Effect of a reused insulin needle remaining in a patient's body.

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases at present, and insulin pen injection therapy plays an important role in the treatment of diabetes. However, the majority of patients might reuse disposable insulin pen needles for various reasons, which leads to related complications. As far as we know, this article is the first to describe a patient whose needle remained in the right upper limb while reusing a disposable insulin injection needle for subcutaneous insulin injection with the non-dominant hand. The patient went to the doctor 1 week later. The needle moved from the lateral area of the proximal upper arm (the injection site) to the posterolateral area of the distal upper arm. The needle was then successfully removed by surgery. The reuse of disposable insulin pen needles might lead to serious complications. It is suggested to strengthen the education of people living with diabetes to help them use insulin pen needles safely.

Effects of different environmental intervention durations on the intestinal mucosal barrier and the brain-gut axis in rats with colorectal cancer.

An enriched environment (EE) is a promising strategy for protecting the intestinal mucosal barrier and regulating the brain-gut axis, but the optimal EE intervention duration is unknown. Here, different EE intervention durations were applied to assess the optimal intervention duration in rats with colorectal cancer. We used a rat model of 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colorectal cancer. The rats were housed in an EE for 0, 2, 4, 8 weeks and 8-week blank group. The intestinal mucosa and serum TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, ATP, CRF, and occludin levels and bacterial translocation (BT) were measured, and the intestinal mucosa morphology was evaluated. In 8 weeks, the effect of tumor on intestinal mucosal barrier was not obvious and the EE had a greater impact on it. Eight weeks of EE was more beneficial to the intestinal mucosal mechanical barrier than 2 or 4 weeks of intervention. A significant difference in BT was found between the 4- and 8-week groups. Overall, the analysis of inflammatory factor regulation revealed that the two blank groups exhibited the worst effect, and the intervention effect at 8 weeks was better than that at 2 and 4 weeks. CRF at 4 weeks was higher than that at 8-week blank group. The effect of 8-week intervention duration on the intestinal mucosal barrier was generally better than that of 2- and 4-week durations and intervention within 4 weeks can help to stabilize and promote the secretion of brain gut peptide, but the effect of different intervention durations on the brain-gut peptide levels was not obvious. In the future, we can further explore the molecular biological mechanism of the effect of different EE intervention durations on the intestinal mucosal barrier and analyze the effect of an EE on other brain-gut peptides.

Effects of sleep interventions on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nondrug treatments are potentially beneficial for cancer patients. However, the effect of sleep on cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients remains unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to examine the efficacy of sleep in cancer patients undergoing treatment. METHODS: The PubMed, Ovid, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched to identify suitable studies. Stata 15.0 software was used for statistical analyses. Sensitivity analyses were conducted. Fourteen studies (6 in English and 8 in Chinese) involving 1151 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Ten, five, and six studies that assessed the effects of sleep on CRF, QOL, and quality of sleep, respectively, in cancer patients undergoing treatment were identified. RESULTS: Sleep interventions significantly affected overall CRF (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.52, P < 0.01), overall QOL (SMD = 1.20, P < 0.01), physical fatigue (SMD = -0.66, P < 0.01), cognitive fatigue (SMD = -0.38, P = 0.015), and physical function (SMD = 0.64, P < 0.01). Comprehensive intervention measures focusing on sleep, sleep nondrug interventions, and interventions for ≥3 or <3 months affect CRF. However, no significant effects on emotional fatigue, emotional function, perpetual fatigue, depression, or quality of sleep were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive interventions focusing on sleep are helpful for CRF. Sleep interventions may only affect physiological function and have no effect on emotional function, perpetual function, or sleep quality. Future research should focus on how to combine sleep interventions with psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional interventions and provide targeted comprehensive nursing measures to better improve CRF, sleep quality, and QOL.

Evidence mapping of clinical research on 28 Chinese patent medicines for tension-type headache / 中国中药杂志

In this study, the evidence mapping methodology was used to systematically retrieve and sort out the clinical research evidence of Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of tension-type headache(TTH), and to understand the distribution of evidence in this field and the basis and quality of evidence. Chinese and English articles on the 28 Chinese patent medicines for TTH, which were recorded in National Essential Medicines List(2018), Medicine Catalogue for National Basic Medical Insurance, Work Injury Insurance, and Maternity Insurance(2020), and Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020), were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), Wanfang, VIP, China Biology Medicine disc(CBMdisc), PubMed, EMbase, and Cochrane Library from the establishment to June 2021, followed by descriptive analysis. Then, tables and bubble charts were plotted to analyze the distribution characteristics of evidence. A total of 129 eligible articles were yielded: 126 randomized/non-randomized controlled trials, and 3 systematic reviews. The functions, indications, and composition of the 28 medicines, as well as the proportion of related articles, publication trends, intervention measures, and outcome indicators were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the 28 Chinese patent medicines, composed of 128 Chinese medicinals, can be classified into six categories in terms of function: reinforcing healthy Qi, tranquilizing mind, dispelling stasis, regulating Qi, treating wind, and resuscitating. There are ongoing efforts to study the treatment of TTH with Chinese patent medicine in China, despite of little evidence. The clinical positioning of Chinese patent medicine for TTH is not clear, and clinical research fails to highlight the advantages of Chinese medicine. In addition, the outcome indicators have not been standardized and unified, and there is a lack of evidence on the long-term efficacy of Chinese patent medicine for TTH. This study is the first exploratory application of evidence maps to compare the characteristics and clinical research progress of 28 Chinese patent medicines for TTH, which can provide a reference for research on the optimization of Chinese medicine strategies for TTH.