Psychosomatic medicine
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Psychosomatic medicine · Nov 2018
Reduced Fear-Conditioned Pain Modulation in Experienced Meditators: A Preliminary Study.
Mindfulness-based practice is a form of cognitive/affective training that may help reduce suffering by attenuating maladaptive anticipatory processes. This study's objective was to examine the pain modulating impact of classical fear learning in meditation practitioners. ⋯ These results highlight potential mechanisms underlying mindfulness-related hypoalgesia, relevant to clinical conditions in which repeated pain exposure might reinforce hyperalgesic processes through fear conditioning.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Sep 2018
Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a General Population and Future Risk of Bloodstream Infection: The HUNT Study.
We examined whether anxiety and depression symptoms constitute increased risk of bloodstream infection (BSI), as a proxy for sepsis. ⋯ Severe depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with a moderately increased risk of BSI. The association may, at least in part, be confounded or mediated by comorbidities, BMI, and life-style. Future research should investigate whether interventions targeting improved BMI and life-style may reduce the risk of BSI and sepsis in people with depression and anxiety symptoms.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jul 2018
Comparative StudySlowly Repeated Evoked Pain as a Marker of Central Sensitization in Fibromyalgia: Diagnostic Accuracy and Reliability in Comparison With Temporal Summation of Pain.
This study examined the diagnostic accuracy and test-retest reliability of a novel dynamic evoked pain protocol (slowly repeated evoked pain [SREP]) compared with temporal summation of pain (TSP), a standard index of central sensitization. ⋯ SREP seems to be a dynamic evoked pain index tapping into pain sensitization that allows for greater diagnostic accuracy in identifying FM patients compared with a standard TSP protocol. Further research is needed to study mechanisms underlying SREP and the potential utility of adding SREP to standard pain evaluation protocols.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Jun 2018
Observational StudyCross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations of Systolic Blood Pressure With Quality of Life and Depressive Mood in Older Adults With Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Results From the Observational DIAST-CHF Study.
Although diagnosed arterial hypertension and antihypertensive medication usually have an adverse impact on quality of life, recent studies suggest that actual blood pressure may be positively related to better well-being. However, data in older patients with cardiovascular risk factors are lacking, for whom such an association may be of particular relevance. ⋯ In older adults with cardiovascular risk factors, higher systolic blood pressure readings are independently related to better quality of life and fewer depressive symptoms in both cross-sectional and longitudinal settings, although the magnitude of the effect sizes is typically small.
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Psychosomatic medicine · Apr 2018
Cortisol and Subjective Stress Responses to Acute Psychosocial Stress in Fibromyalgia Patients and Control Participants.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction may play a role in fibromyalgia (FM) pathogenesis but it remains understudied in this disorder. Furthermore, early childhood adversities (ECA) are common in FM, but whether they moderate stress reactivity is unknown. Hence, we investigated cortisol and subjective responses to acute psychosocial stress in FM and controls, while adjusting for ECA. ⋯ Blunted cortisol responsivity to the TSST was observed in FM patients compared with controls without ECA. FM patients had higher subjective stress levels compared with controls, particularly at baseline and during recovery from the TSST. In FM patients, ECA history was not associated with cortisol or subjective stress levels or with responsivity to the TSST. Future research should investigate the mechanisms underlying hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation in FM.