Protective effects induced by the food supplement Fluxonorm® in the lower urinary tract.

OBJECTIVE: Fluxonorm® is a dietary supplement that includes water-soluble extracts of Solidago virga-aurea, Phyllantus niruri, Epilobium angustifolium, Peumus boldus and Ononis spinosa. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of Fluxonorm® in improving lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in combination with standard of care. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Lower urinary tract symptoms can be improved by a marked anti-inflammatory action on the lower urinary tract (irritative symptoms) and/or by an anti-proliferative action (obstructive symptoms) on the prostate. Thirty patients were enrolled to evaluate the effect of Fluxonorm® on improving lower urinary tract symptoms. All patients complained of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), such as hesitancy, poor flow, intermittent flow, incomplete voiding (obstructive symptoms), as well as increased frequency, nocturia and urgency (storage symptoms). All patients were treated with one tablet of Fluxonorm® (1200 mg) daily for 30 days to corroborate the results of our observation in which the food supplement (800 µg/mL) was also studied on the human prostate cancer PC3 cell line (antiproliferative activity) and on prostaglandin (PG)E2 production (anti-inflammatory activity). In addition, the effect of this compound on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression was investigated. Finally, a bioinformatic analysis was conducted with the aim of unravelling the mechanism of action underlying the observed bio-pharmacological effects. RESULTS: As hypothesized in our preclinical research, adding Fluxonorm® to the therapy of enrolled patients improved all studied clinical parameters, including maximum flow (Qmax), after one month of treatment. In the preclinical evaluation, this formulation reduced PC3 cell viability and PGE2 production. The effects were also paralleled by reduced COX-2 gene expression and Fluxonorm®'s partly related content of catechin. While docking studies pointed out to the putative inhibition of matrix metalloproteinse-2 by gallic acid, as a further mechanism underlying the observed anti-proliferative effects, in PC3 cells exposed to Fluxonorm®. CONCLUSIONS: Fluxonorm® improved the efficacy of standard therapy, in terms of antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effects, for the management of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). This could be related, albeit partially, to the blunting effect of this compound on PGE2 production.

Effects of individualized memory aids on the conversation of persons with severe dementia: a pilot study.

Bourgeois has shown that use of simple memory aids enhances the quality of conversation of persons with moderate Alzheimer-type dementia. We replicated Bourgeois' intervention with five people with severe dementia (Mini-Mental State Examination scores 0-4) and diagnoses of Alzheimer-type or vascular dementia, and evaluated the impact of the aids on the proportion of time participants spent on topic in conversation with carers. For three participants, use of the memory aid did not increase the proportion of time-spent on-topic. The remaining two participants, however, spent approximately twice as much time on-topic when using the aid as when conversing without it. Our results extend Bourgeois' work by showing that memory aids are helpful to some people with severe dementia.

[The departmental concept in the therapy of facial dysmorphisms. A preliminary note on the psychological aspects]. / Concetto dipartimentale nella terapia dei dismorfismi del volto. Nota preliminare sugli aspetti psicologici.

The authors describe the work carried out with the intention of map and border in simple and repeatable way the risk of dissatisfaction in the patient candidates to cosmetic and oro-maxillo-facial surgery. It represent the first of a series of notes which propose to characterize patients with problems tied to the organization of the individuality in which, the discrepancy among expectations and obtained result, lead in the more serious cases, to a real crisis of identity or a depressed state of varied entity.