Support for cancer patients: the Bahrain experience

Cancer, a disease people avoid talking about, is the second leading cause of death in Bahrain. The Bahrain Cancer Society established a support group in 1993 with the goals of helping patients and their families cope with this disease and increasing public awareness concerning early detection. Services provided by the group include a weekly 2- hour session to encourage patients to express their feelings and concerns, distribution of informational booklets and visits to people at home and in hospital. Furthermore, the group organizes recreational activities for children with cancer. Patients or their families can also page the group to discuss their problems. The main goal of this paper is to share the Bahrain experience of supporting cancer patients, their families and friends

Beta - 2 microglobulin concentration as a marker of renal affection in asphyxiated newborns

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum and urinary Beta 2 microglobulin [Beta 2 m] determination as a marker of renal damage following perinatal asphyxia. 24 newborns with severe birth asphyxia were included in the study along with 12 normal newborns who comprised the control group. The results revealed that the mean serum urea [mg/dl] was 72.9 +/- 43.2 in cases and 58.3 +/- 52.9 in controls with no significant difference while the mean serum creatinine [mg/dl] in cases was 1.7 +/- 0.88. This value was significantly higher than the mean value [0.7 +/- 33] in controls. The urinary Beta 2 microglobulin [ng/ml] in the cases was 218.3 +/- 100.9 which was significantly higher than controls [40.8 +/- 35.49]; while the serum Beta 2 microglobulin [ng/ml] in cases [46.16 +/- 22.2] was significantly lower than controls [68.83 +/- 34.3]. There was a negative significant correlation between B2 microglobulin in urine and values of Apgar score. We concluded that inspite of low sensitivity of urinary Beta 2 microglobulin, it can be considered as highly specific simple rapid noninvasive test for early detection of renal damage [mainly tubular affection] in neonates with birth asphyxia