Cancer is one of the most feared diseases in veterinary medicine today, and the incidence is higher than ever due to the fact that our companion animals live longer then they did ten to twenty years ago. Cancer is also one of the most common causes of mortality in older companion animals. This literature review will be about two of the currently most common form of cancer treatment of companion animals in Swedish animal hospitals, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. There will also be a section of general nursing care for cancer patients. The section of chemotherapy will describe the indications for choosing chemotherapy, the way to administrate chemotherapeutic drugs, describe specific chemotherapeutic drugs, potential side effects of chemotherapy, and how to handle and store chemotherapeutic drugs safely. The section of radiation therapy will describe the current devices for delivering radiation therapy, describe the indications for choosing radiation therapy and describe potential side effects that radiation therapy may cause.

 ABSTRACT  Nature of essay:                C-level, 15 pointsPage count:                        47Title:                                   The last way out?-A qualitative study of psychiatric staff and service users attitude to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).Author:                              Hanna Nilsson Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate attitudes to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) of professionals and service users within a user organization ? Riksförbundet för social och mental hälsa. (RSMH)Questions: Does the psychiatric staff believe that there are preconceptions about electroconvulsive therapy? What motivates service user?s choice of electroconvulsive therapy? Do the psychiatric staff and the service users think that the positive effects of ECT can outweigh the possible negative side effects?Method: Qualitative study. The study is based on interviews with psychiatric staffthat works with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and with services users who have received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).Results: The result showed that the psychiatric staff feels that preconceived ideas occur about the treatment of ECT, and that it is affecting their approach to work.Service users motivate their choice by how bad they felt under the depression, and that ECT was their only choice left, that´s why psychiatric staff suggested the treatment.The positive effects of ECT outweighed the possible negative side effects because life is something you value higher than any memory loss and when there is currently no treatment having a similar efficiency.Keywords: Electroconvulsive therapy, Attitudes, Side effects, Experience, Patients, Professionals.

The aim of the study was to explore the methods used in horticultural therapy gardens in rehabilitating people suffering from fatigue syndrome. Nine horticultural therapy gardens were contacted of wich three chose to participate. Using case study as method e-mail interviews was carried out with the participants about their establishment and what kind of theories they based their methods upon. The material collected from the interviews was complemented with additional data from the establishments web pages and information pamphlets. Collected data was processed trough content analysis and then formed as background for the development of a program theory for horticultural therapy.

Lymphoma is a group of malignant tumour diseases developing in the secondary lymphatic system. These diseases can develop in all organs as lymphocytes are ubiquitously in the body. In connection to mucus membranes we find mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, MALT, in which lymphoma can spontaneously but slowly develop, mostly at chronic inflammation or at autoimmune diseases. Today these diseases are incureable with the exception of some cases caused by Helicobacter pylori-infection. Antibiotic treatment of these cases can induce remissions.MALT-lymphomas have characteristic histological and molecular properties.

Aim: The aim is to create a review that examines different forms of massage therapy and their effects on hypertension.Method: Literature review of 10 scientific articles on the subject of massage and its effects on blood pressure. The literature searches were made with PubMed and Cinahl using the keywords "massage therapy", "effects" and "blood pressure".Results: The articles showed that massage had a positive effect in lowering blood pressure. This could be explained by greater extent of relaxation in the participants investigated and an increased activity of parasympaticus and reduced secretion of stress hormones. The articles do not agree on what form of massage therapy is most effective in lowering blood pressure and it is uncertain for how long the effect can remain.Conclusion: Massage is usually seen as a treatment without scientific basis. There is evidence that suggests that massage therapy is an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the possible design of a horticultural therapy program in Swedish correctional treatment facilities. In the USA the use of horticultural therapy in offender rehabilitation is much more frequent compared with Sweden. The aim of these programs typically contains education for inmates. Research has been made indicating that these programs can have positive effects on psychosocial behavior and on vulnerability to substance abuse among incarcerated offenders. In this study the examples of these programs was categorized and analyzed from three perspectives; Vocational, social and therapeutic horticultural programs.

The main purpose of this examination paper has been to do a review of recent scientific and evaluated studies performed on children 0-15 years of age, treated with an animal as an assistant to the therapist/professional. The key term is Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). Our focus has been to describe in what fields these kinds of studies have been performed, what the results are and how effective they have been. As a supplement to our study we have performed 8 short telephone interviews with professionals in the same field of occupation corresponding to the studies we have summarized. Our results concerning the studies show that there has been a positive outcome in the treatment of children and adolescents and AAT.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, where joints are attacked by the own immune system, leading to chronic inflammation and destruction of bone and cartilage. Inflammation is a complex process, controlled by many different substances. One of them is adenosine, which has anti-inflammatory properties. In this project, three polymorphisms in different genes, involved in synthesis and signaling of adenosine, were genotyped for 188 patients with RA and 362 controls without RA. The results shows that for the polymorphism in A2a, a gene coding for an adenosine receptor, there was no significant difference in genotype distribution between the groups.

Canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease with high morbidity and mortality and with a high prevalence in certain breeds. Predominatly large breeds are affected, such as Great danes, Newfoundlands, Deerhounds and Dobermanns. One exception is Cocker spaniels, where both American and English Cocker spaniels are affected in a quite high frequency. Cardiomyopathy is characterised as a disease that affects the myocardium and gives an impaired heart function. To diagnose DCM following criteria have to be observed: 1. Dilation of the left ventricle. 2. Reduced systolic heart function. 3. Increased sphericity of the left ventricle. To be certain of the diagnosis, alternative reasons for the symptoms such as lung- and heart diseases with other etiologies have to be excluded Two different types of DCM have been found upon histological examination.

There is strong evidence that cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is effective. The aim of this study was to compare 7 group-sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for insomnia (MBCT-I) with 3 group-sessions of CBT-I, on sleep measures and sleep related psychological processes, such as pre-sleep arousal, thought control strategies and mindfulness. Participants (N = 44; age 18-66) with long term insomnia were stratified and randomized into waiting list, MBCT-I and CBT-I. Significant improvements were seen in both groups, compared to waiting list, for instance on insomnia severity, sleep latency and restorative sleep. Small improvements on psychological processes were also found in both groups.

The escalating usage of pyrethroids has resulted in an increased awareness about resistance towards pyrethroids in insects. Pyrethroids inhibit voltage-sensitive sodium channels (VSSC) in nerve cell membranes and are composed of synthetic molecules based on pyrethrins present in pyrethrum extracts from Chrysanthemum species. VSSC are transmembrane proteins that are important for electric signalling over the membrane in insects. Mutations in the gene encoding the sodium channel have proved to be a common reason for resistance against pyrethroids. Pyrethroid resistance among pollen beetles is spread all over Sweden and also abroad and is increasing.

Stroke is caused by a bleeding or infarct in the brain and is one of the most common diseases in Sweden today. The purpose of the study was to evaluate if Ronnie Gardiner?s Rhythm Therapy (RGR-therapy) has any effect, regarding motor control and the subjective experienced health related quality of life, on people who have been affected by stroke. The examination group consisted of eight people. The intervention consisted of RGR-therapy once a week during a period of nine weeks.

Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.

Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.

Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.