Efficacy of Comedy on Health-Related Quality of Life and Oxidative Stress in Cancer Survivors.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer survivors have reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) due to impaired daily functioning. In addition, daily stress leads to worsening oxidative stress. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of laughter therapy on HRQOL and oxidative stress in cancer survivors. METHODS: This before-and-after study asked cancer survivors to watch a 15-minute or longer comedy video over a four-week period to assess the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), EuroQOL 5 dimension 3-level (EQ-5D-3L), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), biological Antioxidant Potential (BAP), Reactive Oxygen Metabolites-derived compounds (d-ROMs), Oxidative Stress Index (OSI), and the antioxidant/oxidative stress ratio. RESULTS: The nonparametric Friedman test showed significant increases from baseline in FACT-G and EQ-VAS scores and significant decreases in HADS-Anxiety and HADS-Depression scores. Post hoc analyses showed that these items commonly differed significantly at baseline versus three and four weeks after Bonferroni correction. T-test results in the biological analysis revealed small and moderate effects with significant differences in BAP (p < 0.01, d = 0.49), OSI (p = 0.03, d = 0.33), and BAP/d-ROMs (p < 0.01, d = 0.51). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that daily comedy viewing may be an effective intervention to improve quality of life and antioxidant capacity in cancer survivors. Considering its safety, convenience, and low cost, it should be considered a high-value intervention for cancer survivors.

A case of epidemic myalgia with symptoms resembling acute purulent spondylitis and discitis.

BACKGROUND: Epidemic myalgia is a disease that presents with fever and extreme myalgia of the trunk due to an acute enterovirus infection. The trunk pain is mainly in the chest or in the epigastrium. We aimed to highlight a case of epidemic myalgia where initial diagnosis needed differentiation from acute purulent spondylitis and discitis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 33-year-old woman presented with fever, chills, and acute episodes of low back pain. The sole unusual finding was pain upon spinal percussion, limited to the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. Spinal MRI showed no abnormality. Paired serum samples from disease days 4 and 15 showed a significant increase in coxsackievirus B3-neutralizing antibodies. Based on this course, we diagnosed epidemic myalgia. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemic myalgia should be considered when differentiating acute low back pain accompanied by fever.