Caregivers' experience in patients with chronic diseases.

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of caregivers of patients with chronic diseases, assess their perceived burden, and investigate factors influencing this burden. Seventy-three patient-attendants (43 men and 30 women) participated in the pilot-research conducted by two clinics. Of them, 68% attended patients with a malignant disease and 32% attended patients in the end stage of renal disease. Based on questionnaire data, the influence of the social support was studied, in particular that of family members or through state programmers. Family members are the primary caregivers (spouses 51%, children 29%, and others 20%). Psychological support is the main important help that they need and there are a small number of caregivers who have access to a network of medical and social support. It is found that the family still remains the main supporting mechanism for attendants and patients in our population.

The role of paroxetine in fatigue and depression of patients under chemotherapeutic treatment.

We evaluated paroxetine for the treatment of fatigue and depression in patients with solid tumors after chemotherapy, and we found that paroxetine is effective for the treatment of depression during chemotherapy but has no benefit for the treatment of fatigue.

A comparative study of intravenous ibandronate and pamindronate in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer: effect on metastatic bone pain.

We compared the effects of ibandronate and pamindronate in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer and we found that ibandronate is superior to pamindronate in alleviating pain, improving mobility and quality of life, and reducing bone resorption indices in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer.

Effect of combined treatment methods on quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer.

We aimed to analyze the effect of combined treatment methods on quality of life (QoL) in patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Therefore, we prospectively analyzed 30 patients with unresectable, without distant metastases, pancreatic cancer. Patients were randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms: radiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil or radiotherapy with gemcitabine. QoL was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) questionnaire in both treatment groups. QoL was evaluated before and after treatment. We found that that both concomitant chemoradiation methods have similar impact on QoL in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Efficacy and safety of capecitabine and oxaliplatin combination as second-line treatment in advanced colorectal cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of administering a combination of capecitabine and oxaliplatin in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, resistant to leucovorin/5-fluorouracil and irinotecan. Fifty-four patients with advanced colorectal cancer were prospectively evaluated (mean age 63 years, male/female 2:1) who had been previously treated with schemes containing fluoropyrimidines and irinotecan. All patients received oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 as 2-hour intravenous infusion) the first day of the cycle and capecitabine (1000 mg/m2) twice daily, days 1-14. Cycles were repeated every 21 days until either disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients were evaluated regarding their response to treatment every 9 weeks (toxicity was evaluated every 3 weeks). Total response rate was 28.3%. Median total survival was 13.5 months, and median time to progression was 5.3 months in a follow up of 24 months. Major adverse events were neutropenia, nausea, diarrhea, hand/foot syndrome, and neurotoxicity. No treatment-related or grade 4 toxicity-related deaths were observed. Additionally, no dosage decrease was required, and only 4 cycles were withheld for 1 week because of neutropenia. The combination of oxaliplatin and capecitabine is efficient and safe for patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have been previously treated with other therapeutic schemes. Furthermore, this is a convenient and well-tolerated scheme.

Psychosocial effects and evaluation of the health-related quality of life in patients suffering from well-controlled epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To record the impact of epilepsy on the psychological health and HRQOL of patients suffering from mild epilepsy in a rural area of southeastern Greece. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied fifty outpatients suffering from well-controlled uncomplicated epilepsy who experienced from none up to four seizures per year and had the ability to sustain a regular job. We tried to record the psychosocial effects resulting from epilepsy and to evaluate their HRQOL, comparing them to 50 healthy controls with similar demographic characteristics. To patients and controls were given the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and a questionnaire based on the Hamilton and Mandr's depression scales. RESULTS: According to the two depression and anxiety scales used, a mild degree of anxiety and depression was diagnosed but with unimportant statistical difference (p=ns) between patients and healthy controls. Self-perceived HRQOL of patients appeared to be affected,with vitality (p<0.002), physical (p<0.001) and social functioning (p<0.003) as the most impaired subscales of the SF-36. The deterioration in their HRQOL was mainly related to the post-diagnosis alteration of their socioeconomic status. As assessed by the multiple regression analyses, none of the disease history and medication-related variables were found to have any influence on the results of the SF-36 subtests. CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that we studied a relatively small sample of patients with mild epilepsy, our results showed that their HRQOL was obviously affected, while their psychological health remained nearly unaffected.

Otolaryngologic manifestations of small vessel vasculitis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to review the clinical manifestations associated with small vessel vasculitis (SVV) as they pertain to the head and neck region. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed, including 34 individuals that filled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of necrotizing vasculitis. Seven patients were classified as suffering from Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), 18 from microscopic polyangitis (MPA), and the remaining 19 were unclassified (unclassified small vessel vasculitis, USVV). RESULTS: The percentage of ENT manifestations in the early clinical picture of WG patients was 86%, dropping to 44.5 and 22% for MPA and USVV patients, respectively. The overall percentage of ENT manifestations for SVV patients in their initial clinical profile was 47%. CONCLUSION: The results of our investigation highlight the importance of an ENT clinical examination as a guide for diagnosis of an important percentage of SVV patients.

Autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease manifested by an autoimmune attack on the pancreatic beta-islet cells. It is also known that Type 1 diabetes is associated with other autoimmune diseases. The aim of the present study was to seek autoantibodies in the serum of people with Type 1 diabetes.

Smoking among high school students.

INTRODUCTION: There are no recent data on smoking habits of high-school students in Greece. The primary objective of the study was to determine these epidemiological factors. METHODS: The smoking habits of 927 high-school students (471 boys and 456 girls), aged between 15-18 years, in four regions of a Greek area (the island of Cos), were examined. Study data were collected using a questionnaire. RESULTS: It was found that 32.48% of boys and 27.19% of girls are smokers; 43.3% had started smoking before the age of 14. The mean age for starting smoking was 14.4 +/- 1.9 years for the boys and 14.9 +/- 1.6 years for the girls. As many as 22.8% of the students smoke 6 to 10 cigarettes per day and 21.5% 16 to 20 cigarettes per day; 40.2% reported that they smoke out of spite. Students reported that their parents are aware that their offspring smoke in a proportion of 36.7%. Social standards and parental example were found to be the main determinants for starting smoking. The majority of the students (95.2%) stated that they are aware of the hazards associated with smoking. DISCUSSION: Our findings highlight the need for smoking control interventions aimed at young people. Smoking is a major, yet preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. For these reasons, we view that adolescents should be targeted with a well-planned integrated anti-smoking policy and not just an initiative for raising awareness of smoking hazards.