BACKGROUND Due to the widespread use of bottled water, it is important from a hygienic point of view to ensure that these products have good quality and meet the requirements set out in regulations. METHODS AND RESULTS In the period 2000-2013, a large-scale study (2,500 samples) was carried out on the quality of Bulgarian bottled water as per the microbiological parameters laid down in the Eu...

The role of bicarbonated mineral waters on lipid metabolism and lipoprotein concentrations in man has scarcely been investigated. The present study aimed to investigate whether drinking sodium bicarbonated mineral water affects postprandial cholesterol and triacylglycerol metabolism in postmenopausal women. In a three-way, randomised, crossover study, eighteen healthy postmenopausal women consu...

OBJECTIVES At the cellular level, tissue-bound pepsin is fundamental to the pathophysiologic mechanism of reflux disease, and although the thresholds for laryngeal damage in laryngopharyngeal reflux and for esophageal damage in gastroesophageal reflux disease differ, both forms of damage are due to pepsin, which requires acid for its activation. In addition, human pepsin remains stable at pH 7....

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder affecting nearly 1% of adult population. First-line therapies include disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, but creno-balneotherapy is often prescribed in rheumatic disorders and RA is no exception. Objectives: To know the efficacy of creno-balneotherapy in RA. Methods: A Medline based search was made using MeSH terms “balneology”...

The consumption of mineral waters is increasing in industrialised countries. High intakes of Ca and other alkalising cations as well as a low acid intake are beneficial to bone. We examined which components of mineral waters are conditioning their Ca content and their alkalinising power, in order to define the optimal profile. European mineral waters were randomly selected on the Internet: 100 ...