Hospitalizations that require invasive cardiac procedures or support with an intra-aortic balloon pump can be unsettling. This study was undertaken to measure the effect of a music intervention on physiologic and psychological responses of patients on bed rest due to procedural sheaths or an intra-aortic balloon pump. A randomized, two-group, pretest/post-test design was utilized to measure the effect of a 30-minute music intervention on heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, skin temperature, pain perception, and mood states. One hundred forty subjects participated, 65 in the control group and 75 in the treatment group. There were no significant differences between the groups in demographic, clinical, or baseline variables, except for respiratory rate. After the music intervention, there were reductions in blood pressure, respiratory rate, and psychological distress, as measured by the Profile of Mood States (p < 0.05). Music appeared to affect selected physiologic responses and reduce psychological distress in patients on bed rest.

Objective Telomere shortening in arteries could lead to telomere uncapping and cellular senescence, which in turn could promote the development of hypertension. Methods and results To assess the novel role of arterial telomere dysfunction in hypertension, we compared mean telomere length (qPCR), telomere uncapping (serine 139 phosphorylated histone γ-H2A.X (γ-H2) localized to telomeres: ChIP), and tumor suppressor protein p53 (P53)/cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (P21)-induced senescence (P53 bound to P21 gene promoter: ChIP) in arteries from 55 age-matched hypertensive and nonhypertensive individuals. Arterial mean telomere length was not different in hypertensive patients compared with nonhypertensive individuals (P = 0.29). Arterial telomere uncapping and P53/P21- induced senescence were two-fold greater in hypertensive patients compared with nonhypertensive individuals (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02, respectively). Arterial mean telomere length was not associated with telomere uncapping or P53/P21-induced senescence (r=– 0.02, P = 0.44 and r = 0.01, P = 0.50, respectively), but telomere uncapping was a highly influential covariate for the hypertension group difference in P53/P21-induced senescence (r = 0.62, P < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.35). Finally, telomere uncapping was a significant predictor of hypertension status (P = 0.03), whereas mean telomere length was not (P = 0.68). Conclusion Collectively, these findings demonstrate that arterial telomere uncapping and P53/P21-induced senescence are linked to hypertension independently of mean telomere length, and telomere uncapping influences hypertension status more than mean telomere length.

Background Although a well-established causative relationship exists between smoking and several epithelial cancers, the association of smoking with metastatic progression in melanoma is not well studied. We hypothesized that smokers would be at increased risk for melanoma metastasis as assessed by sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. Methods Data from the first international Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial (MSLT-I) and the screening-phase of the second trial (MSLT-II) were analyzed to determine the association of smoking with clinicopathologic variables and SLN metastasis. Results Current smoking was strongly associated with SLN metastasis (p = 0.004), even after adjusting for other predictors of metastasis. Among 4231 patients (1025 in MSLT-I and 3206 in MSLT-II), current or former smoking was also independently associated with ulceration (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Compared with current smoking, never smoking was independently associated with decreased Breslow thickness in multivariate analysis (p = 0.002) and with a 0.25 mm predicted decrease in thickness. Conclusion The direct correlation between current smoking and SLN metastasis of primary cutaneous melanoma was independent of its correlation with tumor thickness and ulceration. Smoking cessation should be strongly encouraged among patients with or at risk for melanoma.