Balkan medical journal
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Balkan medical journal · Oct 2020
Thyroid Cancer Incidence in Bulgaria before and after the Introduction of Universal Salt Iodization: An Analysis of the National Cancer Registry Data
Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy of the endocrine system and it has become the fastest growing cancer among women. The suspected risk factors include increased exposure to ionizing radiation during childhood, environmental pollutants, possible iodine deficiency, and excessive iodine exposure. ⋯ Our results showed that, in different regions, the age-standardized thyroid cancer rates between endemic and non-endemic differ greatly depending on the radiation dose from the Chernobyl accident. The role of iodine intake in thyroid cancer remains uncertain, but iodine deficiency could be a contributing factor to the increased risk of thyroid cancer.
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Balkan medical journal · Jul 2019
Kounis Syndrome—not a Single-organ Arterial Disorder but a Multisystem and Multidisciplinary Disease
Coronary symptoms associated with conditions related to mast cell activation and inflammatory cell interactions, such as those involving T-lymphocytes and macrophages, further inducing allergic, hypersensitivity, anaphylactic, or anaphylactic insults, are currently referred to as the Kounis syndrome. Kounis syndrome is caused by inflammatory mediators released during allergic insults, post-inflammatory cell activation, and interactions via multidirectional stimuli. A platelet subset of 20% with high- and low-affinity IgE surface receptors is also involved in this process. ⋯ The hypothesis is based on the existence of a much higher degree of mast cell degranulation at plaque erosion or rupture sites compared with at the adjacent areas or even more distant segments in post-acute myocardial infarction of non-allergic etiology. Although mast cell activation, differentiation, and mediator release takes days or weeks, the mast cell degranulation may occur just before any acute coronary event, further resulting in coronary artery vasoconstriction and atheromatous plaque rupture. It seems that medications and natural molecules stabilizing the mast cell membrane as well as monoclonal antibodies protecting the mast cell surface can emerge as novel therapeutic modalities for acute coronary and cerebrovascular event prevention.