Background: Postpartum depression is a psychiatric disorder that starts from the second to the sixth week after birth. Breastfeeding is considered a protective factor for postpartum mood swings. This paper aims to examine the effect of breastfeeding on postpartum depression and anxiety, and how it affects child development. Methods: The study included 209 pregnant women, 197 puerperea, and 160 women at the end of the third month after delivery, followed through three time-points. The instruments used in the study were the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck's Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Results: Postpartum mothers with low risk of PPD breastfed their children more often than mothers with a mild or severe risk of perinatal depression. Mean values on the BDI scale three months after giving birth were higher in mothers who did not breastfeed their child (M = 3.53) than those who did breastfeed their child (M = 2.28). Postpartum anxiety measured by BAI was statistically negatively correlated (rs-, 430) with the duration of breastfeeding. Conclusion: Nonbreastfeeding mothers are more depressed and anxious compared to breastfeeding mothers.

SUMMARYIt has been suggested that various environmental factors play a very important role in the etiology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) and that they have a significant effect on the course of these diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of daily physical activity on the activity of IBDs in therapy-free patients. This cross-sectional population based study was conducted in eastern Croatia from January to June 2016. The study included 312 patients, mean age 49.9±15.0 years, 53.2% of males and 46.8% of females; there were 63.4% of ulcerative colitis (UC) and 36.6% of Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. Sociodemographic characteristics of patients, data on their daily physical activity and type of therapy taken were collected through a specifically designed and validated questionnaire, while the activity of UC and CD was evaluated using the Mayo index and Harvey-Bradshaw index. The study showed that 24.0% of patients were not taking therapy. Daily physical activity was connected to IBD in study patients when taking both diseases collectively (Fisher exact test; p<0.001), as well as to the inactivity of CD (Fisher exact test; p=0.001) and UC (Fisher exact test; p=0.006), when observing each disease separately. Daily physical activity was connected to the inactivity of IBDs in patients not taking therapy. It is necessary to educate all IBD patients about the importance of physical activity in order to control their disease.

The aim of the study was to compare radiomorphometric indices measured on panoramic radiographs: mandibular cortical width (MCW), panoramic mandibular index (PMI) and mandibular cortical index (MCI) with the densitometric values of skeletons in postmenopausal women, as well as and to determine the possibilities of their use in screening for early detection of osteoporosis in risky populations. Radiomorphometric indices were measured on panoramic radiographs of 146 postmenopausal patients, mean age 66.3 (±9.7) years, mean menopausal age 16.3 (±10.6) years. By dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method were measured bone mineral density of the femur and the lumbar vertebrae (L1–L4). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the changed densitometric finding, and to distinguish osteopenia and osteoporosis. The examinees with lower densitometric values had significantly lower MCW (3.60 mm) and PMI (0.36 mm) than those with regular densitometric values (p&lt;0.001). The most frequent finding in patients with osteopenia was C2 stage of erosion (69.50%; p&lt;0.001), while the C3 stage of erosion (57.40%; p&lt;0.001) was in osteoporosis patients. When differing the normal from the changed finding of densitometry the results were: MCW – area under the curve (AUC) 0.862, sensitivity 92.04%, specificity 75.76%, resolution point ≤4.39 (p&lt;0.001); for PMI-AUC 0.874, sensitivity 76.11%, specificity 84.85%, resolution point ≤ 0.41 (p&lt;0.001) and for MCI-AUC 0.826, sensitivity 87.6%, specificity 69.7%, resolution point&gt; 1 (p&lt;0.001). For early detection of osteopenia and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women in everyday clinical practice, panoramic radiograph as a screening method can be of help.

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The prevalence and importance of male infertility make it a serious worldwide medical and social problem. The aim of this study was to determine if there were any significant differences in zinc concentrations in seminal fluid in men diagnosed with infertility compared to control group, and if there were, to determine how it affected the number and percentage of sperm cells with normal motility and morphology. A case-control study was conducted in the Osijek-Bara nja County from January 2014 to June of 2015. The study included 276 subjects referred to biochemistry laboratory of the Osijek University Hospital Centre, 100 (36.2%) of them with low sperm count confirmed by spermiogram after 3 months. Semen samples were processed according to the World Health Organization criteria, and zinc concentrations were determined using spectrophotometry and direct colorimetry without deproteinization on a chemistry analyzer (Olympus AU 680, Beckman Coulter, Tokyo, Japan). Study results showed the men with low sperm count to be significantly older (Mann Whitney U test: p=0.013) and to have lower zinc levels (χ 2-test: p<0.001). Further analysis included 100 (36.2%) patients with low sperm count. In the group of infertile men, those with low sperm count had higher zinc levels compared to men with azoospermia (Mann Whitney U test: p=0.036), suggesting a connection between lower zinc level in seminal fluid and male fertility. Zinc as a biological marker and an antioxidant affects sperm count, motility and morphology. Zinc supplemental therapy could improve seminal parameters in patients diagnosed with low sperm count. Dietary habits of the subjects differ regionally, and future research could make a solid foundation for complementary approach to treatment of male infertility.