Building Palliative Care Capacity - A Rapid Evaluation of Services in Eleven Hospitals in Northern India.

This study aimed to evaluate palliative care capacity across eleven northern Indian hospitals whose physicians and nurses had undergone training as part of the Cancer Treatment Centers (CTC) program. An online rapid evaluation using The "Standards audit tool for Indian palliative care programs" developed by the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) was done to audit specific aspects of palliative care delivery including staff training, recordkeeping, availability of morphine, and continuing professional development programs. A descriptive analysis of the data was conducted.

Religious Perspectives Regarding the Ethical Issues Associated With Clinical Xenotransplantation.

Background: As xenotransplantation advances toward clinical trials, viewpoints from various segments of society are continually needed to engage the public and to inform the prospective clinical trials. As the majority of the world's population identifies with a religious tradition, religious perspectives regarding the ethical issues associated with clinical xenotransplantation are an important element to take into account.

Methods: At the 2024 Congress of The Transplantation Society in Istanbul, Türkiye, a group of religious scholars from Catholicism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hinduism, Shia Islam, Judaism, Protestant Christianity, and the African American religious traditions met together to discuss viewpoints toward xenotransplantation from their respective religious tradition.

In vitro establishment of cell suspension culture of Ceropegia bulbosa for improved production of cerpegin content through elicitation of engineered carbon and ZnO nanoparticles.

 The present investigations aimed to conserve C. bulbosa a threatened plant species and for production of cerpegin through cell culture technology using ENP elicitation. Leaf explants were aseptically cultured with normal MS medium-supplemented PGRs BA and NAA various concentrations, and the best callus induction response was recorded on 4.

Why do healthcare researchers in South Asia publish in predatory journals? A scoping review.

Predatory journals offer the promise of prompt publication to those willing to pay the article submission or processing fee. However, these journals do not offer rigorous peer review. Studies have shown that a substantial share of corresponding authors in predatory journals come from South Asia, particularly India.

Improving Access and Health Outcomes in Palliative Care through Cultural Competence: An exploration of opportunities and challenges in India.

People who belong to ethnic, racial and cultural minorities often have less access to healthcare and have poorer health outcomes when compared to the majority population. In the COVID pandemic, too, health disparities have been observed. Similar disparities have been noted in patients with advanced disease and suffering from pain, with minority patients having less access to or making less use of palliative care.

Scrambler Therapy Enhances Quality of Life in Cancer Patients in a Palliative Care Setting: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Given the known side effects of opioids and the negative impact of these side effects on quality of life (QOL), there is a need for therapies that can reduce opioid intake and improve QOL in patients suffering from cancer pain. Scrambler therapy (ST) is a neuromodulatory therapy that has been shown to reduce cancer pain, but its effect on QOL is not well understood. This study intended to evaluate the efficacy of ST for enhancing QOL in cancer patients through minimising pain and opioid intake.

Psychometric Assessment of SpiDiscI: Spiritual Distress Scale for Palliative Care Patients in India.

Objectives: Spirituality has an impact on the quality of life of palliative care patients and it influences the way in which they experience their disease. Spiritual distress is a common issue among palliative care patients in India that is best assessed through a tool specifically designed for them. This study presents the findings of a psychometric assessment of SpiDiscI: a 16-item spiritual distress scale for Hindi speaking palliative care patients in India.

The Efficacy of Scrambler Therapy for the Management of Head, Neck and Thoracic Cancer Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Pain is still a common feature in all types of cancers including head and neck and thoracic cancer. Neuromodulatory techniques have gained popularity over opioids in recent times because of the risks associated with chronic opioid therapy. There are no clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of scrambler therapy (ST) for the management of pain due to head and neck and thoracic cancer.

Evidence for the Efficacy of Scrambler Therapy for Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review.

Background: Certain types of cancer pain have remained hard to control even by highly skilled pain experts. Uncontrolled cancer pain can have severe effects on quality of life, physical functioning, and leads to psychological distress. From this perspective, nonpharmacologic modalities of treatment are important.

Impact of Scrambler Therapy on Pain Management and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A Study of Twenty Cases.

Aim Of The Study: To study the effect of scrambler therapy on patients with chronic cancer pain.

Materials And Methods: This is a prospective, observational study conducted on patients with chronic pain due to malignancy which is not responding to oral analgesics. A total of twenty patients were included in the study (ten males, ten females) with a visual analog scale score of >4 on oral analgesics.

Management of total cancer pain: a case of young adult.

Pain due to cancer is one of the most distressing symptoms experienced by the patients at some or the other time during the course of treatment or disease progression. The multidimensional nature of cancer pain is characterized by various dimensions including physical, social, psychological, and spiritual; which together constitute the term "total pain". Young cancer patients illustrate their unique psychological and developmental needs.

Randomized Controlled Trial in Advance Stage Breast Cancer Patients for the Effectiveness on Stress Marker and Pain through Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayam.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the effect of a cognitive, behavioral stress management module of Sudarshan Kriya (SK) and P on levels of serum cortisol and pain among the women suffering from advanced stage breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Participants (n = 147) were screened and randomized to receive standard care (n = 69) versus standard along with SK and Pranayam (P) intervention (n = 78) imparted in one 18 hrs workshop spread during 3 days. Participants were expected to practice it at home 20 min daily as adjuvant to standard pharmacological treatment for pain.