Fibromyalgia is a stress-related disorder characterized by chronic pain, memory impairment, and neuroendocrine aberrations. With the hypothesis that biological and psychological symptoms may underlie the cognitive problems, the relative influences of neuroendocrine function and psychological factors on declarative memory were examined among 50 women with fibromyalgia. This within-group analysis controlled for age, education, pain, and relevant medications. Neuroendocrine function and depression had significant independent associations with memory function. Higher log-transformed mean salivary cortisol levels were associated with better performance on both immediate and delayed visual recall and with delayed verbal recall. Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with verbal recall. These findings suggest that a basic disorder of endocrine stress responses may contribute to the cognitive symptoms experienced by fibromyalgia patients.

Little research has examined how the content of health communications regarding the need for BM and stem cell donation affects the intentions and attitudes of potential National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) donors. This study used an experimental design to test the hypothesis that an emotional appeal (EA) to potential donors would lead to higher rates of NMDP registration than a rational appeal (RA). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a RA or an EA and then asked if they would (1) register with the NMDP and (2) talk with family members about NMDP registration. A total of 85% of individuals receiving the EA agreed to register for the NMDP, whereas only 49% of the participants receiving the RA agreed to register. The EA (72%) and RA (54%) groups did not differ significantly in their reported willingness to talk with family members about NMDP registration. However, multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that the EA group endorsed significantly greater willingness to engage in both outcomes. Results suggest that an EA was more effective in motivating participants, but other sociodemographic factors were also associated with decisions about NMDP registration. EA may provide a useful and cost-effective method for increasing NMDP registration. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2010) 45, 422-428; doi:10.1038/bmt.2009 Despite a substantial roster of volunteer donors, a significant portion of individuals seeking unrelated donors through the NMDP do not find a suitable match. Recent NMDP data indicate that 15% of all individuals seeking matches from unrelated donors were not able to find a match during a preliminary search process.3 In addition, the NMDP has reported that approximately 30% of registered donors who are identified as potential matches are not available for further evaluation at the time of the request. 4 A seemingly logical solution to these challenges would be to continue to expand membership in the NMPD so as to maximize the number of available HLA-typed donors.One of the major challenges of expanding NMDP registration involves communicating relevant information to the public. There remains relatively little awareness of the opportunity and the need to register, particularly among non-Caucasian populations. 5 In addition, there is much confusion about the process of registering for the NMDP and about what NMDP registrants may be asked to do if matched to a transplant recipient. Although greater public education about the NMDP would likely increase registry participation, little research has examined ways to communicate such information to optimize recruitment efforts.A review of the literature examining the factors associated with participation in marrow and stem cell registries revealed a small set of studies. Research on donor recruitment in the early days of the NMDP focused largely on demographic variables and apheresis as predictors of becoming a marrow donor. Such studies found mixed results regarding the relationship between previous apheresis and willingness to donate BM,...

This study demonstrated that different methods of describing oncology treatment outcomes associated with therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver can have a dramatic effect on patient treatment decisions.