Topic Review
The Prognostic Importance of ctDNA in Rectal Cancer
An individualized treatment approach is necessary to improve survival and quality of life in rectal cancer. Tools to stratify patients are currently missing. Circulating tumor DNA seems to be a good candidate, but results are sparse, conflicting and characterized by lack of a uniform approach. The ctDNA status may be of importance to the long-term prognosis, but the area of research is new and is short of dedicated studies. There is an obvious need for standardization in ctDNA research, and the issue should be addressed in future research. 
  • 300
  • 25 May 2022
Topic Review
The Process of Plaque Rupture
A warning sign for impending cardiovascular events is not fully established. In the process of plaque rupture, the formation of vulnerable plaque is important, and oxidized cholesterols play an important role in its progression. Furthermore, the significance of vasa vasorum penetrating the medial smooth muscle layer and being rich in atheromatous lesions should be noted. The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is a new arterial stiffness index of the arterial tree from the origin of the aorta to the ankle. The CAVI reflects functional stiffness, in addition to structural stiffness. The rapid rise in the CAVI means medial smooth muscle cell contraction and strangling vasa vasorum. A rapid rise in the CAVI in people after a big earthquake, following a high frequency of cardiovascular events has been reported. 
  • 131
  • 12 Jan 2024
Topic Review
The Potential of Exerkines in Women’s COVID-19
Exerkines are a group of promising molecules that may underlie the beneficial effects of physical exercise in diseases. The idea of exerkines is to understand the effects of physical exercise on diseases better. Exerkines have a high potential for the treatment of diseases and, considering that, there is still no study of the importance of exerkines on the most dangerous disease in the world in recent years, COVID-19.
  • 429
  • 05 Dec 2022
Topic Review
The Pain at Work Toolkit
Self-management tools for people with chronic or persistent pain tend to focus on symptom reporting, treatment programmes or exercise and do not address barriers to work, facilitators of work ability, or workplace pain self-management strategies. Researchers developed the Pain at Work (PAW) toolkit, an evidence-based digital toolkit to provide advice on how employees can self-manage their pain at work. In a collaborative-participatory design, 4-step Agile methodology (N = 452) was used to co-create the toolkit with healthcare professionals, employers and people with chronic or persistent pain. Step 1: stakeholder consultation event (n = 27) established content and format; Step 2: online survey with employees who have persistent pain (n = 274) showed employees fear disclosing their condition, and commonly report discrimination and lack of line manager support. Step 3: online employer survey (n = 107) showed employers rarely provide self-management materials or education around managing pain at work, occupational health recommendations for reasonable adjustments are not always actioned, and pain-related stigma is common. Step 4: Toolkit development integrated findings and recommendations from Steps 1–3, and iterative expert peer review was conducted (n = 40). The PAW toolkit provides (a) evidence-based guidelines and signposting around work-capacity advice and support; (b) self-management strategies around working with chronic or persistent pain, (c) promotion of healthy lifestyles, and quality of life at work; (d) advice on adjustments to working environments and workplace solutions to facilitate work participation.
  • 404
  • 14 Jan 2022
Topic Review
The One Health, Food Systems, and Resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic, adverse effects of climate change, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and other threats have been calling on all relevant stakeholders from varied disciplines to collaborate via the One Health approach, addressing the health of people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. 
  • 189
  • 15 Jan 2024
Topic Review
The Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist
The role of a clinical nurse specialist in oncology varies greatly between healthcare systems, and implementing this healthcare role with its multifaceted and co-existing responsibilities may prove challenging. While already integrated into healthcare systems and services in several European countries, Asia, Canada, and the United States, other countries are just beginning to develop clinical nursing specialties.
  • 215
  • 24 Aug 2023
Topic Review
The Non-Clinical Impacts of Delayed or Cancelled Surgery
Prior to and during the pandemic, the impact of delayed surgical procedures on individual non-clinical, or non-physical harms has been an area of significant concern. There are reports of profound social harms, such as loss of earnings due to being unable to work, relationship breakdown, and difficulties in obtaining assistance with activities of daily living. Delays experienced by patients can also impact nursing care provision. If people are more clinically unwell or have experienced some loss in their ability to self-care, this may change their in-patient nursing needs and require additional staffing resource and changes in skill-mix. Thus, there is an emerging need to consider stratifying peoples’ waiting list position within the RCS surgical priority category to which they have been assigned, based not just on potential physical harms resulting from an extended delay in resolving their clinical condition, but also risk of non-clinical harms.
  • 585
  • 31 May 2022
Topic Review
The New Global Health Emergency: Monkeypox
Monkeypox, once a rare zoonotic disease, has been endemic to some African countries since its original identification among humans in 1970. Since then, cases in non-endemic regions have been linked to returning travelers or those who had contact with transported animals. The causative agent, Monkeypox virus, belongs to Orthopoxviruses, the same family as Variola—the causative organism for smallpox. Although most monkeypox outbreaks until recently were linked to zoonotic transmission, secondary human–human transmission in smallpox-unvaccinated individuals was observed in a small proportion of overall cases. Smallpox was declared to be eradicated in 1980, and since its eradication, Monkeypox virus has been the most significant poxvirus to cause human disease. The 2022 monkeypox outbreak marks a significant paradigm shift in the human and poxvirus association, with new modes of transmission and concerns of viral evolution and entrenchment as a sexually transmitted disease. Monkeypox clinically resembles smallpox but is far milder. At this time, there are no approved therapies for monkeypox, and antiviral agents effective against smallpox are being utilized. Additionally, preventive strategies being utilized include smallpox vaccinations such as JYNNEOS and ACAM2000.
  • 311
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
The Molecular Hydrogen Hypothesis
Since the late 18th century, molecular hydrogen (H2) has been shown to be well tolerated, firstly in animals, and then in humans. However, although research into the beneficial effects of molecular hydrogen in both plant and mammalian physiology is gaining momentum, the idea of utilising this electrochemically neutral and non-polar diatomic compound for the benefit of health has yet to be widely accepted by regulatory bodies worldwide. Due to the precise mechanisms of H2 activity being as yet undefined, the lack of primary target identification, coupled with difficulties regarding administration methods (e.g., dosage and dosage frequencies, long-term effects of treatment, and the patient’s innate antioxidant profile), there is a requirement for H2 research to evidence how it can reasonably and most effectively be incorporated into medical practice.
  • 490
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
The Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis in Psychiatric Disorders
The microbiota is a group of microorganisms that colonize the human body, and the composition of this group is not accidental; in turn, the term microbiome covers the genomes of all microorganisms in a particular environment. This complex ecosystem is characterized by a complicated network of positive and negative interrelationships that significantly impact the host’s health. Notably, the microbiota currently depends not only on the interdependencies occurring in this specific ecosystem but also on the cells of the macroorganism. Microorganisms inhabit various areas of the human body, ranging from the skin, through the mouth, the upper respiratory tract, the ear canal, and the vagina. However, 90% of all microorganisms colonize the initial sections of the small and large intestines. Many data indicate that the number of microorganisms that inhabit a macroorganism exceeds ten times the number of its cells.
  • 872
  • 13 Oct 2022
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