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The human mind can express itself through a chain of molecular processes, but it is not just a matter of molecules. The uniqueness of the individual is not contained in a short formula, and the general rules of contemporary psychiatry and psychology must be taken only as ancillary means to emphasize a provisional visual field in which the individual may or may not feel captured. Depressive disorders often coordinate three major daily issues: social, work and love life. An important aspect of choosing an antidepressant is its safety and tolerability. Before selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were the central pillar of pharmacological treatment for depression. SSRIs have largely replaced TCAs since the 1990s with the hope that the latter will be more effective and have a higher safety profile than the former. Among the side effects of antidepressant medication, the most common are bleeding, cardiovascular diseases, dry mouth, gastrointestinal effects, sexual dysfunction, suicidal risk, liver toxicity, seizures, weight gain, hyponatremia, sleep disturbances. The first reports of the long-term side effects on sexual function of SSRIs date 2006. The mechanisms underlying sexual dysfunction are mostly unknown. A commonly recognized hypothesis asserts that SSRIs and venlafaxine reduce dopaminergic transmission via serotonin receptors in the mesolimbic area, primarily associated with orgasm and sexual desire, hence the link between sexual dysfunction and these drugs.
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Considering that the observations of several experts in problems of human interaction, one may say, at present, social psychology cannot be viewed as a "contact," "connective" or "interference," in other words, a "borderline" science, any longer. The fundamental and permanent changes in progress in the world require a thorough reconsideration of its zones of interest, resizing of its research area, elaboration of a new methodological approach, a new interpretative platform, a different condition, and another status-quo. More specifically, social psychology should become a sui-generis field of knowledge, always and permanently addressing the simultaneity of personal reality as well as of the social one. While taking into account the defining characteristics of the contemporary world (spontaneity, alert pace of events, diversified languages, high levels of social involvement, etc.) and combining the binary reading of reality [on one hand - the "ego"/the individual, and on the other - the "object"/the social phenomenon] with that of ternary extraction [on the same side, in the same context - the individual subject (ego) + social subject (alter) + physical/social object, real or imagined (object)].
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Acute psychotic disorder induced by psychoactive substances is characterized by delirium and hallucinations, emerging throughout or within a month from intoxication with or withdrawal from a particularn psychoactive substance.(1) Differential diagnosis must take into account, first of all, the medical conditions (central nervous system infections, vascular disorders, degenerative diseases), then the schizophreniform disorder and mood disorders (bipolar disorder). This paper features the case of a young woman aged 24, addicted to psychoactive substances – mainly synthetic cannabinoids – who came to the Psychiatric ER on an emergency basis, with symptoms of delirium and with hallucinations. The young woman’s addictive behavior was based on an unhappy childhood, as her parents had abandoned her at the age of 2 and she was left in her grandmother's care. Her parents divorced; the father refused to keep in touch with her or her sister, and their mother works in Italy, and she is indifferent to them. Since they had no parent figure from such a young age, both daughters experienced feelings of sadness, despair, which was a possible cause of addictive behavior. The female patient smoked since the age of 17 ten cigarettes a day; at 21, she began using cannabis, cocaine, and heroin, while at the age of 22, she started using synthetic cannabinoids, to which she became soon addicted. She bought the psychoactive substances from her paycheck; subsequently, upon leaving her job, she started stealing assets from the house in order to buy drugs.
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In the recent decades, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, as well as endocrine and metabolic diseases, which are affecting the quality of human life, is constantly increasing. Currently, given that the prevalence of metabolic diseases, obesity and diabetes is constantly increasing worldwide, there is an increased interest in developing new therapies and in creating better experimental models for mimicking the complex human symptomatology. This could result in a faster diagnosis with lower cost, as well as in advances of the so-called personalized medicine. Among the animals that could be experimental models for these diseases, there is an increased interest in the zebrafish (Danio rerio), giving that the qualities that recommend it are its small size, the need for a small living space, relatively low costs of use, high homology to the human genome, high fertility and mostly the formation of the major organs at 24 hours after fertilization. In this way, the presence in zebrafish of all the key organs that are important and necessary for the complex metabolic control, as well as the similarities in lipid metabolism and the adipogenic pathway between zebrafish and mammals, could make this small organism an ideal tool for the study and the better understanding of adipogenesis, diabetes, obesity and the complex pathological processes which are characterizing the metabolic diseases. This could have an increased relevance in the context of our previous work describing neuropsychiatric models in zebrafish (focusing for example on dementia), considering also the important connections that might exist between the general metabolic disorders and most of the neuropsychiatric-related manifestations.
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The spread of COVID 19 across the globe is challenging the capacity of response of all healthcare systems. The uncertainty and the newness af this pandemic provoked a generalized wariness and stress among all categories of population, but mainly among healthcare professionals. Due to the lack of knowledge of the disease, the excessive amount of work, poor resources and depletion of personal protection equipment, the huge media pressure and many other difficulties, healthcare workers(HCW) are at high risk of developing many mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders, all of which could have a negative long-term psychological impact. In this context, it is important to research and to have an real-time view on this topic, in order to find ways of improving the psycological distress HCW are facing.
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Saccharin is a low-calorie artificial sweetener that has been extensively used in food products since 1879. It has been proven in various studies that saccharin can stimulate the brain centers of pleasure and reward centers in the brain. These brain centers are also proven to be active in alcohol and drug abuse. Therefore, we wanted to study in the present paper the repercussions of saccharin withdrawal on oxidative stress levels and then on depression and anxiety-like behavior of rats. Our experimental design included 40 lab rats divided into two groups, 20 rats in each group. The first group of rats had unlimited access to water and saccharin bottles. The second group was considered the control group and had access only to water. After 4 weeks, the rats in the saccharin group were deprived of saccharin for 14 days to allow sufficient time for deprivation episodes to occur. Our statistical analysis revealed that saccharin withdrawal produced a decrease in catalase activity and as a result an increase in oxidative stress level. Furthermore, saccharin deprivation was associated with an increase in the duration of immobility time in the popular forced swim test and a decrease in the time the rats spent exploring the central area of the open field test. Therefore, saccharin deprivation seems to produce high levels of oxidative stress which may lead to depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors in rats. In conclusion, deprivation from the non-drug reinforcer saccharin produces anxiety and depression-like effects on rats by decreasing the level of certain antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase. These effects are often seen in withdrawn models of abused drugs or alcohol.
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Psychiatric literature generally recognizes the importance of religion and spirituality in the care of religious psychiatric patients. In this work we aimed to investigate the influence of a supportive religious program on religious patients with suicidal ideation. The results confirmed the theoretical predictions of the psychiatric literature regarding the broad positive value of a complementary religious support applied to religious psychiatric patients. A potential negative effect of the most influential Christian Orthodox religious practices used in the therapy of suicidal patients was also noted. These findings may have significant implications for medium and long term psychiatric interventions in faith based settings.
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In the conditions of a strong economic migration, quite a few children are exposed to radical changes, which affect their development, especially in terms of communication. In the present study, we presented the case of a 7-year-old child who had a language disorder, stuttering and dyslexia. Following the intervention, based on syllabic training, stuttering, dyslexia and language were greatly reduced.
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Stress levels have increased overall, moreover since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Several chronic dermatoses, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, are well known to be caused or aggravated by stress. It is common sense that, especially now, the patients affected by stress need to be offered more alternatives in order to control their skin conditions. Psychodermatology is a subspecialty of dermatology which through the joint efforts of dermatologists, psychiatrists and psychologists targets the complex mind-skin pathways. Meditation is a common arousal reduction intervention in the field of psychodermatology and it works by redirecting one’s thoughts to calm one’s mind. Melotherapy (music therapy) is another widely accesible stress reduction intervention, which despite its simplicity could prove efficient and address the general low compliance to psychological procedures.
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Starting from the bio-psycho-social concept developed by Petre Brânzei it is obvious that suicide has a complex motivation that combines genetic, psychological and social elements. The paper aims to analyze the social motivation in various countries of the European Union as the underlying mechanism triggering the suicidal gesture and especially the "trigger" factor that determines the transition to the act, are still unclear. It is most likely that important endocrine factors, possibly explaining the decrease in suicide rates in Europe from north to south, are involved. The decrease from east to west seems to be the consequence of higher living standards in the west, but also of more effective prophylactic measures in these countries.
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Psychedelic drugs (also called hallucinogens, psychotogenics, psycholytics, entheogens) are substances that act mainly on the 5-HT2 serotonergic receptor. There are two main groups of psychedelics: indoleamines (lysergic acid diethylamide-LSD, N, N-dimethyltryptamine-DMT, and psilocybin) and phenethylamines (mescaline, dimethoxymethamphetamine–DOM, methylenedioxyamphetamine–MDA, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine-MDMA). These drugs have a long history, being used in the past in spiritual and religious ceremonies and also in the treatment of physical and mental illnesses. Studies have been conducted over the years on the therapeutic utility of these psychedelic drugs (especially psilocybin, LSD) in the psychiatric field and their beneficial effect has been highlighted in conditions such as anxiety, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcohol addiction, smoking addiction.
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The field of aesthetic medicine is a trend in modern medicine and nowadays patients not only want to be healthy, they also want to enjoy life, be fit and minimize the effects of physiological aging. Societal acceptance of aesthetic procedures is increasing and desire to improve the external appearance may be related to the extensive media coverage which basically increases the considered benefits. Young patients should understand that results of surgical aesthetical procedures may lead to permanent change. A complete assessment of reason why the young patient wishes to have the procedure, and what difference the patient thinks it will make to his/her life, should be undertaken. Poor psychological outcomes are possible and unrealistic expectations may should warn the doctor against procedure until the patient is emotionally mature and may need a psychological referral in order to maintain the psychosocial health and improve the quality of life.
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Transhumanism assumes human improvement as an unfinished link in evolution based on its fusion with technological elements. The new human-machine organism, from the author's point of view, is a dubious boon for human civilization and the planetary ecological system. This idea is, first of all, anachronistic and pursues the main goal - the singularity, i.e. control over human intellectual energy by technology. Cognitive activity and one of its most difficult aspects - translation of thought into linguistic form - represent an obstacle to the creation of perfect Artificial Intelligence, since translation is not limited to formulas. The accuracy of terminology and the absence of ambiguity of the word are the basis of Artificial Intelligence and, at the same time, the limitation of the development of linguistic thinking. The article outlines the sequence of the translation process, the difference between the mental operations of Artificial Intelligence and humans. The author assumes that translation is a universal property of human thinking, and the process of translating thought into speech form is due to bio-genetic, emotional, socio-historical memory and experience, since a person translates his thought from a fuzzy, vague thought-text into a linguistic form.
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This article focuses on identifying and presenting the roots and consequences of hypocrisy within the hidden pathological features of the human being. Hypocrisy belongs to the hypocrite, that is, to the individual in his ontic integrity as an immortal body, spirit, and soul. In this respect this scientific discourse has its place within the religious space as well, at the spiritual level of the perfect process of creation, where the new spiritual individual is always active; At the empirical, scientific and material level of the human activity there is only the ideological individual, proficient or not, just like in the unfortunate case of the priest – sacerdos in aeternum who became professor after he jumped the fence of the house and he got into the yard of the University, with the passport in his pocket of course. We will approach the subject strictly through the paradigm of the theological-philosophical discourse, framed by the constitutive horizon of moral philosophy (philosophical ethics), which is defined as the second strand of bioethics as a modern science, according to the traditional medical ethics (1). Within this paper we will look at the following points: the formalism of religious hypocrisy; the blindness of the hypocrite as a pathological manifestation and finally about the availability as a permanent risk of hypocrisy.
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While some authors still separate the Russell-Silver syndrome as two independent disorders, it is presently considered as one whole entity. It is a rare syndrome, with over 400 reported cases (1). The first reported cases were in children with the syndrome’s characteristic facial features, low birth weight, body asymmetry, and poor growth after birth (2), growth failure being the primary abnormality (3). Patients typically present with intrauterine growth retardation, difficulty feeding, failure to thrive, or postnatal growth failure (4, 5). The clinical features are more evident in infants or young children (6).Methods. We present a 19-month-old girl, admitted to our hospital for functional rehabilitation due to mildly severe neuromotor retardation, associated with severe malnutrition, low body weight, congenital heart malformation and gastroesophageal reflux. We evaluated the child and her motion of joints and strength of muscles using, among other tests, the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) scale. She underwent a kinesiotherapy program in order to enhance and rise her motor skills according to her chronological age.Results. For one year, rehabilitation treatment improved muscle tone, motor skills, posture and spine alignment. Also, a specific kinesiotherapy program at home resulted in a systematic improvement in growth and development in this case. Conclusions. Genetic anomalies are always a challenge for therapists. An early intervention program, in this particular case, is highly beneficial.
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The article analysed the availability of healthcare services in terms of assumptions and implementation of the act “hospital network”. The aim of the research was to try to answer the question about the impact of the creation of a hospital network on the availability of healthcare. The provisions of the act and implementing acts were analysed, as well as the effects of the reform, including: the structure of the hospital network, the number and value of healthcare services, the degree of performance by hospitals of contracts with the NFZ, waiting time for healthcare services and the number of people waiting, the degree of use of hospital beds, expenditure on healthcare, the financial situation of hospitals. The summary concluded that the creation of a hospital network did not increase the availability of healthcare services. It was the result of the failure to take into account epidemiological and demographic conditions and insufficient funding. The situation does not cross out the legitimacy of the creation of a hospital network, but it points the direction of further reforms.
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The purpose of the article is to attempt to assess the legal status of the optometrist profession in Poland. The publication will address the issue of determining the definition of this profession, the history of development of this field in Poland and discussing applicable legal regulations and entities acting to regulate the profession of optometrist in Poland.
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Background: Dizziness, numbness, and paresthesia of upper limbs are common symptoms in patients who undergo physiotherapy. Most of the symptoms are caused by neurological and skeletomuscular diseases. Subclavian steal syndrome is a rare case of such symptoms. Aim of the study: This study aimed to analyze how to proceed with symptomatic patients suspected of subclavian steal syndrome. Material and methods: Medical documentation was used. Case report: A 69-year-old patient, long term cigarette smoker, with the anamnesis of spine surgery due to discopathy, atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, and hypertension was referred to our hospital due to exacerbation of coronary artery disease. During his stay in the cardiac department, after smoking a cigarette, he felt pain and numbness in his left arm. He began intense movement of this hand, and then lost consciousness. A difference in pulse filling and blood pressure between the upper extremities was noted. In a duplex Doppler study, reversal flow in the left vertebral artery due to stenosis of the left subclavian artery was found. Angio- CT of the head vessels confirmed a significant stenosis of the proximal left subclavian artery. The patient was referred for further treatment to a Vascular Surgery Clinic. Conclusions: The subclavian steal syndrome is a rare cause of dizziness and paresthesia of the upper extremities. Physiotherapy procedures on the affected limb can exacerbate neurological symptoms. It is easy to identify the disease based on differences in pulse amplitude and blood pressure between upper limbs. Diagnosis should be established before proceeding with physiotherapy, due to the fact that some procedures can worsen the patient’s condition.
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The last great pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918, took place at a time when the number of women graduating from medical schools was still very low. Assistants, nurses, and volunteer helpers worked in military and camp hospitals in World War I in treating war wounds or injuries and caring for the flu patients. However, the COVID 19 pandemic is the first one in which female professionals participated in the front line, working as doctors or pharmacists. During turbulent times like the pandemic, the physician (regardless of gender) as a person has become vulnerable, the image and the control of image are much more difficult. Throughout history, the medical community has sought to create an image appropriate to the current social, historical, and political era. At the same time, the doctor more or less successfully forms the individual image in the local community, where he/she works. In calm periods and ages, doctors have the time and material resources necessary for their professional and individual development. During historical, political, social, and health crises (such as wars, dictatorships, recessions, epidemics) the large number of patients, the struggle with time and limited resources lead to a disorganized, spontaneous medical activity. The difference between organized and disorganized activity is the image. During the epidemics, the doctor patient relationship becomes more superficial, subordinated to public health and the collective good, the personality of the doctor and of the patient changes. For that reason, the control of image is much more complicated today, in a pandemic, in a society based on permanent communication and social media.
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