Among chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease is considered to be the leading cause of death in developed countries. Numerous investigations have determined the influence of several factors on the development and prognosis of the disease; among these factors, some are associated with sociodemographic variables, such as socioeconomic status; and others to psychological variables such as positiv...

Commit suicide.” Two words traditionally, even facilely, used to describe the act of self-killing. They speak to the common perception of suicide which, if corrected, might help to reduce its incidence. I had never questioned the use of this phrase until my son took his life. He was an accomplished physician in his mid-30s who suffered from bipolar disorder. The hollow distance between the full...

The professional staff in human service institutions is often required to spend time in intense involvement with other people. Frequently, the staff-client interaction is centred around the client's current problems (psychological, social, and/ or physical) and is therefore charged with feelings of anger, embarrassment, fear or despair In this article we follow the burnout which could not be on...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning and essence of suicide for elderly people who had previously attempted suicide as an older person. METHODS Giorgi's descriptive phenomenology was used for analysis. The researchers carried out in-depth interviews, recordings and memos individually with four elders. The elders were individuals who had attempted suicide sometime in th...

BACKGROUND The primary stress factor for families in the pre-transplant period is reported as the waiting time for suitable organs, leading to anxiety, despair, and distress. OBJECTIVE We investigated the psychosocial factors, anxiety and depression, in the parents of children who are candidates for liver transplantation. METHODS Thirty-five pediatric liver transplantation candidates and th...

In a previous commentary, I offered my personal view as to the recipient-as-reproductive-being issue. I quote: “The fact that the gonads belong to the body donor is actually a facilitator for the whole enterprise. Imagine the parents of the brain dead body donor – racked by sorrow and despair for their loss – who are told that, once the new being will start reproducing, his or her offspring wil...

Why is Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) not the runaway success it was supposed to be? Instead of hearing or reading about wonderful achievements we appear to be finding an increasing number of stories ranging from disappointment to despair. In this paper it will be argued that the term e-commerce means too many things to too many different people, and it will be shown that a number of variants...

In this paper we show that, by accounting for the varying influence of just three area indicators of social isolation, it is possible to predict the number of deaths due to suicide and undetermined injuries (most of which are suicides) across a great many areas remarkably closely. The exceptions to this model suggest that in a few unique areas of the country other local, often historical and cu...

Van Howe and Storm’s paper is commendable for asking valid questions regarding the scientific evidence upon which circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy is based.1 The paper however gives no real practical suggestions as to what the way forward should be regarding the already rolled out circumcision programs in Africa. Its position that the current circumcision programs amount to a waste of...

PURPOSE Lichen Sclerosis (LS) is an often unrecognized and misdiagnosed chronic inflammatory skin condition of the anogenital area that affects quality of life, bringing severe discomfort and distress to affected men, women, and children. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of women with LS. DATA SOURCES Content analysis was conducted of data obtained fro...