Healthy Families Lab

08/09/2022

We are looking for research participants for our research study. The information for the study is attached to this post. Participants need to be above the age of 18 to enter. There are five $20 Amazon gift cards that will be given randomly to participants.

https://utk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9NpmVHsFh0bAvP0

04/27/2021

Maximizing Covid-19 vaccine uptake in people with severe mental illness (SMI) is a public health priority. People with SMI tend to have increased risk for worse outcomes with Covid-19, related to reduced access to care, lower SES, smoking, and obesity. Since people with SMI also tend to have low vaccination rates for things like the flu, education about vaccination and the availability of vaccine clinics are key to increasing those rates.

This Viewpoint discusses individual- and system-level barriers and solutions for people with serious mental illness to access coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination when it is available.

04/23/2021

"Breast cancer remains a highly prevalent and extraordinarily stressful experience for hundreds of thousands of women each year in the United States and around the world. Psychological research has provided a picture of the emotional and social impact of breast cancer on patients’ lives, and of factors associated with better versus worse adjustment. Psychosocial interventions have been beneficial in decreasing patients’ distress and enhancing their quality of life. Recent research also suggests that psychological factors may be related to potentially important biological disease-related processes. In addition to providing an understanding of the psychological factors in breast cancer, research in this area has provided a framework for research on adaptation to health-related stress in general."

Breast cancer remains a highly prevalent and extraordinarily stressful experience for hundreds of thousands of women each year in the United States and around t...

04/21/2021

Cognitive Problems are prevalent in breat cancer patients receiving systematic treatment. "Parietal hyperactivation after systemic treatment in the context of stable levels of executive task performance is compatible with a compensatory processing account of hyperactivation or maintain adequate performance levels. This over-recruitment of brain regions depends on the probed cognitive domain and may represent a response to decreased neural integrity after systemic treatment. Overall these results suggest different neurobehavioral trajectories in breast cancer patients depending on treatment type."

Cognitive problems in breast cancer patients are common after systemic treatment, particularly chemotherapy. An increasing number of fMRI studies show altered brain activation in breast cancer patients after treatment, suggestive of neurotoxicity. Previous ...

04/19/2021

"mRNA vaccines combine desirable immunological properties with an outstanding safety profile and the unmet flexibility of genetic vaccines. Based on in situ protein expression, mRNA vaccines are capable of inducing a balanced immune response comprising both cellular and humoral immunity while not subject to MHC haplotype restriction. In addition, mRNA is an intrinsically safe vector as it is a minimal and only transient carrier of information that does not interact with the genome. Because any protein can be expressed from mRNA without the need to adjust the production process, mRNA vaccines also offer maximum flexibility with respect to development. Taken together, mRNA presents a promising vector that may well become the basis of a game-changing vaccine technology platform. Here, we outline the current knowledge regarding different aspects that should be considered when developing an mRNA-based vaccine technology."

(2012). Developing mRNA-vaccine technologies. RNA Biology: Vol. 9, No. 11, pp. 1319-1330.

04/12/2021

Breast density has been strongly related to breast cancer. Metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) may influence breast density. PAH primarily comes from exposure to traffic pollution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between living in areas of higher airborne metals and PAHs and breast density. The findings in this article support that women living in areas with higher concentration of lead and cobalt were more likely to have dense breasts which may influence the risk of breast cancer.

Background Breast density is strongly related to breast cancer. Identifying associations between environmental exposures and density may elucidate relationships with breast cancer. Metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may influence breast density via oxidative stress or endocrine disru...

04/02/2021

This article examines how road travel impacted the spread of Covid-19 and resulted in rural hotspots. It found that the main transmission of Covid occurred along the path of interstates, and that counties intersected by interstates experienced earlier arrival of Covid. It suggests increased interstate travel restrictions for stronger mitigation in the event of another pandemic.

Purpose The COVID‐19 pandemic has illuminated various heterogeneities between urban and rural environments in public health. The SARS‐CoV‐2 virus initially spread into the United States from interna...

04/01/2021

This systematic review looked at three main factors when it comes to younger women with breast cancer: Quality of Life, Fertility Concerns, and Behavioral Health Outcomes. After deciding that articles met certain criteria, they were analyzed for common ideas about how to assess these values. This review found that quality of life and depressive issues were found to be worse among younger women diagnosed with breast cancer, and concerns about pre-mature menopause, menopausal symptoms, and infertility were common in younger women. This leads researchers to believe that women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age are more likely to experience unique concerns. Additionally, there is a need for longitudinal data regarding this topic in order to really identify how these unique issues impact younger women over time.

Younger women with breast cancer were found to experience distinct psychosocial and menopause-related concerns, weight gain, and physical inactivity. A need for more longitudinal research, including efforts at intervention to manage these symptoms and adverse health outcomes, remains.

03/30/2021

Exercise is known to have positive effects on biomarkers in our body and increase the quality of life. This article analyzes the research that was performed for the time frame of one-year, and whether the patient performed high versus moderate-volume aerobic activity, and how the difference between the intensity of exercise can influence breast cancer risk in a group of postmenopausal women. This will focus on alterations in the biological, physiological, and psychological aspects of the patient. The ultimate objective is to inform public health guidelines for reducing breast cancer risk through physical activity.

03/25/2021

The article, “Effects of supportive-expressive group therapy on survival of patients with metastatic Breast Cancer” is a replication study of an earlier study that found that intensive
group therapy extended survival time of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. The original study found that 67% of the treatment participants lived longer, while there was only a
34% chance of a control subject outliving a participant in the treatment group. The replication study found that there was no significant effect of treatment, intensive group therapy, on
survival rate. The replication studies results were the opposite of the original study, which signified that the study failed to replicate.

03/22/2021

A 2012 study from Italy looks at custom-made, semi-orthopedic, soft leather shoes that are meant to prevent ulcers in DFU patients. Two randomized groups, A (standardized hospital treatments) and B (prevention program implementing custom shoes), were observed over a year. Results found that after one year, only 12% of patients in group B developed an ulcer compared to the 39% in group A. This trend continued as they did extended follow-ups after 3 and 5 years. The study concluded that this prevention program was cost-effective and successful in reducing DFUs in diabetic patients.

Objective. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a structured follow-up program on the incidence of diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) in high-ris...

03/18/2021

"Chemobrain is one of the most commonly reported side-effects of cancer treatment. However, there is limited research into its psychosocial concomitants. This study aimed to explore the long-term lived experience of chemobrain. Interpretative phenomenological analysis allowed an in-depth investigation of 12 breast cancer survivors suffering from perceived cognitive deficits at least 1-year post-treatment. Themes were organised around the illness representations framework. Commonly reported cognitive deficits related to memory, language and processing speed, which affected participants’ sense of identity and their interactions with others. Individual experiences were mediated by health beliefs regarding controllability, validation and impairment trajectory."

Chemobrain is one of the most commonly reported side-effects of cancer treatment. However, there is limited research into its psychosocial concomitants. This st...