Psychological aspects of oncological diseases in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder caused by war

PTSP se danas aktivno istražuje od strane psihijatara, ali i ostalih zdravstvenih djelatnika i liječnika obiteljske medicine jer su oni u svakodnevnom i neposrednom kontaktu s oboljelima kao i njihovim obiteljima. Svakodnevno se donose nove spoznaje i povećava znanje koji mijenjaju ustaljene stavove o PTSP-u. Novim spoznajama i brojnim istraživanjima koja su se provodila, došlo se do zaključka da oboljeli od PTSP-a imaju veći rizik od obolijevanja od malignih bolesti nego ostatak populacije. Zanimljiv je podatak da je rak u Hrvatskoj drugi uzrok smrtnosti nakon bolesti srca i krvnih žila, a najnovija istraživanja su pokazala da su u braniteljskoj populaciji prvi uzrok smrtnosti upravo maligne bolesti, a tek potom bolesti krvožilnog sustava. Stres i depresija mijenjaju gensku aktivnost ne samo kod imunoloških prijenosnika nego i u stanicama imunološkog sustava (T-stanicama i NK-prirodno ubojitim stanicama) tako da se njihova obrambena funkcija smanjuje prema raznim vanjskim uzročnicima bolesti ali i prema tumorskim stanicama. Iz toga možemo zaključiti da osobe koje boluju od PTSP- a često obole od maligne bolesti. Brzi napredak medicine i tehnologije, nažalost nije još uvijek uspio odgovoriti na mnogo pitanja koja su vezana uz pojavu onkoloških bolesti i njihovo liječenje. Maligna bolest je životno ugrožavajuća i dovodi do velikih promjena u životu osobe koja od nje oboli. Posebno stresno će to biti za osobu koja je već proživjela teško traumatsko iskustvo i ima dijagnozu PTSP-a. Iz tog razloga vrlo je važno imati poseban pristup takvim pacijentima i omogućiti im da se što bolje adaptiraju na novonastalu situaciju. Adekvatna socijalna podrška i psihoterapija može utjecati i na sam ishod liječenja maligne bolesti.PTSD is nowadays actively investigated by psychiatrists, and other health care professionals and family physicians because they are in daily and direct contact with patients and their families. Every day brings new insights and increases knowledge that change the established attitudes about PTSD. New insights and numerous studies were performed and it was concluded that people with PTSD have a higher risk of developing malignant disease than the rest of the population. It is interesting that cancer in Croatia is the second cause of death after heart disease and blood vessel. Recent studies have shown that the veteran population leading cause of death are malignant diseases while second are cardiovascular disease. Stress and depression alter gene activity not only in immune cytokines but also in immune cells (T-cells and NK-natural killer cells) so their defensive function reduces towards various external pathogens and tumor cells. From this we can conclude that people who suffer from PTSD often suffer from malignant diseases. Rapidly advancing medicine and technology, unfortunately, is not yet able to answer many questions that are related to the emergence of oncological diseases and their treatment. Malignant disease is life-threatening and lead to big changes in a person's life that develops that disease. It is particularly stressful for a person who has already been through difficult traumatic experience and has a diagnosis of PTSD. For this reason it is very important to have a special approach to these patients and allow them to better adapt to the new situation. Adequate social support and psychotherapy can influence the outcome of the treatment