Breaking Down Cachexia: A Narrative Review on the Prevalence of Cachexia in Cancer Patients and Its Associated Risk Factors.

Cachexia is an irreversible condition that involves a significant loss of body weight, muscle mass, and adipose tissue. It is a complex condition that involves a variety of metabolic, hormonal, and immune-related factors, with the precise mechanisms not yet fully understood. In this review, the prevalence of cachexia in different types of cancer as well as the potential risk factors was evaluated from literature retrieved from databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed and Scopus. Potential risk factors evaluated here include tumor-related factors such as location, and stage of the cancer, as well as patient-related factors such as age, gender, and comorbidities. Several findings were observed where cachexia is more prevalent in male cancer patients than females, with higher incidences of weight loss and poorer outcomes. This may be due to the different muscle compositions between gender. Additionally, cachexia is more prevalent at the later stages, which may be brought about by the late-stage diagnosis of certain cancers. The anatomical location of certain cancers such as the pancreas and stomach may play a significant factor in their high prevalence of cachexia. These are sites of the synthesis of digestive enzymes and hormones regulating appetite. Cachexia is an issue faced by cancer patients which could affect their recovery. However, it is poorly understood, which limit therapeutic options. Hence, understanding this disease from different perspectives (clinical and pre-clinical), and bridging those findings could further improve our comprehension and consequently improve therapeutic options.

Investigating the Health Implications of Whey Protein Consumption: A Narrative Review of Risks, Adverse Effects, and Associated Health Issues.

This narrative review critically examines the current research on the health implications of whey protein (WP) supplementation, with a focus on potential risks and adverse effects. WP, commonly consumed for muscle building and weight loss, has been associated with various health concerns. Our comprehensive analysis involved a thorough search of multiple databases, resulting in the inclusion of 21 preclinical and human studies that collectively offer a detailed overview of WP's health impacts. The review reveals significant findings, such as WP's potential link to liver and kidney damage, alterations in gut microbiota, increased acne incidence, impacts on bone mass, and emotional and behavioural changes. These findings underscore the complexity of WP's effects on human health, indicating both beneficial and detrimental outcomes in relation to different posologies in a variety of settings. Our study suggests caution for the protein intake in situations of hepatic and renal compromised functions, as well as in acne susceptibility, while possible beneficial effects can be achieved for the intestinal microbiota, humoral and behavioural level, and finally bone and muscle mass in elderly. We emphasizes the importance of balanced WP consumption and call for more in-depth research to understand its long-term health effects. Health professionals and individuals considering WP supplementation should be aware of these potential risks and approach its use with informed caution.

Sustainable Strategies for Increasing Legume Consumption: Culinary and Educational Approaches.

Legumes are nutrient-dense crops with health-promoting benefits. However, several barriers are associated with their consumption. Emerging issues including food neophobic tendencies or taboos, unclear dietary guidelines on legume consumption, health concerns, and socio-economic reasons, as well as long cooking procedures, adversely affect legume consumption frequency. Pre-treatment methods, including soaking, sprouting, and pulse electric field technology, are effective in reducing the alpha-oligosaccharides and other anti-nutritional factors, eventually lowering cooking time for legumes. Extrusion technology used for innovative development of legume-enriched products, including snacks, breakfast cereals and puffs, baking and pasta, represents a strategic way to promote legume consumption. Culinary skills such as legume salads, legume sprouts, stews, soups, hummus, and the development of homemade cake recipes using legume flour could represent effective ways to promote legume consumption. This review aims to highlight the nutritional and health effects associated with legume consumption, and strategies to improve their digestibility and nutritional profile. Additionally, proper educational and culinary approaches aimed to improve legumes intake are discussed.

Prevalence and Impact of Fatigue on Quality of Life (QOL) of Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a typical consequence of cancer that can affect one's quality of life (QOL). The goal of this review is to provide comprehensive data on the impact of fatigue on QOL of cancer patients. METHODS: An electronic data search in Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PubMed for relevant papers; those written in English; those reporting quantitative data; and those including more than one hundred patients who received just chemotherapy were included. Studies involving participants that received other kinds of anti-neoplastic therapies were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 35 papers published between January 2000 and December 2021 were retrieved from the search databases of which (11612 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Findings showed that fatigue negatively affected QOL with a pooled prevalence of 49% (95% CI; 25.00-74.00) and the significant heterogeneity between articles was (I²=98%, P <0.001). Further, breast cancer contributed to the majority of selected articles with about 55 % (95%CI; 9:00- 94:00), followed by cancer (unspecified) 44% (95%CI; 5:00 - 92:00). Most studies (71%) (95%CI; 4:00 - 99:00) used the brief fatigue inventory (BFI) tool to assess severity of fatigue and 39% (95%CI; 17:00 -68:00) employed the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire to evaluate QOL among cancer survivors. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of fatigue in cancer patients is high and fatigue has a negative impact on QOL of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Directionality, fatigue needs to be addressed and treated properly for better improvement of health status and QOL in cancer patients.

Factors Associated with Knowledge and Attitude towards E-Cigarettes among Undergraduate Students in Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Thailand government has enacted a ban on vaping for eight years, but the number of vapers has continued to increase, particularly among teenagers. This study aimed to evaluate undergraduate pharmacy students' knowledge and attitudes toward e-cigarette use in Thailand. METHOD: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed between January and March 2022. The participants were selected from 14 universities of Thailand. For data collection, a questionnaire was developed online using Google Form. The participants had to complete the questionnaire within 5 to 10 days the via s. Chi-square and binary logistic analysis were used to assess the association between variables. RESULTS: A total of 507 participants were recruited, The participants' mean age was 20.6 ± 1.9 years. About 98.6% of the participants knew about e-cigarette, and 74.4% had never been taught about e-cigarettes. Moreover, 68.8% of the participants declared that people around them were smokers. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the participants who declared that they were not sure if e-cigarettes contains nicotine or not were 10.5 more likely to consume e-cigarettes (AOR = 10.5; 95 % CI 3.130-35.181; P ˂0.001). Male participants who were at the academic year of three and four were more likely to use e-cigarettes than female students who were at the academic year of five and six (AOR 2.9; 95 % CI 1.599-5.214; P ˂0.001; AOR = 4.5; 95 % CI 1.412-14.571; P ˂0.001; AOR = 3.9; 95 % CI 1.263-12.511; p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: OOur study findings showed that pharmacy students lacked knowledge about e-cigarettes and misunderstood about e-cigarettes substances. Future research is necessary to develop educational programs for health professionals to be ready to advise patients about e-cigarettes.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Anemia among Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Prospective Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence and factors associated with anemia (hemoglobin [Hb] 12 g/dL) in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective longitudinal study to collect demographic and clinical data on adult breast cancer patients with or without anemia who were admitted to HKL, UMMC, and NCI. The incidence of anemia was determined by detecting whether or not anemia developed during the course of chemotherapy. Mild, moderate, or severe anemia was defined. A chi-squared and logistic regression model were used to assess the effect of demographic and clinical factors on the incidence of anemia and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations of potential risk factors with the presence of CRA. Results: The study enrolled a total of 292 breast cancer patients. Anemia occurred at a rate of 41.1% (n = 120). Our findings indicated that clinical factors such as the number of chemotherapy regimens, dose reduction, and type of chemotherapy, for example, docetaxel, as well as demographic covariates such as age and BMI, all contribute to the incidence of anemia in cancer patients. Conclusions: According to this study, the prevalence of anemia in breast cancer patients is high. Patients' age, BMI, number of chemotherapy regimens, and docetaxel were risk factors; thus, protocols are needed to identify subgroups of breast cancer likely to benefit from novel management strategies.

Determinants of health-related quality of life among warfarin patients in Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION: The effect of anticoagulation control on overall Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients taking warfarin in Pakistan has not been explored yet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate HRQoL among warfarin patients in Pakistan. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among patients on warfarin in Pakistan. By purposive sampling, data were collected using demographic data collection form and the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF). The WHOQOL-BREF is comprised of four domains; physical, psychological, social relationships, and environment. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: Out of 295 warfarin patients, more females than males (<0.001) were observed (n = 184, 62.4%, and n = 111, 37.6% respectively). One hundred and eighteen (40.0%) patients were less than 30-years of age, whereas one hundred and seventy-seven (60.0%) patients were above 30-years of age. Mean scores for the physical (62.44±15.36), psychological (67.84±15.54), social (64.27±26.28) and environment domains (63.45±17.66) were observed. CONCLUSION: Patients had overall lower to moderate but satisfactory HRQoL scores in all four domains. Age, gender, employment status, education level, the indication of use and duration of warfarin therapy was associated with one or more domains of HRQoL among warfarin patients. The findings of this study would serve as a primary database for future studies. This study highlights how non-clinical factors could impact HRQoL in studied patients.