The disabling nature and lifelong impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) imposes considerable socioeconomic burden despite its relative low prevalence compared to other chronic diseases. This is the first study of MS in the Slovak Republic that provides information about healthcare and social expenditures including costs of productivity loss caused by reduced work capacity of patients with MS. Retrospectively direct and indirect costs of MS were investigated by prevalence based "bottomup" approach. The societal and health insurance perspective was used to perform the overall economic burden caused by MS in Slovakia. The human capital method was used for the calculation of indirect costs, as this is the most common method applied in published studies. As not all detailed data on expenditures were available, the missing data were collected in the retrospective patient research. Total annual costs in 2010 for 6.100 dispensed patients with MS in Slovakia were 54.723.592. Indirect costs (31.728.757) prevailed over direct costs (22.994.834). The highest part of both costs were 25.207.512 and 12.641.052 for loss productivity due to patients sickness and invalidity pensions and diseasemodifying drugs respectively. The average cost per patient independently of disease severity was 8.971. MS causes a high economic burden, with a strong predominance of indirect costs. Documenting and quantifying this burden among patients with MS in different disease stages through costofillness study can lead to better disease management and it can provide valuable information for future cost analysis and for decisionmaking process., Mária Pšenková, Stanislava Mackovičová, Alexander Palúch, Tatiana Foltánová, Lenka Petrová, and Literatura
Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are a major source offibrous proteins in cirrhotic liver. Inducing or accelerating their apoptosis is a potential way of liver fibrosis treatment. Extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding cells in tissue affects their differentiation, migration, proliferation and function. Type I collagen is the main ECM component in fibrotic liver. We have examined how this protein modifies apoptosis of normal rat HSC induced by gliotoxin, cycloheximide and cytochalasin D in vitro and spontaneous apoptosis of HSC isolated from CCl4-damaged liver. We have found that type I collagen gel enhances HSC apoptosis regardless of the agent triggering this process. and L. Bittnerová, A. Jiroutová, E. Rudolf, M. Rezácová, J. Kanta
Objectives: The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of dopamine receptor D2 / ankyrin repeat and protein kinase domain containing 1 (DRD2/ANKK1) TaqIA allelic polymorphism in the HPVinduced cervical carcinogenesis. Methods: 1. Effect on the risk of cervical precancer: After an 8year followup, out of 214 women with persisting highrisk HPV infection, 102 developed highgrade cervical dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade III, while 112 did not. The subjects were genotyped for the DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA polymorphism by PCRRFLP, and the allelic distributions were compared between groups with and without highgrade dysplasia. 2. Prognostic value: Two hundred and thirty nine women with cervical precancer/cancer were followed for 5 years. Complete remission was achieved at 182 women. To assess the prognostic value of the TaqIA polymorphism, genotype frequencies were compared between patients reaching and not reaching complete remission. Results: The frequency of A1/A1+A1/A2 genotypes was higher among women who developed highgrade cervical dysplasia (OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.053.33; p=0.034) than in the other group. Occurrence of the A1 allele was more frequent among women who did not reach complete remission (OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.073.74; p=0.030) than in women with complete remission. Conclusions: This is the first report on the possible involvement of DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA polymorphism in cervical carcinogenesis. The A1 allele seems to increase the risk of cervical precancer, and it may also be associated with a worse prognosis in women with HPVinduced cervical cancer. The results need further validation in largescale molecular epidemiological studies., József Cseh, Zsuzsa Orsós, Emese Pázsit, Erika Marek, András Huszár, István Ember, István Kiss, and Literatura
The present article describes two unrelated cases of progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) of the Lafora's disease and Unverricht-Lundborg types who were treated with topiramate (TPM) as add-on therapy for their myoclonus. After the initiation of topiramate therapy both cases responded with marked decrease in myoclonic seizure frequency and improvement of quality of life. Topiramate appears to be a useful alternative agent in cases of PME and could be consider for adjunctive therapy. and CF. Demir, HH. Ozdemir, B. Müngen
Health performance and economic performance are interlinked. Good health is essential for economic and social development. This paper identifies and describes linkages between economic globalization and health. The aim is to analyze international professional discourse on ways how economic globaliza - tion affects health and to critical reflex development of the Czech health policy in the relation to economic globalization, financial crisis and health. The World Health Organization plays the major role in the studying the health effects resulting globalization. In the other side in the Czech Republic there is - n’t developed the discussion about social determinants of health, he - alth gap, health inequalities, health promotion. The risks of economic globalization aren’t reflected by health policy makers, Pavla Mašková, Petr Háva, and Literatura