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Patients with Long COVID experience a significant decrease in their quality of life and the lack of effective treatment represents an unmet need in medical care and patient health. One proposed strategy for treating Long COVID is to increase the body's ability to restore immune balance by controlling inflammation with anti-inflammatory substances.For this reason, the aim of this double-blind study was to evaluate the supplementation of patients with EchA Marine®, a dietary supplement based on sea urchin eggs rich in Echinochrome A. This compound has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties by activating the metabolism of glutathione and improvingmitochondrial mass and performance. The EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D) is a standardized questionnaire assessing five dimensions of health: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression used as an instrument to measure health-related quality of life in clinical and economic studies. In this multicenter, double-blind, intervention study, we have demonstrated that the dietary supplement EchA Marine® can significantly enhance the quality of life of these patients, particularly in pain and discomfort; notably improving their quality of life and daily activity’s ability. EchA Marine® is an effective treatment option for Long COVID patients and with further research its efficacy could be further strengthened. Clinical trial registration number: NCT05531019. First posted September 7th, 2022.
Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders , Inflammation , PainABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In May 2020, the ACCESS (The vACCine covid-19 monitoring readinESS) project was launched to prepare real-world monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines. Within this project, this study aimed to generate background incidence rates of 41 adverse events of special interest (AESI) to contextualize potential safety signals detected following administration of COVID-19 vaccines. METHODS: A dynamic cohort study was conducted using a distributed data network of 10 healthcare databases from 7 European countries (Italy, Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, France and United Kingdom) over the period 2017 to 2020. A common protocol (EUPAS37273), common data model, and common analytics programs were applied for syntactic, semantic and analytical harmonization. Incidence rates (IR) for each AESI and each database were calculated by age and sex by dividing the number of incident cases by the total person-time at risk. Age-standardized rates were pooled using random effect models according to the provenance of the events. FINDINGS: A total number of 63,456,074 individuals were included in the study, contributing to 211.7 million person-years. A clear age pattern was observed for most AESIs, rates also varied by provenance of disease diagnosis (primary care, specialist care). Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia rates were extremely low ranging from 0.06 to 4.53/100,000 person-years for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia (TP) and mixed venous and arterial thrombosis with TP, respectively. INTERPRETATION: Given the nature of the AESIs and the setting (general practitioners or hospital-based databases or both), background rates from databases that show the highest level of completeness (primary care and specialist care) should be preferred, others can be used for sensitivity. The study was designed to ensure representativeness to the European population and generalizability of the background incidence rates. FUNDING: The project has received support from the European Medicines Agency under the Framework service contract nr EMA/2018/28/PE.
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The logic of the so-called "social distancing" has highlighted the vulnerability of immigrants, especially those of Haitian origin. Facing this, through qualitative methodology. the relationship between the measures decreed in the face of the pandemic, a political-social crisis that precedes it, informal labor, and precarious housing, is explored, since these points are key to understanding the formation of a unique habitat, ties, and the building of a "territorialized us", which provides answers to how the health crisis is lived, and how the project of life and social insertion in Chile, particularly in Santiago. is redefined. This is a young population with difficulties to exercise the right to the city within the principles of democracy, equality, and social justice, being cast as second class due to daily and institutional racism. These conditions have effects on the migrant route, their intentions to settle, and the tendency to return to their countries of origin.
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The book collection of the Franciscans in Jerusalem - object of numerous enhancement ventures in recent years- preserves a precious proof of the relationship between Europe and Semitic civilizations. These are ancient editions (16th-18th century) of grammars and lexicons for learning Arabic, Hebrew, Ge'ez and Syriac. These books document both the biblical interests of the friars and their desire for incutturation in the reality of the Holy Land. Indeed, it is not difficult to imagine a relationship between these volumes and the birth in the mid-19th century of the Franciscan Printing Press. It was the first printing workshop in Jerusalem to print in Arabic: catechisms and grammars for students of Franciscan schools throughout Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. A beautiful virtual exhibition (due to the Covid-19 pandemic), but available in print and on the web, tells all this.
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Despite current aggressive regimens, the majority of patients with MYCN amplification die due to drug-resistant disease, and further intensification ofchemotherapy will not significantly improve this outcome. We propose an entirely novel strategy to oppose MYCN oncogenic function in NB: by blockingthe metabolic reprogramming driven by MYCN. Based on our data and the recent literature, our guiding hypotheses are that: a) lipid metabolism is requiredfor NB tumorigenesis, and b) targeting MYCN-driven lipogenesis will effectively block NB tumor growth. We have demonstrated that lipid metabolism is aselective metabolic dependency of MYCN-driven tumors. MYCN drives both fatty acid (FA) synthesis and FA uptake to maintain NB cell survival. TargetingFA uptake effectively blocks NB in vivo tumor growth.
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Background: MoviS: 'Movement and health beyond care' is an ongoing randomized controlled trial aiming to educate breast cancer (BC) survivors on the benefits of exercise and proper nutrition habits. Methods: The study included thirty women (17.4% of the total planned cohort of 172 patients) with stage 0-III non-metastatic BC (age: 53.5±7.6 yrs;BMI: 25.3±4.9 kg/ m2) randomly allocated to the Intervention Arm (IA;supervised exercise training: “MoviS Training”) or control arm. The MoviS Training consists of 12 weeks of aerobic exercise (2 d/week of supervised and 1 d/week of unsupervised exercise) which intensity and duration gradually increased from 40 to 70% of heart rate reserve and from 20 to 60min, respectively. Both arms received nutritional and lifestyle counselling based on WCRF 2018 guidelines through the DIANA-Web platform and motivational interviewing. As the planned protocol was changed due to nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, IA performed home-based exercise sessions, which were remotely supervised using heart rate monitors. Heart rate variability (HRV;by 24-Holter monitoring), cardiac function indexes (by echocardiography with speckle tracking imaging), and cardiorespiratory fitness (by estimated maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max]) were evaluated at baseline and after the intervention period. Results: There were no adverse events during training. Baseline evaluation revealed no systolic disfunction (mean LVEF 60.4±4.5%) and a mild reduction (values 3 -18%) in global longitudinal strain in 26% of patients. HRV improved in both time and frequency domains: ASDNN/5min (50.6±14.4 to 55.2±16.7 msec, p=0.033);very low frequency (VLF) (1597±967 to 1881±963 msec, p=0.04);low frequency (LF) (613±404 to 731±542 msec, p=0.004);total power (2627±1393 to 3034±1669 msec, p=0.034). HRV parameters tended to improve to a greater extent in IA group (Coefficient of Variation: ASDNN/5min 13.7% vs 4.6%, LF 27% vs 10%, total power 26.5% vs 5.1%). Cardiorespiratory fitness level increased significantly in both groups (VO2max from 30.7±5.7 to 33.9±6.6mL/kg/min, p<0.001). Conclusion: During COVID-19 lockdown, short-term remotely supervised exercise training and recommendations on a healthy lifestyle lead to a significant improvement in HRV parameters and cardiorespiratory fitness in BC survivors.
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Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common invasive cancer in women and evidence has shown that exercise can significantly improve the outcomes of BC survivors. MoviS: 'Movement and Health Beyond Care' is a randomized controlled trial, which aims to educate cancer patients after adjuvant therapy on the benefits of exercise and proper nutritional plan. Material (patients) and methods: Thirty women with stage 0-III non-metastatic BC recruited 12-month postsurgery (age: 53.5±7.6;BMI: 25.3±4.9) were randomized in two groups: intervention arm received 3-month aerobic training (40-70% of the heart rate reserve;20 to 60 min 3-day/week);control arm with usual care recommendations. Patients enrolled in January 2020 were monitored for diet habits by DianaWeb platform, they carried out the exercise training across the COVID-19 pandemic shifting from the gym to a home-based exercise program. The objective was to investigate the effects of lifestyle program on quality of life by EORTC QLQ-C30 and health-related QoL parameters such as cardiac function indexes;heart rate variability (HRV) (by repeated Holter 24h) and cardiorespiratory fitness by estimated maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Results: There were no adverse events and a high attendance was registered considering the challenges to be overcome in shifting to a home-based exercise program. Statistical analysis revealed a significant improvement in both arms in QLQ scale score: in global health status (from 64.7±17 to 15.9±13;coefficient of variation (CV) 15.9%;p=0.0015);physical functioning (from 54.4±12.3 to 6±6.6;CV 13.9%;p=0.0005);fatigue (from 26.3±23.4 to 11.9±14.3;CV -54.9%;p=0.0008) and showed a general improvement over time even on the social functioning (from 47.2 ± 22.8 to 66.7±00;CV 41.2%;p=0.0001). Both groups had a significant improvement in HRV parameters in both time and frequency domain: average SDNN/5min and VLF increased (from 50.6±14.4 to 55.2±16.7msec, p=0.033 and form 1597±967 to 1881±963 msec, p=0.04, respectively);mean heart rate decreased (from 76.6 ±7.8 to 73.7±8.3 bpm after training, p=0.009) and both arms improved the cardiorespiratory fitness level (VO2max from 30.7±5.7 to 33.9±6.64 mL/kg/min;CV 10.3%;p<0.001). Conclusions: Despite the challenges faced during the pandemic, a change in lifestyle integrating exercises, nutrition and educational counseling provides benefit to BC patients when delivered in a clinic-based setting group including the exercise specialists.
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INTRODUCTION: The present analysis aims to evaluate the consequences of a 2-month interruption of mammographic screening on breast cancer (BC) stage at diagnosis and upfront treatments in a region of Northern Italy highly affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. METHODS: This retrospective single-institution analysis compared the clinical pathological characteristics of BC diagnosed between May 2020 and July 2020, after a 2-month screening interruption, with BC diagnosed in the same trimester of 2019 when mammographic screening was regularly carried out. RESULTS: The 2-month stop in mammographic screening produced a significant decrease in in situ BC diagnosis (-10.4%) and an increase in node-positive (+11.2%) and stage III BC (+10.3%). A major impact was on the subgroup of patients with BC at high proliferation rates. Among these, the rate of node-positive BC increased by 18.5% and stage III by 11.4%. In the subgroup of patients with low proliferation rates, a 9.3% increase in stage III tumors was observed, although node-positive tumors remained stable. Despite screening interruption, procedures to establish a definitive diagnosis and treatment start were subsequently carried out without delay. CONCLUSION: Our data showed an increase in node-positive and stage III BC after a 2-month stop in BC screening. These findings support recommendations for a quick restoration of BC screening at full capacity, with adequate prioritization strategies to mitigate harm and meet infection prevention requirements.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , COVID-19 , Mass Screening/organization & administration , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology , Breast Neoplasms, Male/diagnostic imaging , Female , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Lymphatic Metastasis/diagnostic imaging , Male , Mammography/statistics & numerical data , Mastectomy , Middle Aged , Neoadjuvant Therapy , Retrospective Studies , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Background: MoviS: ‘Movement and Health Beyond Care’ is a 3-year randomized controlled trial aiming to educate cancer patients after adjuvant therapy on the benefits of personalized physical activity (PA) and a proper nutritional plan. Methods: In this project, breast cancer (BC) patients who consent to participate will be randomized to Interventional Arm (A), consisting of 3-months of Movis Training, or Control Arm (B), consisting of standard care with no supervised PA. The Movis Training consists of 3-months of aerobic training (2 d/week of supervised training and 1 d/week of unsupervised exercise) with an increase in exercise intensity (40-70% Heart Rate Reserve) and duration (20-60 min). Ad interim analyses every 3-months up to 1-year will be included. The first cohort of eligible BC survivors were enrolled in January 2020 and carried out the Movis Training even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary outcome is improvement of Quality of Life (QoL) assessed by European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL (EORTC QLQ-C30). The secondary outcomes are improvement of health-related QoL parameters such as: PA level (International Physical Activity Questionnaire;SenseWear Armband), fitness (VO2max), flexibility, strength, psychological well-being (Psychological distress Inventory;Profile of Mood States and diet habit (DianaWeb, MEDIET modified and recall 24h);Anthropometric measurement, Body mass (kg);BMI (kg/m2);body composition. Results: The expected improvement (mean ± SD) of the QoL in Arm A at 3-months is 15.1 ± 17.7, while in Arm B is 6.1 ± 17.1 (Cohen d effect size=0.51, medium effect). Using a t test for independent samples, with 0.05 alpha and 0.80 1-beta will require 60 subjects per group. Considering an expected drop-out of 30%, a total of 172 patients will be recruited. Conclusions: The targeted exercise oncology through multidisciplinary team would like to provide a coordinated program of cancer care to improve health care quality, improve prognosis, increase survival times and QoL and reduce the risk of BC recurrence. Legal entity responsible for the study: Elena Barbieri. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.