Biologisch-dynamische spuitpreparaten in ontwikkeling: 70 jaar praktijk onderzoek en visie.

Met deze publicatie hopen BD-Vereniging en het Louis Bolk Instituut een bijdrage te hebben geleverd aan verder gesprek over de biologisch-dynamische preparaten en, ruimer gesteld, over de essentie van de biologisch-dynamische landbouw. Dat het moge inspireren tot intenstief gebruik van de preparaten op het biologisch dynamiscn bedrijf, tot verdergaand onderzoek naar de werking van de preparaten en tot begrip van de consument van DEMETER-produkten voor de kwaliteit van voeding

The Value of Fatigue Severity to Rule Out Depression in Older Adult Patients With Cancer

Purpose/Objectives: To evaluate whether fatigue severity can serve as a cue to investigate the presence of depression in older adult patients with cancer. Design: Cross-sectional observational cohort study. Setting: Seven hospitals and general practices in Belgium and the Netherlands. Sample: 205 older adult patients with cancer and 436 older adults without cancer (aged 70 years or older). Methods: The diagnostic accuracy of fatigue as a proxy for depression was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values. Main Research Variables: Fatigue was measured with a visual analog scale, and depression was measured with the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Findings: Fifty-six percent of the population experienced fatigue, and 13% were depressed. For fatigue as a cue for depression, sensitivity was 82%, specificity was 47%, positive predictive value was 18%, and negative predictive value was 95%. Conclusions: The data confirm that fatigue is a valuable cue to investigate the presence of depression because 82% of depressed participants were correctly identified by fatigue. The assessment of fatigue severity is intuitive, quick, straightforward, and usually already implemented. Implications for Nursing: Identification of depression is difficult in older adult patients with cancer. Instead of experiencing affective symptoms of depression, older adult patients are more likely to disclose somatic symptoms, such as fatigue, which often overlap with cancer-related symptoms. Nurses should be aware of this problem and should be alert for the possibility of depression in older adult patients presenting with fatigue

Antigen-Independent Restriction of Pneumococcal Density by Mucosal Adjuvant Cholera Toxin Subunit B

For many bacterial respiratory infections, development of (severe) disease is preceded by asymptomatic colonization of the upper airways. For Streptococcus pneumoniae, the transition to severe lower respiratory tract infection is associated with an increase in nasopharyngeal colonization density. Insight into how the mucosal immune system restricts colonization may provide new strategies to prevent clinical symptoms. Several studies have provided indirect evidence that the mucosal adjuvant cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) may confer nonspecific protection against respiratory infections. Here, we show that CTB reduces the pneumococcal load in the nasopharynx, which required activation of the caspase-1/11 inflammasome, mucosal T cells, and macrophages. Our findings suggest that CTB-dependent activation of the local innate response synergizes with noncognate T cells to restrict bacterial load. Our study not only provides insight into the immunological components required for containment and clearance of pneumococcal carriage, but also highlights an important yet often understudied aspect of adjuvants

A cohort study on the evolution of psychosocial problems in older patients with breast or colorectal cancer: comparison with younger cancer patients and older primary care patients without cancer

Background: Although older cancer survivors commonly report psychosocial problems, the impact of both cancer and ageing on the occurrence of these problems remains largely unknown. The evolution of depression, cognitive functioning, and fatigue was evaluated in a group of older cancer patients in comparison with a group of younger cancer patients and older persons without cancer. Methods: Older (>= 70 years) and younger cancer patients (50 - 69 years) with breast or colorectal cancer stage I - III, and older persons without cancer (>= 70 years) were included. Data were collected at baseline and one year follow-up and were available for 536 persons. Depression was evaluated with the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Cognitive functioning was measured with the cognitive functioning subscale of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. Fatigue was measured with a Visual Analogue Scale. Risk factors for depression, cognitive functioning, and fatigue were analysed using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Risk factors included cancer-and ageing-related factors such as functional status, cancer treatment, and comorbidities. Results: The evolution of psychosocial problems was similar for the group of older (N = 125) and younger cancer patients (N = 196): an increase in depression (p <0.01), slight worsening in cognitive functioning (p = 0.01), and no clear change in fatigue. Also, compared to the group of people without cancer (N = 215), the differences were small and after one year of follow-up only depression was more frequent in older cancer patients compared to older persons without cancer (18 % versus 9 %, p = 0.04). In multivariate analyses the main risk factors for psychosocial problems after one year follow-up were changes in functional status and presence of baseline depression, fatigue, or cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Over the course of one year after a diagnosis of cancer, cancer patients face increasing levels of depression and increasing difficulties in cognitive functioning. The main risk factor for psychosocial problems was presence of the problem at baseline. This calls for regular screening for psychosocial problems and exchange of information on psychosocial functioning between different health care providers and settings during the treatment and follow-up trajectory of cancer patients

Procoagulant tissue factor activity on microparticles is associated with disease severity and bacteremia in febrile urinary tract infections

Experimentele farmacotherapi