Macronutrient Composition or Social Determinants? Impact on Infant Outcomes With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

The purpose of this study was to examine, through a randomized, controlled trial, the effects of a maternal carbohydrate-restricted diet on maternal and infant outcomes in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Women diagnosed with GDM were randomly allocated into one of two groups: an intervention group that was placed on a lower-carbohydrate diet (35-40% of total calories) or a control group that was placed on the usual pregnancy diet (50-55% carbohydrate). A convenience sample of participants diagnosed with GDM (ages 18-45 years) was recruited from two different sites: one urban and low-income and the other suburban and more affluent. Individual face-to-face diet instruction occurred with certified diabetes educators at both sites. Participants tested their blood glucose four times daily. Specific socioeconomic status indicators included enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children or Medicaid-funded health insurance, as well as cross-sectional census data. All analyses were based on an intention to treat. Although there were no differences found between the lower-carbohydrate and usual-care diets in terms of blood glucose or maternal-infant outcomes, there were significant differences noted between the two sites. There was a lower mean postprandial blood glucose (100.59 ± 7.3 mg/dL) at the suburban site compared to the urban site (116.3 ± 15 mg/dL) (P <0.01), even though there was no difference in carbohydrate intake. There were increased amounts of protein and fat consumed at the suburban site (P <0.01), as well as lower infant complications (P <0.01). Further research is needed to determine whether these disparities in outcomes were the result of macronutrient proportions or environmental conditions.

A pilot study to increase fruit and vegetable intake in pregnant latina women.

UNLABELLED: Previous studies have suggested that women have low dietary intake of fruits and vegetables. This study's objective was to test the effectiveness of a novel nutrition intervention (education about prenatal flavor learning) on increasing fruit and vegetable intake in a group of primarily Latina women at an urban prenatal clinic. METHODS: The Harvard Service Food Frequency Questionnaire (HSFFQ) was administered to 2 groups at the same clinic at 2 time points for each group. The first group was a nonintervention, comparison group. The second (intervention) group received specific information about how a pregnant woman's food choices can influence subsequent solid food preferences of her infant, with encouragement given to increase fruit and vegetable choices. The HSFFQ was administered pre- and post-intervention for this group. RESULTS: Combined fruit and vegetable intake declined from the administration of Q#1 to Q#2 in both the comparison (n = 28) and intervention (n = 31) groups. The decline was primarily the result of a decrease in vegetable intake, but it was not statistically significant. In the comparison group, only 23.3-36.6% of women were eating adequate daily servings of vegetables, and in the intervention group 32.3%-38.7%. In both the comparison and intervention groups, over 74% of the women were eating adequate daily servings of fruit at both time points. CONCLUSIONS: In this Latina population of pregnant women, there was no difference in fruit and vegetable intake after receiving education about prenatal flavor learning. These findings suggest that education alone may not be sufficient to change health behaviors.

A biopsychosocial deconstruction of "personality change" following acquired brain injury.

The judgement of personality change following acquired brain injury (ABI) is a powerful subjective and social action, and has been shown to be associated with a range of serious psychosocial consequences. Traditional conceptualisations of personality change (e.g., Lishman, 1998) have largely derived from individualist concepts of personality (e.g., Eysenck, 1967). These assume a direct link between neurological damage and altered personhood, accounting predominantly for their judgements of change. This assumption is found as commonly in family accounts of change as in professional discourse. Recent studies and perspectives from the overlapping fields of social neuroscience, cognitive approaches to self and identity and psychosocial processes following ABI mount a serious challenge to this assumption. These collectively identify a range of direct and indirect factors that may influence the judgement or felt sense of change in personhood by survivors of ABI and their significant others. These perspectives are reviewed within a biopsychosocial framework: neurological and neuropsychological deficits, psychological mechanisms and psychosocial processes. Importantly, these perspectives are applied to generate a range of clinical interventions that were not identifiable within traditional conceptualisations of personality changes following ABI.

Fear of falling after brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and nature of fear of falling in a sample of people with severe acquired brain injury. DESIGN: A descriptive study. SETTING: A regional inpatient neurological rehabilitation unit. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and five adults with acquired brain injury of mixed aetiology. PROCEDURE: All 105 participants were rated by observers who were asked to judge the degree to which fear behaviour interfered with rehabilitation therapy (activity limitation). Eighty-two participants also rated themselves. They were asked to report the degree of distress caused by fear. Both participants and observers were asked to describe the focus of any reported fear. Two stepwise logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify variables that predicted fear giving rise to significant activity limitation and fear giving rise to significant subjective distress. MAIN MEASURES: Self and observer rating scales designed and constructed specifically for the study. RESULTS: Raters reported significant fear-related activity limitation in 12-15% of participants. Significant fear-related subjective distress was reported by 40% of participants. Fear of falling, fear of physical harm and fear of not making sufficient rehabilitation progress dominated the reports of both observers and participants. The variables predicting significant activity limitation were premorbid alcohol misuse, low functional ability and the occurrence of a fall since onset. The variables predicting significant subjective distress were poor motor coordination and organization, and good verbal comprehension. CONCLUSION: Fear of falling is a clinically significant phenomenon in younger adults recovering from severe acquired brain injury. Fear sufficient to cause high degrees of subjective distress was often not evident to observers. Proactive questioning about fear of falling is therefore advisable when working clinically with this group.

Post-traumatic growth in acquired brain injury: a preliminary small scale study.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To examine the nature, degree and time course of positive psychological change in people with severe acquired brain injury. RESEARCH DESIGN: This preliminary exploratory study employed a cross-sectional design, comparing two matched samples, one early post-brain injury (M = 7 months) and one late post-brain injury (M = 10 years). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Sense of Coherence Scale-13 (SOC-13) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were administered. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The samples differed significantly with respect to reported post-traumatic growth, with the late sample reporting higher levels. HADS anxiety was significantly associated with post-traumatic growth. Both samples achieved high scores on the SOC-13. CONCLUSIONS: The participants showed evidence of substantial positive psychological change, demonstrating that it is not precluded by severe brain injury. The results suggest that this develops slowly over time and requires a degree of emotional engagement.

Beyond restoration to transformation: positive outcomes in the rehabilitation of acquired brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: This paper compares the situation of the person with acquired brain injury to that of the people of Israel in the sixth century BCE (before the current era) during the period of exile in Babylon. Both situations are characterized by traumatic multiple losses, and a struggle to regain a sense of identity: personal, national or spiritual. Evidence from the literature on both brain injury rehabilitation and from the Hebrew Scriptures indicates that models of restoration of function and transformation of suffering have been applied to both situations. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these models are considered, and it is argued that models of transformation of suffering have much to offer, especially in the longer term psychotherapeutic rehabilitation of people with acquired brain injury, when restoration of function has reached its limits.

A study of emotionalism in patients undergoing rehabilitation following severe acquired brain injury.

The present study describes the phenomenon of emotionalism in a sample of brain injured patients of mixed aetiology, with a view to identifying issues relevant to clinical management, and possible causal factors. 82 subjects with severe acquired brain injury undergoing rehabilitation participated in a structured interview in which they were asked to report the presence/absence of emotionalism and degree of distress associated with it. Their overt crying behaviour was also observed and recorded. Independent variables that predicted crying during the interview were identified using a multiple logistic regression procedure. Prevalence rates of emotionalism-tearfulness were high in this sample (52% self-report, 36--41% Emotionalism-laughter was much less common (13%) Emotionalism-tearfulness was usually accompanied by negative affect, occurred in response to identifiable precipitants, and was often controllable. It was associated with major personal distress in about half the subjects who reported it. Independent variables which predicted crying behaviour were female gender and focal damage to the right cerebral hemisphere. It is concluded that an increased readiness to cry is common in people with severe acquired brain injury of mixed aetiology. The behaviour is meaningful, though not always distressing. The intensity of the behaviour is variable, and it may be most appropriate to regard emotionalism as a dimension rather than a syndrome. Implications for clinical management are discussed.