StreszczenieArsen to pierwiastek kojarzony głównie z działaniem toksycznym. Należy jednak podkreślić, że mimo toksyczności jest on stosowany w medycynie. W przeszłości arsen i jego związki wykorzystywano w leczeniu m.in. cukrzycy, łuszczycy, kiły, owrzodzeń skóry i chorób stawów. Obecnie stosowany jest w onkologii, głównie u pacjentów z ostrą białaczką promielocytową. Z jednej strony więc arsen został uznany przez Międzynarodową Agencję Badań nad Rakiem (International Agency for Research on Cancer -IARC) za pierwiastek o udowodnionym epidemiologicznie rakotwórczym działaniu, a z drugiej -jest wykorzystywany w terapii chorób onkologicznych. Na działanie arsenu człowiek jest narażony także w codziennym życiu, ponieważ jest to substancja szeroko rozpowszechniona w przyrodzie. Występuje w glebie i wodzie, co skutkuje przedostawaniem się tego związku do pożywienia. Długotrwała ekspozycja na arsen i jego związki może doprowadzić np. do zmian w mięśniu sercowym lub uszkodzenia wątroby. Z tego powodu ważne jest prowadzenie monitoringu zawartości tej substancji w glebie, wodzie i pożywieniu, a także możliwości narażenia zawodowego. Niezbędne jest także ustalenie norm zawartości tego pierwiastka (zarówno zawartości całkowitej, jak i jego nieorganicznej formy) w pożywieniu. Niniejszy artykuł jest przeglądem publikacji znajdujących się w bazach medycznych PubMed oraz Polskiej Bibliografii Lekarskiej, które ukazały się do 2015 r. oraz dotyczyły arsenu i jego związków. W artykule przedstawiono najważniejsze informacje dotyczące arsenu -zarówno jako trucizny, jak i leku. Med. Pr. 2016;67(1):89-96 Słowa kluczowe: arsen, trójtlenek arsenu, choroby nowotworowe, trucizna, lek, apoptoza Abstract Arsenic (As) is commonly known as a poison. Only a few people know that As has also been widely used in medicine. In the past years As and its compounds were used as a medicine for the treatment of such diseases as diabetes, psoriasis, syphilis, skin ulcers and joint diseases. Nowadays As is also used especially in the treatment of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recognized arsenic as an element with carcinogenic effect evidenced by epidemiological studies, but as previously mentioned it is also used in the treatment of neoplastic diseases. This underlines the specificity of the arsenic effects. Arsenic occurs widely in the natural environment, for example, it is present in soil and water, which contributes to its migration to food products. Long exposure to this element may lead to liver damages and also to changes in myocardium. Bearing in mind that such serious health problems can occur, monitoring of the As presence in the environmental media plays a very important role. In addition, the occupational risk of As exposure in the workplace should be identified and checked. Also the standards for As presence in food should be established. This paper presents a review of the 2015 publications based on the Medical database like PubMed and Polish Medical Bibliography. It in...

The problem of obesity affects all age groups. It is also observed among menopausal women. Menopause is the time in a woman's life when, as a consequence of hormonal changes occurring in the body, the risk of overweight and obesity increases significantly and, therefore, so does the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Excess body weight in menopausal women may also be of social and psychological importance since the occurring symptoms may considerably decrease quality of life and sexual activity of these women. Reduction of body weight in obese menopausal women should play a vital role in treatment of this group of patients. Therefore, adequate management seems to be essential, and it should involve dietary, pharmacological and/or surgical treatment, depending on the patient's needs. Following a rational weight loss plan provided by a dietician under medical supervision may contribute to improvement of the health condition and quality of life. It is recommended to observe the guidelines on dietary management described in this article by adjusting a diet plan individually. The following work constitutes a review of articles from 2004-2014 which are available in the PubMed medical knowledge base and the Polish Medical Bibliography (Polska Bibliografia Lekarska). For this purpose, the following controlled vocabulary has been used: menopausal woman, menopausal diet, menopausal weight gain, menopausal weight loss, dietary management in menopause.

Background. Generally, most vitamin D in the human body (90–95%) is produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight. The effectiveness of this process depends on several biological and physical factors, e.g., age or latitude. Skin synthesis of vitamin D among elderly people is reduced. The aim of the study was to assess serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] seasonal variations in elderly patients hospitalized at the geriatric department. Methods. The study was carried out on 242 patients aged 60 years or older hospitalized at the geriatric department. The study group was categorized by four seasons as well as month. Results. The median (interquartile range) 25(OH)D concentration among all patients (n = 242) was 33.95 (26.96–45.18) nmol/L. There was no statistical significance in the median serum 25(OH)D concentration with regard to each of the four seasons: in the spring 32.95 (25.96–43.68) nmol/L, in the summer 38.69 (27.46–50.67) nmol/L, in the autumn 33.45 (27.08–44.18) nmol/L, in the winter 34.57 (23.46–43.93) nmol/L, (p = 0.48). Conclusion. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in all geriatric patients, irrespective of the season. The results of the study indicate no significant differences in median vitamin D concentration among the hospitalized patients across all four seasons. Even in the summer months, in our climate, it is fairly difficult for an elderly person to produce an adequate amount of vitamin D through the skin. Therefore, proper vitamin D supplementation is recommended and should be implemented in the elderly irrespective of the season.

Background. Visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a new anthropometric indicator that makes it possible to define the risk of obesity-related cardiometabolic complications even before the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) contributes to endocrine and metabolic complications for women worldwide. The aim of this study was to establish the usefulness of new anthropometric indices and atherogenic indices in the evaluation of metabolic disorders, in particular, glucose and insulin abnormalities in the profiles of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In the study, a total of 49 women with PCOS aged between 18 and 39 years were recruited. All patients were tested for fasting glucose and insulin, lipid parameters, oral-glucose administration, and biochemical parameters. All of them underwent anthropometric measurements, such as BMI (body mass index), WHR (waist-to-hip ratio), WHtR (waist-to-height ratio), BAI (body adiposity index), VAI (visceral adiposity index), LAP (lipid accumulation product), BRI (body roundness index), ABSI (A body shape index), AIP (atherogenic risk of plasma), AC (atherogenic coefficient), Castelli risk index-I, Castelli risk index-II and (LCI) lipoprotein combine index, TG/HDL-C ratio, METS-IR (The metabolic score of insulin resistance), triglyceride glucose index (TyG index), triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI index) and triglyceride glucose-waist circumference index (TyG-WC index) were calculated. The analyzed anthropometric measurements/indices and atherogenic indices demonstrated significant correlations in PCOS women. T A strong relationship was found between fasting glucose, fasting insulin, glucose after 60 min, HOMA-IR index in the patients with PCOS. There was no significant relationship between HbA1c and other analyzed parameters and indices. Most of the analyzed anthropometric and atherogenic indices may be useful tools in evaluating metabolic disorders, and, in particular, glucose and insulin abnormalities in PCOS women.