Quality of Life among Cancer Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer is a leading cause of death. People living with cancer experience a variety of symptoms. Quality of life (QOL) is a major concern of patients with terminal cancer. Symptoms affect their QOL. Management of symptoms improves distress and QOL. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the QOL among cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was conducted among 768 cancer patients selected by a convenient sampling technique. Data was collected from cancer patients by interview technique using structured and validated interviewed schedule. RESULTS: Out of 768 cancer patients, 30.2% patients were in the age group of 51-60 years, majority with head-and-neck cancer (40.1%), and 57.7% had stage III disease. QOL of majority of patients was influenced by their symptoms. 82.3% of them had low QOL scores. CONCLUSION: Cancer patients experienced many symptoms that affected their QOL. There is a need to develop interventions for effective management of symptoms that will empower the patients to have a greater sense of control over their illness and treatment and to improve the QOL.

Symptoms experienced by cancer patients and barriers to symptom management.

BACKGROUND: People living with cancer experience wide variety of symptoms. If symptoms are not managed well, it may hamper an individual's ability to continue his or her activities of daily life. Treatment of symptoms relieves suffering and improves the rate of recovery as well as the quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To assess the symptoms of suffering among cancer patients and to identify the perceived barriers to their symptom management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 768 cancer patients selected by stratified sampling with a proportionate selection from each stratum. Data were collected from cancer patients by interview technique using structured validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Majority of the samples (30.2%) belonged to the age group of 51-60 years, most of them were diagnosed with head and neck cancer (40.1%) and 57.7% had stage III disease. The majority of the patients studied had pain (77%), tiredness (96.5%), disturbed sleep (96.4%), weight loss (63.3%), and irritability (85.7%). Most of the patients had lack of appetite (89.4%), feeling of sadness (96.6%), worry (94.5%), and feeling of nervousness (82.8%). Majority of the patients had some misconception regarding symptoms, that is, increasing pain signifies disease progression (92.7%), medicine to control pain may weaken the immune system (89.9%) and pain is inevitable for cancer patients (78.5%). Seventy-seven percent of samples reported that the anxiety or depression is expected after the diagnosis of cancer. CONCLUSION: This study provides an overview of symptoms among cancer patients and barriers experienced by them.

Urinary hydrogen peroxide: a probable marker of oxidative stress in malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Urinary hydrogen peroxide was postulated to be a biomarker of oxidative stress. We estimated urinary hydrogen peroxide along with other established parameters of oxidative stress in malignancies where oxidative stress is well documented. METHODS: The oxidative stress markers tested were concentrations of erythrocyte glutathione, erythrocyte malonaldehyde (MDA) and plasma hydroperoxide, and activities of plasma glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and erythrocyte catalase. Urinary hydrogen peroxide was measured by a modified ferrous ion oxidation xylenol orange version-2 (FOX-2) method on a spot random sample of urine. RESULTS: In healthy controls (n=10), erythrocyte glutathione concentration was 4.41+/-0.057mg/g of hemoglobin, plasma hydroperoxide was 2.5+/-0.07 micromol/l, erythrocyte MDA was 0.9+/-0.15 nmol/ml of packed cell suspension and erythrocyte catalase and plasma GST were 74.66+/-9.2/s/ml of packed cell suspension and 6.12+/-0.84 IU/l, respectively. In cancer patients (n=25), erythrocyte glutathione, plasma hydroperoxide and erythrocyte MDA were 9.32+/-0.42 mg/g of hemoglobin, 6.2+/-0.13 micromol/l and 2.3+/-0.27 nmol/ml of packed cell suspension, respectively; and activities of erythrocyte catalase and plasma GST were 151.04+/-6.5/s/ml of packed cell suspension and 10.9+/-0.36 IU/l, respectively. Urinary hydrogen peroxide concentration was 15+/-9.8 micromol/l in the healthy controls and 56.3+/-3.9 micromol/l in cancer patients. CONCLUSION: Urinary hydrogen peroxide may be a marker of oxidative stress in malignancies.

Detection of formaldehyde in textiles by chromotropic acid method.

BACKGROUND: The common causes of textile dermatitis are formaldehyde resins and disperse dyes. There are various methods to detect the presence of formaldehyde in clothing. AIM: To detect the presence of formaldehyde in various types of textiles by the chromotropic acid method and to assess the effect of washing on the formaldehyde content. METHODS: Twenty randomly selected textiles from a local cloth store were tested for formaldehyde by the chromotropic acid method. A purple ring indicated a positive reaction. The intensity of the purple ring was graded from 1+ to 3+ and reassessed after washing the clothes. RESULTS: Eleven out of the 20 textiles tested positive for formaldehyde. The fully synthetic clothes were free from formaldehyde. After the first and second washes the majority did not show a reduction in the formaldehyde content. CONCLUSIONS: This is a simple and rapid test which can be used in the practical management of patients with textile allergy. Washing the clothes may not have an effect on the formaldehyde content.