Primary cardiac atrial sarcomas. Report of two histologically different cases and review of the literature.

Primary cardiac sarcomas are extremely uncommon. We report two patients with primary cardiac atrial sarcomas: a case report of a 34-year old woman with intimal sarcoma of the left atrium and a case report of a 30-year old man with synovial sarcoma of the right atrium. Clinicopathological and differential diagnosis with a discussion regarding the role of molecular studies is presented.

Multidisciplinary treatment of a patient with type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity, or perhaps already a surgical diabetology.

UNLABELLED: Relationships between abdominal obesity and glucose tolerance disorders have been well documented. There are also many reports concerning body weight gain during insulin therapy. On the other hand, there are reports pertaining to the effectiveness of surgical treatment of obesity and related type 2 diabetes. The case is presented of a 39-year-old woman with morbid obesity (maximum weight - 141 kg, BMI - 48.8 kg/m(2)), who reported to the outpatient department for metabolic diseases in December 2009. The patient had suffered from diabetes for 8 years and was treated with insulin - a dose of 114 IU from the day of the first visit. The patient received education concerning the modification of lifestyle, diet and insulin therapy. A balanced diet of 1,200 kcal daily was recommended. The daily insulin dose was reduced to 56 units. The patient was considered as a potential candidate for bariatric surgery. During the preparation for this procedure she was hospitalized in the Diabetology Ward, where the doses of insulin were further reduced and then discontinued. In March 2010, gastric sleeve resection was performed. Within 18 months, the patient's body weight was reduced by 66 kg and normalization of glycaemia was obtained, despite the total discontinuation of anti-diabetic drugs. In addition, the remission of psoriatic changes was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with type 2 diabetes and severe obesity, in whom a satisfactory metabolic control cannot be achieved with standard hypoglycaemic therapy, further intensification of insulin treatment does not have to be the method of choice, although it may lead to the normalization of glycaemia. In some patients there is the possibility of total remission of glucose intolerance due to bariatric surgery, irrespective of the previous method of treatment.

Analysis of health-promoting behaviours of 14-year-olds of selected schools of Lublin.

The health of an individual and of the community depends on many interrelated factors, including health behaviours which are one of the most important of these factors. The aim of the paper was to analyze the selected pro-health behaviours of 14-year old students. The research was carried out by means of a self-made questionnaire. The survey was conducted in the city of Lublin among 250 students of Lublin schools selected at random. The results of the survey were the basis for the following conclusions: self-evaluation of health and physical activity is perceived as good or very good; analysis of pro-health behaviours revealed insufficient knowledge among the majority of students; proper pro-health education and health promotion plays an essential role in changing such negative behaviours.

Frequency of self-monitoring and its effect on metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes and to determine its effect on metabolic control measured as glycosylated hemoglobin level. The study involved 218 patients with type 2 diabetes (68.8% of females and 31.19% of males) who reported to the Outpatient Department for Diabetes at the Institute of Agricultural Medicine in Lublin. All patients were asked to complete a questionnaire form containing questions concerning, among other things, demographic data, course of diabetes, method of treatment, ability to adjust insulin doses and frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose level. The levels of glycosylated emoglobin were obtained based on medical records. The analysis of the data showed that 59.22% of patients tested their blood glucose levels at home > or = 1/day, 21.36% of them tested their blood glucose > or = 1/week, whereas 8.74% of patients tested glucose < or = 1/week. 10.68% of patients stated that they never racticed SMBG. Statistical differences were observed in the level of education. Among the group of patients who exercised self-monitoring the most dominant were those with secondary school or university level of education (60.66%), while among patients who did not maintain self-monitoring the greatest number had only elementary or vocational education (72.73) (p = 0.01). The greatest number of patients who most often maintained self-monitoring were office workers (52.46%), whereas among those who did not exercise self-monitoring, those employed in agriculture dominated (45.45%) (p < 0.01). Urban inhabitants exercised self-monitoring more frequently than urban inhabitants (p < 0.01). The frequency of self-monitoring did not affect glycemia control. Urban inhabitants with secondary school or university education level and those who perform office work are more keen on frequent home monitoring of glycemia. In patients with type 2 diabetes the intensity of self-monitoring does not exert any effect on diabetes control evaluated by means of glycosylated hemoglobin level.

[Frequency of self-monitoring in relation to metabolic control in patients with type I and type II diabetes treated at the diabetic clinic of the Institute of Agricultural Medicine in Lublin]. / Wplyw samokontroli na wyrównanie metaboliczne u pacjentów z cukrzyca typu 1 i typu 2, leczonych w Poradni Diabetologicznej Instytutu Medycyny Wsi w Lublinie.

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) on metabolic control measured as glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes treated in diabetic clinic of Institute of Agricultural Medicine in Lublin. The study was conducted from February to April 2002 and it involved 64 patients with diabetes, of whom 24.43% were patients with type 1 diabetes and 70.31% with type 2 diabetes. All patients were requested to complete a questionnaire investigating demographic data, diabetes history, self-monitoring of blood glucose practice. The glycated hemoglobin levels were obtained from medical history. Overall, 48.43% subjects tested their blood glucose levels at home > or = 1 time per day, 29.63% tested their blood glucose levels > or = 1 time per week and 7.81% tested their blood glucose levels < 1 time per week, whereas 14.06% patients never practiced SMBG. CONCLUSIONS: Younger people and those with more education are more likely to practice self-monitoring. The increase in frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose in patients with type 1 diabetes was associated with better metabolic control. The ability to adjust insulin doses in patients with type 1 diabetes was associated with better metabolic control. No association was found between glycaemic control and the frequency of self-monitoring in patients with type 2 diabetes.