No abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a frequent abdominal acute inflammatory disorder and the leading cause of hospital admissions in gastrointestinal units. Clinical manifestations of AP vary from a mild edematous form to severe fulminant pancreatitis with major devastating complications. To date, experimental therapeutic agents remain scarce for the treatment of this disease. Nutritional therapy with appropriate nutrient supplementation is key to limiting the acute inflammation and preventing and managing complications associated with AP. This chapter focuses on novel therapeutic agents for nutritional intervention including enteral versus parenteral nutrition strategies, and nutritional supplements such as probiotics, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins in the treatment of AP.

Background: Breastfeeding is a characteristic process of mammals that ensures delivery of an adequate nutritional supply to infants. It is the gold standard food source during an infant’s first months of life. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people in quarantine have experienced a wide range of feelings, which may make isolation challenging in terms of maternal health. This study focused on the prevalence of breastfeeding practices and postpartum depression (PPD) among Mexican women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 586 postpartum women who completed an online survey 4−8 weeks after delivery from April to December 2020 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The aim was to identify potentially depressed mothers according to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and describe their breastfeeding practices. Results: The mean maternal age was 30.4 ± 4.6 years, the mean EPDS score was 9.6 ± 5.0, and the PPD prevalence according EPDS scores was 27.1%. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) was reported by 32.3% of mothers in the first 48 h and by 70.3% of mothers 48 h after delivery. EBF was associated with a lower prevalence of PPD during the first 48 h (p = 0.015) and after the first 48 h (p = 0.001) after delivery. Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) was reported by 385 (65.7%) mothers. PPD was less frequent in mothers practicing SSC (20.3%) than it was in those not practicing SSC (40.3%) (p = 0.001). A higher percentage of mothers practiced SSC breastfed (66.9%) and used EBF (150, 79.4%) (p = 0.012 and 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Results suggest that the pandemic emergency and restrictions imposed on the population significantly affected the well-being of mothers after birth, and that these effects may have posed risks to the mental health and emotional stability of postpartum mothers. Therefore, encouraging BF or EBF and SSC may improve or limit depressive symptoms in postpartum mothers.