Outcomes after neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy for cT2-4N0-1 non–small cell lung cancer: A propensity-matched analysis

Objective

Comparative survival between neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with cT2-4N0-1M0 non–small cell lung cancer has not been extensively studied.

Dying is the Most Grown-Up Thing We Ever Do: But Do Health Care Professionals Prevent Us from Taking It Seriously?

This paper takes a somewhat slant perspective on flourishing and care in the context of suffering, death and dying, arguing that care in this context consists principally of ‘acts of work and courage that enable flourishing’. Starting with the perception that individuals, society and health care professionals have become dulled to death and the process of dying in Western advanced health systems, it suggests that for flourishing to occur, both of these aspects of life need to be faced more directly. The last days of life need to be ‘undulled’. Reflections upon the experiences of the author as carer and daughter in the face of her mother’s experience of death are used as basis for making suggestions about how care systems and professionals might better assist people in dealing with ‘the most grown up thing’ humans ever do, which is to die.     

Lysophosphatidylcholine‐induced cytotoxicity and protection by heparin in mouse brain bEND.3 endothelial cells

A pathological feature in atherosclerosis is the dysfunction and death of vascular endothelial cells (EC). Oxidized low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), known to accumulate in the atherosclerotic arterial walls, impairs endothelium‐dependent relaxation and causes EC apoptosis. A major bioactive ingredient of the oxidized LDL is lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), which at higher concentrations causes apoptosis and necrosis in various EC. There is hitherto no report on LPC‐induced cytotoxicity in brain EC. In this work, we found that LPC caused cytosolic Ca²⁺ overload, mitochondrial membrane potential decrease, p38 activation, caspase 3 activation and eventually apoptotic death in mouse cerebral bEND.3 EC. In contrast to reported reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by LPC in other EC, LPC did not trigger ROS formation in bEND.3 cells. Pharmacological inhibition of p38 alleviated LPC‐inflicted cell death. We examined whether heparin could be cytoprotective: although it could not suppress LPC‐triggered Ca²⁺ signal, p38 activation and mitochondrial membrane potential drop, it did suppress LPC‐induced caspase 3 activation and alleviate LPC‐inflicted cytotoxicity. Our data suggest LPC apoptotic death mechanisms in bEND.3 might involve mitochondrial membrane potential decrease and p38 activation. Heparin is protective against LPC cytotoxicity and might intervene steps between mitochondrial membrane potential drop/p38 activation and caspase 3 activation.     

The Associations of Dietary Inflammatory Potential With Musculoskeletal Health in Chinese Community-Dwelling Older People: The Mr. OS and Ms. OS (Hong Kong) Cohort Study

Inflammation, an important contributory factor of muscle and bone aging, is potentially modulated by diet. This study examined the associations of dietary inflammatory index (DII) score with musculoskeletal parameters and related disease outcomes in 3995 community-dwelling Chinese men and women aged ≥65 years in Hong Kong. DII score at baseline was estimated from a food frequency questionnaire. Bone mineral density (BMD) and muscle mass estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), hand grip strength, gait speed, and chair stand test were measured at baseline, year 4, and year 14. The associations of DII score with the longitudinal changes of musculoskeletal parameters, and incidence of osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and fractures were examined by using general linear model, multinomial logistic regression model, and Cox proportional hazards regression model, respectively. After multiple adjustments, each tertile increase in DII score in men was associated with 0.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10–0.64) kg loss in grip strength and 0.02 (95% CI, 0.01–0.03) m/s loss in gait speed over 4 years. In men, the highest tertile of DII was associated with a higher risk of incident fractures, with adjusted and competing death adjusted hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) of 1.56 (1.14–2.14) and 1.40 (1.02–1.91), respectively. In women, DII score was not significantly associated with any muscle-related outcomes or incidence of fracture, but a significant association between higher DII score and risk of osteoporosis at year 14 was observed, with the highest tertile of DII score having adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% CI) of 1.90 (1.03–3.52). In conclusion, pro-inflammatory diet consumption promoted loss of muscle strength and physical function, and increased risk of fractures in older Chinese men. Pro-inflammatory diets had no significant association with muscle related outcomes but increased the long-term risk of osteoporosis in older Chinese women. © 2022 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).     

International survey of peritoneal dialysis training programs.

OBJECTIVE: To survey nurses around the world about current practices for peritoneal dialysis (PD) home training programs. DESIGN: Random sampling of nurses to complete a written survey from the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis Nursing Liaison Committee. Settings: United States, Canada, South America (Brazil, Columbia), The Netherlands, Hong Kong. METHODS: Surveys and responses were sent by fax whenever possible, or by regular mail, or hand carried, or conducted by telephone. Results were stratified by geographic areas as well as by cumulative responses and were expressed as medians with ranges. Kruskal-Wallis was used to evaluate differences in responses. Associations between variables were tested with Pearson correlation. Univariate regression analysis was used to evaluate the impact of variables on peritonitis rates. Variables with p < 0.10 were included in a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 317 nurses responded: 88 in the United States, 46 in Canada, 58 in South America, 58 in Hong Kong, and 67 in The Netherlands. This represented 37% of all surveys distributed. Respondents had a median of 12 years' experience in nephrology (range 1-35 years), but only 31% had a formal background in adult education. Nearly half received their guidance to patient training from a nurse colleague, 11% were guided by a corporate colleague, and 8% were simply self-taught. Clinics responding had a median of 30 PD patients (range 1-400) and reported they trained a median of 8 patients per year (range 0-86). Reported peritonitis rates were a median 0.46 per year or 1 episode every 26 months. Peritonitis rates, however, were not known by 53% of respondents. Total training time per patient had a very wide range of hours, from 6 to 96. There was no correlation between training time and peritonitis rates among the study respondents (p = 0.38), nor with any other variables. CONCLUSIONS: There is wide variation in practices for PD patient training programs within countries and around the world. Training time did not appear to be related to peritonitis rates. Randomized trials of training practices are needed to determine which approaches produce the best outcomes for patients.