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Fenugreek in Management of Immunological, Infectious, and Malignant Disorders
Published in Dilip Ghosh, Prasad Thakurdesai, Fenugreek, 2022
Rohini Pujari, Prasad Thakurdesai
Protozoal infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide for many years (Fletcher et al. 2012). One of the significant causes of protozoal infection is malnutrition, making the individual vulnerable to diarrheal diseases and enteric infections through various mechanisms (Berhe et al. 2020; Siddiqui, Belayneh, and Bhutta 2021). Infectious diarrhea is responsible for more deaths than other gastrointestinal tract diseases such as gastrointestinal cancers, peptic ulcers, or inflammatory bowel disease (Siciliano et al. 2020). However, the actual burden remains unknown as many of the incidences of enteric protozoa are often ignored as a cause of diarrheal illness and never reported (Fletcher et al. 2012).
International Health & Lifestyle
Published in James M. Rippe, Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Health and well-being are becoming a global issue for countries, multi-national employers and other stakeholders who are focusing on the health and productivity/performance of their populations. Communicable as well as non-communicable diseases vary in prevalence and importance from country to country. Communicable diseases include a wide range of bacterial, viral, fungal and protozoan infections. However, this section will focus on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which are chronic diseases resulting from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioral factors including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, among others. NCDs result in the deaths of 40 million people around the world each year and account for about 70% of all deaths. The cumulative economic impact to the global economy is estimated to be $30 trillion by the year 2030 according to an analysis by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health. NCDs like heart disease can develop in emerging-market countries in much younger populations. For example, in India, people aged 25–35 years old have nearly five times the prevalence of heart disease compared with American workers of the same age. American workers tend to develop heart disease in their forties, fifties and sixties.
Emergency Medicine
Published in Akshaya Neil Arya, Preparing for International Health Experiences, 2017
Protozoan infections: Protozoan infections are from ingestion of contaminated food/water. The cysts are ingested, and excystation occurs in the bowel lumen. The resulting trophozoites then form more cysts, which then cause the symptoms and are also excreted, thus repeating the cycle. A summary of the common protozoan infections is provided in the following table, including common presentations, complications to be aware of and treatment (the medications listed may not be available where you are working, so check with local resources who will have a better idea of what can be used) (Guerrant, 2011) (Table 13.2).
Novel therapeutic opportunities for Toxoplasma gondii, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Giardia intestinalis infections
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
Francesca Arrighi, Arianna Granese, Paola Chimenti, Paolo Guglielmi
Toxoplasma gondii, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Giardia intestinalis are protozoan infections affecting millions of people worldwide. Even if these infections are usually controlled by immune system in immunocompetent patients, they could represent a threatening health for immunocompromised people. One of the main aspects that has to be considered about the treatments currently employed for the management of these infections is the absence of novel and effective drugs, where ‘novel’ has not to be exclusively intended for the chemical scaffold, but also (and maybe mainly) for novel mechanisms of actions. Drugs with innovative mechanisms are needed and this urgence arises from the increasing drug resistance along with cross resistance, affecting antibiotic as well as antiprotozoal therapies, parasites developing innovative and creative mechanisms to escape from drugs, which needs more research and investment to fight it. In this regard, some of the drugs employed for the treatment of these infections have been discovered in the second half of last century (for example the anti-T. gondii drugs), thus underlying the insufficient efforts spent in these years for the research and discovery of novel therapies. Along with this, also a scarce knowledge of these infections contributed to their spread, toxoplasmosis and trichomoniasis being considered neglected parasitic infections by U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on the bases of infected numbers of people, severity of the illnesses, and the ability to prevent and treat them.
Antiprotozoal drugs: challenges and opportunities
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
This special issue of Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents presents a topical collection of review articles dealing with most of the protozoan pathogenic organisms mentioned in the introduction. Vermelho’s group discusses Chagas disease treatment options in a paper where both scientific and patent literature is documented [23]. Drugs and nanoformulations for the management of Leishmania infection are dealt with in a review article from Nico’s group [24], whereas the management of malaria with drugs [25] and vaccines [26] is extensively documented in two different review articles. Indeed, immunization with recombinant proteins and multiantigen antimalaria vaccines have shown promising results in several clinical trials, which are discussed in detail in the review from Rovero’s group [26]. The management of babesia, amoeba, and other zoonotic diseases provoked by protozoans are discussed by Capasso and Supuran [27], whereas drugs for the treatment of Trichomonas, giardia, toxoplasma, and other ‘minor’ protozoan infections: are dealt with in a paper by Guglielmi [28]. Carradori presents a detailed review on emerging strategies to design new anti-Trypanosoma brucei agents [29].
Prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal parasitic infections in Kurdistan province, northwest Iran
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2018
Fares Bahrami, Ali Haghighi, Ghasem Zamini, Mohammad Bagher Khadem-Erfan, Eznolla Azargashb
Based on the results shown in Table 1, 297 patients (21.5%) were infected with single or multiple intestinal parasites. Protozoan infections (21%) were more common compared to helminth ones (0.36%). Table 2 shows the association between demographic data and IPIs. Tables 3, and 4 show the frequency and associated risk factors of pathogenic parasites such as Blastocystis sp., Giardia lamblia, E. histolitica/E. disparar/E. moshkovskii, Cryptosporidium spp., microsporidia, and helminths.