Rosimar de Castro Barreto

O DUPLO PAPEL DA INFLAMAÇÃO NO SURGIMENTO DAS LESÕES CANCERÍGENAS

This review demonstrated that in the same way the immune cells act to repair the affected tissues, cancer cells produce disorderly inflammation factors to sustain growth and development of the tumor. They produce exaggeratedly the same inflammatory substances such as cytokines, prostaglandins and leukotrienes, which usually play the natural tissue repair. The cancer uses those substances to induce its own proliferation and to make permeable barriers surrounding it. Then the process that allows the immune system to repair damage and to destroy aggressors in all reaches of the body is skewed in favor of cancerous cells. And due to inflammation, such cells will infiltrate through surrounding tissues, penetrate into lymphatic and blood flow until give rise to metastases. The excess of these inflammatory substances in the surrounding tissues, leads to blockage of a natural process called apoptosis, or genetically programmed cell suicide, thereby contributing to the uncontrolled proliferation of tissues. Cancerous cells are thus protected from cell destruction, and the tumor will increasingly gaining size and body. DESCRIPTORS Inflammation. Cancer. Immunology.

AVALIAÇÃO DOS NÍVEIS DE ANSIEDADE EM PACIENTES SUBMETIDOS AO TRATAMENTO ODONTOLÓGICO

Introduction: Anxiety is a subjective state of feeling or reacting to an unknown situation. In cases when the feeling of anxiety occurs prior to dental treatment, it is called dental anxiety. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of anxiety during dental treatment of patients followed in the Integrated School of Dentistry, Federal University of Paraiba. Material and Methods: The sample consisted of 60 patients randomly selected who sought the aforementioned dental service. Data collection was conducted using a form with identification data and information inherent to the patient as well as specific issues regarding the degree of anxiety during dental treatment using the DAS (Dental Anxiety Scale) scale. Data were analyzed and the associations between level of anxiety and gender, age, household income, education level, frequency of visits to the dentist, were subjected to chi-square (X ²) test. Results: The prevalence of anxiety was high (98.3%); the majority of patients (70.0%) presented low level of anxiety, followed by 26.7% moderate and 1.7% exacerbated. Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of anxiety was not associated significantly with any of the studied variables - gender (p = 0.566), age (p = 0.652), income (p = 0.791), education level (p = 0.747), frequency of visits to the dentist (p = 0.902) and procedures that would cause greater discomfort (p = 0.515); thus, anxiety was found to be an individualized fear of each patient. DESCRIPTORS: Dental anxiety, Anxiety, Dental Care