Fitness & Nutrition News

Ensuring high-quality surgical care is challenging during holiday periods due to potential reduction of capacity as well as availability of specialised personnel. Recently, quality of care for patients with gastric cancer in the Netherlands was found to be lower during the holiday periods. The effect of the holiday periods on quality of care on brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma surgery in the Netherlands, has not been investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to examine whether surgery during holiday periods is associated with differences in survival, early mortality, extent of resection (EOR), complications, weekly number of operations and time from diagnosis to treatment. This nationwide retrospective cohort study utilised data from the Dutch Brain Tumour Registry (DBTR) to analyse 4053 glioblastoma patients undergoing first-time resective surgery between 2014 and 2021. Three holiday periods were studied to reflect different levels of healthcare disruption: broad, narrow and summer. We compared holiday and non-holiday periods in terms of survival, early mortality (< 30 days), residual tumour presence after surgery, complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ 3), performance decline (Karnofsky performance decline ≥ 10 at six weeks after surgery), weekly number of operations and time from diagnosis to treatment (> 21 days). Analyses were performed using chi-squared statistics, Kaplan-meier curves, Cox-regression, Poisson and logistic regression models. Surgery during holiday periods was not associated with differences in survival (adjusted hazard ratio 1.048, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.949–1.158; p = 0.350), early mortality (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.087, 95% CI 0.608–1.939; p = 0.779), complications (aOR 1.118, 95% CI 0.794–1.574; p = 0.524), residual tumour presence (aOR = 0.779, 95% CI 0.603–1.059; p = 0.119), performance decline (aOR 0.858, 95% CI 0.719–1.023; p = 0.088) or time from diagnosis to treatment > 21 days (aOR 0.868, 95% CI 0.710–1.062; p = 0.169). There was a significantly lower number of weekly operations in the holiday group compared to the non-holiday group (incidence rate ratio 0.920, 95% CI 0.858–0.986; p = 0.018). These findings suggest that while there is a significant decrease in the number of surgeries, outcomes of glioblastoma surgery were not indicated to differ.

Oncologists reveal the number-one sign of bladder cancer, plus how to tell cancer apart from more common issues such as a urinary tract infection.

Can a nasal spray reverse brain aging? A new study shows that intranasal extracellular vesicles can clear brain fog, recharge mitochondria, and improve memory.

Brain scans of people with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) revealed reduced communication between the frontal cortex and the cerebellum.

You have been told that egg freezing doesn't work. Not true. Its effectiveness is limited only by a woman's fertility when they freeze.

Flu activity is increasing in Ontario following a spike in infections over the last several months, provincial health data shows.

If you have hay fever, it may be unavoidable to experience some of the symptoms during the spring and summer months but there is one thing that could help prevent symptoms from getting worse

The launch of the KwaZulu-Natal Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Working Group marked an important milestone in the province’s efforts to strengthen collaboration in HPV research, prevention, and treatment. The two-day event brought together researchers, clinicians, laboratory scientists and public health experts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health (KZN DOH), the Africa […]

Lipids are essential for neuron development and physiology1–3. Yet, the central hubs that coordinate lipid supply and demand in neurons remain unclear4. Here we show the presence and functional significance of neuronal lipid droplets (nLDs) in vivo using invertebrate and vertebrate models. We validate5 the presence of nLDs in vivo and demonstrate that triglyceride metabolism enzymes and LD-associated proteins control nLD formation through both canonical and recently discovered pathways6. Modulation of nLDs has conserved and male-biased effects on whole-body energy homeostasis across flies and mice, specifically in neurons that couple environmental cues with energy homeostasis. Mechanistically, nLD-derived lipids support neuron function by providing fatty acids and phospholipids to sustain mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum function and homeostasis. This identifies a conserved role for nLDs in coordinating lipid supply and demand in neurons, which has implications for maintenance of neuronal lipid homeostasis and function in health and disease. In vivo regulation of neuronal lipid droplet formation mediates whole-body energy homeostasis in a sex-specific manner in Drosophila and mice.

UCT researchers are playing a leading role in a major international collaboration to improve understanding of fungal diseases.