Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Review
Anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of polysaccharides from Antrodia cinnamomea: A review.
Antrodia cinnamomea ( Ac ), also known as "Niu-Chang-Chih" in Chinese, is a valuable fungus that has been widely used as medicine and food among indigenous people in Taiwan. Ac is rich in polysaccharides ( Ac -PS), making it a promising candidate for adjunctive therapy in cancer and inflammation conditions. There are two types of Ac -PS: general (non-sulfated) PS ( Ac -GPS) and sulfated PS ( Ac -SPS). ⋯ Clinically, Ac -GPS has been used as an adjunctive therapy for advanced lung cancer, as noted in recent reports. However, given the numerous studies emphasizing its anticancer mechanisms, Ac -SPS may exhibit greater efficacy, warranting further investigation. This review concludes that Ac -derived Ac -GPS or Ac -SPS have the potential to be developed into functional health supplements or adjunctive therapies, providing dual benefits of anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects.
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Observational Study
Clinical outcomes in ventilator-associated pneumonia patients with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A retrospective observational study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Critically ill patients with COPD exacerbations may require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) commonly occurs in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is usually associated with high mortality. Current studies on the association between COPD and VAP are limited. This work compared the causes and clinical outcomes of VAP in patients with and without COPD in Taiwan. ⋯ Our study revealed that COPD was not associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with VAP. No significant differences in bacterial cause were observed between the two groups.
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Limited knowledge exists regarding the interrelations between sleep quality and resilience within the demographic of healthy, community-residing middle-aged and older adults, with a particular dearth of information regarding sex-specific associations. This study aimed to examine the sex-specific associations between sleep quality, resilience, and biomarkers in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. ⋯ This study highlights the association between sleep quality and resilience in older adults. Good sleep quality is related to better resilience, but greater depressive symptoms are also linked to poorer resilience in both sexes. Nevertheless, the low habitual sleep efficiency and frequent use of sleeping medications in women but not men with poor sleep quality highlight the need to explore sex-specific approaches to address the interplay of sleep quality, resilience, and other factors (such as depressive symptoms) in healthy aging.
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A combination treatment of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy can improve the survivals of pediatric patients with Ewing sarcoma (ES). However, prognosis remains poor for patients with metastatic disease at diagnosis or recurrence. Other high-risk (HR) features include large tumor burden, tumors of the axial skeleton, and poor histologic response. Several studies have documented high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue (HDC-ASCR) to be effective in such patients. In this retrospective study, we present the results of HDC-ASCR for high-risk ES (HRES) in children and young adults in a single institute. ⋯ HDC-ASCR seems promising as an alternative treatment for HRES in improving OS in this retrospective study with a limited case number.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes persistent symptoms, including brain fog. Based on limited research on the long-term consequences of mild COVID-19, which has yielded inconsistent results, we investigated which cognitive functions were most affected by COVID-19 in nonhospitalized Asian patients with long-term COVID and subjective cognitive complaints. ⋯ Nearly 70% of patients with subjective cognitive complaints and long COVID had objective cognitive impairments. A comprehensive evaluation is essential for these patients, even when they present with mild symptoms.