{"title":"Sorafenib and surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma - a controversial relation: Lesson learned?","authors":"Guido Torzilli","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sorafenib is a breakthrough in the medical treatment aiming to control hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, but there is some controversy in patients' selection. The introduction of Sorafenib has led to several positive effects. New more than promising antiangiogenic molecules have followed. Immunotherapy combined with antiangiogenic therapy has also strongly entered into the treatment of HCC. All of that has induced a significant guideline revision profiling Sorafenib as a second line systemic therapy in the event of advanced HCC. However, for those patients with advanced but resectable HCC, the selection of surgery or systemic therapy should be reviewed and reconsidered.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 4","pages":"246-248"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461332/pdf/ghm-5-4-246.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10128091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hieu Trung Tran, Kiyoto Tsuchiya, Akira Kawashima, Koji Watanabe, Yoshiharu Hayashi, Shoraku Ryu, Akinobu Hamada, Hiroyuki Gatanaga, Shinichi Oka
{"title":"Steady-state pharmacokinetics of plasma tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), tenofovir (TFV) and emtricitabine (FTC), and intracellular TFV-diphosphate and FTC-triphosphate in HIV-1 infected old Japanese patients treated with bictegravir/FTC/TAF.","authors":"Hieu Trung Tran, Kiyoto Tsuchiya, Akira Kawashima, Koji Watanabe, Yoshiharu Hayashi, Shoraku Ryu, Akinobu Hamada, Hiroyuki Gatanaga, Shinichi Oka","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emtricitabine (FTC) plus tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) has demonstrated efficacy and safety for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV-1 infection. We measured the plasma PK of FTC, tenofovir (TFV), and TAF in a steady-state pharmacokinetic (PK) study of bictegravir/FTC/TAF in HIV-1-infected patients. Furthermore, validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure intracellular TFV-diphosphate (DP) and FTC-triphosphate (TP), the active metabolites of TFV and FTC, respectively. Plasma and dried blood spot samples were collected from 10 male patients aged ≥ 50 years at various time intervals: 0 (trough), 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h after drug administration. The mean ± standard deviation of plasma PK parameters were as follows: The maximum concentrations of TAF, TFV, and FTC were 104.0 ± 72.5, 27.9 ± 5.2, and 3,976.0 ± 683.6 ng/mL, respectively. Additionally, their terminal elimination half-lives were 0.6 ± 0.5, 31.6 ± 10.4, and 6.9 ± 1.4 h, respectively. These results were consistent with previously reported data. The intracellular levels of TFV-DP and FTC-TP varied widely among individuals; however, they remained stable over 24 h in each individual at approximately 1,000-1,500 and 2,000-3,000 fmol/punch, respectively, indicating that plasma concentrations did not affect the intracellular concentrations of their active metabolites. These results demonstrated that measuring intracellular TFV-DP and FTC-TP could be useful for monitoring adherence to PrEP in clients on this regimen.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 4","pages":"216-222"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461328/pdf/ghm-5-4-216.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10510499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mira Namba, Yudai Kaneda, Chiharu Kawasaki, Rajeev Shrestha, Tetsuya Tanimoto
{"title":"Underlying background of the current trend of increasing HPV vaccination coverage in Japan.","authors":"Mira Namba, Yudai Kaneda, Chiharu Kawasaki, Rajeev Shrestha, Tetsuya Tanimoto","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cervical cancer is prevalent among women, with a reported 604,127 cases in 2020 worldwide. The incidence of cervical cancer has been mitigated in most high-income countries by promoting the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. However, in Japan, cervical cancer is still a leading cause of mortality and the most prevalent cancer among women aged between 15 and 39. This can be attributed to the 7-year suspension of HPV vaccination recommendations by the Japanese government. A decline in vaccination coverage followed this suspension, caused by a small number of reported adverse events, resulting in a steep decline in vaccination coverage from over 70% to less than 1%. However, there have been indications of a change in trend in Japan. In 2020, a group of volunteer doctors initiated awareness-raising activities through social networking services and other platforms, and the target population that received at least one dose of the vaccine in 2020 increased to 15.9%. Additionally, in July 2020, the Japanese government approved the updated 9-valent HPV vaccine and resumed recommendations in November 2021. As a result, 30.1% of those eligible for routine HPV vaccination received at least one dose of the vaccine from April to September, 2022. However, the HPV vaccine coverage in Japan is still far from the 90% recommended by the World Health Organization, and continued communication and education on the vaccines benefits are necessary to achieve optimal coverage.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 4","pages":"255-256"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461329/pdf/ghm-5-4-255.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10128090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"International cooperation for nursing human resource development in Lao PDR: Investing in nursing leadership.","authors":"Kyoko Koto-Shimada, Kazuki Miyazaki, Pengdy Inthapanith, Souksavanh Phanpaseuth, Anousone Sisoulath, Shiori Nagatani, Shikino Kikuchi, Toyomitsu Tamura, Noriko Fujita","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Strengthening nursing leadership in health systems has been identified as a priority for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). We aimed to analyse the characteristics of Japanese technical assistance projects for nursing human resource development in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and suggest directions for future assistance. An upgrading program, as part of human resource development, was initiated in the 1990s; it has contributed to the development of nursing leaders. Moreover, technical assistance from development partners has had synergistic effects by consistently promoting the involvement of nursing leaders in administration, education, and clinical practice to establish a functional regulatory system. In resource-limited settings, the application of both edge-pulling (leadership development) and bottom-up (quality improvement of the mass population) strategies are required. From a long-term perspective, development partners should continue to invest in increasing the number and quality of nursing leaders by upgrading the courses and leadership training programs, starting from the younger generation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 4","pages":"249-254"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461326/pdf/ghm-5-4-249.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10137212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Foreseeing the unforeseen: Towards mental health and gerontic nursing perspectives.","authors":"Shigeaki Watanuki, Mami Kayama","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the theme of \"Foreseeing the Unforeseen: Towards a New Era of Nursing\", this special issue on nursing includes a variety of articles from different countries and institutions. Several key features of this issue include: <i>i</i>) the impact and responses/countermeasures to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; <i>ii</i>) innovative nursing practice, management, education, research, and policy in response to the issues raised; <i>iii</i>) nursing toward a low fertility and a super-aged society, internationalization, or cultural diversity; and <i>iv</i>) human resource development, systems development, and policy recommendations for health, medical care, and welfare in the next era. In this Editorial article, we summarize the issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for the next era, particularly in the fields of mental health and gerontic nursing. We also provide several perspectives on mental health issues in the general population and for nurses, as well as gerontic nursing issues related to older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"125-127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311672/pdf/ghm-5-3-125.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9737086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a change in continuing education in nursing: From face-to-face to online education.","authors":"Yuuko Kenmotsu, Tomomi Kameoka","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prior to and up to 2019, the Training Center for Nursing Development, National College of Nursing, Japan (NCNJ) had provided education for nurses working at policy-based medical facilities in a face-to-face format. Since 2020 however, all on-campus courses have been cancelled due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The nursing directors of all participating facilities were subsequently surveyed; based on their responses, online education was implemented on a trial basis. As a result, all training since 2021 has been provided as online education. Online education has many advantages, such as there is no risk of contracting COVID-19 or other infectious diseases, no need for commuting or accommodations, courses can be attended remotely, and time can be used effectively. That said, there are some disadvantages. Potential improvements should be identified in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"191-193"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311668/pdf/ghm-5-3-191.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9737089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lessons learned from practices during the initial response to COVID-19 on the cruise ship Diamond Princess.","authors":"Megumi Ikemoto, Kaori Matsuo, Toyomitsu Tamura, Sonoe Mashino","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) still continues three years after the onset of the pandemic, but there are concerns about the next emerging infectious disease. This study reports the practices during the initial response to COVID-19 on the cruise ship Diamond Princess and lessons learned from a nursing perspective. During these practices, one of the authors dealt with a sample collection team from the Self-Defense Forces and collaborated with the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Team (DPAT), and other teams. They mentioned the passengers' state and the distress and fatigue of the personnel assisting them. This revealed the specifics of emerging infectious diseases and their commonalities, regardless of the disaster. Results identified three crucial points: <i>i</i>) predicting the impact of lifestyle changes on health due to isolation and implementing preventive measures, <i>ii</i>) protecting individual human rights and dignity even in health emergencies, and <i>iii</i>) support for personnel providing assistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"188-190"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311667/pdf/ghm-5-3-188.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9749066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ikuma Nozaki, Minori Tsukada, Pech Sothy, Kim Rattana, Kate Williams
{"title":"Introduction and roll-out of self-learning App for midwifery during the COVID-19 pandemic and its sustainability in Cambodia.","authors":"Ikuma Nozaki, Minori Tsukada, Pech Sothy, Kim Rattana, Kate Williams","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Similar to other countries, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly impacted not only the ability of midwives to deliver high quality maternal care, but also their ability to access professional development opportunities, including in-service training in Cambodia. In response, we developed a Cambodian version of Safe Delivery App (SDA), aligned to Cambodia's clinical guidelines. The SDA is a free digital job aid and learning platform for skilled birth attendants developed by Maternity Foundation that works offline and is used in more than 40 countries after adapting to the country context. In the year and a half since its launch in June 2021, SDA has become established in Cambodia, with more than 3,000 people, accounting for nearly half the number of midwives in Cambodia, downloading and using it on their devices, and 285 people having completed its self-learning modules. The review of the introduction process revealed that publicity on the professional association's social networking sites, in-person in-depth hands-on training, and troubleshooting in a managed social networking group were useful in promoting the use of the application, and that the Continuing Professional Development Program accreditation has been a strong motivator for completing the self-study program. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of digital tools, but it is important to prevent the expansion of the digital divide when implementing new digital tools, including SDA.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"178-183"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311676/pdf/ghm-5-3-178.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9743915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experiences of nurses in charge of COVID-19 critical care patients during the initial stages of the pandemic in Japan.","authors":"Aya Umeda, Hiroko Baba, Shoko Ishii, So Mizuno","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01037","url":null,"abstract":"The fatality rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the beginning of the pandemic was as high as 8.5%, and it was considered to be an intractable infectious disease. Reports regarding early experiences are essential for improving nurses' quality of care, patient safety, and working conditions during future pandemics. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the experiences of nurses who were in charge of critically ill COVID-19 patients during the early stages of the pandemic in Japan. This was a qualitative study. Participants were nurses who were in charge of critically ill COVID-19 patients in an emerging contagious disease ward between February and April 2020. Interviews were conducted in groups of 2-3 persons based on an interview guide using an online conferencing application to prevent infection. Consent to participation was obtained from 19 nurses. Five categories of experiences were generated from the analysis: \"Fear of risk to my own life and to those of others around me\", \"The shock of finding myself amid an infectious disease pandemic\", \"Anxiety about unknown challenges\", \"Driven by a sense of purpose\", and \"Growth as nurses\". Working under harsh conditions where nurses' safety is threatened may affect the quality of care and nurses' mental health. Therefore, nurses should receive both short-term and long-term support.","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"169-177"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311671/pdf/ghm-5-3-169.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9737093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Future perspective of psychiatric home-visit nursing provided by nursing stations in Japan.","authors":"Nozomi Setoya, Yumi Aoki, Kagami Fukushima, Miki Sakaki, Yoshifumi Kido, Hiroko Takasuna, Hitoshi Kusachi, Yumi Hirahara, Shigemasa Katayama, Hisateru Tachimori, Akiko Funakoshi, Mami Kayama","doi":"10.35772/ghm.2023.01034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35772/ghm.2023.01034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychiatric home-visit nursing supports the lives of people with mental disorders in the community and plays an important role in the \"community-based integrated care system\" which is rapidly being implemented in Japan. Although the number of responsive home-visit nursing stations (HVNS) is increasing, the current situation of service provision has not yet been clarified. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and difficulties of psychiatric home-visit nursing provided by HVNS. We further discussed future care provisions and service improvements. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 7,869 member stations of the National Association for Visiting Nurse Service; of this number 2,782 facilities (35.4%) responded. Of the 2,782 facilities, 1,613 (58.0%) provided psychiatric home-visit nursing. The HVNS that provided psychiatric home-visit nursing were diverse, and the percentage of users with mental disorders ranged widely. Majority of the HVNS reported having \"difficulty in caring for users/families who refuse care\" (56.3%), \"difficulty in care for psychiatric symptoms\" (54.0%), and \"difficulty in assessment of psychiatric symptoms\" (49.1%), with differences in difficulty depending on the percentage of psychiatric users. As user needs and HVNS characteristics diversify, it is necessary to take advantage of the characteristics of each station to develop consultation and training systems and collaborative network platforms within each community for future sustainable service provision.</p>","PeriodicalId":12556,"journal":{"name":"Global health & medicine","volume":"5 3","pages":"128-135"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10311674/pdf/ghm-5-3-128.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9743917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}