The basics of Edmund D. Pellegrino’s medical ethics

Introduction: Edmund D. Pellegrino, one of the leading representatives of virtue ethics in medicine, after a deep analysis of different concepts of medical ethics and bioethics, with their weaknesses and limitations, proposes the return to Aristotelian teleology. In his numerous works devoted to the philosophy of medicine, he makes comprehensively developed and well-presented assumptions and postulates on ethics in medical practice. Strongly embedded in the concept of human nature, referring to the Hippocratic heritage, Thomism and Christian values, theory of ethics is an extremely interesting proposition and seems well suited to the challenges of modern medicine. Objective: The aim of the article is to present a general outline of philosophical assumptions underlying Edmund D. Pellegrino’s medical ethics concept. This outstanding philosopher of medicine, whose contribution to the development of this scientific field is impressive, focuses mainly on a detailed description and indication of sources of medicine and doctor’s moral duties. Conclusions: The work will briefly present fundamental issues for his concept of medical ethics: the nature of medicine and the nature of the doctor–patient relationship, as well as the concept of a good/virtuous? person. Additionally, factors shaping the relationship between a doctor and a sick person, such as the act of medicine, the act of profession and the fact of illness, will also be covered. These factors play a significant role in understanding the nature of the doctor–patient relationship and allow to accurately determine the telos of medicine

500th anniversary of the birth of the precursor of modern cardiology: Josephus Struthius Polonus (1510–1568

In this article, the authors take a closer look at the figure of Josephus Struthius Polonus (1510– –1568), one of the most famous physicians of the European Renaissance, on the 500th anniversary of his birth. Struthius became famous for his critical analysis of Galen’s works and his own research into the circulatory system. The analysis of Struthius’s scientific achievements leads to a conclusion that he was one of the pioneers of modern cardiology. He was a precursor of William Harvey (1578–1657) in studying the cardiovascular system, and the first person in the history of European medicine to present the pulse in a graphic form. He also presented similar ideas to those proposed in the 19th century by the inventor of the sphygmograph Karl von Vierodt (1818–1884), and the inventor of the polygraph Sir James Mackenzie (1853–1925). (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 5: 581–586

Modern research on religious influence on human health

Introduction: Scientific work on religion and its impact on the mental health of man are already over 100-years history. Despite this fact, research on the relationship of religion with physical health have been taken relatively recently.Aim: The aim of this article is to present the process of the development of scientific research in the social and health sciences on the relationship between religion and health. Selected results of research undertaken since the beginning of the twentieth century will be presented in this article.Brief description of the research: Scientific achievements confirm the positive effect of religion on mental, social and physical health. Religion and Spirituality are important aspects of health and affects the quality of human life. In groups of more religious people can be observed e.g.: a lower level of anxiety, increased stress resistance, reduced risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system and lower chronic disease mortality. Religion also supports the formation of positive health behavior and affects patient satisfaction with the quality of the provided health care.Results: Patients express the need to include issues on spirituality and religion in the healing process. They declare also need to talk about these topics with medical staff. Although the high demand, the level of knowledge and preparation of medical personnel in Poland are still inadequate in this area

Population biobanking in selected European countries and proposed model for a Polish national DNA bank

Population biobanks offer new opportunities for public health, are rudimentary for the development of its new branch called Public Health Genomics, and are important for translational research. This article presents organizational models of population biobanks in selected European countries. Review of bibliography and websites of European population biobanks (UK, Spain, Estonia). Some countries establish national genomic biobanks (DNA banks) in order to conduct research on new methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the genetic and lifestyle diseases and on pharmacogenetic research. Individual countries have developed different organizational models of these institutions and specific legal regulations regarding various ways of obtaining genetic data from the inhabitants, donors’ rights, organizational and legal aspects. Population biobanks in European countries were funded in different manners. In light of these solutions, the authors discuss prospects of establishing a Polish national genomic biobank for research purpose. They propose the creation of such an institution based on the existing network of blood-donation centres and clinical biobanks in Poland

Religiosity and religious crises of medical students and their opinions on the usefulness of chaplains’ service and religion in coping with illness

Aim: The aim of the study was to obtain information on the religiosity of medical students, including the occurrence of the phenomenon of religious crisis. The paper also attempts to verify whether there is a relationship between the centrality of religiosity and the way to answer questions about the usefulness of ministry of chaplains and the role of religion in coping with illness.Method: The study was conducted among 273 medical students, aged 19-27. Data was obtained using Scale of the Religious Crisis by W. Prężyny (SKR), Scale of Centrality of the Religions of S. Huber in translation of  B. Zarzycka and a self-devised questionnaire. Results: Respondents who were convinced that religion and contact with the chaplain helps to cope with life difficulties, compared to those who believed that religion rather helps, or those who thought religion does not help, experience a religious crisis less often. In the groups of people who believed that religion and the priest's in-hospital contact definitely helps to cope with the disease, in comparison to those who thought it rather helps or than those who thought it does not help, a higher centrality of religiosity in the various subscales was observed.  Conclusion: Studies have shown that students who do not attribute religion and chaplaincy to a large role in coping with life problems experience a religious crisis more often than those who do not experience crises. Respondents who believed that both religion and priest's in-hospital contact help in coping with difficulties were characterized by high frequency of personal religious practices

The virtue of compassion in medical professions

Introduction: The ethics of treatment virtues is currently one of the major ethical trends that enjoys great interest, especially among representatives of medical professions. Medical education is mainly based on character training i.e. preparing students for fulfilling determined roles and attitudes. It is based to exemplarism, mentoring and underlines the importance of master– student relations. A characteristic feature of these types of professions is the fidelity to ethos and moral values cultivated for hundreds of years. Objective: The aim of this article is to present the role of compassion virtue in the work of medical professionals and to provide examples of applying knowledge from this field to clinical and educational practice. Conclusions: The theory of virtues applied to the field of medical ethics allowing for the creation of a catalogue of moral dispositions necessary for adequate fulfilment of professional duties by health care providers. One of the most favoured virtues is that of compassion. This moral disposition is considered, by some theoreticians of the medical and nursing principles, a key and fundamental attribute of a good doctor and nurse. The virtue of compassion due to its typical components i.e. the moral and intellectual dimension, ensures the realization of the goal of medical profession, as well as expectations and needs of a specific patient, undergoing the treatment process. The fully developed virtue of compassion helps to maintain the balance between overprotection and excessive identification with the patient's fate and lack of empathy and formalism. That way the virtue of compassion allows for pursuing medical goals by fulfilling all standards and guidelines in a caring and empathetic way

Epidemiology and the legal basis for corneal transplants in Poland

The article aims at presenting a legal basis for corneal transplantation — the most frequently conducted transplantation procedure in Poland. Applicable rules and regulations concerning transplantation can be found in the Cell, Tissue, and Organ Recovery, Storage, and Transplantation Act of July 1, 2005 and the Regulation of the Minister of Health of December 4, 2009 on detailed conditions of removal, preservation, and transplantation of cells, tissues, and organs. However, the scope and content of the above legislation does not directly refer to corneal transplantation, neither in concept nor description, which may lead to certain misinterpretations and ambiguity of information as to the adopted rules of corneal removal, transplantation and the existing formal solutions (documentation, or rules for obtaining consent). The article refers to a very important legal principle — omnia sunt interpretanda — which in practice obliges the description and proper interpretation of the legal rules pertaining in this content to such procedures. In terms of legalisation it is possible to find only norms concerning the possibility of obtaining and transplanting corneas, entities which can conduct such procedures (after obtaining the consent of the Ministry of Health), and information on the scope of the so-called presumed consent that is one of the basic legal mechanisms allowing tissue procurement from deceased donors. The summary is a synthetic and comprehensive presentation of current knowledge and the legal situation of corneal transplantation, which can prove useful in an appropriate interpretation of legal standards regarding such procedures.

Self-efficacy, religiosity and opinions on the role of religion in coping with the difficulties of medical students

Aim: The aim of the thesis was determining the relationship between self-efficacy, styles of religious coping and opinions of the students of medicine on the role of religion in dealing with difficulties.Method: The participants of the study were 273 students of medical sciences aged between 19 and 27. The study was being conducted from November 2015 to February 2017. The method employed was General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Brief COPE scale and a self-devised questionnaire.Results: The level of self-efficacy was remarkably higher among men than among women (p=0,000006), as well as among students from cities (p=3,003) and was connected with economic circumstances of respondents. Any significant dependence between self-efficacy and positive and negative religious coping was not observed neither among the whole group of students, a group of Catholics, a group of non-believers, or a group of non-Christians, (p>0,05). A significant relationship between assessment of the impact of religion on dealing with difficulties and positive religious coping was observed in the scale Brief RCOPE in the whole group, and in the group of only Chatolics. (R=0,62 vs. R=0,63). The statistical analysis indicated a remarkable relationship between assessment of the impact of religion on dealing with difficulties and positive (R=0,42) and negative religious coping (R=0,29) in the group of non-believers and in the group of members of other religious denominations.Conclusion: The survey research show that in the group of Catholics, the greater belief in positive influence of religion on dealing with problems, the more frequent is engaging in positive strategies of religious coping. On the other hand, in the group of non-believers and members of other religious denominations greater belief in the impact of religion on positive dealing with difficulties entails frequent employing of both positive, as well as negative strategies of religious coping

Akceptacja choroby kobiet leczących się z powodu osteoporozy = Acceptance of diseases of women treated for osteoporosis

Pawlikowska-Łagód Katarzyna, Janiszewska Mariola, Firlej Ewelina, Dąbska Olga, Sak Jarosław. Akceptacja choroby kobiet leczących się z powodu osteoporozy = Acceptance of diseases of women treated for osteoporosis. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2016;6(5):139-148. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.51372 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/3515 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 755 (23.12.2015). 755 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Author (s) 2016; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 15.04.2016. Revised 29.04.2016. Accepted: 11.05.2016. Akceptacja choroby kobiet leczących się z powodu osteoporozy Acceptance of diseases of women treated for osteoporosis Pawlikowska-Łagód Katarzyna1, Janiszewska Mariola2, Firlej Ewelina2, Dąbska Olga3, Sak Jarosław1 1Zakład Etyki i Filozofii Człowieka, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie 2Katedra Zdrowia Publicznego, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie 3Zakład Patologii i Rehabilitacji Mowy, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie mgr Pawlikowska-Łagód Katarzyna, dr n. o zdr. Janiszewska Mariola, mgr Firlej Ewelina, Dąbska Olga, dr hab. n med. Sak Jarosław Abstrakt Wprowadzenie: Współczesna medycyna oraz psychologia coraz więcej czasu poświęcają problemom związanym z osteoporozą oraz przystosowaniu się do niej. Przystosowanie się i akceptacja osteoporozy to skomplikowany proces, na, który wpływają obciążenia chorobowe, uwarunkowania zewnętrzne oraz właściwości jednostki. Akceptacja choroby dla wielu pacjentek jest problemem, z którym zmagają się przez cały okres jej trwania, zmuszając je do akceptacji niedomagań przez nią narzuconych choroby. Pojawienie się choroby ma duże znaczenie, dla jakości życia kobiet. Przede wszystkim zmuszając je do akceptacji niedomagań narzuconych przez chorobę. Cel pracy: Celem pracy było zbadanie stopnia akceptacji choroby kobiet chorujących na osteoporozę. Materiał i metody: W badaniu uczestniczyło 137 pacjentek leczących się z powodu osteoporozy. Grupę badaną stanowiły kobiety od 38-go do 91-g roku życia. Badania przeprowadzono od lutego do kwietnia 2015 roku. W pracy zastosowano kwestionariusz ankiety własnego autorstwa oraz Skalę Akceptacji Choroby (AIS) autorstwa B. J. Felton, T. A. Revenson i G. A. Hinrichsen w adaptacji Z Jurczyńskiego. Wyniki: Kobiety chorujące na osteoporozę wykazują się średnim stopniem akceptacji choroby. Wiek zdiagnozowania choroby oraz wykształcenie różnicuje istotnie badane ze względu na stopień akceptacji choroby oraz problemów narzuconych przez chorobę. Wnioski: Rosnąca liczba osób chorych z powodu osteoporozy stawia przed specjalistami służby zdrowia ogromne wyzwanie. Wdrożenie skutecznych programów profilaktycznych oraz oddziaływanie na zwiększenie świadomości chorujących byłoby pomocne w zapobieganiu chorobie, ewentualnie jej akceptacji w sytuacji wystąpienia. Abstract Introduction: Modern medicine and psychology more and spend more time problems with osteoporosis and adapt to it. Adaptation and acceptance of osteoporosis is a complex process, for which affect disease burden, external conditions and the characteristics of the individual. Acceptance of the disease for many patients is a problem faced by the whole period of its duration, forcing them to accept the shortcomings imposed by her illness. The emergence of the disease is important for the quality of life of women. First of all, forcing them to accept the shortcomings imposed by the disease. The aim of the study was to examine the degree of acceptance of the disease women suffering from osteoporosis. Material and Methods: The study included 137 patients treated for osteoporosis. The study group were women from 38 th to 91th years. The study was conducted from February to April 2015. The study used a questionnaire survey of his own authorship and Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) by B. J. Felton, Revenson T. A. and G. A. Hinrichsen adaptation With Jurczyński. Results: Women suffering from osteoporosis have an average degree of acceptance of the disease. Age diagnose the disease and education differentiates significantly tested due to the degree of acceptance of the disease and the problems imposed by the disease. Conclusions: The increasing number of patients suffering from osteoporosis poses to health care professionals a huge challenge. The implementation of effective prevention programs and impact on increasing awareness of suffering would be helpful in the prevention of disease, or to accept it in a situation occur. Słowa kluczowe: akceptacja choroby, osteoporoza, kobieta. Keywords: acceptance of illness, osteoporosis, women