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Fatigue
Published in Carolyn Torkelson, Catherine Marienau, Beyond Menopause, 2023
Carolyn Torkelson, Catherine Marienau
Many women who lack energy or vitality often carry a lifelong history of irritable bowel syndrome, a condition that can include symptoms of bloating, gas, belching, abdominal pain, constipation, and loose stools or diarrhea. Maybe your digestion has not been good for years, and you have been on and off a variety of drugs and digestive products, including antacids, proton-pump inhibitors, stool softeners, or laxatives, to manage your symptoms. Central to an integrative approach is restoring health by improving digestion through nourishing foods. Healing the gut reduces systemic inflammation, improves nutrient absorption, enhances immune responses, and supports an optimal microbiome.
Colorectal Surgery for Deep Endometriosis Infiltrating the Bowel
Published in Nazar N. Amso, Saikat Banerjee, Endometriosis, 2022
Hanan Alsalem, Jean-Jacques Tuech, Damien Forestier, Benjamin Merlot, Myriam Noailles, Horace Roman
Presentation is variable. From asymptomatic to the typical presentation of a woman of reproductive age with one or more digestive symptoms. Digestive symptoms include dyschezia, constipation, diarrhea and bloating. Treatment is indicated for established bowel endometriosis if characteristic symptoms are present (deep dyspareunia, dyschezia, cyclic rectal bleeding) and rectovaginal endometriosis is found on physical and/or radiological exam. Treatment is, of course, initiated only when other etiologies have been excluded. Bowel or ureteral obstruction mandates urgent intervention; fortunately, those conditions are rare. In contrast, women who are asymptomatic or who have mild symptoms that are not bothersome are managed expectantly or using medical therapies (3) (refer to Chapter 7 on medical management of endometriosis).
Macronutrients
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
An important function of enzymes is in the digestion of foods. The metabolism of protein foods involves a decomposition into single amino acids by different digestive enzymes (amylase, protease, pepsin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin) from the stomach to the small intestine. Before the absorption in the small intestine, most proteins must be reduced to single amino acid or peptides by specific protein enzymes. Most peptides longer than four amino acids are not absorbed and must be broken into single amino acids. Enzyme production and activity can be decreased with age and illness. Enzymes are present in all foods. However, heat used in cooking, drying, or processing can destroy them. Therefore, fresh foods like fruits and some vegetables are rich in enzymes and help digestion. Some people like to eat raw meat such as raw beefsteak and raw fresh fish; this habit might be helpful for digestion. Enzymes extracted from fruits like papaya, pineapple, kiwifruit, and fig are used as medicines, food-processing agents and dietary supplements. Fruits like papaya, kiwifruit, pineapple and figs are rich in proteases such as papain, actinidin, bromelain, and ficin, respectively, which aid the breakdown of proteins.
Pharmacobezoar: a rare cause of body packing misdiagnosis
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2023
Bruno Mégarbane, Nawel Gharnaout, Nouzha Djebrani Oussedik
Penoxal® is sold on the internet as a dietary supplement containing a patented anticancer substance claiming to have immunostimulant, apoptotic, antioxidant, and detoxifying properties [5]. Further claims include the ability to improve digestive tract function. This medication is produced from Talaromyces purpurogenus, a microscopic fungus extracted from the soil of the Ararat Plain in Armenia. Side effects or drug-drug interactions have not been reported by the manufacturer. Although not listed as a component, we found barium in Penoxal®. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry revealed 7 µg barium in a capsule containing 244.3 mg powder, which was responsible for the radiopaque aspects of the capsules, bezoars, and stools. We presumed a telluric origin of barium, which had been absorbed by the fungi. No barium was found in the capsule walls of Penoxal®. No other metallic atom was found. On admission, the patient’s blood barium concentrations were low (0.14 µg/L; normal <2.5 μg/L), and her 24-h urine barium elimination was 0.05 µg/day. Based on the recommended Penoxal® dose regimen (4 capsules per day), barium exposure represented less than 3% of the usual daily alimentary intake, estimated at 1 mg/day.
The injuries of spleen and intestinal immune system induced by 2-Gy 60Co γ-ray whole-body irradiation
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2023
An Wang, Zhongyu Shi, Lei Wang, Yan Wang, Xiaoying Chen, Changhao He, Xiaomeng Zhang, Wenhui Xu, Qian Fu, Tieshan Wang, Shujing Zhang, Yushan Gao, Sumin Hu
Intestine is not only an important organ for digestion and absorption, but also an important place for immune response. The intestinal immune system is mainly composed of GALT, associated cells, and associated molecules, which plays an essential role in maintaining intestinal immune homeostasis, mediating immune responses, and regulating inflammation (Kuai et al. 2021). GALT are located throughout the intestine and include PP, MLN, isolated lymphoid follicles (ILF) (Liu, Yin, et al. 2020), IEL as well as lamina propria lymphocytes (LPL) (Kaneko et al. 2005). MLN and PP are inductive sites, while lamina propria and IEL are effector sites (Chen et al. 1998). So, the T cells in IEL are derived or at least partially derived from MLN and PP. In this study, a significant decrease of IEL count was observed at the first day after irradiation. We contend it not only due to the direct damage by γ-ray, but also relate to the reduced lymphocyte source from MLN and PP. In addition, at day 21 after exposure, the IEL and PP lymphocyte counts returned to the normal level, however the MLN lymphocyte counts did not recover completely, suggesting the recovery of MLN was later than that of PP and IEL.
Probiotic improves symptomatic and viral clearance in Covid19 outpatients: a randomized, quadruple-blinded, placebo-controlled trial
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Pedro Gutiérrez-Castrellón, Tania Gandara-Martí, Ana T. Abreu Y Abreu, Cesar D. Nieto-Rufino, Eduardo López-Orduña, Irma Jiménez-Escobar, Carlos Jiménez-Gutiérrez, Gabriel López-Velazquez, Jordi Espadaler-Mazo
Of the 300 patients randomized, 293 completed the study between August 26th and December 10th 2020 and were available for primary analysis, while 7 were lost to follow-up (3 in probiotic and 4 in placebo, CONSORT Flowchart in Figure 1). Age ranged 18–60 years old, 126 (42.0%) had known metabolic risk factors for severe Covid19 (BMI ≥ 30, diabetes and/or hypertension) and median time from first symptom to study inclusion was 4 days (IQR 3–5). All patients were seropositive for SARS-CoV2-specific IgM, providing further confirmation of Covid19 diagnosis to RT-qPCR. In general, baseline characteristics were well balanced between groups (Table 1). Most common digestive complaints were diarrhea and nausea, followed by feeling of loose stools or incomplete evacuation and of abdominal pain. All remaining digestive symptoms (e.g. constipation, flatus, bloating, reflux) were reported by less than 10% of subjects in both study groups (Table S1), and not considered for further analysis. A few potential baseline imbalances were detected: i) higher incidence of lung infiltrates, of type II obesity, and lower SpO2 in probiotic group; ii) higher incidence of type I obesity and of shortness of breath in placebo group. Thus, said variables were considered for post-hoc sensitivity analyses.