Effects of regular yoga practice on neurological conditions and mental health

Introduction Nowadays it is pointed out how important it is to take care of both mental and physical health. It is also undeniable that one affects the other and vice versa. That is why it is so important to nurture your body. Yoga as one of the physical activities has a proven effect on psychosomatic symptoms. Yoga is increasingly recommended mainly to relieve anxiety or stress. It brings great solace and even greater attentiveness. Lifestyle activities are increasingly considered an important component of treatment.   State of knowledge Medical conditions such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, headaches, PTSD, depression are mainly treated with drugs. Yoga, as a non-pharmacological treatment, alleviates psychological conditions, as it reduces stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and enhances attentiveness to one's self, self-control and a different perspective on traumatic situations.   Conclusions A review of the following works has shown the effects of yoga on mental health and common neurological conditions. With regular practice, it is possible to develop cognitive function, reduce the intensity and frequency of headaches. In Parkinson's disease, mindfulness exercises lead to an increase in muscle strength, a decrease in muscle tremors, and therefore improved rehabilitation. Most of the examples below mention a decrease in anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms and an increase in mindfulness, greater emotional and physical flexibility. The works cited point out that more in-depth research is needed to delve deeper into the effects of yoga on health

Diagnosis and treatment of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

Introduction: The human digestive tract contains 38 trillion bacteria in the colon. Physiologically, there is much less of them in other parts of digestive tract. The concentration of bacterial colonies grows along the intestine. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is characterized by an increased number of bacteria in the small intestine that correlates with gastrointestinal symptoms. The main symptoms of SIBO are bdominal bloating and diarrhea. Diagnostic methods used in SIBO include measuring methane or hydrogen levels. However, the use of antibiotics is prevalent, there is still a necessity to search for the gold standard of treatment.     Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review the current knowledge on the management of patients with proliferative small intestinal bacterial flora syndrome. Particular attention was paid to the types of diagnosis and treatment of this ailment in recent years.   Material and methods: The review includes publications published in 2001- 2022. Data were collected using PubMed or az published online American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 2020 guidelines.   Results: SIBO is an incompletely understood disease. Its symptoms are nonspecific and found in many gastrointestinal disorders, and its diagnosis is not fully specified. The gold standard for diagnosis is the collection of a small bowel aspirate during endoscopic examination. Antibacterial treatment is given empirically, mainly rifaximin, while other types of treatment are not strongly established in the publications.   Conclusions: The lack of standardized management and the lack of sufficient evidence for the effectiveness of current methods make SIBO a recurrent complaint. All above aspects confirm that SIBO requires a lot of research to provide better life quality for these patients

Maternal selenium, copper and zinc concentrations in pregnancy associated with small-for-gestational-age infants

Pregnancy during adolescence increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome, especially risk of small-for gestational-age (SGA) birth, which has been linked to micronutrient deficiencies. Likewise, smoking has been shown to be related with lower micronutrient concentrations. Different ethnicities have not previously been examined. We used a subset from a prospective observational study, the About Teenage Eating (ATE) study consisting of 126 pregnant adolescents (14-18 years old) between 28-32 weeks' gestation. Micronutrient status was assessed by inductively-coupled mass spectrometry. Smoking was assessed by self-report and plasma cotinine, and SGA was defined as infants born < 10th corrected birthweight centile. The main outcome measures were: 1) Maternal plasma selenium, copper and zinc concentrations in adolescent mothers giving birth to SGA versus appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants. 2) Comparison of micronutrient concentrations between women of different ethnicities and smoking habits. The plasma selenium (mean ± SD [95% CI]) concentration was lower in the SGA (n = 19: 49.4 ± 7.3 [CI: 45.9, 52.9] μg/L) compared to the AGA (n = 107: 65.1 ± 12.5 [CI: 62.7, 67.5] μg/L; P < 0.0001) group. Smoking mothers had a lower selenium concentration compared to non-smokers (P = 0.01) and Afro-Caribbean women had higher selenium concentrations compared to White Europeans (P = 0.02). Neither copper nor zinc concentrations varied between groups, but selenium and copper were moderately correlated (P < 0.05). Selenium is an essential trace element which exerts its biological effects through the expression of a variety of important selenoproteins. Low plasma selenium concentration in adolescent mothers could contribute to the risk of delivering an SGA infant, possibly through lowering the placental antioxidant defence, thus direclty affecting fetal growth. The differences in plasma selenium between different ethnicities may relate to variation in nutritional intake, which requires further investigation

Selenium in reproduction

Selenium is an essential trace element of importance to human biology and health. Increasing evidence suggests that this mineral plays an important role in normal growth and reproduction in animals and humans, and selenium supplementation is now recommended as part of public health policy in geographical areas with severe selenium deficiency in soil. This review addresses the biological functions of selenium followed by a detailed review of associations between selenium status and reproductive health. In many countries, selenium dietary intake falls below the recommended nutrient intakes and is inadequate to support maximal expression of the selenoenzymes. Numerous reports implicate selenium deficiency in several reproductive and obstetric complications including male and female infertility, miscarriage, preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, preterm labor, gestational diabetes, and obstetric cholestasis. Currently, there is inadequate information from the available small intervention studies to inform public health strategies. Larger intervention trials are required to reinforce or refute a beneficial role of selenium supplementation in disorders of reproductive health

Too healthy to be sick and too sick to be healthy : A literature study about life after stroke

Bakgrund: Stroke är ett växande globalt hälsoproblem som orsakar lidande. Konsekvenserna till följd av stroke som innefattar fysiska och psykiska funktionsnedsättningar i olika svårighetsgrader påverkar individens upplevelse av hälsa negativt. Att möta personer som har genomgått en stroke är en viktig del av sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsarbete.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva erfarenheter av att leva sitt dagliga liv efter att ha drabbats av en stroke. Metod: En litteraturstudie enligt Polit och Becks niostegsmodell genomfördes. Tio kvalitativa originalartiklar kvalitetsgranskades enligt SBU:s granskningsmall för kvalitativ forskning och analyserades utifrån Graneheim och Lundmans kvalitativa manifesta innehållsanalys. Resultat: Två kategorier identifierades: “Ett förändrat liv” och “En ny mening i livet” inklusive sex subkategorier. Majoriteten av deltagarna beskrev att livet efter stroke förändrades drastiskt vilket ledde till en obalans i vardagen samt att acceptans och att hitta en ny mening i den förändrade tillvaron var viktig. Slutsatser:  Utmaningar med fysiska funktionsnedsättningar, psykiska besvär och förlust av identitet kan skapa lidande för personer som genomgått en stroke. Att finna positiva aspekter i sin tillvaro kan påverka dennes inställning till det nya livet. För att ta var på strokedrabbade personers individuella resurser, kan sjuksköterskan stärka deras förutsättningar för hälsa och återhämtning.Background: Stroke is a growing global health problem that causes suffering. The consequences of stroke, which include physical and mental impairments in varying degrees of severity, negatively affect the individual's experience of health. Meeting people who have undergone a stroke is an important part of the nurse's nursing work.   Aim: The aim was to describe the daily life experiences of living one's daily life after suffering a stroke.   Method: A literature study according to Polit and Beck's nine-step model was performed. Ten qualitative original articles ware scrutinized according to an SBU: s review template for qualitative research and were analyzed based on Graneheim and Lundman's qualitative manifest content analysis method.   Result: Two categories were identified “A changed life” and "A new meaning in life" including six subcategories. Most participants described that life after stroke changed drastically which led to an imbalance in everyday life and that acceptance and finding a new meaning in the changed existence was significant.  Conclusion: Challenges with physical disabilities, mental health problems and the loss of identity can create suffering for people who have undergone a stroke. Finding positive aspects in one's life can influence his/her attitude towards the new life. In order to take care of stroke victims' individual resources, the nurse can strengthen their conditions for health and recovery