Långvarig smärta är en upplevelse som är förknippad med emotionella och psykologiska reaktioner och som inte kan mätas objektivt. Det är ett fenomen som ofta orsakar personer sociala och funktionella inskränkningar. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva upplevelsen av att leva med långvarig ickemalign smärta. Studien är baserad på tio vetenskapliga artiklar som publicerades mellan 1996-2006. Artiklarna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys.

People with positive affect seem to have great advantages in life. Goal achievement, the main cause of well-being for all organisms, seem to be a typical trait of these people. The purpose of this study was to examine (i) what influences positive affect, (ii) the relation between positive affect and goal achievement, and (iii) characteristics of individuals with positive and negative affect. Five individuals with self-rated positive affect and two with negative were interviewed. The responses were classified in fifteen themes.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic respiratory disease with an estimated incidence of 3-6 cases per 100 000 inhabitants in Sweden. There is no cure for the disease, which inevitably leads to death. A similar disease has been found among terrier dogs, with an especially high prevalence in the West Highland White Terrier (WHWT). Dogs with pulmonary fibrosis become lethargic with exercise intolerance, and in some cases they develop cough and respiratory distress. This thesis gives a brief review of the field of pulmonary fibrosis and presents a method for analyzing surfactant proteins in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in the dog.

Många äldre personer med kronisk sjukdom vårdas i det egna hemmet och behöver ofta insatser från öppenvården. Syftet var att belysa upplevelser av kommunikation för den äldre personen med kronisk sjukdom i mötet med öppenvården. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie med 10 vetenskapliga artiklar. Betydelsen av att få tid och av att vårdpersonal lyssnar aktivt framstod som viktigt. Vidare vill de äldre personerna med kronisk sjukdom känna medkänsla genom att få uppmärksamhet och vänligt bemötande.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that mainly strikes young people in working age, twice as many women than men falls ill. Approximately 85 % suffers from MS-related fatigue that divides itself from common fatigue in that way that it is persistent and does not disappear in spite of sleep. This fatigue is experienced of many as one of the most difficult symptoms, which has considerable impact on the everyday life. Aim: The aim with the study was to elucidate how MS-related fatigue was experienced by persons with MS. Method: The study has been implemented as a literature study through systematic review of scientific articles.

This is an examinaton of welfare officers and patients experiences of a course in mindfulnessbased stressreduction in primary care. The authors used a qualitative method and a phenomenological hermeneutics scientific philosophical position. The analys of the data appeared by using three theoretical perspectives; cognitive, coping and Antonovskys Sence of Coherence. The purpose was to get a deeper understanding of what mindfulness is, how a course in mindfulnessbased stressreduction can be arranged and how it is comprehended by the welfare officers and previous participators of the course. To get an opinion of the issue the authors wanted to know the welfare officers intention of the course, to which patients they provide the course, what the participators thought about their situation before and after the attendence and if they had assimilated the knowledge and if so how it was applicable.

Bakgrund: I dagens samhälle lever många människor med medicinskt oförklarlig smärta. Oförklarliga symtom kan förklaras som fysiska symtom som trots medicinsk utvärdering förblir odefinierade. För att stödja patienten är det viktigt att se personen som en helhet för att tillgodose den drabbades behov och för att bidra till en god omvårdnad. Syfte: Att beskriva personers upplevelser av att leva med oförklarlig smärta. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie som genomförts baserad på kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar.

Samtalsgrupper anordnas av PatientForum tillsammans med olika vårdavdelningar på UMAS och vänder sig till personer som blivit nydiagnostiserade med en kronisk sjukdom. Reumatoid Artrit, RA är en autoimmunsjukdom och det finns idag inget botemedel mot den. Data inhämtades genom sju intervjuer med samtalsdeltagare. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad det betyder för en individ med RA, att delta i en samtalsgrupp samt hur deltagaren upplever det att få diagnosen RA. Resultatet visade att deltagarna tyckte att samtalsgruppen kan vara en positiv aspekt i behandlingen av RA. I samtalsgruppen fann deltagarna en trygghet och gemenskap.

Background: A life with severe chronic heart failure is debilitating, and most patients die of the disease. The possibility of having a heart from a deceased donor is often the patient's only hope of continued life. Aim: To gain a deeper insight and understanding of the patients experiences after a heart transplant. Method: Literature study with results based on 13 scientific articles. Results: Gratitude was the great common experience for the recipients of new hearts.

The purpose of this study is to describe melanotic tumours and the pathogenesis of these tumours. The focus of this study is on differences between benign and malignant tumours as well as the prognosis one may expect when diagnosing this disease. The mechanisms responsible for the occurrences of the tumours are not yet fully understood. It is believed that factors such as chronic trauma, infections, medications and hormones affect the cell mechanisms in some way. Determinants of the malignancy of the tumour are not completely known.

The purpose of this study is to describe melanotic tumours and the pathogenesis of these tumours. The focus of this study is on differences between benign and malignant tumours as well as the prognosis one may expect when diagnosing this disease. The mechanisms responsible for the occurrences of the tumours are not yet fully understood. It is believed that factors such as chronic trauma, infections, medications and hormones affect the cell mechanisms in some way. Determinants of the malignancy of the tumour are not completely known.

The connection between body, soul and social surroundings and their influence on health has, in the western world, been known for over a hundred years. The hospital social worker with tasks within the area of the psychosocial perspective is therefore now a part of Swedish healthcare. Yet both international as well as national research and literature show that social workers have a slow professionalizationprocess and difficulties describing their area of tasks and methods. This study aims to explore hospital social workers line of work, what they believe becomes help in their work with patients and put results in relation to professionalization in the medical environment. The results are problematized from perspectives like professionality, power and role.The study includes 86 hospital social workers at Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset in Gothenburg Sweden and it contains both quantitative and qualitative parts.

In this essay suggested pathogenesis of secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is reviewed. HOA, characterized by; periostitis, periosteal proliferation of tubular bones and arthritis can develop due to many different underlying diseases. The syndrome is most commonly seen with intra-thoracic malignancy or chronic pulmonary infections. HOA has previously mainly been described in humans and various domesticated species. More recently, through wildlife disease monitoring, cases have also been found among wild animals.

Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL) is a tooth disease affecting both domestic and wild cats. Although FORL was described as early as the 1920´s, the etiology is still unclear. Several hypotheses have been presented but different studies have obtained contradictory results, and today there is no generally accepted etiology. Teeth affected by FORL are characterized by root resorption with progressive destruction of the tooth structure and alveolar bone as a consequence of clast cell activity. The disease is considered very painful when reaching a certain stage.

This essay aims to investigate how women who fall ill in Rheumatoid Arthritis, during or just after their pregnancy, experience and cope with this. The main questions were 1. What experiences did the women have from receiving their diagnosis? 2. How has the motherhood and the sickness affected one another? 3.