ABSTRACT
The retina may suffer neurodegenerative damages, as other tissues of the central nervous system do, and serious eye diseases may develop. One of them is age-related macular degeneration, which causes progressive loss of vision due to retina degeneration. Treatment of age-related macular degeneration focuses on antioxidant agents and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor compounds, among others, that prevent/diminish oxidative stress and reduce neovascularisation respectively. The phytochemicals, medicinal plants and/or plant-diet supplements might be a useful adjunct in prevention or treatment of age-related macular degeneration owing to their antioxidant and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor properties. This review article presents the most investigated plants and natural products in relation to age-related macular degeneration, such as saffron, ginkgo, bilberry and blueberry, curcuma or turmeric, carotenoids, polyphenols, and vitamins C and E. This study provides up-to-date information on the effects, treatments, safety and efficiency of these phytotherapy products.
ABSTRACT
El objetivo de este estudio es conocer el perfil del consumo de fármacos para el tratamiento de la depresión, ansiedad y trastornos del sueño en jóvenes menores de 30 años. Para ello se realiza un estudio descriptivo transversal mediante encuestas autocumplimentadas (n=486) y posterior tratamiento estadístico de los datos. Entre los resultados más importantes, señalaremos que la tasa de consumo de antidepresivos, ansiolíticos e hipnóticos fue del 19,8%. En un 44,0% de los casos la duración del tratamiento para la depresión fue inferior a tres meses, mientras que los tratamientos para ansiedad y trastornos del sueño duraron más de tres meses en un 30,7% y un 16,7%, respectivamente. En los tratamientos de la depresión se detectó un mayor consumo por indicación del psiquiatra que por el médico de familia. La mayor tasa de automedicación hallada fue la correspondiente a los tratamientos para trastornos del sueño (46,3%). En suma, hemos detectado un consumo de psicofármacos en jóvenes elevado y superior al encontrado en estudios realizados anteriormente en España. La falta de adherencia a tratamiento antidepresivo, la elevada prevalencia en el consumo de ansiolíticos o de hipnóticos durante períodos superiores a lo recomendable y la automedicación detectada en los jóvenes hacen necesaria la aplicación de la Atención Farmacéutica en este grupo poblacional (AU)
The present study aims to evaluate the use of drugs for depression anxiety and sleep disorders in people under 30 years of age. We carried out a transversal descriptive study using a questionnaire (n=486) and statistical analysis of the data obtained. Amongst the more interesting results we would like to pint out to the fact that the prevalence in the use of anti-depressive drugs, anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotic drugs was of 19,8%. Among those who used drugs for treatment of depression, 44,0 % use them for less than three months, whereas in 30,7% of those taking anxiolytics and in 16,7% of the population taking sedatives-hypnotics the treatment lasted over three months. We also found out that the anti-depressive drugs were prescribed more often by psychiatrists than by the general practitioners and that the highest rate of self-medication (46,3%) was amongst users of sleeping pills. In this study we report high use of psychopharmacologic agents in youths and higher than that found in previous studies in Spain. Lack of adherence to the long-term treatment with anti-depressive drugs together with a high percentage of long-term use of anxiolytics and sedatives as well as the amount of self-medication detected make the implantation of pharmaceutical care in the youth using these drugs a sheer necessity (AU)
