Dietary supplements in sport – side effects

Introduction: Dietary supplements (DS) were legalized for the first time in 1994 by the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act. The statute defined DS as a source of one or more nutritional component such as minerals, herbs, vitamins, etc. Athletes are known as a distinctive group with the highest DS in sport intake (from 48-81%) The consumption of DS has been reported among recreational active individuals and non-athletes Purpose: present possible side effects caused by DS usage in sport. State of knowledge: Protein powders are common DS among athletes and bodybuilders, which consist of whey, casein, vegetable proteins in soy protein isolate (SPI). SPI contains week estrogens such as isoflavones genistein and daidzein. The surveys with isolated cases showed hepatic injury among athletes users of creatine, but the doses of DS were inappropriate and excessive. L-carnitine is a substance which is used due to its „fat-burning” abilities and a consequence of its higher intake are atherosclerotic lesions. Summary: DS in sport are used due to enhance muscle mass, duration, and efficiency of training. However, inappropriate usage of them may lead to many side effects. Athletes and professionals in sport should be consulted by the physician before and during the supplementation of DS in sport. Creatine is a substrate for a contraction of a muscl

Stress among medical students in Poland

There is no doubt that stress is bonded with daily routine of students. Medical colleges are one of these environments, which are associated with negative impact of stress on many fields of life like physical health, academic feedback and physiological mood of student`s. Aim of study is to analyse the incidence of stress among students from different fields of study in Medical Universities in Poland. In that case we perform anonymous questionnaire, which contained 23 original questions and was widespreaded via Internet. Stress is a common problem among students from medical faculties. There is no doubt that stress is an inseparable companion during not only studies, but also after degree while working as a professional. For that reason it is necessary to encourage young people to find their own effective manner to cope with stress

Consciousness of the consequences of smoking cigarettes and the prevalence of cigarette smoking among medical students

Cigarettes are composed of toxic substances that result in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular diseases. Smoking is also a risk factor of many cancers. Among the billions of smokers in the world, many of them are doctors and medical students - people who realize the importance of negative consequences of this addiction. We made an anonymous questionnaire, which contained 28 original questions and was published on the Internet to find out how many students of Medical Universities in Poland are addicted to tobacco and if they are aware of the consequences of their addiction. Papierosy składają się z wielu toksycznych substancji, powodują rozwój POChP, chorób sercowo-naczyniowych, a także są predykatorami wielu nowotworów. Wśród miliardów palaczy na świecie są lekarze, studenci medycyny, ludzie, którzy zdają sobie sprawę z wagi komplikacji tego uzależnienia. Przeprowadzono anonimową ankietę, która zawierała 28 oryginalnych pytań i została opublikowana w internecie, aby sprawdzić, ilu studentów uniwersytetów medycznych w Polsce jest uzależnionych od tytoniu i czy są oni świadomi konsekwencji uzależnienia

Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) - case report

Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is an ophthalmic emergency, most commonly caused by an embolism, usually from the carotid arteries. It can be considered as an acute stroke of the eye, and is an ocular analogue of cerebral stroke. The incidence of CRAO is estimated to be 1 in 100 000 people. Risk factors include hypertension, carotid atherosclerosis, structural cardiac pathology, coronary heart disease, cerebral vascular accident, and diabetes mellitus. CRAO usually presents with a sudden, painless loss of vision. 52 - year old male was admitted to the Ophthalmology ER, reporting a painless monocular vision loss in a right eye for two days. After such a long time from the occurrence of symptoms, there weren’t any possible treatment methods for this patient, besides preventing future embolic events. Ophthalmological examination showed only a light perception in a right eye and vision in the left eye was 1.0. Patient was diagnosed to identify risk factors of CRAO: hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis or thrombophilia. He was qualified for a careful observation for the atherosclerotic risk factors and educated, that in case of occurrence of the similar symptoms, he needs to report to a Ophthalmologist immediately. Currently, there are two main types of treating an acute non-arteritic CRAO: the first: ‘standard’, non-invasive method, and the second: using the thrombolytics deployed intravenously or intra-arterially. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be used to treat described patient, since he has already been in a late phase of CRAO

Amanita Phalloides intoxication - methods of treatment and epidemiology in Lublin voivodeship in last 5 years

Introduction: In Poland, mushrooms poisonings, are still quite often, especially in autumn. Each year, in our country 500-1000 cases of mushrooms poisoning are registered, from which 70% are adults, and 30% children. Amanita Phalloides, also known as a ‘death cap’ is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in our climatic zone, and is responsible for ca. 90-95 % of all deadly mushroom poisonings. Aim of the study: is to present an epidemiology of Amanita poisonings in a Lublin voivodeship in a last 5 years, as well as the up to date methods of managing this kind of poisonings. Materials and methods: Data comes from the database of the Department of the Toxicology of Medical University of Lublin. To present the methods of treatment, the analysis of the available publications was made. Results: In years 2013-2018 in a Clinical Department of Toxicology of the Medical University in Lublin, 78 patients were hospitalized because of the mushroom intoxication. 37 (47.5%) of them were male and 41 (52,5%) - women. In 27 patients (34%), the poisoning with Amanita Phalloides was confirmed. The most mushrooms poisonings occurred in 2017 (21). Mushroom poisoning is the most common in summer and autumn - the most cases occured in August, September and October. Discussion: First steps in case of suspecting amatoxins intoxication is to take the clinical history of the patient and start stabilizing measures. To confirm Amanita poisoning, a test that allows to detect α-amanitine in urine can be made. Several drug treatments have been applied in intoxications by amatoxins, from which the biggest role plays sylibin and N-acetylcystein

Disulfiram-alcohol reaction in 49 year old patient

Alcoholism is a disease in which person lose control over the amount of consumed alcohol. The problem of alcohol abuse in Poland concerns about 9% of the population. One of the treatment methods is disulfiram therapy, which is associated with the risk of disulfiram-alcohol reaction. Due to many negative reports of side effects and questionable efficacy, this drug is nowadays rare used. We present a case of a patient who had a disulfiram reaction due to alcohol consumption during disulfiram therapy

Dislocation of the mandible in a 47 year old patient

Dislocation of mandible is relatively uncommon disorder of temporomandibular joints. Disorder can occur during extreme dilation of mouth such as yawing, during dental treatments or endoscopic examination. 47- year old patient was admitted to the Department of Maxillo-facial Surgery in case of bilateral mandible dislocation. In this case the reposition in general anaesthesia was performed but ended up with failure

Stent fracture as a complication of superficial femoral artery stenting – a case report

Introduction: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic vascular disease that results in obstruction of blood flow in the arteries other than those in the coronary circulation. PAD is often located in lower extremities, with patients presenting symptoms of intermittent claudication or critical lower limb ischemia. Angioplasty and stent implantation are often used in the treatment of PAD. Although these methods are considered as a low invasive and low risk, some factors may limit stent patency in the future. The fracture of the implanted stent may be one of these. Case report: A 68 old man, long-term smoker, with a history of chronic limb ischemia and many vascular surgeries because of PAD was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of the acute limb ischemia. Angiography showed a fracture of the stent implanted during the earlier hospitalization, with a fragment displacement to the left external iliac artery. The patient was successfully treated with catheter-directed thrombolysis. Discussion: Stent fracture is usually asymptomatic, however, it may cause complications, such as restenosis, pseudoaneurysm, perforation of the vessel, and in-stent embolism. The cumulative incidence of the femoropopliteal stent fracture varies from 2 to 65% in several studies. Incidence increases with stent length and is significantly lower in the second generation of nitinol stents, that was designed to have enhanced flexibility and durability

Dislocation of mandible in 48 year old patient - the continuation of a therapy

Dislocation of a temporomandible joint (TMJ) is a rare disfunction, which has multiform background divided into imbalance in the function of neuromascular component or structural deficit. A 48-year-old woman was admitted to the Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery of the Medical University of Lublin due to continuation of a treatment of TMJ dislocation. Previous hospitalization was performed a few months earlier. Reposition in general anaesthesia was used as a treatment, however it ended up with defeat. Current hospitalization with open surgery reposition was scheduled. Bilateral condylectomy was prosecuted. After surgery correct movability and proper anterior-posterior placement of mandible were achieved

Serum level of αII-spectrin breakdown products (SBDPs) as a potential marker of brain ischemia-reperfusion injury after carotid endarterectomy

Introduction: Stroke remains one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) reduces the incidence of ischemic stroke or death in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis more effectively than pharmacological therapy alone. SBDPs (spectrin breakdown products): SBDP 120, SBDP145, and SBDP150 are the product of proteolysis of αII-spectrin (280 kDa) — an important structural component of the neuronal cytoskeleton, particularly present in axons. Increased serum level of SBDPs was previously observed in traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), or brain ischemia. Material and methods: The aim of our study was to investigate changes in serum levels of SBDP120 and SBDP145 in patients undergoing uncomplicated CEA. The study included 22 patients with severe carotid artery stenosis, qualified for CEA. Blood samples were taken from the antecubital vein at three different intervals (24 h before CEA, 12 and 48 h after surgery). SBDP’s serum levels were measured by a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The study showed that serum SBDP120 levels were significantly decreased 48 h after CEA when compared to the level before the surgery. SBDP145 levels were significantly decreased 12h after the procedure and then remained at a similar level 48h after CEA. Conclusions: In patients with high-grade carotid artery stenosis SBDP120 and SBDP145 serum level decreases after an uncomplicated CEA, therefore alterations from this curve may be a marker of neurological complications after the procedure. Higher SBDP levels before the procedure may represent brain damage caused by chronic ischemia