Education for WIC Peer Counselors About Breastfeeding the Late Preterm Infant.

Mothers of late preterm infants need ongoing support because they often find establishing breastfeeding (BF) to be complex and difficult. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children peer counselors provide BF information and emotional support to new mothers in many communities. However, their current training does not include education about BF for the late preterm infant. The purpose of this report is to present important information about BF and the late preterm infant that can enhance peer counselors' ability to offer appropriate support. The effect of this education on outcomes such as BF rates, maternal self-efficacy, infant hospital readmissions, and peer counselors' self-efficacy needs to be investigated.

Opioid analgesia in persons at risk for hypertension.

OBJECTIVE: Acute pain sensitivity is reduced in clinical hypertension, but the precise relationship between pain perception and altered blood pressure control is not well-characterized. A negative correlation between resting blood pressure and pain sensitivity is observed throughout the normotensive range, suggesting links between basic mechanisms of blood pressure control and pain regulation. The opioid peptides are important endogenous analgesic mechanisms, but their role in the hypoalgesia of blood pressure elevations has not been well-established. The current study sought to examine the effects of endogenous opioids on blood pressure-associated hypoalgesia in young adults at risk for hypertension development. METHODS: The effects of the opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone, on cold pressor pain sensitivity were assessed in young adult men (n = 49) and women (n = 76) with mildly elevated casual blood pressure. RESULTS: Results indicate interactions between hypertension risk and the effects of opioid blockade on pain sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest exaggerated opioid analgesia in persons at enhanced risk for hypertension and point to important links between altered neuropeptide regulation of pain and altered blood pressure control mechanisms in the early stages of hypertension.

Elevated resting blood pressure and dampened emotional response.

OBJECTIVE: Increased blood pressure is associated with decreased reports of aversiveness for both physical pain and psychosocial stressors. Based on these findings, higher blood pressure could be associated with altered emotional responses to a broader range of stimuli. There are at least 3 ways this could happen: a) less dire response to negative stimuli with no change in response to positive stimuli; b) more positive responses to both negative and positive stimuli; or c) dampened emotional responses to both positive and negative stimuli. METHODS: Sixty-five normotensive volunteers had their resting blood pressure measured, then rated their emotional responses to a series of positive and negative photographs. RESULTS: Resting systolic blood pressure was significantly and negatively correlated with subjective emotional ratings of both positive (r = -.26) and negative (r = -.35) photographs. CONCLUSION: Results were consistent with emotion dampening for elevated resting blood pressure and may reflect homeostatic integration of neurocirculatory control and affect regulation.