Mineral waters in treatment of metabolic changes from fatigue in sportsmen.

The authors list the principal metabolic consequences of fatigue in athletes with special reference to alterations of fluid-electrolyte balance, acid-base balance, macroelements and trace elements. They then go on to stress the role which mineral waters, especially the bicarbonate ones, can play in the compensation of these disorders thus preventing or curing the fatigue syndrome in athletes.

[Opioid peptides and digestive activity. Recent directions of physiopathology]. / Peptidi oppiodi e attività digestiva. Recenti orientamenti di fisiopatologia.

The authors, after having set out the classification and general significance of endogenous opioids (e.o.) on the basis of the most recent researches, have focused attention on the activity of the opioid peptides in gastroenterology. They summarize the main effects of the opioids on the basic digestive functions: secretion, endoluminal digestion, motility, absorption. Particular importance is attributed to the activity of the e.o. on gastric and duodenal secretion. Finally, the possible therapeutic implications of e.o. in the management of digestive disorders are examined.

[Hydrological therapy of renal lithiasis]. / Terapia idrologica della litiasi renale.

The spa treatment most widely used in the management of renal calculosis is the drinking of a certain amount of mineral water under certain predetermined conditions of temperature, time and rhythm. These treatments are always indicated unless there are obstacles to the passage of urine or general contraindications. Chances for success are increased if the diagnosis is exact and the stone has been located. The results obtained by various authors are reported and their statistical validity is discussed. Favorable effects consist in: increased diuresis with urine dilution and correspondingly reduced concentration of lithogenic salts and hence supersaturation of urine; reduced concentration of microorganisms; changes in the physiological condition of the renal medulla; changes in inhibitors of crystallization, in urinary pH; mechanical effect on the urinary passages; increased ureter motility; expulsion of small stones and sand; preventive action on recurrences after surgery and after extra-corporeal shock-wave treatment, percutaneous therapy and uretero-nephroscopy.

[A case of intestinal giardiasis associated with immunoglobulin deficiency and intestinal lymph node hyperplasia]. / Su di un caso di giardiasi intestinale associata a deficit immunoglobulinico e iperplasia nodulare linfatica intestinale.

The authors recall the main etiopathogenetic, immunological and clinical features of Giardiasis; they report on a patient suffering from intestinal Giardiasis associated with immunoglobulin deficiency and nodular lymphatic hyperplasia of the gut. They report the results of medical therapy.

The prevalence of gallstones in patients suffering from liver cirrhosis: a clinico-statistical study of 350 patients.

The overall prevalence according to sex and to age group of biliary calculosis was assessed in 350 patients with liver cirrhosis: data were compared with homogeneous findings in the general population of the GREPCO study. Cholelithiasis was found to be significantly more frequent in cirrhotics, and the pattern was confirmed when data were analyzed according to sex; a significantly higher percentage was found in cirrhotics of the 40-49 and 60-69 age groups. Among cirrhotics with gallstones, alcoholics represented a smaller percentage compared to non-lithiasic cirrhotics. The incidence of complications such as digestive hemorrhage, coma, and hepato-renal syndrome, was equal in cirrhotics with and without biliary calculosis, or, as far as coma was concerned, even lower among the former. A fatal outcome was less frequent in cirrhotic patients with than in those without cholelithiasis. Our results go to show that biliary calculosis does not aggravate the course of liver cirrhosis.