MEDICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF PREVENTING SPORTS INJURIES AMONG CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Sports injuries among children and adolescents typically involve mild bruises and sprains. However, any sport can cause injuries to the musculoskeletal system. It is crucial to prevent such injuries through proper training and supervision to ensure the safety of young athletes. Therefore, when providing medical care to these patients, physicians must have the appropriate qualifications and skills and take into account the specific nature and location of injuries in each sport. Training programs and performance standards for young athletes should consider participants' biological age, physical and psychological immaturity, rather than their chronological age to prevent serious musculoskeletal injuries in child and youth sports. This review outlines the incidence of sports injuries in adolescents and considers how biological and social factors (factors related to coaches, peers and parents), influence the incidence and nature of injuries in different sports. Coaches and parents, though, have the ability to reduce the risk of injury by selecting suitable sports activities, employing the right equipment, enforcing rules, promoting safe playing conditions, and ensuring adequate supervision. Healthcare providers involved in the prevention and treatment of injuries in young athletes must possess the skillset to diagnose and assess the severity and risk to the athlete's future health and performance.

THE OCCURRENCE OF SPORTS INJURIES AMONG PRE-ADOLESCENTS

Preschool children's harmonious development, cognitive and communicative abilities are enhanced through physical activities in sports, yet sports training and competition pose a risk of injury to children aged three to seven years due to their physiological and psychological features. Although sports injuries in preschool children are not common, they can be undesirable and unavoidable, and fortunately, these injuries are usually reversible. This review article presents data on the physiological features of the developing musculoskeletal system and its relationship to sports injuries in children, which together determine the nature of children's sports injuries. We also present a classification of sports injuries among preschool children, based on the literature, which considers the type, location, and severity of the trauma as estimated by the duration of mandatory missed practice.

Functional regeneration at the blood-biomaterial interface

The use of cardiovascular implants is commonplace in clinical practice. However, reproducing the key bioactive and adaptive properties of native cardiovascular tissues with an artificial replacement is highly challenging. Exciting new treatment strategies are under development to regenerate (parts of) cardiovascular tissues directly in situ using immunomodulatory biomaterials. Direct exposure to the bloodstream and hemodynamic loads is a particular challenge, given the risk of thrombosis and adverse remodeling that it brings. However, the blood is also a source of (immune) cells and proteins that dominantly contribute to functional tissue regeneration. This review explores the potential of the blood as a source for the complete or partial in situ regeneration of cardiovascular tissues, with a particular focus on the endothelium, being the natural blood-tissue barrier. We pinpoint the current scientific challenges to enable rational engineering and testing of blood-contacting implants to leverage the regenerative potential of the blood.

THE INCIDENCE OF SPORTS INJURIES AMONG SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

It is estimated that approximately one in ten school-aged children experience sports-related injuries annually. These injuries are most common at 12 years of age. Boys are more likely to get injured and more likely to get seriously injured than girls. The probability of injury is greater in contact or high-impact sports, with American soccer accounting for the largest number of injuries, followed by wrestling, basketball, soccer, and baseball. In certain sports, such as horseback riding, women are four times more likely to sustain injuries. The presented literature review details the incidence of various sports-related injuries in adolescents. Sports-related injuries observed in children under the age of 10 are nonspecific and include contusions, mild sprains, and fractures of the extremities, most commonly Salter-Harris fractures (growth plate fractures) or plastic fractures. In young athletes, sports-related injuries of the ligaments or muscles, as well as spinal or head injuries, are rare. This is particularly true during puberty, where growth plate fractures and musculoskeletal injuries occur more frequently.

Prevalencia de desesperanza y factores sociodemográficos de migrantes mexicanos repatriados

Objetivo: Describir las características sociodemográficas generales, así como algunas vinculadas con el proceso de migración y evaluar el nivel de desesperanza de los mexicanos que son deportados de los Estados Unidos de América (EE.UU) al Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (AICM), a través del Programa de Repatriación al Interior de México (PRIM). Métodos: Estudio descriptivo de tipo transversal en el periodo de julio a diciembre de 2015. Se aplicó en forma aleatoria, confidencial y previo consentimiento un cuestionario estructurado a migrantes mexicanos deportados a su arribo a México y provenientes de los EE.UU, se incluyó una sección de datos sociodemográficos generales; de aspectos relacionados con la migración y, se evaluó el nivel de desesperanza por medio de la Escala de Desesperanza de Beck.  Resultados: Se encuestó a 367 migrantes mexicanos deportados, sólo siete fueron mujeres, la mayoría en un rango de edad de 18 a 35 años, el 23% reporta enfermedades pre-existentes, sólo el 45% tuvo un buen acceso a servicios de salud en EE.UU, el 56% ya había sido repatriado en dos o más ocasiones, el 75% había vivido más de cinco años en ese país, sólo el 13% utilizó una Ventanilla de Salud de algún consulado mexicano durante su estancia. La prevalencia de desesperanza fue del 6% en esta población. Conclusiones: El abordaje de la salud mental en poblaciones de migrantes mexicanos carece de políticas públicas. La caracterización de la población migrante repatriada debe ser el punto de partida para incidir en políticas públicas que mejoren la calidad de vida de los migrantes de retorno.

The influence of stevia glycosides on the growth of Lactobacillus reuteri strains

Use of stevia-derived sweeteners was recently officially approved by the European Commission, and their application in the food industry has increased, especially in functional foods. However, there are scarce data about the influence of stevia on probiotic bacteria, which are important both as an inhabitant of the human gut and as a functional food additive. Taking into consideration the broad application of Lactobacillus reuteri in functional foods, the aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of stevia glycosides on its growth. Six Lact. reuteri strains were tested for their ability to grow in the presence of stevioside and rebaudioside A (0·2-2·6 g l(-1) ). The effect of stevia glycosides on biomass concentration, cell count, pH and lactic and acetic acid synthesis was analysed. Both glycosides impaired the growth of analysed strains. However, the inhibitory effect was strain specific, and the concentration-dependent effect was not observed for all parameters. The most pronounced concentration-dependent effect was on lactic and acetic acid production. Taking into account the observed strain-specific inhibitory effect of stevia glycosides, it could be suggested to evaluate the influence of them on each strain employed before their simultaneous application in functional foods.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The study showed that the growth of Lactobacillus reuteri strains was inhibited in the presence of stevia sweeteners stevioside and rebaudioside A. Probiotics, for example Lact. reuteri strains, are often used as functional additives in health foods and are an important natural inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract. Stevia glycosides application in food is increasing; yet, there are no data about the influence of stevia glycosides on Lact. reuteri growth and very few data on growth of other lactobacilli, either in probiotic foods or in the gastrointestinal tract. This research shows that it is necessary to evaluate the influence of stevia glycosides on other groups of micro-organisms in further research.