Management of Male Infertility Caused by Oligospermia Using Ayurveda: A Case Report

In India, 1 out of 10 couples suffers from infertility are owing to impaired spermatozoa production or its function, impaired sperm delivery, improper ejaculation, due to sedentary life styles and day to day stress nowadays. Male infertility can be defined as an inability to induce conception, due to defect in spermatozoic functions like low sperm count, unhealthy sperm production, low sperm motility and altered delivery of sperms due to altered physiology of male reproductive system. A 29-year-old married man was diagnosed with oligospermia, visited Shuddhi Ayurveda Clinics, Noida for his condition management and treated successfully with Ayurvedic drugs. This married couple was facing infertility issue from last 2-3 years. Patient was treated with Ayurvedic drugs and kept on strict diet monitoring for four months and results were counted in terms of improved total sperm count after treatment. Before treatment sperm count was 10 million per ml which got improved up to 90 million per ml after four months of Ayurvedic treatment with strict diet regimen. No any side effects were observed during the treatment period. Other morphological parameters of sperm were also found to be healthy and normal for fertility. From the results of this case report, Ayurvedic treatment is proved to be effective in the treatment of male infertility associated with oligospermia.

Microbial Diversity and Activity During the Biodegradation in Seawater of Various Substitutes to Conventional Plastic Cotton Swab Sticks

The European Parliament recently approved a new law banning single-use plastic items for 2021 such as plastic plates, cutlery, straws, cotton swabs, and balloon sticks. Transition to a bioeconomy involves the substitution of these banned products with biodegradable materials. Several materials such as polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate (PHBV), Bioplast, and Mater-Bi could be good candidates to substitute cotton swabs, but their biodegradability needs to be tested under marine conditions. In this study, we described the microbial life growing on these materials, and we evaluated their biodegradability in seawater, compared with controls made of non-biodegradable polypropylene (PP) or biodegradable cellulose. During the first 40 days in seawater, we detected clear changes in bacterial diversity (Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA gene) and heterotrophic activity (incorporation of 3H-leucine) that coincided with the classic succession of initial colonization, growth, and maturation phases of a biofilm. Biodegradability of the cotton swab sticks was then tested during another 94 days under strict diet conditions with the different plastics as sole carbon source. The drastic decrease of the bacterial activity on PP, PLA, and PBS suggested no bacterial attack of these materials, whereas the bacterial activity in PBAT, Bioplast, Mater-Bi, and PHBV presented similar responses to the cellulose positive control. Interestingly, the different bacterial diversity trends observed for biodegradable vs. non-biodegradable plastics allowed to describe potential new candidates involved in the degradation of these materials under marine conditions. This better understanding of the bacterial diversity and activity dynamics during the colonization and biodegradation processes contributes to an expanding baseline to understand plastic biodegradation in marine conditions and provide a foundation for further decisions on the replacement of the banned single-used plastics.

Challenges of Monitoring the Gluten-Free Diet Adherence in the Management and Follow-Up of Patients with Celiac Disease

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic gluten-responsive immune mediated enteropathy and is treated with a gluten-free diet (GFD). However, a strict diet for life is not easy due to the ubiquitous nature of gluten. This review aims at examining available evidence on the degree of adherence to a GFD, the methods to assess it, and the barriers to its implementation. The methods for monitoring the adherence to a GFD are comprised of a dietary questionnaire, celiac serology, or clinical symptoms; however, none of these methods generate either a direct or an accurate measure of dietary adherence. A promising advancement is the development of tests that measure gluten immunogenic peptides in stools and urine. Causes of adherence/non-adherence to a GFD are numerous and multifactorial. Inadvertent dietary non-adherence is more frequent than intentional non-adherence. Cross-contamination of gluten-free products with gluten is a major cause of inadvertent non-adherence, while the limited availability, high costs, and poor quality of certified gluten-free products are responsible for intentionally breaking a GFD. Therefore, several studies in the last decade have indicated that many patients with CD who follow a GFD still have difficulty controlling their diet and, therefore, regularly consume enough gluten to trigger symptoms and damage the small intestine.

The role of the multi-disciplinary team and multi-disciplinary therapeutic protocol in the management of the chronic pelvic pain: There is strenght in numbers!

Introduction: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and multi-disciplinary approach in the treatment of Chronic Pelvic Pain (CPP). Methods: The data of all consecutive patients referred for a CPP from 11/2016 to 2/2019 has been prospectively collected. The sample was divided in two groups: Group A, made by patients managed after the institution of our MDT, and Group B, made of patients managed before this date. The MDT is composed by three urogynecologists, a psychologist and a physiotherapist. All Group A patients underwent a weekly bladder instillation with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), kinesiotherapy for trigger points and Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation for 10 consecutive weeks. Patients were asked to perform a self-treatment following the Stanford Protocol and to adhere to a specific diet. All Group B patients were managed only with DMSO instillations and a strict diet. Results: The Group A was made of 41 females and 6 males while the Group B was made of 38 females and 5 males. The Group A patients showed a statistically significant improvement in the Pelvic Pain Urgency Frequency, in the frequency times reported at the 6 months voiding diary, and a better Patient Global Impression of Improvement. Conclusions: Our data support the efficacy of the MDT in the management of CPP. The multimodal approach might represent an effective and reproducible non-invasive option to manage successfully CPP.

Risk of developing eating disorders through the misperception of the body image and the adoption of bad eating habits in a sample of young volleyball athletes

Objective: This preliminary study focused on the description of some dysfunctional perceptions of the body image and eating habits in a sample of young. Methods: The results obtained by 55 amateur and professional volleyball players belonging to volleyball sports clubs located in the province of Reggio Emilia were examined. The age of the sample is in a range between 11 and 44 years. The participants completed the Pisa Survey for Eating Disorders (PSED), a questionnaire aimed at examining eating behavior and the perception of one’s body image. The athletes’ height and body weight were subsequently detected through direct measurement. Conclusion: The data collected through the self-evaluation questionnaire and the measurements carried out by the study made it possible to analyze the perception of the body image and the eating habits of the volleyball players belonging to the sample and to compare them with the data in the literature. The data, albeit preliminary, allow us to confirm the existence of the discrepancy between the real body image and the desired one, in a group of young athletes, who favors the adoption of non-adaptive coping strategies to control one’s own weight and body shapes typical of the vicious circle - strict diet, bingeing episodes, compensatory behaviors - which characterizes eating disorders (ED). It is therefore considered essential that body image assessment is a practice implemented in the assessment routine of these athletes, especially in consideration of the fact that body image disturbance is a very common feature in this category and is one of the main risk factors of EDs.

Med kropp som prosjekt

This chapter concerns young people’s relationships with their own bodies. Based on three different qualitative studies, we find that these relationships are characterised by a strong degree of self-reflexivity and a way of looking at one’s body as a part of one’s self-project. We argue that young people today relate to a shared ethos of aestheticisation that includes not only ideals about how bodies ought to look, but also the practice of strict diet and exercise regimes in striving to attain these ideals. We show how this may have consequences for young people’s sense of worth, and discuss how aestheticisation projects seem to be somewhat compartmentalised from a critical reflection on harmful body image pressure: Even though young people – often girls – may be critical of society’s pressure to look a certain way, they do not seem to feel the pressure any less.

The Factors That Affect Diet Compliance in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus at Nganjuk Hospital

Patients with diabetes mellitus must follow a strict diet to control blood sugar levels to keep them within normal limits. If it is not controlled, it will cause various diseases which will be caused by visual disturbances, cataracts, heart problems, impaired kidney function, sexual impotence, difficulty in healing wounds or even rot/gangrene, lung infections, vascular disorders, and strokes. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that affect dietary compliance in diabetes mellitus sufferers. This study uses a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. This study explores the experiences of people with diabetes mellitus when they are on a diet. The participants in this study were 10 people. The technique of collecting data was by conducting in-depth interviews so that the results were 3 themes, namely lack of knowledge about diet, lack of family support, and difficulty in adhering to a diet. The importance of support and motivation from family and health workers for diabetes mellitus sufferers to always adhere to a diet to avoid various complications. Keywords : Diabetes Mellitus, and Diet Compliance

Stevia as a Natural Sweetener: A Review

: Stevia rebaudiana of the Asteraceae family is a perennial shrub. It is a sweetener herb also known as sweet weed, sweet leaf, sweet herbs and honey leaf, native to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The leaves of stevia are sweeter than sucrose with zero calories. Steviol, a diterpenoid glycoside derivative identified from this plant, is sweeter than sucrose and is safe when used as a sweetening agent. Diabetic and obese people with hyperglycemia who are in a condition to follow a strict diet can use stevioside as an alternative sweetener. In addition to its hypoglycemic property, the plant also exhibits antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, antiseptic, diuretic, anti-fertility and cardiotonic properties. It has also been documented to show good effects on treating skin diseases such as dermatitis, acne, eczema etc. The leaves of stevia with enriched phytoconstituents could be an alternative natural sweetener for children, adults and old age persons who have a craze to drink beverages and eat sweetened food products in their habitual life.

Microencapsulation of cellular aggregates composed of differentiated insulin and glucagon-producing cells from human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue.

Background: In type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) pancreatic β cells are destroyed. Treatment entails exogenous insulin administration and strict diet control, yet optimal glycemic control is hardly attainable. Islet transplant could be an alternative in patients with poor glycemic control, but inefficient islet purification and autoimmune response of patients is still a challenge. For these reasons, it is necessary to explore new cellular sources and immunological isolation methods oriented to develop T1DM cell-based therapies. Aims: We postulate human adipose-derived stem cell (hASC) as an adequate source to generate pancreatic islet cells in vitro, and to produce islet-like structures. Furthermore, we propose microencapsulation of these aggregates as an immunological isolation strategy. Methods: hASC obtained from lipoaspirated fat tissue from human donors were differentiated in vitro to insulin (Ins) and glucagon (Gcg) producing cells. Then, insulin producing cells (IPC) and glucagon producing cells (GPC) were later cocultured in low adhesion conditions to form cellular aggregates, and later encapsulated in a sodium alginate polymer. Expression of pancreatic lineage markers and secretion of insulin or glucagon in vitro were analyzed. Results: The results show that multipotent hASC efficiently differentiate to IPC and GPC, and express pancreatic markers, including insulin or glucagon hormones which they secrete upon stimulation (5 fold for insulin in IPC, and 4 fold for glucagon, compared to undifferentiated cells. In turn, calculation of the Feret diameter and area of cellular aggregates revealed, finding mean diameters ~80 µm and 65 % of the aggregates reached 4000 µm2 at 72h of formation. IPC/GPC aggregates were then microencapsulated in sodium-alginate polymer microgels, which were found to be more stable when stabilized with Ba2+, yielding average diameters ~300 µm. Interestingly, Ba2+-microencapsulated aggregates respond to high external glucose with insulin secretion. Conclusions: The IPC/GPC differentiation process from hASC, followed by the generation of cellular aggregates that are later microencapsulated, could represent a possible treatment for T1DM.