It is not clear whether habitual dietary intake influences the antioxidant or inflammatory status. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of antioxidative vitamins C, E, and β-carotene obtained from daily food rations on plasma and salivary Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), uric acid and salivary C-reactive protein (CRP). The study involved 80 older subjects (66.9 ± 4.3 years), divided into two groups: group 1 (n = 43) with lower and group 2 (n = 37) with higher combined vitamins C, E and β-carotene intake. A 24-h dietary recall was obtained from each individual. TAC was assessed simultaneously with two methods in plasma (Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma—FRAP, 2.2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl—DPPH) and in saliva (FRAS and DPPHS test). Lower vitamin C intake corresponded to higher FRAS. There were no other correlations between vitamins C, E or β-carotene intake and antioxidant indices. Salivary CRP was not related to any antioxidant indices. FRAS was decreased in group 2 (p < 0.01) but no other group differences for salivary or for plasma antioxidant parameters and salivary CRP were found. Habitual, not extra supplemented dietary intake does not significantly affect plasma or salivary TAC and salivary CRP.

Background: The available data on the relationship between diet/folic acid and congenital heart disease (CHD) are not consistent. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the intake and supplementation of folic acid and other selected factors in mothers and the risk of congenital heart defects in fetuses. Methods: A case–control study was conducted. The study group included pregnant women with fetuses from singleton pregnancies with prenatally diagnosed heart defects in the fetus (n = 79) and pregnant women whose course of pregnancy was normal with no heart defects or other developmental anomalies diagnosed in the fetus (n = 121). The patients were diagnosed at a reference center in Poland. The women completed a lifestyle questionnaire and FFQ and precisely described their use of dietary supplements. A univariate logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between folic acid and selected risk factors and CHD. The association was significant and included such risk factors such as nutritional status, medications taken, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Additionally, the time of starting folic acid supplementation turned out to be statistically significant. The reference period of supplementation was the period before pregnancy. Results: Lack of supplementation increases the risk of heart defects in children by more than four times compared to supplementation before pregnancy (OR = 4.19; p = 0.0117), whereas supplementation beyond the eighth week of gestation increases the risk almost threefold (OR = 2.90; p = 0.0474). The presence of congenital defects in the family is also an important factor. Conclusions: A history of congenital heart defects or other defects, lack of periconceptional folic acid supplementation, and lack of dietary supplementation before pregnancy were associated with congenital heart defects in the fetus. Place of residence, parents’ education, lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption, nutritional status before pregnancy, and mother’s diseases did not show a significant relationship with congenital heart defects in the children. There is an urgent need to develop preventive strategies and conduct extensive public education.

Legal highs are new psychoactive substances (NPSs) which pose a high risk for human health, and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed peoples’ behaviours, including the demand for NPS. The aim of the study was to assess both the frequency of intoxication with NPS in Łódź province over the period 2014–2020, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing this trend. An analysis was carried out of data on intoxications in Łódź province in the years 2014–2020 reported by hospitals. The medical interventions rate (MI) per 100,000 people in the population was calculated. The frequency of intoxications was compared taking sociodemographic variables into account, and the effect of seasonal influence on intoxications was calculated using the Holt–Winter multiplicative seasonal method. In the period considered, there were 7175 acute NPS poisonings in the Łódź province and 25,495 in Poland. The averaged MI rate between 2014–2020 was 9.45 for Poland and 38.53 for the Łódź province, and the lowest value was found during the COVID pandemic in the year 2020 (respectively, 2.1 vs. 16.94). NPS users were mainly young men of 19–24 years old from a big city. Most cases were registered at weekends and in summer months. The majority of intoxications were caused by unidentified psychoactive substances of legal highs (chi² = 513.98, p < 0.05). The actual number of NPS-related poisonings in the Łódź province in 2020 was lower than the value extrapolated from trend analysis of data between 2014–2019. NPS use in Poland decreased during the pandemic. It should be noted that a decrease in the number of drug-related incidents can have more than one reason, e.g., preventive programs, increased awareness, or changes in the law. This paper advocates that, in addition to monitoring NPS-related intoxications, there is further investigation into the social, cultural, and behavioural determinants of NPS to facilitate targeted prevention programmes and the development of new medical treatments.

Background: Breastfeeding is the gold standard in infant nutrition. Successful breastfeeding depends on many factors, including the help of medical personnel in teaching breastfeeding, the need for professional work, and breastfeeding-friendly places in public spaces. The main goal was to identify various barriers among mothers to breastfeeding. Methods: This study used a quantitative descriptive research design. We recruited 419 mothers aged at least 18 years old through social media. Results were analysed using Pearson’s chi-squared and Fisher’s tests of independence for pairs of dependent and independent variables. Results: Most often, women gave birth at the age of 25–30, had one or two children, and attended higher education. Almost half of them lived in a large city and gave birth to a child by caesarean section. A total of 83.1% of mothers planned to breastfeed, but not all of them were able to do so for various reasons. One-third of them felt sorry for themselves that they had to change their feeding method. The majority of mothers did not receive sufficient help in the hospital in terms of learning how to breastfeed (61%), did not use the help of a lactation consultant (67%), and answered that there was no lactation consultant in their place of residence (65%). Only 43.2% of mothers returned to work without ceasing breastfeeding. A total of 42% of mothers experienced feelings of embarrassment when breastfeeding in a public place. The most frequently indicated barrier to breastfeeding in a public place was the lack of a suitable location where a woman would feel comfortable, calm, and intimate. Conclusion: There are various barriers towards breastfeeding: too few lactation consultants, problems with breastfeeding when the mother wants to return to work, and unfriendly places for breastfeeding in public spaces. Efforts must be made to support mothers in breastfeeding.

Introduction and objective: PCOS is the most commonly diagnosed endocrine disorder among women at reproductive age, often accompanied by insulin resistance (IR). Symptoms of PCOS result in a reduction of the quality of life and psychosocial well-being of the patients. The aim of the...

Introduction: The relationship between diet of mothers, including supplementation of vitamin D and Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (LC-PUFA), and the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHD) in the fetus has not been sufficiently studied. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the intake of vitamin D and LC-PUFA by mother (from diet and with supplementation, including its time of implementation and applied dose), and the risk of CHD in the fetus. Methods: This was a case—control study with the participation of a total of 79 women with prenatally diagnosed CHD in the fetus and 121 women without CHD in the fetus. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used with particular emphasis on vitamin D and DHA supplementation. A univariate logistic regression model was used to evaluate the relationship between selected dietary data and the risk of CHD in the fetus. Results: In the group of females without CHD in the fetus, the mean values of vitamin D intake, including supplementation, and dietary LC-PUFA + DHA from supplementation, were higher than in women with CHD in the fetus (41.3 ± 24.7 vs. 34.7 ± 27.8 μg; p = 0.02 and 831.0 ± 280.1 vs. 767.7 ± 287.6 mg; p = 0.008, for vitamin D and LC-PUFA + DHA respectively). No significant relationship was found between vitamin D intake (including supplementation) or between LC-PUFA + DHA supplementation by pregnant women, and the presence of CHD in their children. Conclusions: It seems that increased maternal intake of vitamin D and LC-PUFA, including DHA, through supplementation, may protect fetus against CHD, but the relationship between the occurrence of CHD and diet in this area need further studies.