Impact of stress urinary incontinence on female sexual activity.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the impact of SUI (Stress Urinary Incontinence) on the sexual activity of women, to assess their sexual functioning, and to show the extent of the problem that SUI poses to the quality of life of women. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved 70 women aged 20-48 years. The inclusion criteria included the presence of stress urinary incontinence, the sexual activity of the women, and the history of no urogynecological intervention. The authorial questionnaire and the Polish version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were used. RESULTS: SUI contributes to reducing the frequency of intercourse and even complete resignation from sexual intercourse. There is a correlation between the occurrence of urinary leakage during intercourse and the occurrence of sexual dysfunction (p=0.023). The most common factors limiting sexual activity are decreased libido, fatigue, lack of desire, and lack of body acceptance. However, age (p=0.070), marital status (p=0.091), Body Mass Index (BMI) (p=0.436), as well as the duration of stress urinary incontinence (p=0.36) have no effect on women's sexual activity. The most common ways of dealing with the loss of urine during intercourse include micturition before intercourse, intercourse only in safe places, restriction of physical activity during intercourse, and reduction of intercourse frequency and duration. CONCLUSIONS: SUI in women has a significant effect on their sexual activity. The cause of this state of affairs is multifactorial. Some women try to cope with the problem and have developed a number of strategies that allow them to be sexually active without unpleasant surprises.

Prediction of detrusor underactivity based on non-invasive functional tests and clinical data in patients with symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction.

OBJECTIVE: Detrusor underactivity (DU) is a common but relatively under-researched bladder dysfunction. Recently, there has been renewed interest in this topic. The aim of the study was to develop a decision-making algorithm to predict the impaired detrusor contractility in patients with LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis covered 96 consecutive patients (aged 63 ± 8 years) treated pharmacologically for 50 ± 37 months due to LUTS (persisting for 64 ± 41 months). Functional tests included uroflowmetry and flow cystometry. RESULTS: Weakened detrusor functioning was detected in 58 (60.4%) patients. Decision-making algorithm that included uroflowmetry, flow cystometry and clinical data, was showed to allow to diagnose impaired detrusor function with accuracy of 73% (95% CI - confidence interval: 61-83%) and specificity of 76% (95% CI: 54-90%). The positive predictive value of the classification tree graph is equal to 90% (95% CI: 78 -96%) and the negative predictive value is 50% (95% CI: 34-66%). The weakened detrusor function was more frequent in patients with: time to reach maximum flow rate higher than 13.5 s; time to reach maximum flow rate lower than 13.5 s and mean flow ratio higher than 4.5 ml/s, but time of flow longer than 44.5 s; time to reach maximum flow rate lower than 13.5 s and mean flow ratio lower than 4.5 ml/s, but time of flow longer than 52.5 s. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the uroflowmetry can be used to predict the impaired detrusor contractility in patients with LUTS.

Treatment of hormonally refractory cancer of the prostate with antineoplaston AS2-1.

Successful treatment of advanced cancer of the prostate which no longer responds to hormonal manipulation continues to be a difficult task. The present study describes the results of treatment of the first fourteen patients in Phase II clinical trials with Antineoplaston AS2-1 (AS) and low-dose diethylstilbestrol (DES). The study involved thirteen patients diagnosed with stage IV and one patient with stage II adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The ages of the patients were between 54 and 88. The previous therapy included prostatectomy, orchiectomy, radiation therapy and treatment with DES, LHRH agonist (LH), flutamide (FL), aminoglutethimide and immunotherapy. After initial response to such treatments, the disease continued to progress. The majority of patients showed progression of the disease after treatment with LH and FL. The current treatment program consisted of administration of AS and DES. The treatment was given orally daily. The majority of patients received from 97 to 130 mg/kg/24 h of AS and from 0.01 to 0.02 mg/kg/24 h of DES. The treatment was administered from 64 to 425 days and was free from significant side effects due to AS. The dose of DES was lower than usual, and only some patients experienced mild side effects typical for DES. Only two patients showed progression of the disease. Complete remission was obtained in two patients and partial remission in three patients. Stabilization of the disease with objective improvement was determined in seven patients. The first patient enrolled in the program has been in complete remission for 17 months and off the treatment for 16 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Phase I clinical studies of antineoplaston A5 injections.

Antineoplaston A5 is a mixture of small peptides and amino acid derivatives isolated from human urine which show a unique pattern of growth inhibition in the tissue culture of human neoplastic cells and no significant animal toxicity. Clinical trials described in this paper involved 15 patients diagnosed with advanced neoplastic diseases. The patients' diagnoses included: lung cancer, stage III (4 cases); breast, stages III and IV (3); colorectal, stage IV (2); bladder (2); and single cases of adenocarcinoma of the jejunum, stage IV; adenocarcinoma of the prostate, stage IV; adenocarcinoma of the ovary, stage IV and astrocytoma, grade IV. Antineoplaston A5 was administered daily in divided doses intravenously through a subclavian vein catheter. The formulation was given from 47 to 130 days. The highest dosage attained was 153 mg/kg/24 h. Adverse effects included febrile reaction in five patients, arthralgia in one patient and premature beats and pressure in the chest in one patient. The side-effects were very mild and usually experienced only once during the entire course of treatment. Desirable side-effects included increase of platelet count, increase of white blood cell count and hypertrophy of epidermis. Nine patients (60%) had objective response to the treatment. They were diagnosed with cancer of the lung (3 patients), breast (2), colorectal (2) and bladder (2). Four patients had increasing disease and two patients were classified as having stable disease without objective improvement.

Chemoprevention by antineoplaston A10 of benzo(a)pyrene-induced pulmonary neoplasia.

The effect of Antineoplaston A10 (AA10), an amino acid derivative isolated from human urine, has been studied on pulmonary adenoma formation resulting from intragastric administration of benzo(a)pyrene(BP) to A/HeJ mice. Two doses of BP, 3 mg each, administered two weeks apart, induced an average of 6.86 tumours within 157 days in the control animals (Tumorigenic Index 437). One per cent of AA10 (w/w) given in mouse food for one week prior to, and then continued after the administration of BP, produced a 70% reduction in the total number of tumours in the test groups.

Quantitative assay of plasma and urinary peptides as an aid for the evaluation of cancer patients undergoing antineoplaston therapy.

Plasma and urinary peptides can be reproducibly assayed by a procedure involving reverse phase chromatography on a column of C18 and HPLC on a column of sulfonated polystyrene. The average plasma and urinary peptide levels of normal persons are 79.4 nmoles/ml and 73.6 nmoles/mg creatinine, respectively. Ninety-one percent of 108 confirmed cancer patients referred to the authors' Clinic for antineoplaston therapy showed various degrees of deficiency of peptides in the plasma, and 98% of the patients had plasma/urine peptide ratios below the normal ranges of 0.82 to 1.15, indicating that the overwhelming majority of cancer patients excreted greater than normal amounts of peptides in the urine. When a patient responded favourably to the antineoplaston therapy, the excessive urinary excretion of peptides was reversed. Plasma levels of peptides and plasma/urine peptide ratios showed a steady increase after one to two months and eventually approached those of normal persons. On the other hand, if a patient was not responding to the antineoplaston therapy, the excessive urinary excretion of peptides remained unaltered or even became greater. Patients in remission following antineoplaston therapy tended to show plasma and urinary peptide levels comparable to those of normal persons. Thus the quantitative assay of plasma and urinary peptides provides a useful parameter for the evaluation and prognosis of cancer patients undergoing antineoplaston therapy. A growing colon tumour was found to have the lowest level of peptides among mice tissues analysed, suggesting that deficiency of inhibitory peptide components may be associated with malignant growth. The results of this study are consistent with the interpretation that a deficiency of antineoplastons may be required for malignant cells to proliferate, and the consequent malignant growth further aggravates this deficiency. Antineoplaston therapy can halt such a "vicious cycle" and induce long-term remission in some cancer patients.

Chemo-surveillance: a novel concept of the natural defence mechanism against cancer.

Synthetic Antineoplaston A10, 3-phenylacetylamino-2,6-piperidinedione, has been shown to produce promising clinical results, similar to those obtained with antineoplastons derived from urine. Antineoplaston A10 is capable of reducing the excessive excretion of peptides often associated with cancer patients, thereby boosting endogenous levels of antineoplaston. Its therapeutic effect is partially attributable to endogenous antineoplastons, the level of which Antineoplaston A10 can help to raise. A patient must have a certain reserve of endogenous antineoplastons in order to benefit from therapy with Antineoplaston A10. The critical plasma peptide level seems to be above 30 nmoles/ml. Patients who responded favourably to the treatment with Antineoplaston A10 invariably showed an increase of plasma peptide levels and a decrease of urinary excretion of peptides. These results suggest that the body, under normal circumstances, is protected by antineoplastons against cancer. This chemical mechanism of protection is hereby termed chemo-surveillance.

Toxicology studies on antineoplaston AS2-1 injections in cancer patients.

Antineoplaston AS2-1 is a mixture of two products of hydrolysis of Antineoplaston A10 and consists of sodium salts of phenylacetylglutamine and phenylacetic acid in the ratio of 1:4. Antineoplaston AS2-1 injections were administered to 20 patients diagnosed with 21 types of neoplastic diseases. The patients' diagnoses included: lung cancer, stage III, 4 cases; colorectal, stage IV, 3; breast, stage IV, 2; breast in remission, 1; glioblastoma, 3; head and neck, stage IV, 3; uterine cervix, stage IA, 1; chronic myelocytic leukaemia, 2; lymphocytic lymphoma, stage IV, 1; and leiomyosarcoma of the uterus, stage IVB, 1. Antineoplaston AS2-1 was administered every 6 h i.v. through subclavian vein catheter. The treatment was administered from 38 to 872 days. The highest dosage taken was 160 mg/kg/24 h. The treatment was associated with minimal side-effects, including slight nausea and vomiting in one patient, mild allergic reaction in the form of maculopapular rash in another patient and moderate elevation of blood pressure in an additional patient. One patient developed febrile reaction and three patients had mild electrolyte imbalance. Only one patient showed slight decrease of WBC. Desirable side-effects included improved healing of chronic atrophic ulceration. The response to the treatment included 6 complete remissions, 2 partial remissions, 7 cases of stabilization and 6 cases of increasing disease. Three patients are alive, well and free from cancer 5 years after the beginning of the study. The hypothetical mechanism of action of Antineoplaston AS2-1 as an anticancer agent is described.