Effects of a bicarbonate-alkaline mineral water on digestive motility in experimental models of functional and inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders.

This study investigates the effects of Uliveto, a bicarbonate-alkaline mineral water, in experimental models of diarrhea, constipation and colitis. Rats were allowed to drink Uliveto or oligomineral water (control) for 30 days. Diarrhea and constipation were evoked by 16,16-dimethyl-prostaglandin E(2) (dmPGE(2)) or loperamide, respectively. Colitis was induced by 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS) or acetic acid. Gastric emptying, small-intestinal and colonic transit were evaluated. dmPGE(2)-induced diarrhea reduced gastric emptying and increased small-intestinal and colonic transit. In this setting, Uliveto water enhanced gastric emptying, and this effect was prevented by L-365,260 (gastrin receptor antagonist). Loperamide-induced constipation reduced gastric emptying, small-intestinal and colonic transit, and these effects were prevented by Uliveto water. L-365,260 counteracted the effects of Uliveto on gastric emptying, while alosetron (serotonin 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist) blunted the effect of Uliveto on colonic transit. Gastric emptying, small-intestinal and colonic transit were reduced in DNBS-induced colitis, and Uliveto water enhanced gastric emptying and normalized small-intestinal and colonic transit. Gastric emptying, small-intestinal and colonic transit were also reduced in acetic acid-induced colitis, and Uliveto increased both gastric emptying and small-intestinal transit. In conclusion, Uliveto water exerts beneficial effects on gastrointestinal motility in the presence of bowel motor dysfunctions. The effects of Uliveto water on gastric emptying depend on gastrin-mediated mechanisms, whereas the activation of serotonergic pathways accounts for the modulation of colonic functions.

Extradural motor cortex stimulation as a method to treat advanced Parkinson's disease: new perspectives in geriatric medicine.

Motor fluctuations not controlled by pharmacological therapy are often encountered in long-term Parkinson's disease (PD). Neurosurgery treatment represented by deep brain stimulation (DBS) was considered a valid alternative to pharmacological treatment. Unfortunately this method is most effective in patients under age of 70. Recently it has been suggested that extradural motor cortex stimulation (EMCS) could be a valid cost-effective alternative to DBS to control motor symptoms in patients affected by Parkinson's disease. The relevant non-invasive surgical technique makes this treatment particularly indicated in geriatric patients. Brain atrophy, cognitive impairment, psychiatric symptoms are not an absolute contraindication to the treatment. We submitted to EMCS an outpatient afferent to our geriatric department, a woman 68 yrs old. The patient showed an improvement of 35% as measured by the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scale after the surgery. If our findings will be confirmed in larger series, a new dimension will be added to the treatment of PD.

Presentation: Epidemiology and public health: is a new paradigm needed or a new ethic?

Public health militancy has been increasingly frustrated by what many perceive as the marginally fertile studies of risk factors operating at the individual level, whose causal underpinnings are often and inevitably weakened in multifactorial situations. As a remedy, leading advocates propose a refocusing of epidemiology and public health on socioeconomic, cultural, and political studies, and on broad interventions at population level. This new "paradigm" would be aided by a relaxation of evidentiary standards of causality, away from scientific criteria and more toward dialectic (rhetorical) precepts derived in a humanistic and sociologic tradition. It is countered here that such proposals would further reduce the objectivity and thus likely weaken rather than strengthen epidemiology and the justification of public health action. Instead, a realistic appraisal finds that multifactorial epidemiology raises warning signals of varying influence, and that the usefulness of epidemiology and public health could be enhanced by conceiving of methods to score the relative strength and priority of such warnings.

Role of diet and nutrition in cancer cause, prevention and treatment.

The roles of diet and nutrition as etiologic factors in cancer incidence is discussed. Diet and nutrition have recently been recognized as causative agents in other chronic diseases. Epidemiologic evidence supportive of the hypothesis that different diets rather than other environmental contaminants are important in the causation of certain forms of cancer is reviewed, including studies on several migrant populations and ethnic groups. Specific dietary components have been correlated with certain forms of cancer, such as bowel cancer and fat consumption, and a theory of the mechanism is set forth. The animal studies discussed strongly confirm the results of epidemiologic studies in man. Additionally, nutrition's important role in cancer therapy and rehabilitation is described. A variety of intervention techniques are available to maintain the nutrition status of the cancer patient. Finally, the research priorities and the Diet, Nutrition and Cancer Program (DNCP) of the National Cancer Institute are explained.