What helps fight oxidative stress? Why does an infection occur? How to do it

Cancer cells are in the body of every person, and this is normal. Our immune system monitors and destroys them daily. But if it fails, these cells begin to grow and divide. This is how it develops malignant neoplasm with which the body is no longer able to cope on its own.

But if you use your own protective antitumor systems of the body with the help of synthesized proteins - human cytokines, the disease can be defeated. This is the essence of cytokine therapy.

What's this?

Cytokines are proteins produced by our immune system, which govern wide range processes occurring in the body and destroy only cancer cells without hurting healthy. But for effective fight often there is not enough own cytokines, therefore cytokine preparations are sometimes used: they activate antitumor immune mechanisms and help fight the tumor. This is the basis of cytokine therapy, a relatively new method of fighting cancer. It has not yet received such fame as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but cytokine drugs have passed clinical trials at RONC im. Blokhin. Medicines are officially approved for treatment malignant tumors.

Does it help fight cancer?

So far, 100% efficiency cannot be expected, but some patients experience improvements: tumors shrink, the oncoprocess stabilizes, etc. It all depends on the stage and type of tumor, on the general condition of the patient. Of course, the more advanced the disease, the more difficult it is to achieve positive result. But even in severe cases with widespread tumor processes with multiple metastases in various organs, when all the possibilities of chemotherapy have been exhausted or chemotherapy cannot be performed due to the severe general condition of the patient, general well-being the patient may improve, and the development of the disease may slow down.

In anti-relapse treatment, cytokine therapy is currently the only tool used after the completion of the main course of antitumor treatment. Here, the use of cytokine therapy can significantly increase the relapse-free period, and in some cases even reduce it to nothing.

In addition, cytokine therapy can mitigate the effects of chemotherapy: it reduces the risk of developing neutropenia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia and other complications, and the cytokines themselves are not toxic and do not cause severe side effects.

How is cytokine therapy carried out?

Treatment can only be prescribed by an oncologist. First you need a blood test for immune status and immunogram (where Special attention given to tumor necrosis factor). Based on the results obtained, depending on the form and stage of the disease, together with the oncoimmunologist, he makes a decision on the duration, frequency and dosage of cytokine therapy courses. The effect will depend not only on the properties of the drug, but also on the characteristics of the tumor cells of a particular patient. Therefore, in order to understand how effective cytokine therapy is, 1-2 courses are carried out, followed by an assessment of the dynamics of the disease - after completing the course, the patient must undergo a second diagnosis (MRI, PET, CT, ultrasound, determination of the level of tumor markers, etc.). Cytokines are administered by injection - subcutaneously or intramuscularly.

Are there any contraindications?

Yes, cytokine therapy is not prescribed for pregnant and lactating women, people with autoimmune diseases and individual intolerance (this rarely happens).

Is it possible to refuse chemotherapy and surgery?

If there are indications for surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, then it is impossible to refuse them, especially since when integrated approach, in combination with cytokine therapy, the maximum therapeutic effect is achieved.

Bright plans for the future, live communication with friends, refusal (for a short time) from social networks ... These and other similar simple actions will help to reliably protect yourself from the symptoms of depression.

It is generally accepted that it is because of depression that we tend to look pessimistically into the future. But latest research show the opposite: in fact Bad mood causes depression. Therefore, it makes sense to try to abandon (once and for all) such thoughts:

"Nothing good will happen tomorrow."
"No matter what I do, it won't work."
“In the future, nothing shines for me at all.”

It is our idea of the future as an impenetrable horror that causes apathy, depression, and as a result vicious circle closes. To prevent this from happening, you need to look at everything that happens to you from a different angle. And then you will surely find something good.

2. Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet, which includes fruits, vegetables and legumes, prevents depression because one of its possible causes there may be a lack of basic nutrients.

3. Live communication

Meetings, trips together or visits reduce the likelihood of falling into depression by about half. At the same time (attention!) talking on the phone or actively forwarding messages does not have such an effect. Psychologist Alan Teo comments: “At first we assumed that any social contacts could benefit mental health. But in the course of research, it turned out that conversations with relatives and friends on the phone or on the Web do not have such a value.

4. Get company

For a long time it was believed that contact with people is not suitable for those who are prone to depression. However, these assumptions have now been debunked. new information. Identification with a group of people helps to cope with the symptoms of depression. Those who clearly identified as part of a group (group therapy or book club) reported feeling supported and pleased that they were not alone.

5. Don't use social media for at least a week

Sociologist Mai-Ly Steers believes that comparing yourself to those you interact with online can lead to depression. Obviously, no one posts reports of their failures on social media. Everyone talks only about the good, without mentioning how much they had to endure on the way to victory. Reading such messages on social networks, a person begins to think that the life of others consists of successes and achievements. And, comparing his life with someone else's, falls into depression. AT real life rarely happens on one successful startup every day.

6. Use the "Socratic Method"

A technique called the "Socratic Method" has helped many people to get rid of the symptoms of depression. This is a dialogue in which both sides do not have an answer in advance to seemingly obvious questions. For example, if a person feels uncomfortable about a divorce, you might ask:

Is divorce always bad?
Think of someone for whom divorce would not be a mistake.
How exactly do you link divorce and failure?

See PsyBlog website for more details.

Fact. A little rest will help to disperse drowsiness and return you to your usual active mode.

People are often afraid that if they lie down, they will sleep for several hours or will feel completely overwhelmed after waking up. In fact, taking a nap is useful, but only for a short time. Studies have shown that 10 minutes of sleep is enough to feel a surge of energy: participants in experiments conducted by North Shore Sleep Medicine showed excellent results in tests.

The time you choose to sleep also matters. If you rest too long or too late in the afternoon, your circadian rhythm is thrown off. So you can sleep during the day, but not more than 20 minutes. Then you wake up in fast phase sleep and you won't feel tired.

Myth 2. If you drink coffee during the day, it will be difficult to fall asleep in the evening.

Fact. A cup of coffee will help you survive the most difficult daytime hours. But only a cup!

There are a lot of bad things being said about them, but Lisa Shives, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, always tells her patients that moderate use coffee is no big deal. Even people who get enough sleep often feel tired in the afternoon because this is a normal circadian decline.

It seems to me that after dinner someone throws a blanket over me, and coffee helps to throw it off.
Lisa Shives

Everyone reacts to caffeine differently. Perhaps after drinking half a cup of coffee after dinner, you have a hard time falling asleep in the evening. If you feel like you don't sleep well at night, simply with evening and afternoon coffee.

As in the case with daytime sleep, in the use of caffeine the main thing is a sense of proportion. If you overdo it, you'll end up in vicious circle: You can’t sleep at night because you drank coffee, and during the day you drink coffee because you tossed and turned in bed all night. Experts almost unanimously advise drinking coffee before 2 pm, not after.

Myth 3. A chocolate bar or a can of soda will help you cheer up.

Fact. Sugar will provide a temporary surge of strength, for which you will then have to pay with greater fatigue.

After lunch, the soda and candy bars draw people in like magnets. Tired, work-weary bodies demand more fuel from us! And researchers come to paradoxical conclusions.

If people suffering from sleep deprivation are asked to choose their own food, they will prefer to eat a disproportionate amount of sweet and fatty foods. The body asks for food with a high glycemic index because it provides a large release of energy.

The catch is that when the sugar is processed, fatigue hits with double the force. Just an hour after a glass of soda, you want to sleep even more than before.

The participants in the experiments who ate sweets made more errors on concentration tests than those in the control group who did not have additional food.

So a light lunch of protein and vegetables will work better than a set of fatty foods and dessert.

Myth 4. Exercise will make me even more tired.

Fact. Low-intensity training is a blow to drowsiness. Exercise will help you wake up and be refreshed.

blocking negative effects from recessions of the daily rhythm! This does not mean that immediately after dinner you need to give all your best in the gym.

It is best to tone up a ten-minute walk and a simple exercise after it.

Determine what time you feel most tired. And right before the start of such a period, take a walk and warm up. It is important not to wait until fatigue covers you with your head. Force yourself to walk around the block, stretch. And do it before your eyes start to droop. Otherwise, you will not be able to get up from the chair.

Daily afternoon exercise also helps fight insomnia. If you increase the walking time to 20 minutes, and go outside 5-6 hours before you go to bed, you will fall asleep faster in the evening, and the quality of sleep will noticeably improve. You should not play sports immediately before going to bed, because it has a bad effect on night rest.

Myth 5. Drowsiness is normal. Gotta put up with it

Fact. If you constantly feel tired, this may be a signal from the body about the ongoing pathological process. Contact your doctor.

Yes, now everyone constantly wants to sleep, this is a feature of modern life. But this does not mean that you also need to give a damn about your body. If you constantly feel tired, you cannot concentrate during the day, then get tested. Drowsiness is a symptom of many rather serious diseases.

For example, hypothyroidism, also known as goiter, is a endocrine system, which doctors suspect first of all in patients with complaints of constant fatigue. Depression and many more affective disorders signal themselves by drowsiness. What else is hidden behind daytime fatigue? , obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, Ekbom's syndrome. The stronger your fatigue and the worse you sleep, the higher your risk of strokes and heart attacks, diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Face to face with the facts: you need to get enough sleep

Obviously, if you constantly want to sleep, you just didn't get enough sleep. And you need to change the regime so as to eliminate the lack of sleep. The quantity and quality of sleep affects the quality of life. In addition to causing illness, drowsiness also reduces productivity and Creative skills. And it can be deadly for drivers.

It's never too late to start good habit sleep well. Try to start tonight.

Development Peak acne falls on puberty(puberty). At this time, for many teenagers, it turns into a tragedy: youthful maximalism does not allow you to look "pimply". As the period ends, for most, it passes without a trace. At mild form disease, there is no need for serious treatment. In some cases, the disease continues to develop over a long period. And then the cure acne should be done in collaboration with experts.

Mechanisms of acne

During puberty, adolescents begin to produce male sex hormones - androgens. Natural processes occur in the body hormonal changes. They are the cause of the development of teenage acne.

An increase in androgen levels leads to excessive production of sebum. It accumulates in the ducts sebaceous glands and promotes an increase in the number of bacteria. Bacteria feed on sebum, multiply, resulting in an inflammatory process.

Superficial skin cells clog the secretion of the sebaceous glands and a pimple occurs.

In any case, you need to consult a doctor to find out how to deal with acne.

Basic principles of treatment

There is no universal procedure or miracle cream for the treatment of acne. The problem requires a special approach - drawing up an individual treatment program. It should take into account age, gender, duration of the disease, the severity and nature of the lesion, the form of acne, and the results of laboratory tests.

To understand how to treat acne, you need to find out the causes of its occurrence. This skin disease cannot be considered separately only as cosmetic defect skin. Its roots may lie very deep.

Medical examination of the body

Tests in the presence of acne are prescribed in the following cases:

1. Development of the disease after 20 years.
2. Clinical signs of hyperandrogenism in women.
3. Violation of the menstrual cycle.
4. Overweight.
5. The presence of black acanthosis.

Any treatment for acne should be under the supervision of a dermatologist to avoid complications.

The dermatologist prescribes general analysis blood and hormone testing. The following shows the culture crops to determine the presence or absence of microbes in the pores. Antibiotic susceptibility testing is also carried out in order to correctly select drugs.

Based on all the results obtained, general state organism. If there are bad indicators in the blood tests, the patient is sent to the therapist.

Degrees of skin diseases and methods of their treatment

The International Alliance of Dermatologists identifies 3 degrees of skin lesions and recommendations on how to cure acne with medical methods.

1. First degree. When on the face you can count up to 10 elements (acne). Treatment is prescribed only externally:

a drug that reduces the production of sebum;
medicine that fights bacteria on the face;
a medicine that eliminates hyperkeratosis - an excessive thickening of the stratum corneum of the epidermis.

2. Second degree. On the skin of the face, you can already count from 10 to 40 acne. In such a difficult case, there are two ways to cure acne: external and internal.

Outwardly, in the treatment of acne, all the same medicines as in the first degree help well.

For internal use, two features must be considered:

girls (women) should use hormonal contraceptive With official testimony for the treatment of acne of the second degree. It contains an anti-androgenic factor, reduces the level of male sex hormones and helps well in the treatment of acne;
antibiotics are used to treat acne in both sexes. This is doxycycline, which is used by mouth for 3 months. The skin renewal cycle lasts 28 days: it takes three skin renewals for the skin to become acne-free.

3. Third degree. It is characterized by localization on the skin of 40 or more acne; in fact, the whole face is dotted with them.

External treatment for the third degree is not provided. The only way - internal application roaccutane (isotretinoin). This medicine prevents the secretion of fat from the sebaceous glands, deprives the bacteria of food, and causes drying of the skin. It should only be prescribed by a doctor, because although it gives the most effective result but also has a serious side effect.

Skin care tips for acne patients

There are rules for dealing with acne, adhering to which you can achieve the desired results. Squeezing pimples is strictly prohibited. Indeed, with pressure on them, purulent contents move into the deeper layers of the skin. Thus, acne spreads even more.

For washing it is necessary to use products for oily and problematic skin. To avoid further spread of the infection on the skin, it is better to wipe your face only with disposable towels. After washing, apply any acne remedy to the skin.

Acne treatment also includes compliance with special diet. A competent nutritionist should choose an individual diet, in which the use of sweet, salty, fatty foods is usually banned. The main emphasis in food should be on plant foods.

Guarantee complete cure Acne cannot be caused by any of the currently existing methods and procedures. Only the persistent desire, expressed in complex actions and acceptance preventive measures, will help get rid of the disease forever.

It so happened that dense forests and thickets began to cause people to fear becoming a victim of a crime. Back in 1285, the English King Edward I issued a decree according to which the roadsides were supposed to be cleared of trees and shrubs so that it would be inconvenient for robbers to ambush travelers. Such measures are still popular today: the authorities of different cities order to cut down extra trees in parks and residential areas in order to reduce the number of crimes in this way. At first glance, the approach seems logical: the territory after cutting down the trees is better seen, and the criminals are less likely to go unnoticed.

But in fact, urbanists have long proven that greening residential areas helps to reduce the number of crimes committed in them. How so? The fact is that in residential areas, landscaping performs completely different functions that directly affect the behavior of criminals. I'll tell you more about them.

Greenery attracts people, and criminals avoid crowded places

Criminals rarely break the law in crowded places, because the more people around, the more likely be noticed. And landscaping just helps to ensure that residents of houses go out into the yards and spend their time there. free time. Simple statistics show that the more trees and greenery in the yards, the more more people resting there. Parents are much more willing to come to playgrounds with their children if they are surrounded by green trees and shrubs. Therefore, landscaping helps to ensure that public spaces within residential areas are constantly under the supervision of their inhabitants.

An important role here is played not only by the actual observation of the territory, but also general feeling, she is being watched. Being in a settled, landscaped and well-groomed yard, a criminal is less likely to decide to break the law, even if there is not a soul around. The realization that locals take care of their territory, will give him the idea that his actions can be seriously rebuffed.

Greening reduces stress and aggression

It has long been proven that greens can reduce the level of psychological fatigue that leads to outbursts of aggression, irritability, inattention and uncontrollable behavior. That's why it's so important that people have access to a well-groomed environment that will help them calm down, relax and unwind. There are some interesting studies on this too. One of them tells about elderly people with Alzheimer's who were assigned to several nursing homes. Some houses had garden plots, while others do not. And after a few months, it became clear that the old people who lived without access to the garden sharply increased the frequency of attacks of aggression, while in the second group their number remained at the same level or even slightly decreased.

From this we can conclude that the greenery in the yards has a good effect on the residents and creates an environment that is not conducive to aggressive behavior and committing crimes.

Practical evidence

In the early 2000s, American urbanists Francis Kuo and William Sullivan decided in practice to study the impact of greenery on the number of crimes committed. To do this, they went to one of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of Chicago. This neighborhood was named after Ida Wells, an African-American journalist. It was built in the early 40s specifically for the black residents of the city (in those years, segregation was in the order of things).

Shortly after opening, the microdistrict turned into a ghetto with incredible high level crime. In fact, it was controlled by bandit groups. Robberies and murders have become business as usual and to drug dealers in literally queues formed. Looking ahead, it should be noted that by 2011 the microdistrict was completely demolished, and now its place is occupied by building mixed type. This is yet another example of how dysfunctional buildings, consisting exclusively of residential buildings, invariably turn into ghettos, which can only be eliminated through demolition.

But back to research. The level of landscaping in the area varied from site to site. Although at the time of construction, lawns and trees surrounded each house, later they began to get rid of them in some areas. As a result, it turned out that some of the houses were surrounded by asphalt fields, some kept a small part of the trees in the yards, while others remained completely surrounded by greenery. For this reason, the microdistrict has become an ideal site for research.

Kuo and Sullivan selected a little less than a hundred identical houses with an equal number of inhabitants, but varying degrees landscaping. Then they asked the police for reports on crimes committed here over the past two years. Accounting was conducted on three indicators: total all crimes, violent crimes (assaults, fights, robberies and murders) and property crimes (thefts, thefts of cars and bicycles, apartment break-ins and arson).

A simple calculation showed that the more landscaping within a particular quarter, the less crimes were committed there - both property, and violent, and all the rest. The final table with the results of the study looks like this:

Francis E. Kuo, William C. Sullivan, Environment and Crime in the Inner City: Does Vegetation Reduce Crime?

According to the results of the study, it is clear that in houses and yards with good landscaping, on average, 52% less crimes occurred than in houses and yards without landscaping. At the same time, the number of violent crimes due to landscaping is reduced by 56%, and the number of property crimes by 48%. Just think: the presence of trees and other greenery in the yards made them twice as safe.

What conclusion can be drawn? Landscaping and landscaping is needed not only for beauty. It can be actively used in the fight against crime in residential areas and neighborhoods. Remember: what more trees in the courtyards of houses, the safer they are.