Medicina
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains to date an intriguing functional gastrointestinal disorder. Recent studies described a multitude of exogenous factors that work together in IBS, gradually impairing intestinal lining cellular metabolism, including oxidative status balance, with or without a genetic background. Although the current biomarkers support the differentiation between IBS subtypes and other functional gastrointestinal disorder, they are mostly non-specific, referring to clinical, biochemical, and inflammatory imbalances. ⋯ Additionally, it seems that a major role could be also attributed to gut microbiota and their ability to shape our bodies and behaviors. Moreover, the genetic features study in IBS patients showed that several genetic similarities point to a possible correlation of IBS with affective spectrum disorders. Thus, we focus here the discussion on the assumption that IBS could in fact be more likely a stress-related disorder rather than a gastrointestinal one.
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Background and Objectives: When children accidentally ingest foreign bodies, they may be unable to communicate adequately; it is often difficult to identify the causative foreign body unless someone is watching over them. In such instances, to identify the causative foreign body during clinical practice, we aimed to determine if it varies according to age. Materials and Methods: From April 2013 to June 2018, 252 records of pediatric patients with a confirmed diagnosis of foreign-body ingestion were retrospectively examined in a Japanese university hospital. ⋯ The age for ingesting internal medicines was significantly older than that for ingesting plastics, cigarettes, paper, or chemicals (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The causative foreign body ingested differed according to age. This will be valuable information for physicians that encounter pediatric patients who may have ingested an unknown foreign body in Japanese pediatric emergency or general practice settings.
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Background and objectives: Adenosquamous cancer of the uterine cervix is a rare type of cervical cancer with both malignant squamous and glandular components. A very rare subtype is mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), which was first described as a salivary gland tumor. It has been described as having the appearance of a squamous cell carcinoma without glandular formation and contains intracellular mucin. ⋯ As a mucin-producing tumor, it is frequently regarded as a subtype with worse clinical behavior and patients' outcomes. Nevertheless, our data did not confirm this prognosis. New molecular markers and better stratification are needed for better selection of patients with CC, which may benefit more from additional treatment and new target therapies.
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Background and Objectives: Autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation is used in the treatment of high-risk hematological malignancies, and monocytes are probably involved in hematological reconstitution as well as posttransplant immunoregulation. The aim of our study was to investigate the levels of circulating monocyte subsets in allotransplant recipients. Materials and Methods: The levels of the classical, intermediate, and nonclassical monocyte subsets were determined by flow cytometry. ⋯ During the first 7-10 days posttransplant (i.e., during cytopenia) a majority of the circulating monocytes showed a nonclassical phenotype, but later (i.e., 12-28 days posttransplant) the majority showed a classical phenotype. However, the variation range of classical monocytes was wider for patients in remission and during regeneration than for healthy controls. Conclusions: The total peripheral blood monocyte levels normalize at the very early stages and before neutrophil reconstitution after stem cell transplantation, and a dominance of classical monocytes is reached within 2-4 weeks posttransplant.
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This review aimed to identify the potential role of integrative medicine in interventional oncology. The music therapy; stress management techniques; guided imagery, including virtual reality; clinical hypnosis; and digital sedation may all be efficient on anxiety and pain during procedures performed in interventional oncology. Beyond pharmacological sedation, the implementation of integrative medicine to interventional oncology may, therefore, improve the support and care of cancer patients, which may further create a virtuous alliance.