A significant issue faced by Cancer Patients: Unemployment Concern

Background: As the cancer prevalence rate increases, physical, psychological, and socio-economic problems caused by cancer increase, and the patients’ quality of life is negatively affected. Objective: This study was conducted to determine unemployment concerns faced by cancer patients and the reasons for these concerns. Methods: This was a descriptive study conducted in a tertiary care hospital between March 2016 and May 2017. The study population included all the patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy at a chemotherapy unit in a research hospital at Erzurum. The sample consisted of 405 patients who met the inclusion criteria. A form that was prepared by the researcher based on the literature was used to collect data. The data was analyzed using SPSS 16 and a p<0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: Of the participants, 56% were concerned about losing their jobs. The reasons for this concern were introversion and a decrease in self-confidence during the illness, health insurance not meeting treatment expenses, concerns that the salaries and income level will change during the treatment period, changes in a retirement plan, and facing situations hindering the return to work during the post-treatment period. Conclusion: This study clearly indicates the fear and concern of cancer patients regarding job loss. Occupational organizations and healthcare staff should cooperate to improve the care service

Clinical features of winter sports injuries: A prospective single center study

Introduction: This study aimed to present the epidemiological and clinical effects of skiing training and use of protective equipment on skiing, sledding and snowboarding injuries. Methods: The patients were evaluated in two groups according to both their skiing experience and use of protective equipment. The characteristics of the patients, such as age, gender, injury area, and injury type were statistically evaluated according to the groups. Results: A total of 191 patients, 68 (35.6%) female and 123 (64.4%) male, were evaluated. There was a significant difference between the patients with and without skiing experience (P=0.001). When the patients were evaluated according to the presence of protective equipment, 25 (59.5%) patients who had no experience did not wear protective equipment, and this rate was statistically significant compared to the experienced group (P=0.001). Concerning the diagnoses of the patients according to injury areas, joint dislocation and soft tissue trauma were mostly detected in the upper extremities, bone fractures in the lower extremities and organ injury in the thorax. Conclusion: Shoulder and wrist traumas were the most common injuries among the patients with previous skiing experience while tibial fractures were mostly seen in those without such experience. Tibia fractures were mostly observed in the patients using protective equipment, and skin incisions in those that did not use protective equipment. Therefore, in winter sports injuries, patients’ skiing experience and protective equipment use should be questioned and more attention should be paid to the above-mentioned injuries

Recovering Risk-Neutral Densities from Exchange Rate Options: Evidence in Turkey (Kur Opsiyonlarindan Riske Duyarsiz Yogunluk Fonksiyonu Cikarimi: Turkiye Ornegi)

This paper uses over-the-counter currency options data to investigate market expectations on Turkish Lira-U.S. Dollar exchange rate. We extract option implied density functions to examine the evolution of market sentiment over the possible values of future exhange rates. Uncertainty is well measured by option-implied probabilities. Estimated densities for selected days point out an increase in uncertainty in foreign exchange market during financial turbulence periods. We make inferences about the effectiveness of policy measures and see how the market perception changed throughout the crisis. We uncover the effectiveness of policy measures by observing shrinking densities and confidence bands.Options, Risk neutral density, Market expectations

How effectively do we apply first-line treatment in overactive bladder?

© 2022, The International Urogynecological Association.Introduction and hypothesis: We aimed to reveal the effectiveness of the combination of behavioral therapy (BT), drug therapy, and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) in patients with the diagnosis of overactive bladder (OAB) who did not respond to drug therapy. Methods: Seventy female patients aged between 18 and 65 years diagnosed with wet-type OAB, who did not respond to drug therapy, were included in our study, which was planned as a prospective randomized controlled trial. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. BT and a combination of anticholinergic + beta3-agonist was implemented in the control group for 12 weeks. BT and PFMT were applied with a combination of anticholinergic + beta3-agonist in the active therapy group for 12 weeks. Post-treatment changes in OAB, ICIQ-SF scores, and frequency and nocturia were compared. Results: The age and BMI averages of the groups were similar (p>0.01). After the treatment, no significant decrease was observed in OAB scores in the control group (p = 0.06), but a significant decrease was observed in the active therapy group (p<0.01). The mean ICIQ-SF scores and the number of nocturia were found to decrease in both groups after 12 weeks of treatment (p<0.01). There was no significant decrease in frequency in the control group (p = 0.054). It regressed significantly in the active therapy group (p<0.01). After the treatment, 3 of 30 the patients in control group (10%) and 11 of the 32 patients in the active therapy group (34.3%) said that their complaints had regressed and that they were pleased with their current situation. Although after the treatment, 4 patients in the control group were dry (13.3%), 10 patients in the active therapy group were dry (31.25%). Conclusions: We demonstrated that drug therapy, BT, and PFMT, which are recommended in the first-line treatment of OAB reduce the need for invasive treatments when they are well explained to the patients and combined

IL-8 gene polymorphism in acute biliary and non biliary pancreatitis: probable cause of high level parameters?

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Inflammatory mediators of the innate immune response play fundamental roles in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. The correlation between interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene polymorphism with types of acute pancreatitis and severity of pancreatitis, was evaluated in this study. METHODS: According to the diagnostic criteria, 176 patients with acute pancreatitis were grouped into biliary (n=83) and nonbiliary pancreatitis (n=93). Healthy blood donors (n=100) served as controls. Serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, total and direct bilirubin, amylase, lypase, white blood cell count and c-reactive protein levels were evaluated to correlate with IL-8 rs4073 (-251T/A) polymorphism, which was analyzed using a real-time polymerase chain reaction method with melting point analysis. RESULTS: The IL-8 AA genotype was detected with a significantly higher frequency among the patients with acute biliary pancreatitis having higher alanine transaminase levels than the median range. Homozygote alleles were significantly higher among patients with acute biliary pancreatitis having amylase levels higher than the median range. CONCLUSIONS: Determination of the frequency of IL-8 polymorphism in acute pancreatitis is informative and provides further evidence concerning the role of IL-8 in laboratory tests

Protective effects of Y-27632 on acute dichlorvos poisoning in rats

Anticholinesterase poisoning is an important health problem in developing countries, and understanding of its underlying mechanisms is essential for the effective treatment. This study is designed to examine the effects of Y-27632, a selective Rho-kinase inhibitor, on organophosphate-induced cardiac toxicity and mortality in rats. Rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control (corn oil), dichlorvos (30 mg/kg intraperitoneally), and 1- and 10-mg/kg Y-27632 + dichlorvos groups. After 6 hours of intraperitoneal injection, venous blood and cardiac samples were obtained, biochemical or immunohistochemical analyses were performed, and the intensity of muscle fasciculation was recorded. Serum cholinesterase activities were suppressed with dichlorvos, and these reductions were inhibited with Y-27632 pretreatment. Serum creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB activities, and myoglobin and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide concentrations were not markedly affected with poisoning or Y-27632. Although serum nitric oxide concentrations did not change with dichlorvos, cardiac nitric oxide levels were markedly increased with Y-27632 pretreatment. Cardiac glutathione levels also increased with 1 mg/kg Y-27632. There was no staining for apoptosis, and immunohistochemical analyses of inducible nitric oxide synthase showed no change in cardiac tissue for all of the groups. Both doses of Y-27632 abolished mortality in rats with acute dichlorvos exposure (100% survival). These results show that administration of Rho-kinase inhibitor can produce protective effects against dichlorvos intoxication in rats. These findings may provide new possibilities for the treatment of organophosphate poisoning. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Does premedication with dexmedetomidine provide perioperative hemodynamic stability in hypertensive patients?

Ankarali, Handan Camdeviren/0000-0002-3613-0523; Ersoy Karka, Ozlem/0000-0001-7309-427X; Yorulmaz, Ilknur Suidiye/0000-0002-1441-6360WOS: 000346935200001PubMed: 25550680Background: Perioperative hemodynamic fluctuations are seen more often in hypertensive patients than in normotensive patients. The purpose of our study was to investigate the perioperative hemodynamic effects of dexmedetomidine and midazolam used for premedication in hypertensive patients relative to each other and in comparison to normotensive patients. Methods: One-hundred-forty female, normotensive or hypertensive patients undergoing myomectomies or hysterectomies. They were randomly enrolled into the subgroups: Group ND (normotensive-dexmedetomidine); Group HD (hypertensive-dexmedetomine); Group NM (normotensive-midazolam); Group HM (hypertensive-midazolam). Dexmedetomidine was administered at a concentration of 0.5 mu g.kg(-1), and midazolam was administered at a concentration of 0.025 mu g.kg(-1) via intravenous (IV) infusion before the induction of anaesthesia. Haemodynamic parameters were recorded at several times (T-beginning, T-preop5 min, T-preop 10 min, T-induction, T-intubation, T-intubation 5 min, T-initial surgery, T-surgery 15 min, T-surgery 30 min, T-extubation, T-extubation 5 min). Propofol amount for induction, time between induction and initial surgery, demand of antihypertensive therapy, rescue atropine were recorded. Quantitative clinical and demographic characteristics were compared using One Way ANOVA. The values were compared using One-way Analysis of Variance. Additionally periodic variations were examined by One way Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance for groups separately. Results: SBP was significantly different between normotensive and hypertensive groups at the following time points: T-preop 5 min, T-preop 10 min, T-induction, T-intubation, T-intubation 5 min and T-initial surgery. MBP was significantly different in the hypertensive groups at T-induction, T-intubation, T-intubation 5 min, T-initial surgery, T-surgery 15 min, T-surgery 30 min, T-extubation and T-extubation 5 min. The perioperative requirements for antihypertensive drugs were significantly higher in Group HM. Conclusion: In the hypertensive patients, dexmedetomidine premedication provides better hemodynamic stability compared with midazolam, and because it decreases the antihypertensive requirements, its use might be beneficial.Duzce University's Projects Support Fund for Scientific ResearchDuzce UniversityThis study was financed by Duzce University's Projects Support Fund for Scientific Research