Chronic stress is associated with high cortisol levels and emotional coping mechanisms in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the association between cortisol levels, chronic stress and coping in subjects with amnestic-type mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). METHODS: Cortisol levels were measured using morning saliva samples from 33 individuals with aMCI and from 41 healthy elderly. Chronic stress was evaluated with the Stress Symptoms List (SSL), whereas coping strategies were assessed using the Jalowiec Coping Scale. RESULTS: aMCI subjects with high SSL scores presented higher cortisol levels (p = 0.045). Furthermore, aMCI subjects who employed emotion-focused coping had higher SSL scores (p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: The association between increased cortisol secretion, chronic stress and coping strategies may be modulated by the presence or absence of cognitive impairment, where memory defi- cit awareness constitutes an additional potential factor involved in high stress severity.

[Surgical patients and their anxieties]. / Algumas considerações sobre o paciente cirúrgico e a ansiedade.

This study aims at giving theoretical aspects of the anxiety and discussing about the difficulty faced by nurses to evaluate the emotional state of the patient, considering that the theoretical basis of the nurse is not enough to interfere in this situation.

[Coping: meanings, interference in the health-disease process and relevance to nursing]. / Coping: significados, interferência no processo saúde-doença e relevância para a enfermagem.

This article is a bibliographic review about Coping in a cognitive-interactionist model. The goal is to analyse this psychological referencial within the health-illness process and stress its importance and the possible ways to be worked by nurses, understanding that it can be an important model which direct them in the development of their essistencial works.

[Being a mother affected with AIDS: reliving the original sin]. / Ser mãe e estar com'AIDS: o revivescimento do pecado original.

This study aimed to understand the meaning of being with AIDS among HIV/AIDS mothers. It looks for to identify the emotions and the way of cope with the situation as a mother has a healthy son. This study was conducted based on the Social Representations Theory. The findings showed "to be mother" and "to have AIDS" represented as a process that does not finish in the disease itself. Also it was found that there is a polarize link between the good and the evil. Indeed, this study brought the sexuality likewise the polarized link, being AIDS linked to evil aspect. These women from this study had perceived themselves as guilty of something, as a result, they deserved the punishment that the AIDS imposed on them.

[The effect of anxiety on the patient's cognition in the postoperative period]. / A influência da ansiedade na resposta do paciente no período pós-operatório.

The man confronting surgery and anesthesia, has hormonal alterations provoked by the anxiety, modulated by the cognitive evaluation done in the person that faces this situation and were accompanied by perceptible physiologic alterations. The goals of this study were to verify the influence of trate-anxiety and state-anxiety in psychobiological manifestation of patient in immediate post-operative period. The data were collected using trate and state anxiety inventary, two questionnaires to evaluate clinical conditions of 33 surgical patients. The data were collected in immediate pre-operative and post-operative periods. The results showed a significative correlation between trate and state anxiety in pre-operative period. There was no significative correlation among state anxiety in pre-operative period and clinical conditions in post-operative period. As conclusion, the correlation was no significative among trate anxiety, state anxiety and psychobiological manifestations in post-operative period.

[Quality of life from the viewpoint of patients with spinal cord lesions]. / Qualidade de vida sob a ótica de pessoas que apresentam lesão medular.

Before the existence is negotiating of individuals that present lesion medular, we came across the problem involved in the daily of those people after a situation of sudden and unexpected trauma. With the intention of rendering effective cares to these people worried, in this study, in identifying the situation for the which they are passing, there were been changes and which were them, so much in psychic level as physicist and social. For so much, he/she/it opted for the accomplishment of a semi-structured individual interview, being used the resource of the recording, the instrument of collection of data consists of identification data and data regarding the interviewee's life. The speech free with recording and posterior transcription characterizes a study of case of nature, above all, exploratory. The obtained data received a thematic analysis using conceptions about life quality according to FORATTINI (1991). In this study they were identified a physical deficiency and a series of inabilities. The deambulação is the first loss noticed by the patient after the lesion and its first subject to the professional closer of him, it is that settles down a communication channel that allows this expression. But we should remember the possible process of rehabilitation that doesn't approach only the search for the locomoção, permeating the re-learning in this new life situation. We verified modifications in all the spheres (physics, social, psychological), and the most affected. according to the picked data, went the psychological and to social due to the physical alterations. The main loss sensation refers to the social paper, and this is characterized, mainly, for the impossibility of coming back to the work. The changes in the solemnity-image conceptions and self-esteem were also identified, in smaller degree, for the sensation of inability. The more important and comprehensibly told physical loss refers the sensibility loss and motive capacity of the members.

[Social roles of hospitalized patients]. / Singularidade dos sujeitos na vivência dos papéis sociais envolvidos na hospitalização.

The research brings emotions, behaviors and feelings analysis of the nurses, patients and parents relationship that occurs during the hospitalization, and shows the consequence of this for all involved persons.