Репозитарій

Abstract

The study aims to form a medical and psychological portrait of patients who are dissatisfied with the level of diagnostic radiological care during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the study of their opinion on the quality of work of radiological diagnostics services in medical institutions of Lviv city and region.

Material and Methods. The study involved a sociological survey using the questionnaire method of 409 patients who applied for medical radiological diagnostics to medical institutions of Lviv city and region in 2023. According to the results of the survey, 2 focus groups were distinguished: group 1, "Dissatisfied" - 26 patients (6.36%), who expressed a certain level of dissatisfaction with the services received during the COVID-19 pandemic, group 2, "Satisfied" - 383 patients (93, 64%), who were generally satisfied with the services provided in the same period.

Results and Discussion. Based on the obtained data, certain psychological and medical features characteristic of individuals who were dissatisfied with the quality of medical diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified, and their medical and psychological portrait was formed. Specifically, it is an individual who has already had an unsuccessful experience of visiting state health care facilities in the past, applies for a medical examination for work/study, mainly for the diagnosis of respiratory system organs, and is dissatisfied with the long waiting period until the appointed day of the examination and the long live queue for the examination, considers the attitude of the physician or another employee as unkind, is dissatisfied with the work of the diagnostic specialist and the opportunity to freely ask the physician the necessary questions, is dissatisfied with the low quality of medical equipment and cleanliness and comfort in the physician's office or the department.

Conclusions. The obtained data on the characteristic features of individuals who were not satisfied with the medical care provided during the COVID-19 pandemic will be important in improving the work of the radiation diagnostics service.

Herbal plants are considered natural pharmaceuticals but also accumulate chemical elements and compounds at high levels. ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb are highly radiotoxic and may cause carcinogenesis due to ionizing radiation. Thirteen of the most popular wild-growing herbaceous plant species, mostly included in the European Pharmacopoeia, were collected across Ukraine. ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were determined in the medicinal plants, and their radiotoxicity and cancer risk were calculated. The results of ²¹⁰Po activities measured in herbal raw material ranged from 2.28 Bq kg^-1 dw (where dw is dry weight) in herb of common horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) collected near Lviv to 37.7 Bq kg^-1 dw in leaves of common birch (Betula pendula Roth.) from Rava Ruska. The activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb varied from 0.44 Bq kg^-1 dw in leaves of common birch from Starokostyantyniv to 28.4 Bq kg^-1 dw in leaves of common birch from Mizhhirya. There were statistically significant differences between ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb content in flowers, leaves, and aerial portions. The studies indicated that the estimated annual effective radiation dose from Ukrainian herbs consumption was low, ranging 5.00-82.6 µSv from ²¹⁰Po and 0.56-35.8 µSv from ²¹⁰Pb, while the cancer morbidity and mortality risk ranged from 10^-4 to 10^-6. The presented data indicated no radiological risk related to using herbal plant materials.

The anti-aging effects of alpha-lipoic acid (αLA), a natural antioxidant synthesized in human tissues, have attracted a growing interest in recent years. αLA is a short- -chain sulfur-containing fatty acid occurring in the mitochondria of all kinds of eukaryotic cells. Both the oxidized disulfide of αLA and its reduced form (dihydrolipoic acid, DHLA) exhibit prominent antioxidant function. The amount of αLA inside the human body gradually decreases with age resulting in various health disorders. Its lack can be compensated by supplying from external sources such as dietary supplements or medicinal dosage forms. The primary objectives of this study were the analysis of updated information on the latest two-decade research regarding the use of αLA from an anti-aging perspective. The information was collected from PubMed, Wiley Online Library, Scopus, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Google Scholar, and clinicaltrials.gov. Numerous in silico, in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies revealed that αLA shows a protective role in biological systems by direct or indirect reactive oxygen/nitrogen species quenching. αLA demonstrated beneficial properties in the prevention and treatment of many age-related disorders such as neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, different cancers, nephropathy, infertility, and skin senescence. Its preventive effects in case of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases are of particular interest. Further mechanistic and clinical studies are highly recommended to evaluate the wide spectrum of αLA therapeutic potential that could optimize its dietary intake for prevention and alleviation disorders related to aging.