt Intake and The Risk of Stroke or Coronary Vascular Disease

Dr. Passquale Strazzullo and colleagues at the Federico II University of the Naples Medical School in Naples, Italy conducted a meta-analysis of studies from 1966 to the present and found that out of 19 independent cohort samples from 13 studies with a total sample of 177,025 participants which included 11,000 plus vascular events, higher salt intake was associated with a greater risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease (especially in those studies that were longer in length and which involved high sodium intake levels.) An average difference in intake of about 5 grams of salt per day was associated with a 23% risk of stroke and a 17% increase in coronary vascular disease. The average salt intake in most Western countries is 10 grams of salt per day which is twice the recommended intake suggested by the World Health Organization. The researchers conclude, “…High salt intake is associated with significantly increased risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease…These results support the role of a substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease…the case for population-wide salt reduction is now stronger…a reduced intake of salt not only lowers blood pressure but also prevents its major sequelae – stroke and other cardiovascular diseases…”

British Medical Journal 2009; 339:b4567,doi: 10.1136

Larry Lachman, PsyD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist based in La Jolla, California, who is the co-author of a book on coping with cancer entitled, “Parallel Journeys.” Dr. Lachman is a Psychology Instructor at Chapman University and Argosy University in San Diego.  Contact: http://www.drlarrylachman.com 

Return to Master Table of Contents