Caregivers' experience in patients with chronic diseases.

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of caregivers of patients with chronic diseases, assess their perceived burden, and investigate factors influencing this burden. Seventy-three patient-attendants (43 men and 30 women) participated in the pilot-research conducted by two clinics. Of them, 68% attended patients with a malignant disease and 32% attended patients in the end stage of renal disease.

Autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease manifested by an autoimmune attack on the pancreatic beta-islet cells. It is also known that Type 1 diabetes is associated with other autoimmune diseases. The aim of the present study was to seek autoantibodies in the serum of people with Type 1 diabetes.

A comparative study of intravenous ibandronate and pamindronate in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer: effect on metastatic bone pain.

We compared the effects of ibandronate and pamindronate in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer and we found that ibandronate is superior to pamindronate in alleviating pain, improving mobility and quality of life, and reducing bone resorption indices in patients with bone metastases from breast or lung cancer.

Effect of combined treatment methods on quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer.

We aimed to analyze the effect of combined treatment methods on quality of life (QoL) in patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Therefore, we prospectively analyzed 30 patients with unresectable, without distant metastases, pancreatic cancer. Patients were randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms: radiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil or radiotherapy with gemcitabine.

Efficacy and safety of capecitabine and oxaliplatin combination as second-line treatment in advanced colorectal cancer.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of administering a combination of capecitabine and oxaliplatin in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, resistant to leucovorin/5-fluorouracil and irinotecan. Fifty-four patients with advanced colorectal cancer were prospectively evaluated (mean age 63 years, male/female 2:1) who had been previously treated with schemes containing fluoropyrimidines and irinotecan. All patients received oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 as 2-hour intravenous infusion) the first day of the cycle and capecitabine (1000 mg/m2) twice daily, days 1-14.

The role of paroxetine in fatigue and depression of patients under chemotherapeutic treatment.

We evaluated paroxetine for the treatment of fatigue and depression in patients with solid tumors after chemotherapy, and we found that paroxetine is effective for the treatment of depression during chemotherapy but has no benefit for the treatment of fatigue.

Smoking among high school students.

Introduction: There are no recent data on smoking habits of high-school students in Greece. The primary objective of the study was to determine these epidemiological factors.

Methods: The smoking habits of 927 high-school students (471 boys and 456 girls), aged between 15-18 years, in four regions of a Greek area (the island of Cos), were examined.

Psychosocial effects and evaluation of the health-related quality of life in patients suffering from well-controlled epilepsy.

Purpose: To record the impact of epilepsy on the psychological health and HRQOL of patients suffering from mild epilepsy in a rural area of southeastern Greece.

Patients And Methods: We studied fifty outpatients suffering from well-controlled uncomplicated epilepsy who experienced from none up to four seizures per year and had the ability to sustain a regular job. We tried to record the psychosocial effects resulting from epilepsy and to evaluate their HRQOL, comparing them to 50 healthy controls with similar demographic characteristics.

Otolaryngologic manifestations of small vessel vasculitis.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to review the clinical manifestations associated with small vessel vasculitis (SVV) as they pertain to the head and neck region.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed, including 34 individuals that filled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of necrotizing vasculitis. Seven patients were classified as suffering from Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), 18 from microscopic polyangitis (MPA), and the remaining 19 were unclassified (unclassified small vessel vasculitis, USVV).