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High blood pressure (hypertension) causes thickening of the blood vessels and hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis). A study conducted by Brazilian researchers has shown for the first time that a similar phenomenon occurs in the lungs. High blood pressure hardens the bronchi and increases airway resistance, impairing respiratory capacity. The study sample comprised 731 men and women over 60, both with and without high blood pressure. It was designed to investigate the effects of [...]

A study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity reports the findings of a study by researchers based in Brazil, the United States and South Korea who set out to understand how viral infections cause pain and to contribute to the search for novel ways of relieving it. The work shows that a channel known to mediate pain can be activated when an immune system sensor known as STING (stimulator of interferon genes) recognizes certain nucleic acids, such as viral DNA. STING is a key [...]

A study involving 92 socioeconomically vulnerable elderly women has compared the efficacy of different low-cost community-based exercise programs to improve and/or maintain cardiovascular and functional parameters, such as waist circumference, blood pressure, and above all, arterial stiffness, a risk factor for atherosclerosis. An article describing the results is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The main conclusion is that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) [...]

Low-calorie diets and intermittent fasting have been shown to have numerous health benefits: They can delay the onset of some age-related diseases and lengthen lifespan, not only in humans but many other organisms. Many complex mechanisms underlie this phenomenon. Previous work from MIT has shown that one way fasting exerts its beneficial effects is by boosting the regenerative abilities of intestinal stem cells, which helps the intestine recover from injuries or inflammation. In a study [...]

An article published in the journal Current Biology describes experiments that mapped a brain circuit responsible for instantly detecting threats and forming memories of fear. “We were interested in locating a brain region associated with fear signaling and finding out how it could identify environments previously related to physical or predatory threats, such as a place where the individual underwent an aversive physical stimulus,” said Newton Sabino Canteras, full professor in [...]

Researchers in Brazil who analyzed samples from a 46-year-old patient in the Northeast state of Maranhão found an amphotericin B-resistant strain of the parasite Leishmania amazonensis circulating for the first time in the country. Amphotericin B is widely used to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin infection caused by sandfly bite. The disease is characterized by skin lesions that persist for months but can be cured. In the case in question, however, the patient had the diffuse [...]

A study conducted at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, shows that tests of functional mobility and muscle strength can be adapted so that they can be performed at home under remote supervision by health professionals, especially for older people with dementia. The telehealth protocol also involves training for caregivers. Tests of functional mobility and muscle strength are widely used by physical therapists and geriatricians to [...]

A study involving 22 Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients has shown that use of the dopaminergic drug levodopa improves sleep quality. When the patients took the drug, the number of times they woke up during the night fell 25% and the amount of time they remained awake fell 30% on average. An article reporting the results is published in the Journal of Sleep Research. The sleep-wake patterns of PD patients were monitored during four nights with the aid of a wearable actigraph, a [...]

In Brazil, climate and other human-made environmental changes threaten decades-long efforts to fight a widespread and debilitating parasitic disease. Now, a partnership between researchers from Stanford and Brazil is helping to proactively predict these impacts. Schistosomiasis, spread by freshwater snails, affects more than 200 million people in many tropical regions of the world. It can cause stomach pain and irreversible consequences such as enlarged liver and cancer. Public health [...]