How parenting concerns affect mothers with cancer
New York, May 7: Parenting concerns put mothers with advanced cancer at higher risk of psychological distress while decreasing their quality of life as well as day-to-day physical functioning, a study says.
The study, published in the journal Cancer, also suggested that mothers with metastatic cancer (those that spread to other sites in the body) had, on average, higher depression and anxiety scores than did the general population.
"Among women with metastatic cancer, their health-related quality of life is powerfully interlinked with their parenting concerns about the impact of their illness on their minor children," said co-author Eliza Park, Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill in the US.
"It appears to equally contribute to someone's assessment of their quality of life as some of the clinical variables we routinely ask about," Park added.
For the study, the researchers conducted an online survey of 224 women who had stage IV solid tumour cancer -- cancer that had metastasised or spread elsewhere in the body -- and at least one child under the age of 18 years.
The researchers found that their emotional well-being scores were also lower than for all adults with cancer.
The researchers also determined a mother's emotional well-being was significantly linked with whether she had communicated with her children about her illness and her concerns about how her illness will financially impact her children.
"Parenting-related factors contributed to the amount of variation you see in quality of life almost equally as something like your functional status," Park said.
The findings point to a need for greater support for mothers with metastatic cancer, the researchers noted.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
