Pregnancy poses an important challenge for doctors looking after women with systemic lupus erythematosus. Knowledge about safety of medications, the effect of pregnancy on such disease, and vice versa, together with multidisciplinary team care, are basic cornerstones needed to provide the best obstetric and medical care to these women.

Pre-conceptional counselling constitutes the ideal scenario where a patient's previous obstetric history, organ damage, disease activity, serological profile and additional medical history can be summarised. Important issues regarding medication adjustment, planned scans and visits, and main risks discussion should also be raised at this stage. Planned pregnancies lead to better outcomes for both mothers and babies. Close surveillance throughout pregnancy and the puerperium, and tailored management approach guarantee the highest rates of successful pregnancies in these women.

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In the 12 months to May 2013 there were 6,334 hospital admissions for dog bites or strikes, a fall of 1.9 per cent from the 12 months to May 2012 where there were 6,454.

Today's report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) shows that Yorkshire and the Humber had the second highest number of admissions for dog bites or strikes (14.6 per cent or 925 admissions) and admissions were lowest in the South East Coast (3.6 per cent or 229 admissions).

The report also covers hospital admissions for bites, strikes and stings from other mammals, non-venomous arthropods, hornets, wasps and bees in addition to dog bites or strikes.The figures show there were 58.3 per cent fewer admissions for stings from hornets, wasps or bees compared to the 12 months to May 2012 (552 compared to 1,324).

The figures are from a special topic on bites, strikes and stings due to certain animals and insects presented as part of the monthly provisional Hospital Episode Statistics publication, which shows admissions data broken down by patient demographics, region and type of injury.

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Introduction to the study: Tobacco smoking is the main cause of preventable death worldwide with about 5 million deaths each year. Nicotine is the principal addictive component of tobacco smoke and works in the brain by interaction with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor has a special relevance because it triggers an increased dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens after nicotine intake, thereby modulating the reward system. Many studies have shown a genetic determination of nicotine dependence and an association between genetic variants of certain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (e.g. the CHRNA4 SNP rs1044396) and nicotine dependence.

The event-related EEG-potential P300 is a marker for cortical function. A reduction of the P300 amplitude was shown for smokers and for people with other psychiatric disorders. (more…)

The disease burden due to non-communicable and chronic diseases is on the rise in India. Smoking is a well established and most preventable risk factor. As demonstrated in various parts of the world, change in the behaviour toward smoking would hold key to its control and cessation. Using a cross-sectional descriptive study, data were collected from three major Indian states for analyzing the predictors of smoking cessation in Indian men.

The article analyses smoking behavior of former and current smokers who attempted and never attempted quitting. Socioeconomic status, age at initiation and duration of smoking were significantly associated with type of smokers. Three factors, namely, psychological dependence, emotional dependence and behavioral dependence explained variance up to 58%. Compared to health and cost issues (5.7% each), concern for children (9.8%) was reported more as a reason behind cessation by successful quitters.

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The goals of this community-based study were to investigate Aboriginal girls' interpretations of the impact of social context, gender, and cultural background on their smoking patterns, and contribute to research capacity in Aboriginal communities. A partnership with six Aboriginal communities in British Columbia involved community consultations; memoranda of understanding; team research training; and collaborative development, conduct and evaluation of the research process. Focus groups and interviews were held with 63 Aboriginal girls (ages 13-19) of varying smoking statuses, and analyzed using qualitative techniques. Girls who identified as smokers or former smokers described four main contexts in which their smoking began and continued; experimentation and boredom; relational and peer pressures; drinking and partying; and stress relief. Among the stressors girls identified were fender inequalities that placed more expectations for care-giving and domestic work on them compared to boys. While girls reported a mix of cultural influences and varying strengths of identification with their diverse Aboriginal backgrounds, girls who smoked generally expressed less knowledge about their Aboriginal backgrounds and local community cultural context. The complex interrelated influences of social context, gender and cultural background indicate that smoking prevention programs for Aboriginal girls need to be tailored to community needs and address girls' calls for girl-and culture-centered supports.

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In this review, we discuss current knowledge and studies concerning the pathophysiology of cigarette smoking and its impact on fracture healing. We include studies on the biology of fracture healing and more specifically how smoking affects oxygenation in tissues, serum concentrations of important growth factors, collagen synthesis, and bone mineralization. Also mentioned are clinical studies showing that smoking impacts soft tissue regeneration and the healing of tibial fractures and open fractures, as well as articles discussing the apparent benefits and limitations of presurgical smoking cessation. Our review of the current literature suggests that it is necessary to inform smokers with fractures about their increased risk for impaired fracture healing. They should be closely monitored and additional therapies such as the use of BMP-7, BMP-2, or low-intensity ultrasound should be considered in early stages after trauma.

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Thank you for your kind introduction. It's always a special privilege to speak before this group.

In fact, this occasion sent my thoughts reaching back to my very first SCEH meeting, which was my very first scientific conference. It was 1970, my first year at graduate school, in Philadelphia: Martin Orne organized the local arrangements, and Fred Evans was co-chair (with Erik Wright) of the scientific program. I didn't present any research -- I had only just begun working with Martin, and Fred, and Emily Orne, and even though we had results from our first study of temporal organization during posthypnotic amnesia, the Scientific Program had been set long before. But everybody in Martin's lab was seconded to help out at the meeting, so I did get to be present for the whole thing.

And what a meeting it was! The research workshop lasted three whole days. The scientific program began, as it always did in those days, with clinical research. Andre Weitzenhoffer discussed the "hypnotic stare", and Herb Spiegel introduced his eye-roll sign for hypnotizability. Robert W. White, who had been Martin's dissertation advisor, reflected on the implications of hypnosis for personality, motivation, and social interaction. Perry London discussed the prospects for increasing hypnotizability through EEG alpha training. There was a symposium on antisocial behavior and hypnosis. Ted Barber offered his "new" conceptualization of hypnosis (which turned out to look awfully like the old one). Throughout it all, there was Paul Sacerdote and Erika Fromm in the front row during the research reports, and Jack Hilgard and Ron Shor in the front row during the clinical papers. Clinicians and experimentalists together, just as it says in the name of our Society and the title of our Journal.

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   Clinical hypnosis has been defined as a mind-body therapy that involves a deeply relaxed state, individualized mental imagery, and therapeutic suggestion. Clinical hypnosis has a very long history, with reports of medical application dating back to the 18th century. Some have suggested that there is even evidence for the use of clinical hypnosis since ancient times, with inscriptions of hypnotic-like phenomena on a stone stele from Egypt during the reign of Ramses XII, some 3,000 years ago.

The word hypnosis, derived from the Greek word for sleep, was coined by James Braid in 1841. Clinical hypnosis is a mind-body therapy, one of the fastest-growing and most commonly employed categories of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM), as defined by the NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) of the National Institutes of Health. A national health interview survey of medical usage in 2007 found that 4 out of 10 US respondents reported having used complementary and alternative medical treatments in the previous year.[1] Further, research suggests that CAM use continues to be highest among those with chronic diseases (eg, cancer).[2,3] Mind-body interventions such as clinical hypnosis are also becoming popular for their ease of integration into an overall cancer survivorship treatment plan with relatively low risks.

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Hypnosis for burn care was introduced in 2004 in the CHUV burn center showing great benefit for burned patients. Whereas advantages of hypnosis for the patient are well established, the impact on the medical staff remains poorly assessed. This manuscrit reviews current attested benefits of hypnosis for patients, specially for burned patients. The results of a recent study assessing the impact of hypnosis on the staffs level of stress caused by burn treatment, will also be introduced.

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Hypnosis is defined as “as an interaction in which the hypnotist uses suggested scenarios (“suggestions”) to encourage a person’s focus of attention to shift towards inner experiences”.

Aim of the work

The focus of this review is to summarize the findings of controlled outcome studies investigating the potential of clinical hypnosis in pediatric populations. We will examine the following themes: anesthesia, acute and chronic pain, chemotherapy-related distress, along with other specific medical issues.

Results

Hypnosis is an effective method to reduce pain and anxiety before, during and after the administration of anesthetics, during local dental treatments, invasive medical procedures and in burn children.

Hypnosis can be successfully used to manage recurrent headaches, abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome and chemotherapy-related distress.

Hypnosis has an important role in managing symptoms and improving the quality of life of children suffering from asthma and cystic fibrosis and in facilitating the treatment of insomnia in school-age children.

Finally, hypnosis can be effectively used for the treatment of some habitual disorders such as nocturnal enuresis and dermatologic conditions, including atopic dermatitis and chronic eczema

Conclusions

Clinical hypnosis seems to be a useful, cheap and side-effects free tool to manage fear, pain and several kinds of stressful experiences in pediatric populations.

Children who receive self-hypnosis trainings achieve significantly greater improvements in their physical health, quality of life, and self-esteem.

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