Malignant tumours of the colon : Polish National Health Fund data for the years 2006-2009

Cel pracy. Celem pracy jest próba przeprowadzenia oceny epidemiologicznej występowania nowotworu złośliwego jelita grubego w Polsce i zbadanie tendencji czasowych w odniesieniu do liczby pacjentów oraz ocena potencjału leczniczego województw. Do celów pracy należy także porównanie ww. informacji z danymi Krajowego Rejestru Nowotworów (KRN). Materiał i metody. Analizie poddano dane dotyczące leczenia nowotworów złośliwych jelita grubego, przesłane do NFZ w latach 2004-2009, dla wszystkich rodzajów świadczeń. Badany zbiór obejmował dane z raportów statystycznorozliczeniowych dla 195 191 pacjentów. Wyniki. Według danych NFZ w latach 2006-2009 średnia liczba nowych rozpoznawanych przypadków nowotworu złośliwego jelita grubego wynosiła 16 006 +/- 1 721 dla kobiet i 17 352 +/- 1 335 dla mężczyzn. Całkowita liczba leczonych pacjentów wynosiła odpowiednio 39 987 +/- 4 110 dla kobiet i 43 846 +/- 6 421 dla mężczyzn. Wraz z każdym kolejnym rokiem liczba leczonych pacjentów zwiększa się o około 1 300 osób. Stwierdzono występowanie istotnej statystycznie różnicy pomiędzy standaryzowanym rozkładem liczebności grup wiekowych dla kobiet i mężczyzn. Nie potwierdzono tej różnicy dla rozkładów niestandaryzowanych. Medianę dla kobiet stanowi grupa wiekowa 70-74 lata, natomiast dla mężczyzn to grupa wiekowa 75-79 lat. Według standaryzowanych danych NFZ rocznie w latach 2006-2009 średnio zarejestrowano 67/100 000 nowych przypadków nowotworu u kobiet i 75/100 000 u mężczyzn. Stwierdzono także statystycznie istotną różnicę pomiędzy rozkładami względem grup wiekowych według KRN i według NFZ w 2006 r. dla kobiet i mężczyzn, a w 2007 r. tylko dla kobiet. Dla danych z 2007 r. niemożliwe było wykazanie statystycznie znamiennej różnicy pomiędzy ww. rozkładami dla mężczyzn. Województwa kujawsko-pomorskie, mazowieckie i śląskie wyróżniają się pod względem stosunkowo wysokiego potencjału w leczeniu nowotworów jelita grubego. Wnioski. Liczba nowych rozpoznań jest częściowo przeszacowana, natomiast dane KRN wydają się zaniżone. Tendencja wzrostowa w zakresie liczby leczonych pacjentów jest wyrazem wzrostu dostępności do leczenia. Stwierdzona przewaga liczebności mężczyzn w stosunku do kobiet ma odzwierciedlenie przede wszystkim po 70. roku życia, czego przyczyną mogą być czynniki o charakterze cywilizacyjnym. Porównanie informacji NFZ z danymi KRN pozwala na postawienie hipotezy o epidemiologicznym charakterze gromadzonych danych w NFZ, odzwierciedlających rzeczywiste tendencje zachorowalności w populacji.Study aim. The aim of the study was to conduct an epidemiological assessment of the occurrence of colorectal cancer in Poland, to verify time trends among patients and to assess the treatment potential in the different voivodeships. A comparison of the aforementioned data with the data of the National Cancer Registry (Krajowy Rejestr Nowotworów – KRN) was performed. Material and methods. We analysed the data concerning the treatment of colorectal cancer sent to the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia – NFZ) in the years 2004-2009 for all types of services. The data under analysis included information contained in statistical and settlement reports for 195 191 patients. Results. According to the NFZ data, the average number of newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer was 16006 +/- 1721 for women and 17352 +/- 1335 for men in the years 2006-2009. The total number of treated patients was 39987 +/- 4110 for women and 43846 +/- 6421 for men. In each subsequent year, the number of treated patients increased by 1.300. A statistically significant difference was found in the standard distribution of the population size of age groups for men and women. This difference was not confirmed for non-standard distributions. The 70-74 age group constitutes the median for women, while for men, it is the 75-79 age group. According to the average standardized data of the NFZ, 67/100000 of new cases of cancer were registered for women and 75/100000 for men. Also, a statistically significant difference between the relative distributions of age groups was observed both according to KRN and NFZW for men and women in 2006 and only for women in 2007. The Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Masovian and Silesian Voivodeships stand out as having a relatively high potential for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Conclusions. The number newly diagnosed cases should be considered as slightly overestimated, while the KRN data seem to be understated. The growing trend in the number of treated patients is to be understood as an expression of increased availability of oncological treatment for patients. The observed larger size of the male population compared with women is reflected especially after the age of 70. and may be caused by civilisation factors. The comparison of NFZ data with the KRN data also makes it possible to put forward a hypothesis about the epidemiological nature of data collected by the NFZ, reflecting the actual tendencies of the disease incidence in the population

„alicja” Romana Honeta – szkic analityczny

The article analyses the volume of poetry by Roman Honet, alicja, by means of the method of analysis and interpretation of a literary text proposed by Jerzy Faryno. The division into primary content (direct, resulting from a linguistic utterance) and secondary content (resulting from a linguistic utterance indirectly) enables one to attempt to interpret uninterpretable, as it is considered in the literature on the subject, alicja. The structure of the volume itself, specific punctuation and grammar provide certain conditions concerning the image of poetic reality existing in the world presented by the lyrical I. What is more, the same motives appearing again and again, specific meta-oneirism, permanent palette of colours became a starting point for developing our proposal. This approach to the problem was also supported by thematic triplicity of poetic content visible in the poetry. The further part of the article presents intertextual references to the extratextual reality and real historical figures (related to the Second World War)

857-870 Part I -Cannabinoids and Cathinones

Biliński P, Hołownia P, Kapka-Skrzypczak L, Wojtyła A. Designer Drug (DD) abuse in Poland. A review of the psychoactive and toxic properties of substances found during seizures of illegal drug products and resulting legal consequences. Part I -Cannabinoids and Cathinones. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2012; 19(4): 857-870. Abstract Faced with the rapidly growing increase of designer drug abuse, particularly amongst the younger generation, various legislative strategies are currently employed world-wide for tackling this problem -however with mixed results. The key issue is that the producers of DDs are able to either exploit existing legal substances intended for other uses, but which have been found to possess psychoactive properties, or to synthesise new psychoactive substances by introducing chemical modi cations, often very minor ones, thereby avoiding the prohibited use of chemicals included on any banned lists. Some countries opt to ban new drugs as and when shown or considered to be harmful, while others introduce sweeping bans based on chemical structure. Nevertheless, an ever increasing diversity of new DDs are constantly appearing on domestic and Internet markets. Poland, together with the UK and Eire, has placed temporary bans on all DDs whenever they have been identi ed, thus enabling su cient time for assessing their potential hazards to health. Part of this 'holding' strategy entails a thorough review of the scienti c literature, including expert opinion when direct evidence is lacking, as well as information received from EU support organisations Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). This paper, in two parts, therefore aims to provide an up-to-date summary review of available scienti c evidence on the harm caused by the six main chemical groupings of DDs found in drug seizures of illegal products recently made in Poland. The rst part is devoted to Cannabinoids and Cathinones derivatives. Ensuing legislation can therefore be rapidly formulated to make the bans permanent as appropriate

A clinical utility of a strip test for influenza A/B and comparison with detection by RT PCR

Introduction and objective: In June 2009 the World Health Organization announced influenza pandemic caused by A/H1N1/v virus. It became crucial to recognize new cases of A/H1N1/v infection. An effective screening diagnostic procedure was needed for patients suffering from influenza-like symptoms for making an initial diagnosis and analyzing epidemiological pattern of infection. We used a strip test for influenza A/B as a screening diagnostic procedure for patients suffering from influenza-like symptoms for making an initial diagnosis. For comparison, RT PCR for detecting A/H1N1/v was performed. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and sensitivity of the strip test and its value for making initial diagnosis of influenza A/H1N1/v. Material and methods: Strip testing for the influenza A/B infection was performed on 1123 patients with influenza-like symptoms in the Admission Unit of the Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital in Warsaw. Strip test results were analyzed according to the age of patients and season of the year. For 97 patients strip test results for detecting A/H1N1 infection were compared with those obtained by RT PCR. Results: There were no statistically significant differences found between the methods and strip testing demonstrated sensitivity of 61% and specificity of 71%. Conclusions: No statistically significant differences were found between the two methods, however, strip test had low sensitivity and specificity