Certainly each of us has at some time in our lives taken various nutritional supplements or pharmaceuticals, which we have started to take for various purposes. Whether it’s boosting immunity, preventing disease, improving mental health, relieving pain, and so on. It is about influencing our health based on some of our subjective feelings and based largely on our own discretion. It is important to know the difference between a dietary supplement and a medicine. These characteristics directly define for us the revenues of the MoH and the MoPRV SR.

Nutritional supplements – are foods to supplement the natural diet which are concentrated sources of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, singly or in combination. Dietary supplements shall be placed on the market in dosage form (…) so that they can be taken in measured small unit quantities Dietary supplements shall be manufactured according to the principles of good manufacturing practice.

Medicinal product – a medicinal product or a mixture of medicinal products and excipients modified by a technological process into a pharmaceutical form and intended to protect against disease, to diagnose disease, to cure disease or to influence physiological functions.

From our practice, we are increasingly encountering the request from patients to inject various substances directly into the vein, we perceive several aspects of why this is happening. The most common aspects include: lack of time on the part of patients, the need to resolve a health problem quickly, busy and unavailable public health appointments, and previous downplaying/unwillingness to address patients’ health problems by other health professionals.

On a daily basis, we see requests for immunity support, pain relief, mental health support for increased stress loads, and overall health support. All of these requirements can be addressed to some extent with supportive therapy directly into the vein. Of course, some treatments need to be discussed with a doctor first, possibly supplemented with blood tests to make the treatment meaningful.

Supporting the immune system is most often done through the application of vitamin C directly into the vein. It has been known for years that vitamin C can reduce oxidative stress and is an important immunomodulator in the processes of fighting various types of infections. When administered directly into a vein, it reaches 65 times greater plasma levels than if taken orally (directly through the mouth). Such vitamin C supports the immune system, hydrates the skin, improves skin tone, improves symptoms of long cavida, reduces high histamine levels, supportive treatment of alopecia (hair loss), combination in analgesic (pain relieving) treatment, poorly healing wounds, osteoporosis, endocrine, or vascular diseases.

The relaxing infusion contains minerals to relax muscles and reduce stress, vitamins to support the nervous system and reduce fatigue, amino acids to relax and reduce stress, antioxidants to combat oxidative stress, and electrolytes to help maintain hydration and promote overall health.

Pain relief infusion, or also analgesic infusion. This is a type of treatment that we try to cure different types of pain, most commonly musculoskeletal pain. Before this kind of treatment, of course, it is necessary to have an examination with our doctor so that he/she can correctly select the type of medicine and other drugs/supplements with an effective administration scheme. With this type of infusion, we must remember that our goal is pain relief and not to suppress the primary disease causing the pain, so that we do not neglect the primary diagnosis.

Last but not least, we must not forget to mention the infusion, which is tailored to each patient. This is a complex infusion, maintaining a strong and resilient immune system is key to the overall well-being of the body and mind. This treatment is preceded by an examination by a doctor and blood and urine tests. So that we can target the substances that the patient is lacking.

So, to summarise, the role of administering substances obviously has a significant role to play in supporting our health, both physical and mental. Of course, we must not forget about a varied and nutritious diet and hydration of our body. Of course, let’s keep in mind that this is primarily a supportive treatment to maintain full health or to support a return to full health.

Sources:

Compendium of Medicine, IV. International Congress on Supportive Therapy with Infused Vitamin C, 2023
Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic of 25. July 2007 No. 16826/2007OL, which issues the title of the Food Code of the Slovak Republic regulating the requirements for foods for special nutritional purposes and for food supplements
Act No. 140/1998 Coll. on medicinal products and medical devices (as amended)

Skin doctor Sandra Novotná Rozborilová named a new series of cosmetic products after herself because she prepared it for herself. There is always a lot of interest in such products, but she is honest with her patients and would never lie to them that her cream will smooth out wrinkles. There is no such thing. Her products help differently.

You started making creams when there was no botulinum toxin and other methods for quick facial rejuvenation. Were creams the only way to take care of your skin at that time?

Not only was it the only one, but thirty years ago there weren’t even as many topical creams as there are today, with every active ingredient you can think of and prescription for. As a novice doctor, I was in charge of writing out prescriptions to the pharmacy to make ointments and solutions for the entire department, like every other novice in the clinic. We had a thick workbook of individual medicines in various ointment bases that had been handed down for generations. Alongside this, I’ve also been experimenting with making creams for my own use. I tried to see what worked for what problem, and when I needed something specific, I had to have it made at the pharmacy. The skin doctors knew what the skin needed, but also didn’t need.

Is that why they all had such nice skin?

Exactly. I noticed as a medical student that the more experienced leatherwomen had very nice skin. I still remember their old rule “less is more” – especially when I see the consequences of using a lot of cosmetics, complicated routines and frequent rotations in the clinic. The skin’s protective barrier is broken, or the skin becomes sensitised and an allergy develops. That’s the problem. The person then ceases to tolerate even a minimal amount of the substance to which he or she is allergic. Worse, various cross-reactions arise and the skin ceases to tolerate almost everything. Some moderation in the use of cosmetics really pays off.

However, not every dermatologist makes her own creams, so there was probably something more behind it for you…

Somehow I got caught up in it. (smile) I studied a lot, observed the cosmetic habits and bad habits of the patients in my practice, and why some have to go for more frequent procedures, while for others the effect lasts longer. I was inspired and fascinated by the history of medical cosmetics. Today many people don’t even know it, because everything in aesthetic medicine is commercialized, but back in the fifties there was an institute in Slovakia that dealt with the treatment of aesthetic defects on the skin. I have to say that even by today’s standards it was an institute that had fantastically developed standards for the treatment of skin problems, it also had its own line of cosmetics. To this day, Katka Traubnerová, a chemist with whom I still work, is very active in this field.

How was your first cream created and sold?

I started mixing it for my own use. I have been using it daily for thirty years. I combined various inherited recipes and gradually modified it. I have extremely dry skin and I had a hard time finding quality cosmetics that didn’t cost hundreds of euros. But the first basic line was one lotion, one nourishing and one moisturizer. But then I was pushed forward by my clients. When I opened the clinic, I kept track of what was bothering them and what they would need in their daily care. It is one thing to have aesthetic treatments, which you can have once every six months, but it is very important to take care of it on a daily basis. It also determines how often you need to go for mesotherapy, Botox or laser.

Today, you also have serums, shampoos and elixirs, and even Vilo Rozboril’s husband is said to be behind the sale of your cosmetics through the e-shop. Is that true?

Since my clinic is located in Palisády, where many diplomats live, various clients from abroad came to see me.Thanks to the fact that I helped them with their skin problems, but also on the level of aesthetic medicine, after leaving Slovakia they had my cosmetics brought abroad through friends. I felt that my products had more potential, but I still didn’t have the courage or ambition to expand beyond the clinic. And yes, it wasn’t until Vilo convinced me about the e-shop and the idea of introducing myself to a wider public. It went better than I expected, so I moved the whole production process from the clinic to the production line, where the creams are produced under the conditions designed for the production of pharmaceuticals. The sales from our shelves have gone through distribution networks to the drugstores.

What is the most important thing you take into account when making the cream? Will it be for older, younger, men, women or by skin type?

The basic cosmetic line is divided according to skin type – dry, oily, mixed. There’s nothing worse than a person with oily skin buying a heavy nourishing cream because they like the active ingredient it contains. The vehicle, i.e. the base in which the active ingredients are mixed, determines whether the cream suits you or not, in layman’s terms. Of course, for mature skin, additional care is also recommended, i.e. various serums.

So how is a new cream created? I’ve noticed that there’s always something else in fashion and all the creams contain either hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A….

When I decide on a new product, I am usually drawn to a new molecule that I read about in the literature. Then, together with the chemist, we search which lab in the world we could get hold of it. Most often it is from the USA, Switzerland or Germany. The second motivation for me is a problem that I want to solve, and I am looking specifically for active ingredients. The chemist starts mixing several creams based on my recipe and brings them to me for testing. First I try it on myself, friends and family, and if it suits us, the cream goes into normal lab testing for toxicity, stability, bacteriological safety, etc. At the end of this, there is one big book that contains a number of permits for the product to be sold in the EU.

Speaking of molecules and active ingredients, what’s the most in demand right now?

Hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, vitamin A, bakuchiol as an alternative to retinol for sensitive skin and pregnant and lactating women, ceramides, coenzyme Q, peptides, amino acids….There are studies on all these substances that talk about their influence on the prevention of skin aging. But at the same time, we need to be truthful with our clients and say that no cream will remove wrinkles. The cream is used preventively. This is not a curative method, but a preventive method that can prevent premature aging. When someone promises you that a cream will remove wrinkles, they are lying. Our skin is not a sponge, but a barrier that protects us, from external influences. If our skin were permeable to good substances, it would be permeable to bad ones, and thus our body would be at great risk. Due to this defensive function of the skin, we cannot deliver really effective substances to such places and in such concentrations that they balance wrinkles. There are other methods for this. It is similar with pigment spots, for example. There are a number of substances that have promising clinical data, but in practice most women end up having laser removal.

What good are serums if they don’t even deliver the active ingredient deeper into the skin?

I love serums. These are preparations in which the active substances are in higher concentrations. Therefore, they are used as a combination for more mature skin or if we are dealing with a specific problem. The point is that with the right combination of creams and serums we can prevent wrinkles.

What do you like most about your brand?

I’m a minimalist because less is more when it comes to skincare. Skin is beautiful when it is healthy and properly cared for. The cream doesn’t have to smell or have spectacular packaging. People who have had intolerances or allergies and can no longer use tap water on their faces because they can’t tolerate it can tell you about it. There is no need to fall for the trend of a skin routine consisting of twenty steps and various abrasive peels, because the skin surface is unnecessarily disturbed.

Is price important in skin care? Is it true that the more expensive the cream, the better the quality?

Certainly not. A lot of the price is marketing and the brand itself. Do you know how many people work to promote well-known global brand creams? They all have to be paid for, and the person who buys the cream pays for it.

Going back to those molecules…Is there one that is so expensive that nobody has it?

There has been a lot of talk recently about whether it would be a good idea to put botulinum toxin in a cream to stop sweating, for example. But even the best labs in the world can’t process it, they can’t find a carrier to get the molecule to its destination, the point where the excitement is transmitted from the nerve to the muscle on the interstitial plate. This confirms the previous, that even we can’t get the active ingredient as deep into the structure where we need it. If that were the case, we wouldn’t use any injections and aesthetic dermatology would cease to exist.

What is important when buying a cream or serum?

What type of skin you have. Oily needs a light emulsion with urea or ceramides. Dry skin, on the other hand, a cream with a strong occlusive effect and various serums can be applied underneath.

We know at least five celebrities who can’t get enough of your semi-fat cream and have been buying it for years. Is this the product you are most proud of?

I am very proud of Superelixir. It’s a cream for dry skin, which is what I have, so that’s why I’ve been developing it. I inherited the recipe from Mrs. Edith, my friend’s mother, who is no longer alive. She worked as an instrument maker at the first plastic surgery clinic in Partizánská Street in Bratislava, where children with burns were also treated. There was a burn cream that I took the base from and added other active ingredients from the anti-ageing spectrum. I’m also proud of this latest 24-hour ultra facial with ceramides, which has absolutely state-of-the-art ceramides. It’s designed for those with extra dehydrated skin, but also for those who don’t want to moisturize. And thus it is very good for men as well.

Source : https://www1.pluska.sk/rady-a-tipy/znama-lekarka-sandra-novotna-rozborilova-otvorene-priznala-krem-vrasky-nevyhladi

On a subject like health, we need to ask more and more questions, as we have in the past. Why take responsibility for your health into your own hands? What all goes into building a relationship with your own health? Why is prevention important? What is the role of self-education?

It is not only with all these questions that one comes to confront during one’s lifetime. But in order to be able to ask the right questions at all, it is important to realise that we need to have a certain level of knowledge about the functioning of our own body.

If we look objectively, nothing is happening to advance sex education or to expand health education in Slovakia. And this is a common problem we encounter in everyday practice. People don’t know how their own body works, how the different organ systems work and how they are interconnected. Of course, we do not expect expertise in the anatomy and pathology of the organism, but often these are deficiencies at an elementary level.

What is health anyway? Health is defined by the WHO as: “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Already with this definition we can notice that it is the interconnection of all aspects of the body’s functioning with regard to health. In today’s 21. century, we increasingly need to realise that a holistic, that is, a holistic view of health must be a given, and that each individual has health in his or her own hands. It is only then that we can see prevention in the area of our own health as a benefit to ourselves.

Prevention, i.e. the avoidance of disease, is divided into:

• Primary, i.e. a set of activities to reduce exposure to risk or reduce the incidence of new diseases (e.g. vaccination, health education, self-examination, …),
• secondary, a set of activities that serve to catch the disease and prevent its further spread (collection of biological material, various types of testing methods, …)
• tertiary, it is already a set of activities aimed at preventing complications and worsening of the disease.

So, since we know what prevention is, let’s take a closer look at it from the perspective of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) – as the name suggests, these are diseases whose mode of transmission, i.e. infection, is unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sexual intercourse. The prevention of sexually transmitted diseases can be divided into the following points:

• genital and breast self-examinations, this is the fastest and most effective way to find out the level of our intimate health (breast and testicular examinations can be done regularly in the natural environment of the home without unnecessary stress),
• Genital and breast examinations by a doctor, regular preventive gynaecological, urological and venereological check-ups play an important role in the prevention of cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and we must not underestimate their importance,
• HPV vaccination (HPV virus – causes an increased likelihood of developing various types of cancer),
• the use of condoms, also as a tool to protect your own health.

It is often forgotten that we can also have a targeted preventive examination by a dermatovenerologist or a venereologist. Dermatovenerology, more commonly known as “dermatology,” is a medical specialty concerned with skin diseases and their treatment, but is not often known for its focused attention on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Every preventive, but also targeted examination (i.e. when the individual already has some symptoms) consists of taking a medical history (i.e. a thorough interview with the patient) and then taking biological material. Subsequently, the collected material is examined in the laboratory for various types of jaundice, HIV, syphilis, gonorrhoea, HPV virus and various types of other microorganisms that cause various symptoms and discomforts. But we cannot forget that these symptoms may not even appear at all at the beginning of a possible disease.

So let us always remember that we have the responsibility for our health in our own hands and let us link our sex life and prevention in it as one of our priorities. After all, even Maslow, in his pyramid of needs, included sex life among our basic needs, so let us also include prevention among our basic priorities.