Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Relationship Between Diabetes, Diabetes Risk, Depressive Symptoms, Chronic Stress, And Inflammatory Markers In Mexican-American Men, Aleli Fernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Individuals with depression and stress are 60% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those without (Mezuk et al., 2008). Moreover, biological pro-inflammatory markers associated with psychosocial stress are risk factors for diabetes. Examining the relationship between psychological disorders, inflammation, and diabetes risk among MAH is important as they have high rates of diabetes.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between 1) depressive symptoms, chronic stress, and inflammatory markers, 2) inflammation and diabetes risk factors and 3) depression, stress, inflammation, diabetes risk, and metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 100 adult men from El Paso, Texas …

The Physiological Factors Of Diabetes And Their Effect On The Cognitive And Emotional Functioning In Older Populations: A Secondary Data Analysis, Celeste Anahi Alvidrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The rates of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) have increased over the past 20 years in all age groups. The physiological factors that underlie T2D could have impact on specific brain pathways that support cognitive and emotional functioning. Aims and Objective: The goal of this study was to examine whether older Mexican American individuals with a history of T2D were more likely to develop later cognitive impairment and/or depression. Hypotheses: It was predicted that elderly participants (mean age at time of interview = 87.87 years) with a history of T2D onset prior to age 65, are more likely to have …

A Cellulose-Based Biological Sensor For The Quantitative Determination Of Glucose And Glycated Hemoglobin (Hba1c), Gilberto Henao-Pabon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Importance: Diabetes is a common world-wide disease characterized by insulin resistance and as result there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other metabolic abnormalities, that contribute to irreversible end-organ damage. The cause of diabetes is multifactorial and includes genetic, inflammatory and environmental factors plus lifestyle issues. Because in diabetes there are high levels of glucose and glycated hemoglobin, these molecules are used in clinical settings for the acute and chronic management of diabetic patients.

Objectives: a. To design and build an electrochemical biological sensor using the enzyme Glucose Oxidase (GOX) to detect glucose in biological fluids.

b. …

Assessing The Relationship Between Diabetes Causation Beliefs, Diabetes Risk, And Intent To Engage In Healthy Lifestyles Among Mexican American Men, Brisa Evet Rodriguez Alcantar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Hispanic population is the largest growing ethnic group and is estimated to reach 27% of the US population by 2050. Compared to non-Hispanic groups and other racial/ethnic minority groups they have the highest diabetes related mortality rate. Income, education, and health insurance put the Hispanic population at greater risk for diabetes, diabetes related complications, and diabetes mortality. Objectives: The objective of this research is to: 1) identify which diabetes causation beliefs (i.e., biological, psychological, socioenvironmental, behavior, fatalistic) are the most common among Hispanic men; 2) examine the relationship between men's diabetes causation belief and diabetes risk (HbA1c); and …

The Effect Of Yoga Practice On Glucose Control, Physiological Stress, And Well-Being In Type 2 Diabetes: Exploring A Mechanism Of Action, Maricarmen Vizcaino

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Multiple studies have found yoga practice to be effective in improving glucose control and other health markers of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, current findings cannot reach a consensus given multiple methodological inconsistencies. The primary purpose of this Dissertation work was to investigate the impact of yoga practice on the glucose control of participants with T2DM through two different approaches in two separate exploratory studies. The first study, a quasi-experimental design, examined the effect of eight weeks of yoga practice on glucose control taking into account previous limitations in the literature. The second study, a single-subject design, …

Monitoring And Blunting Coping Style Effects On College Student Processing Of Health Information Via Social Media, Katherine Marie Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The dissemination of public health messages via social media is a growing phenomenon that is changing the health communication landscape (Chou, Hunt, Beckjord, Mojer, & Hesse, 2009). Few studies have investigated how individuals process health-threatening information. This study addressed this gap in knowledge. Specifically, the current study investigated the impact of coping style on an individual's attention to health-threatening and health-promoting words on an attention task. The current study also investigated the impact of coping style on the recall of health-threatening, health-promoting, and neutral words contained in a diabetes health message. In addition, the current study investigated if coping style …

The Sweet Taste Of Health: A Positive Deviance Inquiry Into Communicative Acts That Lead To Effective Management Of Diabetes Among Hispanics, Claudia Martinez Boyd

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is among the fastest growing diseases in the world. In the U.S., Hispanics are the third most affected population. Nonetheless, there are Hispanics diagnosed with diabetes who have, against all odds, found solutions to manage their disease. This study focused on the intrapersonal and interpersonal acts and behaviors of "positive deviant" Hispanics living on the U.S. - Mexico border that effectively managed their diabetes. They are referred to as "positive deviants" because they accrue "positive" outcomes and "deviants" because they are not the norm.

A PD inquiry was conducted and twelve PD respondents between the ages of 20 …

The Development Of The Barriers, Elizabeth Hagelsieb-Escalera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Estimates of undiagnosed diabetics are as high as 50%. Early intervention and management can reduce the complications of diabetes; however, this is possible only after the disease has been diagnosed. A review of diabetes screening literature revealed a dearth of information regarding the diabetes screening behavior of individuals. Unlike barriers to cancer screening, little is known about barriers and facilitators to diabetes screening. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a logical theoretical framework to apply for the examination of screening intentions because it allows inference of behavioral predictors via survey item responses. Using the TPB framework, the Barriers and …