Spiritual support and psychological well-being: older adults' perceptions of the religion and health connection.

CONTEXT: A growing body of literature suggests that religion and spirituality can help older adults to maintain and recover both physical and mental health. OBJECTIVE: To better understand how older adults perceive the role played by religious belief and activity in maintaining and recovering health and to explore the hypothesis that spiritual support contributes to increased sense of coherence and enhanced psychological well-being. DESIGN: Qualitative research (i.e., focus groups and interviews). SETTING: Two continuing care retirement communities. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 41 male and female residents aged 66 to 92 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Concepts were identified and tracked, leading to hypothesis generation and theory refinement. RESULTS: Most of the older adults in this study believed that a higher power (i.e., God) supports them constantly, protecting, guiding, teaching, helping, and healing. They believe that prayer can heal both physical and mental illness, if it is God's will to do so. God is perceived to work through the mundane world (e.g., through physicians, medicine, loving friends, and helpful strangers). Many expressed the belief that having a relationship with God forms the foundation of their psychological well-being. CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings suggest that religious belief may have a significant influence on the psychological well-being of older adults, and that the subjective experience of spiritual support may form the core of the spirituality-health connection.

Modulation of allergen-specific immune responses to the major shrimp allergen, tropomyosin, by specific targeting to scavenger receptors on macrophages.

BACKGROUND: Tropomyosin from shrimp is the major cross-reacting crustacean food allergen. Earlier studies have led to the purification and immunochemical characterization of the major IgE binding epitopes of the allergen. Maleylated proteins are known to be specifically targeted to scavenger receptors on macrophage. Since antigens processed and presented by macrophages are known to elicit Th1 type of responses and allergic responses are characterized by polarization towards Th2 phenotype, the possibility of modulation of allergen-specific immune responses by targeting of tropomyosin to macrophage via scavenger receptor was explored. METHODS: The IgG and IgE binding potential of the native maleylated form of tropomyosin was carried out by ELISA and immunoblot. The ability of the native and maleylated form of allergen to induce in vitro proliferation of splenocytes from BALB/C mice immunized with both forms of allergen was tested. The in vitro production of IL-4 and IFN-gamma by splenocytes from mice immunized with the two forms of allergen was determined from culture supernatants. The in vivo production of serum IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies following immunization with native and modified allergens was monitored by ELISA. RESULTS: The maleylated form of tropomyosin was found to have reduced antigenicity and allergenicity as compared to its native counterpart. The modified allergen was, however, found to elicit a cellular response similar to native tropomyosin in vitro. Analysis of the cytokine profiles showed a modulation from an IL-4-dominant, proallergic, Th2 phenotype to an IFN-gamma-dominant, antiallergic, Th1 phenotype that could also be correlated to a modulation in the in vivo antibody isotype. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the possible potential for modulating allergic responses in vivo by selective targeting to macrophages.

ELISA for the detection of venoms from four medically important snakes of India.

A double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect Echis carinatus venom in various organs (brain, heart, lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys) as well as tissue at the site of injection of mice, at various time intervals (1, 6, 12, 18, 24 h and 12 h intervals up to 72 h) after death. The assay could detect E. carinatus venom levels up to 2.5 ng/ml of tissue homogenate and the venom was detected up to 72 h after death. A highly sensitive and species-specific avidin-biotin microtitre ELISA was also developed to detect venoms of four medically important Indian snakes (Bungarus caeruleus, Naja naja, E. carinatus and Daboia russelli russelli) in autopsy specimens of human victims of snake bite. The assay could detect venom levels as low as 100 pg/ml of tissue homogenate. Venoms were detected in brain, heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, tissue at the bite area and postmortem blood. In all 12 human victim cadavers tested the culprit species were identified. As observed in mice, tissue at the site of bite area showed the highest concentration of venom and the brain showed the least. Moderate amounts of venoms were found in liver, spleen, kidneys, heart and lungs. Development of a simple, rapid and species-specific diagnostic kit based on this ELISA technique useful to clinicians is discussed.

B- and T-cell epitopes of tropomyosin, the major shrimp allergen.

The major crustacean allergen characterized from different species of shrimp is the muscle protein tropomyosin. Two shared epitopes corresponding to 47-63 and 150-158 of the deduced amino-acid sequence of the brown shrimp, M. ensis, were identified as IgE-binding B-cell epitopes. A 21-mer peptide spanning the amino-acid residues 261-281 was identified as a putative T-cell epitope capable of reducing ongoing tropomyosin-specific IgG and IgE responses in a mouse model. These observations suggest that peptide immunotherapy may also be effective in the treatment of food hypersensitivity.

The factorial generality of brief positive and negative affect measures.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the structure of 5-item affect rating scales designed to measure positive affect and negative affect. A proposed circumplex affect structure was the source of scales constructed to represent a cluster of positive terms, including pleasantness and activation; the negative terms represented anxiety, depression, and hostility. The hypothesized simple-structured positive and negative trait affect factors, with a moderate correlation between them, were found in all cases. Equivalent structure was confirmed for younger adults, middle-aged, and older adults of good health and above-average education. Although the hypothesized simple-structured positive and negative factors emerged for all other groups, three other tests of factor equivalence failed to be confirmed: trait and state factors in the older adult group were not identical. Factors derived from healthy and frail elders were structurally different. Variability among frail elders and variability over 30 days within the same person, when factored, also showed nonequivalence. Although the scales are extremely useful in assessing affect, comparisons across some subject groups should be made with caution.

The dynamics of caregiving for a demented elder among black and white families.

Caregiving dynamics were studied in a sample of 157 Black caregivers of elders suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. By comparison with White caregivers (N = 472), there were fewer spouses and more nonspouse-nonchild caregivers among Blacks. With control exercised on background and socioeconomic variables, race differences in caregiving appraisal were found. Blacks showed more favorable scores on indices of traditional caregiving ideology, caregiving as intrusion, caregiving satisfaction, and caregiving burden. Interactions between race and background factors increased explained variance in caregiving appraisal only slightly. A cultural explanation of the more favorable appraisals of Blacks was sought in the caregiving ideology factor, but this dimension was not associated with caregiving outcomes. The overall hypothesized two-factor model was generally consistent with the observed covariance structures of both Black and White caregivers. Within both White and Black groups, caregivers who provided more care showed simultaneously more satisfaction and more burden.

Dimensions of affective experience in three age groups.

The dimensions by which adults of differing ages experience emotion were studied by self-administering questionnaires administered to older adults (n = 828) recruited from Elderhostel programs, middle-aged (ages 30-59) children of Elderhostel attenders (n = 231), and young adult (ages 18-29) subjects recruited from college classes or through Elderhostel participants (n = 207). Elders were higher in emotional control, mood stability, and emotional maturity through moderation and leveling of positive affect and lower in surgency, psychophysiological responsiveness, and sensation seeking. These findings are consistent with the hypothesized increase in self-regulatory capacity with age. These cross-sectional differences cannot, however, be distinguished from cohort-related explanations; they require considerable replication across different types of subjects and further characterization of the dimensions in terms of their functions for self-regulation.