[NOD2 gene mutation in Moroccan patients with Crohn's disease: prevalence, genotypic study and correlation of NOD2 gene mutation with the phenotype of Crohn's disease]

Correlation among postoperative uncertainty, social support, and quality of life in patients with esophageal cancer in a tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors. It is easy to cause patients to change their dietary structure after surgery, which leads to decreased quality of life. The decrease of quality of life affects the patients' psychosocial mood to some extent, and the degree of social support is one of the important factors affecting the quality of life of cancer patients.

AIM

To investigate the correlation among the feeling of disease uncertainty, social support, and quality of life in patients with esophageal cancer after operation in a tertiary hospital.

METHODS

A total of 120 patients admitted to Yiwu Central Hospital of Zhejiang Province from February 2017 to September 2019 after esophageal cancer surgery were selected as study subjects. After admission, the patients were investigated and analyzed using the scales of disease uncertainty, social support status, and quality of life. SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the data, and the correlation between postoperative quality of life and social support was analyzed by multiple regression.

RESULTS

The disease uncertainty scores of patients with esophageal cancer were 68-126 (102.65 ± 8.76). Among the four dimensions, the score of uncertainty dimension was 3.56 ± 0.46, the complexity score was 2.87 ± 0.52, the score of unpredictability of prognosis was 3.12 ± 0.35, and the score of lack of information was 3.62 ± 0.34. The postoperative social support score of patients with esophageal cancer was 41.87 ± 8.96, which was significantly higher than the norm score (33.75 ± 4.12; P < 0.05). The scores of body function, role function, and overall health dimensions of the postoperative quality of life scale in patients with esophageal cancer were positively correlated with social support (r = 0.724, 0.602, and 0.654, respectively). Physical function and overall health were positively correlated with subjective support (r = 0.712, 0.625). Body function was positively correlated with objective support (r = 0.528). Role function and overall health were positively correlated with paired support utilization (r = 0.538, 0.526).

CONCLUSION

The overall postoperative quality of life of patients with esophageal cancer is positively correlated with three dimensions of social support, indicating that social support plays an important role in patients' quality of life.

Is Curcumin a Possibility to Treat Inflammatory Bowel Diseases?

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are mainly represented by Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis that are characterized by chronic and relapsing inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal system. Curcuma longa L. is a plant with several medicinal properties, including anti-inflammatory effects, and curcumin is the most important compound derived from its rhizomes. As curcumin has remarkable anti-inflammatory actions, the aim of this work is to review the potential use of this compound in IBD patients. We consulted MEDLINE (PubMed/PMC), and the literature search was performed with the following combinations of terms "Inflammatory Bowel Diseases" and "Curcumin," "Crohn's Disease" and "Curcumin," "Ulcerative colitis" and "Curcumin." The inclusion criteria were articles that showed original studies with human models and the exclusion criteria were not full-text articles, articles not in English, poster presentations, letters, editorials, and articles not available. Curcumin interacts with receptors, growth and transcription factors, cytokines, enzymes, and genes leading to inhibitory effects on cyclooxygenase-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, inducible nitric oxide synthase, transcriptional nuclear factor kappa B, and many other molecules associated with inflammatory processes. These molecules are critical factors in the positive regulation of inflammatory cytokines in inflammatory diseases, suggesting that curcumin may be considered as a new therapeutic agent for patients with IBD. Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory agent that represents an attractive, safe and inexpensive alternative for the treatment of IBD. Nevertheless, it is necessary to know the efficient and safe dose and consider its poor absorption.