Cupping therapy （Hijama in Arabic） is a popular traditional treatment especially in Asia, the Middle East and Central Europe. Traditionally, cupping therapy has been one of the most used practices in Saudi Arabia. S...Cupping therapy （Hijama in Arabic） is a popular traditional treatment especially in Asia, the Middle East and Central Europe. Traditionally, cupping therapy has been one of the most used practices in Saudi Arabia. Standardization of the practice of cupping therapy is a very important step to eliminate or reduce any adverse events related to cupping. This article gives a brief illustration and highlights the important points of the first accredited Saudi Arabian standards for the safe use of cupping equipment and its applications.展开更多
BACKGROUND Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation(SANT)is a rare benign disease of the spleen with unknown origin.Clinical symptoms are inhomogeneous,and suspicious splenic lesion often found incidentally,leadi...BACKGROUND Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation(SANT)is a rare benign disease of the spleen with unknown origin.Clinical symptoms are inhomogeneous,and suspicious splenic lesion often found incidentally,leading to splenectomy,as malignancy cannot securely be ruled out.Diagnosis is made histologically after resection.CASE SUMMARY Two cases of German,white,non-smoking,and non-drinking patients of normal weight are presented.The first one is a 26-year-old man without medical history who was exhibiting an undesired weight loss of 10 kg and recurring vomiting for about 18 mo.The second one is a 65-year-old woman with hypertension who had previously undergone gynecological surgery,suffering from a lasting feeling of abdominal fullness.Both showed radiologically an inhomogeneous splenic lesion leading to splenectomy approximately 6 and 9 wk after surgical presentation.Both diagnoses of SANT were made histologically.Follow-up went well,and both were treated according to the recommendation for asplenic patients.CONCLUSION SANT is a rare cause of splenectomy and an incidental histological finding.Further research should focus on clinical and radiological diagnosis of SANT as well as on treatment of patients with asymptomatic and small findings.展开更多
Total tanshinones are lipophilic active constituents extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.Tanshinone ⅡA and cryptotanshinone are the major components in total tanshinones.However, the bioavailability of both compou...Total tanshinones are lipophilic active constituents extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.Tanshinone ⅡA and cryptotanshinone are the major components in total tanshinones.However, the bioavailability of both compounds is low due to poor water solubility. To enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of tanshinone ⅡA, cryptotanshinone and total tanshinones,three common used hydrophilic carriers including PEG 6000, poloxamer 188 and PVP K30 were used to prepare the solid dispersions at different ratios, respectively. The solid dispersions were characterised by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The results of powder X-ray diffraction confirmed the microcrystal state of total tanshinones in solid dispersions and no chemical interaction between total tanshinones and carriers was observed in FTIR spectra. The solubility and dissolution rate of tanshinone ⅡA and cryptotanshinone were significantly increased in all solid dispersions. Regarding tanshinone ⅡA, the solubility and dissolution rate of in solid dispersions prepared with poloxamer 188 were significantly higher than that with PEG 6000 and PVP K30. The higher solubility and dissolution rate of cryptotanshinone were obtained in solid dispersion of PVP K30 than that of PEG 6000 solid dispersions but no significant difference from poloxamer 188 solid dispersions. The results indicate that the superior carrier for preparation of tanshinone ⅡA and total tanshinones solid dispersions is poloxamer 188, and that for cryptotanshinone is PVP K30.展开更多
BACKGROUND Advanced pancreatic cancer(aPC)has a poor prognosis with limited survival benefit from current standard treatment.Viscum album extracts(VAE)are used by many cancer patients,showing immune-stimulating effect...BACKGROUND Advanced pancreatic cancer(aPC)has a poor prognosis with limited survival benefit from current standard treatment.Viscum album extracts(VAE)are used by many cancer patients,showing immune-stimulating effects,improved quality of life,and a survival benefit in patients with aPC.CASE SUMMARY A 59-year-old architect developed epigastric pain.A cystic lesion of the pancreas of 45-mm diameter was detected.In a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging,about one year later,multiple lesions were seen in the corpus and the tail of the pancreas;CA-19-9 was elevated to 58.5 U/mL.A distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy was performed,and a tumor of 7 cm×5 cm×3.5 cm was excised.Histologic investigation showed an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasmassociated invasive adenocarcinoma with invasion of the lymph vessels,perineural invasion,and positive nodes(2/27);surgical margins showed tumor cells,and the tumor was classified as pT3 N1 M0 R1.The patient was treated with radiation of the tumor bed and capecitabine/oxaliplatin followed by gemcitabine and FOLFIRINOX.Seven months after surgery,a liver metastasis was detected and treatment with FOLFIRINOX was started.Four months after detection of the metastasis,the patient opted for additional treatment with VAE.Another month later,the metastasis was treated with radiofrequency ablation(RFA).Eight months later,the hepatic lesion recurred and was again treated with RFA.Thecontinuous VAE treatment was increased in dose,and the patient stayed recurrence-free for the next 39 mo in good health and working full-time(as of the time this case report was written).CONCLUSION We present the case of a patient with aPC with R1-resection with development of liver metastasis during the course of treatment who showed an overall survival of 63 mo and a relapse-free survival of 39 mo under increasing VAE therapy.The possible synergistic effect on tumor control of RFA treatment and immunestimulatory effects of VAE should be further investigated.展开更多
文摘Cupping therapy （Hijama in Arabic） is a popular traditional treatment especially in Asia, the Middle East and Central Europe. Traditionally, cupping therapy has been one of the most used practices in Saudi Arabia. Standardization of the practice of cupping therapy is a very important step to eliminate or reduce any adverse events related to cupping. This article gives a brief illustration and highlights the important points of the first accredited Saudi Arabian standards for the safe use of cupping equipment and its applications.
文摘BACKGROUND Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation(SANT)is a rare benign disease of the spleen with unknown origin.Clinical symptoms are inhomogeneous,and suspicious splenic lesion often found incidentally,leading to splenectomy,as malignancy cannot securely be ruled out.Diagnosis is made histologically after resection.CASE SUMMARY Two cases of German,white,non-smoking,and non-drinking patients of normal weight are presented.The first one is a 26-year-old man without medical history who was exhibiting an undesired weight loss of 10 kg and recurring vomiting for about 18 mo.The second one is a 65-year-old woman with hypertension who had previously undergone gynecological surgery,suffering from a lasting feeling of abdominal fullness.Both showed radiologically an inhomogeneous splenic lesion leading to splenectomy approximately 6 and 9 wk after surgical presentation.Both diagnoses of SANT were made histologically.Follow-up went well,and both were treated according to the recommendation for asplenic patients.CONCLUSION SANT is a rare cause of splenectomy and an incidental histological finding.Further research should focus on clinical and radiological diagnosis of SANT as well as on treatment of patients with asymptomatic and small findings.
文摘Total tanshinones are lipophilic active constituents extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.Tanshinone ⅡA and cryptotanshinone are the major components in total tanshinones.However, the bioavailability of both compounds is low due to poor water solubility. To enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of tanshinone ⅡA, cryptotanshinone and total tanshinones,three common used hydrophilic carriers including PEG 6000, poloxamer 188 and PVP K30 were used to prepare the solid dispersions at different ratios, respectively. The solid dispersions were characterised by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The results of powder X-ray diffraction confirmed the microcrystal state of total tanshinones in solid dispersions and no chemical interaction between total tanshinones and carriers was observed in FTIR spectra. The solubility and dissolution rate of tanshinone ⅡA and cryptotanshinone were significantly increased in all solid dispersions. Regarding tanshinone ⅡA, the solubility and dissolution rate of in solid dispersions prepared with poloxamer 188 were significantly higher than that with PEG 6000 and PVP K30. The higher solubility and dissolution rate of cryptotanshinone were obtained in solid dispersion of PVP K30 than that of PEG 6000 solid dispersions but no significant difference from poloxamer 188 solid dispersions. The results indicate that the superior carrier for preparation of tanshinone ⅡA and total tanshinones solid dispersions is poloxamer 188, and that for cryptotanshinone is PVP K30.
基金Supported by Stiftung Integrative Medizin Stuttgart,Germany
文摘BACKGROUND Advanced pancreatic cancer(aPC)has a poor prognosis with limited survival benefit from current standard treatment.Viscum album extracts(VAE)are used by many cancer patients,showing immune-stimulating effects,improved quality of life,and a survival benefit in patients with aPC.CASE SUMMARY A 59-year-old architect developed epigastric pain.A cystic lesion of the pancreas of 45-mm diameter was detected.In a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging,about one year later,multiple lesions were seen in the corpus and the tail of the pancreas;CA-19-9 was elevated to 58.5 U/mL.A distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy was performed,and a tumor of 7 cm×5 cm×3.5 cm was excised.Histologic investigation showed an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasmassociated invasive adenocarcinoma with invasion of the lymph vessels,perineural invasion,and positive nodes(2/27);surgical margins showed tumor cells,and the tumor was classified as pT3 N1 M0 R1.The patient was treated with radiation of the tumor bed and capecitabine/oxaliplatin followed by gemcitabine and FOLFIRINOX.Seven months after surgery,a liver metastasis was detected and treatment with FOLFIRINOX was started.Four months after detection of the metastasis,the patient opted for additional treatment with VAE.Another month later,the metastasis was treated with radiofrequency ablation(RFA).Eight months later,the hepatic lesion recurred and was again treated with RFA.Thecontinuous VAE treatment was increased in dose,and the patient stayed recurrence-free for the next 39 mo in good health and working full-time(as of the time this case report was written).CONCLUSION We present the case of a patient with aPC with R1-resection with development of liver metastasis during the course of treatment who showed an overall survival of 63 mo and a relapse-free survival of 39 mo under increasing VAE therapy.The possible synergistic effect on tumor control of RFA treatment and immunestimulatory effects of VAE should be further investigated.
