-
Current Opinion in Psychology Feb 2024Bereavement is a common and often challenging experience in late life. Evidence shows that while many older adults manage to adjust well and demonstrate resilience in... (Review)
Review
Bereavement is a common and often challenging experience in late life. Evidence shows that while many older adults manage to adjust well and demonstrate resilience in response to the death of a close person, bereavement puts a substantial minority at risk of adverse mental and physical health impacts including mortality. Current research further indicates that 1) this is the case across different countries and cultures across the globe; 2) that the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for coping with late-life bereavement; 3) that loneliness and social isolation among bereaved older adults tend to be prevalent and harmful, particularly under pandemic but also in nonpandemic circumstances; and, recently, 4) that bereavement may be a risk factor for cognitive decline in this population.
Topics: Female; Humans; Aged; Pandemics; Widowhood; Bereavement; Grief; Loneliness
PubMed: 38071788
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101748 -
Toxins Nov 2015Widow spiders have received much attention due to the frequently reported human and animal injures caused by them. Elucidation of the molecular composition and action... (Review)
Review
Widow spiders have received much attention due to the frequently reported human and animal injures caused by them. Elucidation of the molecular composition and action mechanism of the venoms and toxins has vast implications in the treatment of latrodectism and in the neurobiology and pharmaceutical research. In recent years, the studies of the widow spider venoms and the venom toxins, particularly the α-latrotoxin, have achieved many new advances; however, the mechanism of action of the venom toxins has not been completely clear. The widow spider is different from many other venomous animals in that it has toxic components not only in the venom glands but also in other parts of the adult spider body, newborn spiderlings, and even the eggs. More recently, the molecular basis for the toxicity outside the venom glands has been systematically investigated, with four proteinaceous toxic components being purified and preliminarily characterized, which has expanded our understanding of the widow spider toxins. This review presents a glance at the recent advances in the study on the venoms and toxins from the Latrodectus species.
Topics: Animals; Arthropod Proteins; Black Widow Spider; Research; Spider Venoms; Transcriptome
PubMed: 26633495
DOI: 10.3390/toxins7124862 -
International Journal of Emergency... Jan 2024Black widows, one of the few spiders that can sting humans with poison, are members of the spider genus Latrodectus and are well-known for the extraordinary potency of...
Black widows, one of the few spiders that can sting humans with poison, are members of the spider genus Latrodectus and are well-known for the extraordinary potency of their neurotoxic venom. Latrodectism, a symptom marked by excruciating muscular pain, stomach pain, and diaphoresis after envenomation, is very typical. We described a black widow envenomation case that produced a significant reaction, including diaphoresis and excruciating pain throughout the left thigh that later spread to the lower leg, lower back, belly, and chest. Because of the patient's description of the spider that bit him and his typical clinical state, it was assumed that Latrodectus envenomation was the cause of his symptoms. The patient received 3 days of observation in the ED while receiving opioid analgesic pain management and muscle relaxant treatment with diazepam. The patient's pain and symptoms were satisfactorily managed, and he was sent home. This case report will help further research be done in the area where it was reported to see if there are cases with similar presentations misdiagnosed as other illnesses. Finally, immediate pain relief is the most critical goal for all patients.
PubMed: 38166617
DOI: 10.1186/s12245-023-00576-z -
Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2022I am 88 years old-a widower and retired businessman living in West Sussex [...].
I am 88 years old-a widower and retired businessman living in West Sussex [...].
PubMed: 35447843
DOI: 10.3390/geriatrics7020040 -
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2021The negative impacts of spousal bereavement on the emotional health of the elderly (e.g., depression and anxiety) have been revealed. However, whether widowhood impairs...
BACKGROUND
The negative impacts of spousal bereavement on the emotional health of the elderly (e.g., depression and anxiety) have been revealed. However, whether widowhood impairs emotional cognition among the elderly is less known. The purpose of this study is to reveal the emotional cognitive deficits among the widowed elderly.
METHODS
In this study, we recruited 44 widowed elderly (WE) and 44 elder couples (non-widowed elderly, NWE) and examined their emotional cognition including attention and visual working memory, which were measured by the visual search task and delayed-match-to-sample task, respectively. Three kinds of emotional faces (i.e., sad, angry, and happy) were adopted as the attentional or mnemonic targets.
RESULTS
It revealed that WE had a general deficit in search efficiency across emotional types, while they showed mnemonic deficits in negative faces but not positive faces. Furthermore, the modeling analysis revealed that the level of depression or state anxiety of the elderly moderated the effects of widowhood on the deficits of mnemonic processing, i.e., the deficits were only evident among WE with the high level of depression or state anxiety.
CONCLUSION
These findings reveal the attentional deficits in sad, angry, and happy faces and the mnemonic deficits in sad and angry faces among elderly who suffer from widowhood and point out the important role of emotional problems such as depression and state anxiety in modulating these emotional cognitive deficits.
PubMed: 35173602
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.808885 -
Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology Aug 2021The loss of a spouse is a highly stressful event that puts older adults at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The risk is highest in the first year to 18 months... (Review)
Review
The loss of a spouse is a highly stressful event that puts older adults at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The risk is highest in the first year to 18 months post-loss; nevertheless, widow(er)s, in general, are at heightened risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related morbidity and mortality, and to a lesser extent, non-CVD related morbidity and mortality. The primary goal of this article is to argue for a perspective that considers diet and emotion-induced autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immune dysregulation, in unison, to understand the mechanisms underlying morbidity and mortality in early widowhood. Toward this end, we first summarize our previously published work, as well as work from other investigatory teams, showing that compared with those who were not bereaved, widow(er)s have higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine production and more dysregulated autonomic and neuroendocrine activity than non-widow(er)s, independent of health behaviors such as diet. We highlight that a major gap in our current understanding of the biobehavioral mechanisms that underlie the widowhood effect is the role of diet and hypothesize that the adverse health impact of grief and associated negative emotions and diet may be more than additive. Therefore, we propose that diet may be a pathway by which widow(er)s are at higher CVD risk requiring further investigation.
PubMed: 35757059
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100058 -
Journal of Happiness Studies 2023Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and...
UNLABELLED
Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and France (2009-10), we examine differences between widowed and partnered older women in well-being and its development in widowhood. Most importantly, our analysis accounts for time use, an aspect which has not been studied previously. We trace the evolution of well-being of women who become widowed by comparing them with their matched non-widowed 'statistical twins' and examine the role of an exceptionally broad set of potential moderators of widowhood's impact on well-being. We confirm a dramatic decrease in mental health and life satisfaction after the loss of partner, followed by a slow partial recovery over a 5-year period. An extensive set of controls recorded prior to widowhood, including detailed family ties and social networks, provides little help in explaining the deterioration in well-being. Unique data from time-diaries kept by older women in several European countries and the U.S. tell us why: the key factor behind widows' reduced well-being is increased time spent alone.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10902-023-00622-w.
PubMed: 36694477
DOI: 10.1007/s10902-023-00622-w -
Sleep and Hypnosis : An International... Jan 2009OBJECTIVE: Sleep disruption is common in widow(er)s. The objective of this study was to characterize the sleep of Spousally Bereaved (SB) seniors (60y+) studied within...
OBJECTIVE: Sleep disruption is common in widow(er)s. The objective of this study was to characterize the sleep of Spousally Bereaved (SB) seniors (60y+) studied within 4-19 months of being widowed. METHOD: Subjective (PSQI, 2-weeks diary) and objective (2-weeks actigraphy) baseline sleep measures were obtained in 47 (38f, 9m) Spousally Bereaved (SB) seniors, 33 (25f, 8m) Good Sleeper Controls (GSC), and 47 (38f, 9m) Older Adults with Insomnia (OAI); each group with the same mean age (72y). OAI subjects passed formal diagnostic criteria for primary or co-morbid insomnia. GSC subjects had no diagnosis of insomnia. At baseline (pre-treatment), all subjects completed 2 weeks of detailed sleep diary and wrist actigraphy, and completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) among other measures. RESULTS: Significant group effects appeared in PSQI (GSC: 2.4, SB: 6.7, OAI: 10.5; Effect Sizes [ES]>1) and diary measures. In diary measures, for Total Sleep Time, Sleep Efficiency and Wake After Sleep Onset, SB were better than OAI and worse than GSC (0.47
PubMed: 20802799
DOI: No ID Found