Therapeutic Use of Some Romanian Medicinal Plants

Romanian traditional medicine has an extremely old history. The Dacian knowledge of the curative properties of medicinal plants was documented by Herodotus, Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides. It must be emphasized that modern chemical screening has confirmed the therapeutic properties of the medicinal plants used by the Dacians. More interesting is that Dacians used many of these herbs for different dishes. Practically, for Dacians, food was medicine. Recent research on some Romanian medicinal plants has highlighted their pharmacognostical importance. It is known that currently, the importance and dynamics of the research on medicinal plants in the area of drug discovery continues to increase worldwide. The main reason is not only the high efficiency of secondary metabolites in case of serious diseases (cancer, viral infections, malaria, etc.) but also the minimization of the side effects of the synthetic drugs

The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emergency treatment of patients with colorectal cancer in a university surgery clinic. Data from patients undergoing emergency surgery during the pandemic period (2020–2021) was taken into consideration and the results were analyzed and compared with the periods 2016–2017 and 2018–2019. A significant decrease in the number of patients undergoing emergency surgery was reported (p = 0.028). The proportion of patients who presented more severe symptoms at the hospital was significantly higher (p = 0.007). There was an increase in the average duration of surgical interventions compared to pre-pandemic periods (p = 0.021). An increase in the percentage of stomas performed during the pandemic was reported. The average duration of postoperative hospitalization was shorter during the pandemic. A postoperative mortality of 25.7% was highlighted. Conclusions: The pandemic generated by COVID-19 had significant consequences on the emergency treatment of patients with colon cancer. A smaller number of patients showed up at the hospital, and with more severe symptoms. In order to reduce the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus, the postoperative hospitalization period was shortened and a higher number of protective stomas were performed