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Biomedical subjects

C B Taylor

Publications and source records attributed to C B Taylor.

294 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

Cardiovascular disease risk reduction for tenth graders. A multiple-factor school-based approach.

All tenth graders in four senior high schools (N = 1447) from two school districts participated in a cardiovascular disease risk-reduction trial. Within each district, one school was assigned at random to receive a special 20-session risk-reduction intervention and one school served as a control. At a two-month follow-up, risk factor knowledge scores were significantly greater for students in the treatment group. Compared with controls, a higher proportion of those in the treatment group who were not exercising regularly at baseline reported regular exercise at follow-up. Almost twice as many baseline experimental smokers in the treatment group reported quitting at follow-up, while only 5.6% of baseline experimental smokers in the treatment group graduated to regular smoking compared with 10.3% in the control group. Students in the treatment group were more likely to report that they would choose "heart-healthy" snack items. Beneficial treatment effects were observed for resting heart rate, body mass index, triceps skin fold thickness, and subscapular skin fold thickness. The results suggest that it is feasible to provide cardiovascular disease risk-reduction training to a large segment of the population through school-based primary prevention approaches.

Adolescent↗

Efficacy of self-help behavior modification materials in smoking cessation.

We evaluated the efficacy of the Stanford Quit Kit, an eight-page self-administered smoking cessation program. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive the Quit Kit (n = 142) or a delayed intervention (n = 65). Confirmed abstinence (p less than .05) and reduced smoking among continuing smokers (p less than .002) were greater in the Quit Kit group than in the control group at the two-month follow-up. At the six-month follow-up 10.6 percent of the Quit Kit subjects were confirmed as abstinent. From these results we conclude that well-designed, self-administered behavior change materials can assist chronic smokers in quitting.

Adult↗

The relation of physical activity and exercise to mental health.

Mental disorders are of major public health significance. It has been claimed that vigorous physical activity has positive effects on mental health in both clinical and nonclinical populations. This paper reviews the evidence for this claim and provides recommendations for future studies. The strongest evidence suggests that physical activity and exercise probably alleviate some symptoms associated with mild to moderate depression. The evidence also suggests that physical activity and exercise might provide a beneficial adjunct for alcoholism and substance abuse programs; improve self-image, social skills, and cognitive functioning; reduce the symptoms of anxiety; and alter aspects of coronary-prone (Type A) behavior and physiological response to stressors. The effects of physical activity and exercise on mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, and other aspects of mental health are not known. Negative psychological effects from exercise have also been reported. Recommendations for further research on the effects of physical activity and exercise on mental health are made.

Alcoholism↗

Enolase isoenzymes in benign and malignant melanocytic lesions.

The distributions of the alpha, beta and gamma subunits of enolase were studied in 34 melanocytic lesions using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique. Melanocytes in benign neoplasms stained moderately strongly for both alpha enolase and gamma enolase but staining for beta enolase was consistently negative. Staining for alpha enolase was always stronger than that for gamma enolase. There are some indications that with increasing degrees of dedifferentiation there was a reduction of gamma enolase activity, least differentiated cells being completely negative. Ocular melanomata showed similar changes to those seen in the skin. The enolase isoenzyme composition of tumour extracts was assessed biochemically on a limited number of cases and these results are discussed in relationship to the immunohistochemical studies.

Humans↗