Welcome To Iconocast

How to add a URL link from your web site to the Iconocast web sites

Virtual tour of Southern California

Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: cancer fatigue + patient monitor + cancer  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

TheMedGuru Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Hormone Therapy May Experience ... Science Daily (press release) - Jul 28, 2008 ScienceDaily (July 28, 2008) ? A recent review of the literature has found that hormone deprivation therapy, a commonly used treatment for prostate cancer, ... Hormone therapy for prostate cancer may impair cognition DailyIndia.com all 80 news articles » Top-Line Results Of Boceprevir Phase II Study Showed High Rate Of ... Medical News Today (press release), UK - 9 minutes ago It is the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer, and the number one reason for liver transplants in the United States and Europe. ...SGP Cancer and SLEEP Problems WKRG-TV, AL - Jul 28, 2008 No matter what the cause, SLEEP disturbances can take their toll on a cancer patient, leading to fatigue and compounding symptoms of anxiety, depression and ... PDT sessions 'zapped' breast cancer, says nun Irish Times, Ireland - Jul 18, 2008 Earlier yesterday, Mr Carmody said that he did not promise a cure to any cancer patient. "There was no question of the word cure. ... Verdict Please New Orleans Magazine, LA - Aug 1, 2008 Several years before the trial, his wife was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer and I arranged for her to see an orthopedic oncologist experienced in ... ImClone Systems Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results Business Wire (press release), CA - Jul 24, 2008 ?A recent major milestone for ImClone was the approval we received to market ERBITUX in Japan for use in treating patients with advanced colorectal cancer. ...IMCL Nurse-delivered Therapy Improves Depression Among Cancer Patients Cancer Consultants, ID - Jul 14, 2008 Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have reported that therapy delivered to cancer patients by oncology nurses improves cancer-related ... Studies Explore Factors That Underlie Varied Responses to Cancer Drugs Journal of American Medical Association (subscription), IL - Jul 8, 2008 According to the researchers, the study's findings underscore that physicians should consider such factors to guide cancer treatment and to monitor patients ... Patient uses ER for dialysis treatments Topeka Capital Journal, KS - Jul 26, 2008 A cancer-ravaged kidney was removed in 1981. The traumatic event intimately familiarized her with the human renal system. Her remaining kidney held out for ... Shouting about noise and John Lewis list - you views Keighley News, UK - Jul 10, 2008 If you are between 18 and 60, a cancer patient paying for prescriptions, living in England or Northern Ireland and would like to help Macmillan's campaign ...

Cancer patients monitor fatigue in real-time

Fatigue is one of the most common and distressing symptoms cancer patients experience during chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but it's difficult for health care professionals to accurately assess its severity.

Nurse researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are studying fatigue in cancer patients undergoing stem cell transplants using a method successfully used to monitor behaviors such as smoking cessation and alcohol use.

The method is called "ecological momentary assessment" (often referred to as real-time assessment), which provides an instant measurement of patients' fatigue.

Clinicians and researchers usually rely on a patient's memory to collect data on symptoms such as fatigue. But it's difficult for patients to go back in time, says Eileen Hacker, clinical assistant professor and lead researcher of the study, or to average their symptom experiences.

Article continues below and (thank you)

"Their mood may affect their recall. They may have been experiencing pain in addition to fatigue, and that affects how they remember the fatigue experience," she said.

In Hacker's study, patients used a device that is worn like a wristwatch to record the data. The patients entered the intensity of their fatigue by using 10 numbered buttons on the device, one being no fatigue and 10 being the worst.

Patients recorded their fatigue three times a day for three days prior to stem cell transplantation and three days following the procedure. A signal from the device reminded patients when to enter the data.

The Fatigue Guidelines Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network defines cancer-related fatigue as "an unusual, persistent, subjective sense of tiredness related to cancer or cancer treatment that interferes with usual functioning." Fatigue commonly is one of the first symptoms of cancer, and the longest-lasting symptom following cancer in both children and adults, Hacker said.

"For example, an adult diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia may seek medical care because of the extreme fatigue," Hacker said. "Cancer can cause fatigue directly or indirectly by spreading to the bone marrow, causing anemia and by forming toxic substances in the body that interfere with normal cell functions.

"People who are having problems breathing -- another symptom of some cancers -- may also experience fatigue."

According to Hacker, this is the first study of real-time collection of fatigue data in acutely ill cancer patients. Ecological momentary assessment holds substantial promise for investigating fatigue and other cancer symptoms, she said.

The study was published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. It was funded by the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation; the American Cancer Society; and the Center for Research on Cardiovascular and Respiratory Health in the UIC College of Nursing, which is supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research, one of the National Institutes of Health.

The UIC College of Nursing ranks in the top 10 among the nation's nursing colleges and consistently ranks in the top five of federal research funding for nursing colleges and universities. For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu.