Menopause is a difficult period in a woman's life, associated not only with the end of menstruation, but also with symptoms such as hot flashes, sweating, dizziness, and palpitations which occur due to fluctuations in the hormones oestrogen and progesterone. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of women (aged 48-55 years) in the physical, mental and social spheres, to determine the intensity of menopause symptoms and to ascertain whether the above indicators are influenced by sociodemographic factors. The study was conducted by diagnostic survey using two tools -the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire for the measurement of the quality of life and the Kupperman index, which measures the severity of menopause symptoms. A total of 161 women not using hormone replacement therapy were examined. In their case, the intensity of menopause symptoms was moderate. The respondents assessed their functioning in the social sphere with the highest number of points (3.65) and in the physical sphere with the lowest number of points (3.14). The intensity of menopause symptoms positively correlated with the evaluation of the quality of life by the respondents. Higher assessment of the quality of life was reported by women working in a given period of time, with good material status, sexually active. The respondents suffered from chronic diseases, most often arterial hypertension. The occurrence of chronic diseases -arterial hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes and osteoporosisnegatively affected the quality of life of the respondents.

Introduction. During feeding, the tick sucks blood from the host along with the pathogens that are in the blood, simultaneously exchanging its own pathogens with the host. Humans can also be a host. It is important to understand the most typical circumstances in which people might become infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. This knowledge will help to prepare health education programmes aimed at the prevention of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the percentage of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, depending on the circumstances of getting bitten. Materials and method. The research material consisted of ticks acquired from people who had been bitten, and questionnaires completed by these people. 510 ticks were acquired from 257 females and 253 males. Following delivery of a tick for testing, the stage of its development was determined and a molecular assay of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA performed. Results. A positive result of the nested-PCR test was obtained in 78 ticks, which represents 15.30% of all ticks. The infected ticks were collected from male (41 ticks -52.56%) and female subjects (37 ticks -47.44%). The biggest number of infected ticks were collected in autumn (54 ticks -69.23%) and from people who had been into forests (44 ticks -56.41%). Among the people from whom the infected ticks were acquired, the dominating group included persons over 16 years of age (53 persons -67.95%) and children aged 0-5 years (16 persons -20.51%). One in four infected ticks were acquired from the southwestern (20 ticks -25.64%) and eastern regions of Poland (21 ticks -26.92%). Conclusion. Infestation of ticks infected with Lyme disease spirochete in this study proved to be variable and depend on the season, the area of tick attack and the region in Poland. The results of the study clearly show that ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi inhabit all regions of Poland. The results are consistent with National Institute of Hygiene data which indicates that Lyme disease cases are recorded in all regions of Poland.

Introduction and objective. Although the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common with Polish cancer patients, little is known about cancer patients' methods of using CAM and how it correlates with their health behaviour. The aim of the study was to determine the scope of application of complementary and alternative medicine methods among patients treated by oncology and to compare the health behaviours of patients who use alternative medicine with those who do not use these methods. Materials and method. The studies were conducted from August 2019 -January 2020 in an Oncology Centre in south-eastern Poland. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a group of 208 oncological patients. The authors' own questionnaire and the standardized Health Behaviour Inventory were used. Results. Most of the patients (85.09%) declared that they used complementary and alternative medicine methods. 45.19% of the respondents had a high rate of health behaviours. It was observed that there was no communication related to the use of CAM among the patients and healthcare staff. Patients using CAM demonstrated more positive health behaviours than those who were not using these methods (p<0.001). Conclusions. The majority of the surveyed patients suffering from cancer used complementary and alternative medicine and declared that it was very or slightly effective in strengthening the immune system and helpful in fighting cancer. The patients who used CAM exhibited a higher level of health behaviours than those who did not use these methods.

SummaryIntroduction: Health behaviours are the most important factor conditioning human health in approx. 50%. Also in cancer prevention the behaviours which women can have impact an on are crucial.Aim of the study: An attempt to diagnose selected health behaviours as breast cancer risk factors and to determine their scale using the Health Behaviour Inventory.Material and methods: The survey was carried out among 566 women from the Lubelskie Voivodeship in a period from March to November 2007. 37.5% of the surveyed were patients of 4 Lublin hospitals (group 1), while 62.5% accounted for healthy women, selected at random (group 2). To diagnose and assess health behaviours' scale, a standardised research tool -the Health Behaviour Inventory, and the questionnaire were applied. Differences in the groups were significant when p ≤ 0.05.Results: The survey shows that overweight and obesity, alcohol abuse and low physical activity at work were significantly more frequent in women with cancer than in healthy women. No statistically significant differences were identified in consuming cereal products, fruit and vegetables, vegetable oils, fish, poultry, red meat and legumes. Passive forms of leisure were the most popular free-time activities. Women with cancer presented the declared health behaviours at a larger scale, including preventive behaviours and a positive mental attitude.Conclusions: The following breast cancer risk factors were found: overweight and obesity, alcohol abuse and low physical activity at work. A larger scale of declared health behaviours considerably more often concerned women after mastectomy than healthy women.Key words: breast cancer, risk factors, health behaviour. StreszczenieWstęp: Zachowania zdrowotne są najistotniejszym czynnikiem, warunkującym w ok. 50% zdrowie czło-wieka, również w profilaktyce raka piersi te zachowania, na które kobieta ma wpływ, zajmują istotne miejsce.Cel pracy: Próba zdiagnozowania wybranych zachowań zdrowotnych kobiet jako czynników ryzyka raka piersi oraz określenie ich natężenia za pomocą Inwentarza zachowań zdrowotnych.Materiał i metody: Badaniami objęto grupę 566 kobiet z terenu województwa lubelskiego w okresie od marca do listopada 2007 r. Wśród badanych 37,5% stanowiły pacjentki 4 lubelskich szpitali (grupa 1), 62,5% kobiet zdrowych wybrano z populacji w sposób losowy (grupa 2). Do zdiagnozowania i oceny natężenia zachowań zdrowotnych wykorzystano standaryzowane narzędzie badawcze Inwentarz zachowań zdrowotnych oraz kwestionariusz ankiety. Różnice w badanych grupach były istotne w przypadku, gdy p ≤ 0,05.Wyniki: Z badań wynika, że nadwaga i otyłość, nadużywanie alkoholu oraz niski poziom aktywności fizycznej w zakresie wykonywanej pracy dotyczył istotnie częściej kobiet chorych niż zdrowych. Nie stwierdzono istotnych różnic statystycznych w zakresie spożycia produktów zbożowych, owoców i warzyw, olejów roślinnych, ryb, drobiu, czerwonego mięsa oraz roślin strączkowych. Najczęstszą formą aktywności w wolnym czasie są bierne formy odpoczynku. Kobiety chore prez...

StreszczenieWstęp: Około 13% Polek umiera rocznie z powodu raka piersi. Choroba ta jest pierwsza, jeśli chodzi o epidemiologię nowotworów złośliwych w Polsce wśród kobiet. Leczenie raka piersi jest coraz mniej okaleczające, ale nadal trwa długo i daje wiele objawów ubocznych. Obecnie u części kobiet, gdy nie ma przeciwwskazań, można wykonać odbudowę utraconej piersi, czyli zrekonstruować ją.Cel pracy: Badania miały na celu określenie, czy występują różnice w ocenie jakości życia u kobiet po mastektomii i rekonstrukcji piersi.Materiał i metody: Badaniami objęto grupę 241 kobiet z lubelskich szpitali onkologicznych: 55,19% z nich (n = 133) stanowiły kobiety po mastektomii, natomiast 44,81% (n = 108) po rekonstrukcji piersi. W badaniach posłużono się kwestionariuszami do oceny jakości życia chorych na nowotwory złośliwe -EORTC QLQ-C30 oraz osobnym kwestionariuszem (QLQ-BR23) do oceny jakości życia kobiet z rakiem piersi. Analizy statystyczne przeprowadzono przy użyciu programu STATISTICA 8.0, przyjmując poziom istotności p < 0,05.Wyniki: Z badań wynika, że rekonstrukcja piersi wpływa pozytywnie w znaczącym stopniu na ocenę jakości życia kobiet w sferze fizycznej, emocjonalnej i społecznej, natomiast nie ma wpływu na sferę poznawczą.Wnioski: Jakość życia kobiet po rekonstrukcji piersi w większości wymiarów jest oceniana wyżej niż u kobiet po mastektomii. Część kobiet nie wie, że jest możliwe wykonanie rekonstrukcji piersi refundowanej przez Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia. Wskazane jest informowanie kobiet o możliwości wykonania rekonstrukcji piersi, co być może przyczyniłoby się do większej zgłaszalności kobiet na leczenie onkologiczne, gdyby wiedziały one, że jest ono mniej okaleczające.Słowa kluczowe: rak piersi, mastektomia, rekonstrukcja piersi, jakość życia. SummaryIntroduction: About 13% of Polish women die every year because of breast cancer. The treatment of breast cancer is becoming increasingly less invasive but it is still long-lasting and causes a lot of side effects. Today, in the case of some women, if there are no contraindications, it is possible to perform breast reconstruction.Aim of the study: The purpose of the research was to determine whether there are differences in the assessment of the quality of life among women after mastectomy and breast reconstruction.Material and methods: The research covered a group of 241 women from oncology hospitals in Lublin. 55.19% (n = 133) of them had mastectomy, while 44.81% (n = 108) had breast reconstruction. During the research, the following questionnaires were used -EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23. Statistical analyses were conducted based on STATISTICA 8.0 Program, assuming a significance level of p < 0.05.Results: The research shows that breast reconstruction has a significant positive effect on the assessment of the quality of life of women in the physical, emotional and social sphere, while it has no effect on the cognitive sphere.Ró¿nice w jakooeci ¿ycia kobiet przed rekonstrukcj¹ i po rekonstrukcji piersi mierzone skal¹ EORTC QLQ-C 30 i EORTC QLQ-BR 23Differenc...