Animal venoms in the production of medicines

Introduction: Toxicity of animal venom is a defense mechanism known to mankind for centuries for many species of animals. We are still learning the possibilities of its use as a substance with therapeutic potential, because on its basis several drugs known and commonly used in medicine were created. Aim of the study: To review research on the known and potential use of animal toxins as medicinal substances. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review literature data. Search for articles in the PubMed database was carried out using the following keywords: animal venoms, medical use, snake venoms, drugs from venom, Description of the state of knowledge: Animal venoms have been used by man since ancient times. Due to many different mechanisms, they are able to modulate the tissue functions of the human body. In the form of already known drugs have an effect, among others. on the cardiovascular, nervous and circulatory systems. Research is also being carried out on their use in the treatment of other diseases such as autoimmune diseases and cancer. Summary: Due to the variety of substances in animal venom and their therapeutic properties, it is possible to use them for the production of medicines. However, many studies are needed to better understand them

Meditation and its benefits

Introduction: Meditation can include any kind of practices during practitioners can calm their mind and expend their consciousness. Meditation practising have been known since a long time ago. However, in the West it is still gaining popularity since nowadays people are under more and more stress. Meditation is thought to be helpful in coping with chronic disorders or stress. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse available data about practising meditation and its effects on health. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed database was carried out using the following keywords: meditation, stress, health. Description of the state of knowledge: Psychological stress contributes to the development of many disorders. Studies of the effects of meditation practises such as mindfulness meditation or yoga showed that they are beneficial for reducing stress, depression and anxiety. The study in which participated patients with active depression and anxiety showed a reduction of both depression and anxiety score after the course meditation comparing to control group. Yoga practising was also examined in many studies as a depression treatment and showed some promising results. Another study showed improvement in perceived stress after yoga practising on a group of distressed women. Summary: Many studies of meditation practises showed their beneficial effects on depression, mood, anxiety and stress. People should be more aware of the effects of practises such as mindfulness meditation or yoga and consider their role in addressing psychological stress. Meditation may be a useful practise in maintaining health and well-being. However, further researches of meditation practises are still needed

Syn i ojciec w „Bojaźni i drżeniu” Sørena Kierkegaarda

This article concerns events of the Old Testament – Yahweh commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son – Isaac – on Mount Moriah. This passage from the Old Testament, from the Book of Genesis, became the basis of Søren Kierkegaard’s considerations in Fear and Trembling. In the text I refer to, on the one hand, Kierkegaard’s considerations, while on the other hand I try to identify other possible interpretive tropes that could be useful, for example, during classes on the subject of faith or the status of ethical dilemmas in the modern world.This article concerns events of the Old Testament – Yahweh commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son – Isaac – on Mount Moriah. This passage from the Old Testament, from the Book of Genesis, became the basis of Søren Kierkegaard’s considerations in Fear and Trembling. In the text I refer to, on the one hand, Kierkegaard’s considerations, while on the other hand I try to identify other possible interpretive tropes that could be useful, for example, during classes on the subject of faith or the status of ethical dilemmas in the modern world

Wine health properties

Boreński Grzegorz, Wójcik Magdalena, Szabat Przemysław, Poleszak Julita, Szabat Marta, Milanowska Joanna. Wine health properties. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(5):199-208. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2801098 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/6908 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/913314 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2019; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 28.04.2019. Revised: 28.04.2019. Accepted: 14.05.2019. Wine health properties Grzegorz Boreński1*, Magdalena Wójcik1, Przemysław Szabat1, Julita Poleszak1, Marta Szabat1, Joanna Milanowska2 (1) Student Science Club at the Department of Applied Psychology, Medical University of Lublin (2) Department of Applied Psychology, Medical University of Lublin * E-mail address: [email protected] ORCID ID: Grzegorz Boreński https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5359-7555 Magdalena Wójcik https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0999-6284 Julita Poleszak https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5166-6262 Marta Szabat https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6309-2027 Przemysław Szabat https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5796-1900 Joanna Milanowska https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9741-1583 Abstract Introduction: Wine is worldwide known drink with a long history. It is popular in many cultures and diets. It is a component of Mediterranean diet, which is an example of healthy eating. Red wine seems to be an essential component of the diet, since moderate consumption of wine is associated with lower risk and mortality from cardiovascular disease. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse available data about health properties of wine. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed database was carried out using the following keywords: wine, alcohol, cardiovascular, polyphenols. Description of the state of knowledge: Pro-health properties of alcohol depends mainly on the content of polyphenols. The most biologically active polyphenol is resveratrol. Light drinking of wine has multiple beneficial effects. It decreases level of total plasma cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and increases high-density lipoprotein, lowers blood fibrinogen, thromboxane A, platelet stickiness, reducing insulin resistance, inhibits inflammation, improves endothelial function, fibrinolysis and increases plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide. In addition it may have neuroprotective effect and beneficial effect on gut microbiota. Summary: Moderate wine consumption can be beneficial for our health, may protect against cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, neurological disorders and metabolic syndrome. Nevertheless, any amount of alcohol consumed can lead to alcohol addiction and there is a very thin line between drinking small amounts and abuse. Furthermore, there are studies indicating that small amounts of alcohol can also have a negative impact on health. This subject still needs more studies and clinical trials. Keywords: wine, polyphenols, alcoho

Aspects of anorexia nervosa

Introduction: Eating disorders are severe psychiatric disorders. nervosa (AN) has a mortality rate among the highest of any psychiatric illness. Its etiology is multifactorial and not fully understood yet. Patients with AN have an intense fear of gaining weight and they continuously seek to their “ideal” weigh. Many studies focus on changes at the endocrine an neuronal level which can be a result of the illness or occur premorbid. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse available data about aspects of anorexia nervosa. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed database was carried out using the following keywords: anorexia nervosa, neuroimaging, endocrinology. Description of the state of knowledge: Emotional and psychological aspects of anorexia nervosa are very important in understanding this condition. Food restrictions may have a compulsive quality which were compared to those of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but with the focus on eating, weight and shape. Another aspects concerns neuronal alterations. Many studies with the use of neuroimaging showed changes in the right inferior prefrontal lobe, the right superior prefrontal lobe and the right parietal region, insula and orbitofrontal cortex in patients with anorexia nervosa. Also there is a variety of changes in endocrine system such as disturbances on the axis of Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal or growth hormone axis. Summary: The perception of anorexia nervosa has changed over year. It is known now that its etiology is complex. There are changes on many levels and it is still not known which one of them were premorbid. More studies are needed to have a better understanding of this condition and to be able to treat it better

Autism – risk factors and treatment

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders that are characterized by persistent moderate to severe impairment in social skills and communication but also repetitive or stereotyped behaviours and interests. Many factors have been suggested to cause autism. However, its aetiology is still not fully understood. There are many kinds of treatments: behavioural treatment, pharmacological approach and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse available data about aetiology and treatment of ASD. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed database was carried out using the following keywords: autism spectrum disorder, aetiology, treatment. Description of the state of knowledge: The study that is one of the biggest population-based twin studies of autism shows that heritability of autism is around 55%. Literature reports that approximately 10% children with autism or ASD have other chromosomal or genetic disorder and the most common is Fragile X and it is the most common cause of autism. Several environmental risk factors were thought to be the cause of autism. Nevertheless, only some of them might have an influence on developing ASD. There are many forms of behavioural treatment, but only two drugs were approved for ASD symptoms treatment. CAM offers many different therapies but their efficiency is not strong enough. Summary: The aetiology of ASD remains unclear. Reports of different factors being cause of developing ASD are not consistent. When it comes to treatment, early diagnosis and intervention are very important and can result in better onset of the disorder. ASD is subject of many researches but still even more is needed to answer the questions of aetiology and successful treatment of ASD

Gut microbiota and autism

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) constitutes a group of brain developmental disorders and is characterized by difficulty with social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, or activities. ASD has no clear etiology and research is still ongoing to find it. Gut microbiota seems to have significant impact on the development of autism. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse available data about the role of gut microbiota and new methods of treatment of ASD. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed and Google Scholar database was carried out using the following keywords: autism spectrum disorder, gut microbiota, probiotics. Description of the state of knowledge: In the studies we can found that symptoms from gastrointestinal tract occur more often in patients with ASD. Many studies confirm alterations in gut microbiota accompanying autism. The general changes are imbalance between Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla, increased population of Sutterella and higher level of cultured Clostridium species in the feces. Researchers try to find a reason of these microbiota changes and the main cause they indicate is using antibiotics. Restoration of microbial balance in the colon, for instance by probiotics or microbiota transfer therapy may have beneficial effect on treatment of ASD. Summary: Complicated relationship between gut microbiota and brain needs more studies, but at that point we can find its association with autism and ASD and also with anorexia nervosa, depression and other mood disorders and GI diseases. Among currently available methods of treatment we can distinguish behavioural treatment, pharmacological approach (risperidone and aripiprazole) and complementary and alternative medicine therapies. Understanding the impact of microbiota on autism opens up new paths of treatment, for instance probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation or microbiota transfer therapy. Although, there is a great need for more researches of their efficacy

Depression during pregnancy

Introduction: Depression during pregnancy seems to be dominated by the postpartum depression. It is important to remember about this condition and its symptoms as they are easy to be mistaken with mood changes and other behavioural changes common during pregnancy. Although we know the risk factors for this condition, we still do not know its complex etiology. Moreover, there is also not enough information about the treatment. The aim of the study: The purpose of this systemic review was to collect and analyse causes and possibilities of treatment depression during pregnancy. Material and method: Standard criteria were used to review the literature data. The search of articles in the PubMed and Google Scholar database was carried out using the following keywords: depression, treatment, pregnancy. Description of the state of knowledge: Currently the most common treatment for pregnant women suffering from depression are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, especially citalopram, escitalopram, paroxetine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and sertraline. However, their potential side effects affecting the fetus is a controversial issue. The results of many studies are not consistent. Summary: It is still not known how to treat depression during pregnancy properly. Psychotherapy, considered as a basic way of treatment, is always recommended. However, the usage of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is still open to debate