Tg Sanità, the edition of Monday 23 December 2024

We talk about tumors and screening, Congo virus, gender dysphoria

TUMORS. IN 2024 IN ITALY 390,100 NEW DIAGNOSES, MEN MOST AFFECTED

There are 390,100 new cancer diagnoses estimated in Italy in 2024: 214,500 in men and 175,600 in women. These are essentially stable numbers compared to the previous two years: if in 2022 they were 391,700, in 2023 they were 395,900. A favorable trend, which is accompanied by another positive fact: cancer mortality in young adults aged 20-49, in 15 years, from 2006 to 2021, has in fact decreased by 21.4% in women and by 28% in men. In particular, the reduction in deaths from lung cancer in both sexes is significant: -46.4% in women and -35.5% in men. This is what emerges from the fourteenth edition of the volume 'Cancer numbers in Italy 2024', presented in recent days in Rome. The volume is edited by the Aiom and Airtum associations.

TUMORS. SCHILLACI: POSSIBLE FIGHT WITH MORE SCREENING AND PREVENTION

“The challenge against cancer must be to invest in prevention, promoting healthy lifestyles, starting with correct nutrition, combined with physical activity”. These are the words of the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, written in the preface of the fourteenth census 'Cancer numbers in Italy 2024'. “Today we know that incorrect nutrition affects the onset of tumors by approximately 35% – continues Schillaci – and that the Mediterranean diet reduces overall mortality by 10%, preventing the development of numerous types of cancer”. For Minister Schillaci, at the same time, it is necessary to “promote greater participation in screening programs, which are fundamental for diagnosing a pathology early and significantly increasing the chances of recovery, because especially in some Regions the desired participation is not recorded”.

CONGO VIRUS. ROCCA: FIRST SPALLANZANI TESTS LEAD TO MALARIA

All the tests have not yet been completed, but the first findings point to a case of malaria and not to unknown viruses.” This was the response from the president of the Lazio Region, Francesco Rocca, when asked by journalists on the sidelines of an event in Rome regarding the investigations underway at the laboratories of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Infectious Diseases Institute to understand the origin of the disease that caused the death of a 55-year-old man, recently returned from a trip to Congo, resident in the province of Treviso. “Obviously the tests need to be in-depth and further investigations are underway – continued Rocca – The tests they sent however led to the conclusion of malaria”. The laboratory samples, he finally underlined, must be “processed, processed, some tests are done immediately, others may take a few more hours”.

CONGO VIRUS. SOIPA: VERY AGGRESSIVE MALARIA HYPOTHESIS, CASE TO STUDY

And the president of the Italian Society of Parasitology (SoIPa), Professor Laura Rinaldi, professor of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases at the Federico II University of Naples, also intervened on the case. When interviewed on the subject by Dire, she commented: “The patient died in cause of complications due to malaria, as confirmed by molecular analyzes performed by Spallanzani, which excluded the presence of other pathogens. But I don't know if it is appropriate to correlate the death of the man, apparently never hospitalized, with the many cases of mortality that have occurred in Congo. The case certainly needs to be studied, it could be a particularly aggressive variant of malaria, but it will be necessary to carry out other laboratory analyses, including molecular ones.”

GENDER DYSPHORIA. IN ITALY 1/2 CASES EVERY 10 THOUSAND. SIPPS-SIP: TAKE TRIPTORELIN IN THE INITIAL PHASES OF PUBERTY

“In Italy the presence of gender dysphoria is estimated at 1/2 cases every 10 thousand subjects”. This was announced to the Dire agency by the vice-president of the Italian Society of Preventive and Social Paediatrics (Sipps) and member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Society of Paediatrics (Sip), Gianni Bona. Then asked about what was declared by the National Committee for Bioethics, which spoke of “uncertainty on the risk/benefit ratio of blocking puberty with triptorelin”, the drug that leads to the suspension of pubertal development in cases of precocious puberty, Bono commented : “The problem linked to the use of triptorelin is a very current problem also from a bioethical point of view. However, it is important to remember that this drug must be taken in the initial stages of puberty, which usually occurs between the ages of 8 and 10.” If it is delayed too long, the expert underlined, the effect of the drug “is greatly reduced, because there is an advanced transformation of the genitals”.

MENTAL HEALTH. MINISTRY: +10% ASSISTED IN THE TERRITORY, ALSO IN HOSPITALITY AND ACCESS TO THE ED

The number of people assisted by specialist services increased by 10% during 2023, to a total of 854,040. There was also an increase in emergency room visits, which were 573,663 compared to 547,477 the previous year. Furthermore, hospital admissions are increasing: in 2023, 144,246 adults diagnosed with a mental disorder were discharged. These are some numbers that emerge from the 'Mental Health Report 2023' published by the Ministry of Health. Numbers still growing for the services provided in 2023 by local services, which amount to 9,601,165, with an average of 13.6 services per user. But in the face of these growing numbers, the number of staff is decreasing: the overall endowment within the public psychiatric operating units, in 2023, is equal to 29,114 units compared to 30,101 in 2022. The number of beds is stable (9.3 per 100 thousand inhabitants), but there are fewer and fewer residential and semi-residential structures.