“[... ] ad agritudinem podagram [... ]”: sobre el empleo del guayaco en los comienzos del siglo XVI / “[... ] ad agritudinem podagram [... ]”: on the use of guaiac at the beginning of the 16th century

En los últimos años se ha abordado el estudio de distintas prescripciones y consejos dietéticos en lenguas vernáculas de personajes vinculados a las élites castellanas, catalanas y navarras, datados entre la segunda mitad del siglo XV y finales del XVI. Uno de los personajes estudiados es el clérigo Juan Rena, veneciano de origen, que desde principios del siglo XVI ocupó puestos de responsabilidad en la administración castellana. Nombrado capellán de la reina Juana I de Castilla en 1508, fue Rena la ‘mano derecha’ de Fernando II de Aragón en la restructuración administrativa del reino de Navarra tras su conquista en 1512. Entre la nume-rosa documentación relacionada con su persona se han localizado dos textos para tratar la gota, basado en un ingrediente procedente del Nuevo Mundo, el palosanto o guayaco, en un periodo relativamente temprano. (AU)

Gender-specific cut-offs in colorectal cancer screening with FIT: Increased compliance and equal positivity rate.

OBJECTIVE: Using quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in colorectal cancer screening enables adjustment of the cut-off for a positive test. As men have higher stool blood levels and higher prevalence of colorectal neoplasia, different cut-off levels can be chosen for men and women. We evaluated participation and positivity rates switching from guaiac-based faecal occult blood test (gFOBT) (Hemoccult®) to FIT (OC-Sensor), using gender-specific cut-offs. METHODS: The colorectal cancer screening programme of Stockholm-Gotland, Sweden, started in 2008 and invited individuals aged 60-69 to biennial testing using gFOBT. From 1 October 2015 the test was switched to FIT, with positivity cut-offs of 40 (200) and 80 (400) µg Hb/g (ng/mL) faeces for women and men, respectively. The first year was evaluated for compliance and positivity, number of reminders and incorrect/inadequate tests, compared with gFOBT in the preceding 12-month period. RESULTS: There were 127,030 and 87,269 individuals invited to screening with gFOBT and FIT, respectively. The change of test increased overall participation by 11.9% (95% confidence interval 11.5%-12.3%) from 56.5% to 68.4% ( p < 0.001). The increase was larger in men (14.3%) than women (9.7%), and in those aged 60-64 (14.2%) than those aged 65-69 (8.7%). The positivity rate was 2.6% in women and 2.5% in men. There was a lower rate of reminders and incorrect/inadequate tests with FIT. CONCLUSIONS: Within a well-organised colorectal cancer screening programme, changing the test from gFOBT to FIT markedly increased participation, especially among men, and in the younger age group. With a lower cut-off in women than men, the positivity rate was similar.