Health Psyc Exam 1

Adrenal gland

Located above the kidneys and contains the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla

Adrenal medulla

Secretes epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) to give the a fast boost of energy

Adrenal cortex

Located in the outermost region and consists of three different groups of steroid hormones;

glucocorticoid (cortisol), which helps to reduce swelling an inflammation following an injury

Gonadocorticoids: Includes the male androgens and female estrogens

Mineralocorticoids: includes aldosterone, which helps maintain normal blood pressure

Epinephrine (adrenaline)

Gives a quick surge of energy, aids in fight-or-flight response, produced by the adrenal medulla

Norepinephrine (noradrenaline)

Natural chemical in the body that acts as both a stress hormone and brain neurotransmitter, produced by the adrenal medulla

Cortisol

A steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex, and helps to regulate the body’s stress response

Thyroid

Located in the front of your lower neck, helps to regulate growth and metabolism by secreting thyroxin. Also parathyroid hormone (PTH) gland regulates the level of calcium in the body

Pancreas

Located near the stomach and produces glucagon and insulin, these hormones act in opposition to regulate the level of sugar glucose in the blood

Glucagon

Raises the concentration of glucose in the blood (raises blood sugar). Produced in the pancreas

Insulin

Controls the conversion of sugar and carbohydrates into energy by promoting the uptake of glucose by the body’s lower cells (lowers blood sugar). Produced in the pancreas

Pituitary gland

Located at the base of the brain, and sits below the hypothalamus. Controls production of hormones in different regions of the endocrine system with the help of the hypothalamus. Secretes ACTH which tells adrenal glands to produce and release cortisol

Pituitary and Hypothalamus as a “master control system”

The pituitary gland is often referred to as the master control system because it regulates the direction of hormone production, but this is not exactly true as the hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland. They work together as the master control system

How does WHO define health

A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Who was Trish Downings

She was in a car accident while riding her bike, she is now a paraplegic athlete that competes in ironmans- when asked if she is healthy, she would most likely answer that yes! she is healthy (shows that health is multidimensional)

Biomedical model definition

The traditional model that states illness comes from one sole biological malfunction. This has a concentration on the physical body, focused on the biological causes of illness. This is based on germ or cellular theories of disease caused by some kind of microorganism

What are the three features of the Biomedical model

1. Assumes that disease is the result of a pathogen

2. Assumes a mind-body dualism (beginning of the semester you feel great, but as stress increases your body gets tired and your immune system cannot fight off of diseases)

3. Health is the absence of disease and nothing more

What are the shortcomings of the Biomedical model?

Has difficulty accounting for why a particular set of sematic conditions don’t inevitably lead to illness in everyone (flu passing to some people and not others). It also has difficulty explaining why in some cases the some treatments work and in other cases it does not

Biopsychosocial (BPS)

The viewpoint that health and other behaviors are determined by the interaction of biological mechanisms, psychological processes and social influences. Emphasizes the mutual influences among these components (contexts)

What are some biological components

Genes, infectious agents (certain bacteria can interact with your gene expression), physiological sensitivity, immune response, environmental toxins (messes with gene expression i.e. nuclear waste), biological sex, age, and race (Things that you cannot change)

Psychological components

Behavior (adaption and maintenance, how do we get a smoker to quit smoking?), cognition (thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes), personality (characteristic ways of thinking/feeling ie someonebeing pessimistic), emotions (feelings)

Social components

Family relationships, cultural influences (holidays ie Russians drinking a lot), social economic status (access to health foods, income, place you live), education (educational health), social support, medical care systems, pollution policies (ie emission control, radioactive materials disposal)

How do these factors connect/interact with each other?

Your family relationships can severely impact your psychological health by causing someone stress, and be connected to behaviors that are harmful to the person (drinking, smoking)

Compare and contrast the Biomedical and Biopsychosocial model

1. Biomedical model is focused on investigating the biological causes of illness, with a huge emphasis on physical factors, no other causes. Health is the absence of disease

2. Biopsychosocial model focuses on the interaction between bio, psychological, and social. There is an emphasis on a hierarchical view of natural systems with each system independent and a component of the next higher system. If one system has a problem, the next system will too.

How would the Biopsychosocial model explain Mariana’s anxiety

1. A person has a genetic vulnerability to anxiety and a reactive nervous system (biological)

2. High stress levels and poor coping skills (psychological)

3. High levels of responsibility at work and lack of social support (social)

   1. This all leads to the behavior of anxiety; headaches, racing heart, feeling breathless, lump in throat and insomnia

How would the Biopsychosocial model explain alcohol abuse?

1. Genetic predispositions and alcohol sensitivity (biological)

2. Negative thinking and self-defeating beliefs (psychological)

3. Stressful events, culture/environment that might promote excessive drinking (social)

   1. This all leads to the behavior of alcohol abuse, a maladaptive drinking pattern in which someone has recurrent drinking despite interference with obligations

How would biomedical explain cancer

There was a cellular malfunction within the cell that caused it to mutate

How would the biomedical model explain ADHD

A neurodevelopmental disorder driven by physical, genetic, and chemical differences in the brain

Biopsychosocial Cancer

Inherited genetics for different gene mutations (the BCBA one for breast cancer), psychological could include self-perception and how optimistic they are, social could be the amount of social support they have

Biopsychosocial ADHD

Inherited genetics passed down from parents, having a difficult time with emotional regulation and executive functioning (planning, memory and self-control) which is psychological. Social factors are family environments and the level of stress or support they supply as well as socioeconomic status and their access to health care

Hierarchical view of Biopsychosocial systems

1. Each system is simultaneously composed of smaller subsystems and part of larger, more encompassing systems. When one system is damaged, it will ultimately impact the whole system. 

   1. A system at any given level is affected by and affects systems at other levels. For example: a weakened immune system affects specific organs in a person's body, which affect the person’s overall biological health - this in turn might affect the person’s relationships with his or her family and friends

What is the first goal of health psychology?

1. To study scientifically the causes or origins of specific disease, that is, their etiology

   1. Primarily interested in the psychological, behavioral, and social origins of disease. They investigate why people engage in health-compromising behaviors such as smoking or unsafe sex

What is the second goal of health psychology

To promote health, consider ways to get people to engage in health-enhancing behaviors such as exercising or eating nutritious foods

What is the third goal of health psychologists

To prevent and treat illness, design programs to help people stop smoking, lose weight, manage stress and minimize other risk factors for poor health

What is the fourth and final goal of health psychology

To promote public health policy and the improvement of the health care system by consulting frequently with government leaders who formulate public policy in an effort to improve the delivery of health care to all people

Importance of biological context

All behaviors including states of health and illness occur in a biological context. Every thought, mood, and urge is a biological event made possible because of the anatomical structure and biological function of a person’s body

The Nervous system is divided into:

1. The Central Nervous system; brain and spinal cord

2. Peripheral nervous system; with the autonomic nervous system and somatic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system

Includes the nerves that link the CNS with the heart, intestines and other internal organs. The autonomic nervous system in the involuntary controls over the organs we have no control over. Divided into two subsections; parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system

Parasympathetic nervous system

Does the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system by calming down and bringing the body back to homeostasis. Slows heartbeat, stimulates salivation, constricts pupils

Sympathetic nervous system

The bodys fight-or-flight response to prepare for stressful situations. Dilates pupil, inhibits digestion (which can explain why your stomach might hurt when stressed and eating)

Somatic nervous system

Includes the nerves that carry messages from the eyes, ears, and other sensory organs to the CNS and FROM the CNS to the muscles and glands. Often referred to as the voluntary nervous system because the skeletal muscles that the somatic nerves activate are under voluntary control

Hindbrain

Located in the lower back of the skull, right at the base of the brain and above the spinal cord. Contains the cerebellum, medulla, and pons

Cerebellum

Maintains balance, helps coordinate voluntary muscle movement (hindbrain)

Medulla

Controls heart rate, blood pressure and breathing; contracts and adjusts construction of blood vessels and if necessary will alter rate of breathing (hindbrain)

Pons

Serve as the link between the hindbrain and midbrian. Helps to control breathing, produces melatonin which are chemicals crucial in the sleep wake cycle

Midbrain

Pathway between the hindbrain and forebrain, contains the substantia nigra and superior colliculus. Crucial for coordination of visual and auditory reflexes.

Substantia nigra

Produces dopamine; damage here is linked to Parkinson’s disease. (midbrain)

Dopamine

Impacts attention, memory, problem solving skills and voluntary movements. Parkinson’s disease is a long lasting progressive brain disorder that affects movement and the nervous system

Superior colliculus

Receives input from the retina and visual cortex (midbrain)

Forebrain

The largest and most complex upper region of the brain, responsible for managing complex thinking, sensory processing and voluntary movement. Contains the limbic system and the cerebrum/cerebral cortex

Limbic system

Associated with emotions (aggression, fear) and certain drives (sex, food). Contains the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus

Amygdala

Linked to experiencing emotional memories, and linked to recognizing emotion in others faces

Hippocampus

Involved in cognitive processes such as spatial orientation, learning and new memory. We see a hippo with a backpack on UNCC campus, which has big buildings ie. spatial orientation)

Hypothalamus

Lies below the thalamus, directs several maintenance activities such as eating, drinking, and body temperature. Linked to the brains reward system. Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland

The immune system

Recognizes itself and foreign entities (antigens). The immune system is spread throughout the body in the form of a network of capillaries, lymph nodes (glands), and ducts that comprise the lympatic system; bone marrow, thymus and tonsils

Lymphocytes

White blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow. They patrol the entire body searching for bacteria, viruses, cancerous cells and other antigens. NK, T-cells, B-cells, and Killer cells

Antigens

Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and microorganisms

Nonspecific Immune Response

Are the general defenses against antigens. This is our skin, saliva, perspiration, and mucous. This is the body’s first line of defense. It is mediated in 4 ways

First way the Nonspecific IR is mediated:

1. Anatomical barriers; skin, saliva, perspiration - things that you can touch

Second way the Nonspecific IR is mediated

2. Phagocytosis

   1. Phagocytes are usually overproduced when infection occurs. They destroy antigens in bloodstream by engulfing and digesting them.

   2. Macrophages; patrol the body for worn out cells

The third way Nonspecific IR is mediated

3. Macrophases substances

   1. Natural kill (NK) cells - smaller lymphocytes

      1. Destroy viruses and tumor cells by injecting them with lethal chemicals - antimicrobial substances

What do NK cells do

They are smaller lymphocytes and destroy viruses by injecting them with hydrochloric acid or interferon, which is a protein used in cancer research that prevents viruses from replicating

The fourth way Nonspecific IR is mediated

Inflammatory response, histamine which allows white blood cells to go in easier by increasing capillary size and these chemicals attract phagocytes and macrophages to the site of the infection

Belief bias

Failing to consider alternative explanations for their observations. Explain why two people look at the same situation (or data) and draw radically different conclusions based on their own beliefs and experiences

Belief bias dumbed down

Our tendency to hold onto a belief despite contradictory information

Example of belief bias

When there are two types of cigarettes in the study, so one of the cigs are probably okay for your health over the other

Conformation bias

When someone pays attention to evidence that supports existing beliefs.

Conformation bias in class example

Our TA Avery smokes despite taking Doctor Davids Health Psyc class, Dr. David shows her a research study that proves smoking is bad, but instead of quitting Avery knows that her Grandfather smoked everyday and lived till 90

Quasi-Experiments

A research study that tests for cause-and-effect relationships like a true experiment but it lacks random assignment of participants to groups. The variables cannot be manipulated or it would be unethical to do so

Example of quasi-experiments

Morbidity

The number of cases of a specific illness, injury or disability in a given group of people at a given time

Mortality

The number of deaths due to a specific cause in a given group at a given time

Incidence

The number of new cases of a disease or condition that occur in a specific population within a defined time interval

Prevalence

The total number (old and new) of diagnosed cases of a disease or condition that exist at a given time (total number of HIV cases)

Inferring causality

• The evidence must be consistent 

• The alleged cause must have been in place before the disease appeared 

• The cause and effect relationship must make sense

• There must be a dose-response

• The strength of the association between the alleged cause and the health outcome must suggest causality 

• The incidence or prevalence of the health outcome must drop when the alleged causal factor is removed