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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Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora sent to 7-day ED custody
New Delhi/Gurugram (PTI): A court in Gurugram has sent Punjab's Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora to seven days of ED custody in a money laundering case, officials said on Sunday.
Arora, 62, was arrested on Saturday evening from his official residence in Chandigarh by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a GST fraud case following raids against him.
The central agency had also searched the premises of a company linked to Arora, Hampton Sky Realty Ltd, in Gurugram. The company said it had faith in the legal process and was fully cooperating with all the statutory authorities.
Arora was brought by the ED sleuths to Gurugram, Haryana, from Chandigarh by road, the officials said.
The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Gurugram sent Arora to seven-day ED custody. The agency had sought his 10-day remand, they said.
The minister's lawyer told reporters that the ED registered the case on May 5 and arrested Arora on May 9. He claimed this was a "politically motivated" case.
According to the ED, the probe under the PMLA pertains to "fake" GST purchases of mobile phones worth more than Rs 100 crore and subsequent exports to "round trip" alleged illegitimate funds from Dubai to India.
The agency alleged that multiple fake GST purchase invoices were acquired from "non-existing" firms in Delhi to falsely claim Input Tax Credit (ITC).
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal condemned the ED action, accusing the Centre of using agencies like the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation as "weapons" to scare opposition leaders into joining the BJP.
The BJP hit back, saying Kejriwal and his party were rattled as they knew that "their days are numbered in Punjab".
