Potential of Curcumin in the Management of Skin Diseases.

Curcumin is a polyphenolic molecule derived from the rhizoma of Curcuma longa L. This compound has been used for centuries due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. These make it ideal for preventing and treating skin inflammation, premature skin ageing, psoriasis, and acne. Additionally, it exhibits antiviral, antimutagenic, and antifungal effects. Curcumin provides protection against skin damage caused by prolonged exposure to UVB radiation. It reduces wound healing times and improves collagen deposition. Moreover, it increases fibroblast and vascular density in wounds. This review summarizes the available information on the therapeutic effect of curcumin in treating skin diseases. The results suggest that curcumin may be an inexpensive, well-tolerated, and effective agent for treating skin diseases. However, larger clinical trials are needed to confirm these observations due to limitations in its in vivo use, such as low bioavailability after oral administration and metabolism.

Doping in Sport-Attitudes of Physical Trainers Students Regarding the Use of Prohibited Substances Increasing Performance.

BACKGROUND: The popularity of using the advice of a personal trainer is increasing in Poland and currently most gyms offer the possibility of training under the supervision of a professional. Personal trainers present a multifaceted nature into physical activity and become their clients' guides in achieving sporting goals. Physical trainers also work in sports clubs and supervise the training of people professionally involved in sport. AIM: Given the professional role that they play, this article aimed to analyze the knowledge and attitudes of personal trainers towards using prohibited measures to improve performance in sport, as well as counteraction measures. METHODS: The study used a questionnaire created by the authors containing closed, semi-open, and open questions. RESULTS: The results of the presented research indicate that most physical trainers and students educated in this field have a negative attitude towards the use of prohibited measures that increase performance but they noticed that doping was common in sport by 88.51% respondents. In the group of personal trainers, the majority (87.14%) admitted that good results in sport could be achieved without the use of doping. They stated that it was unfair (25%), contrary to the fair play principle-16%, while over 11% indicated this as cheating. Only 6% of people pointed out that it was legally prohibited and 3% that it was harmful. These results show that 10.13% of all respondents believe that the use of doping is a necessity to achieve very good results in sport. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of doping substances is statistically correlated with the question of persuading to use doping in both groups of trainers and students and some people justify the use of doping. The research proved that the personal trainers' level of knowledge on doping is still insufficient.

Services and Amenities Offered by City Hotels within Family Tourism as One of the Factors Guaranteeing Satisfactory Leisure Time.

Travelling families are interested in urban tourism due to its cognitive and entertainment aspects. Some expectations of parents travelling with children are the same independent of the accommodation location. The purpose of this article is to examine at what level city hotels offer services and amenities within family tourism, how they meet parents' expectations and whether they adapt offers to children of different ages. Two measurement tools were used for this study. The first one was the authors' questionnaire addressed to hotel managers. A total of 88 hotels located in Krakow were selected for the study. The survey contained questions on the offers of hotels related to various services and amenities for families with children, which were assigned to one of three groups (24 items): general child-friendly hotel services and amenities, in-room amenities and restaurant amenities. In the second phase of the study, parents of children aged 0-10 years were asked to assess the degree to which the amenities offered by hotels were important for them during the selection of a hotel. In total, 90 surveys were taken into consideration. The tool was designed to examine the needs of parents who have children of different ages, in regard to selected hotel services and amenities (24 items). As in the case of the surveys for hoteliers, the same three groups were created. The research demonstrates that children's age is the key factor that should lead to the differentiation of the accommodation offer. However, hoteliers largely perceive children as a homogeneous group. In all studied age categories (6) and amenities groups (3), parents' expectations were higher than the services and amenities offered. No significant differences regarding the category of the hotel or hotel chain membership have been found. The results of the study may provide valuable guidance to hoteliers who wish to attract families with children to urban tourism and adapt their offer to them, thus realising the principle of inclusiveness. They may be also a significant contribution to the literature on the subject, as most published work concerns holiday hotels rather than city hotels.

Muscle and intestinal damage in triathletes.

The aim of the paper was to assess indicators of muscle and intestinal damage in triathletes. The study involved 15 triathletes whose objective for the season was to start in the XTERRA POLAND 2017 event (1,500-m swimming, 36-km cycling, and 10-km mountain running). Before the 14-week preparatory period, the competitors' body composition was measured, aerobic capacity was tested (graded treadmill test) and blood samples were collected to determine markers showing the level of muscle and intestinal damage. Subsequent tests for body composition were carried out before and after the competition. Blood samples for biochemical indicators were collected the day before the competition, after the completed race, and 24 and 48 hours later. A significant decrease in body mass was observed after completing the race (-3.1±1.5%). The mean maximal oxygen uptake level among the studied athletes equalled 4.9±0.4 L·min-1, 58.8±4.5 mL·kg-1·min-1. The significant increase in concentrations of cortisol, c-reactive protein and myoglobin after the competition, significantly correlated with the significant increase in zonulin concentration (post 1h: r = 0.88, p = 0.007, r = 0,79, p = 0.001, r = 0.78, p = 0.001, and post 12h: r = 0.75, p = 0.01, r = 0.71, p = 0.011, r = 0.83, p = 0.02). No significant changes in the concentration of tumour necrosis factor alpha among the examined competitors were noted at following stages of the study. The results of our research showed that in order to monitor overload in the training of triathletes, useful markers reflecting the degree of muscle and intestinal damage include cortisol, testosterone, testosterone to cortisol ratio, c-reactive protein, myoglobin and zonulin. Changes in muscle cell damage markers strongly correlated with changes in zonulin concentration at particular stages of the study. Thus, one can expect that the concentrations of markers depicting the level of muscle cell damage after an intense and long-lasting effort will significantly influence the level of the intestinal barrier.