Health Highlight: Fri. 10, Mar.
Today’s highlights: research (non-human) into the way the brain recognizes infection from the flu; patient information about asthma; discussion around the impact Long Covid has on patients.
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🔗: How the brain senses a flu infection — and orders the body to rest
Summary: Researchers discovered neurons in mice that alert the brain to flu infection, causing decreases in movement, hunger, and thirst (referred to as ‘sickness behaviors’).
Context: “Before this research, ‘it was not clear how the brain becomes aware that there’s an infection in the body”, says study co-author Stephen Liberles, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School.
Support Info: The neurons, which are found in the mouse’s neck, have branches that extend from the mouse’s tonsils to the brainstem. The infection alert then travels along the neurons’ branches on “a dedicated highway to the brain”.
Analysis: The study also revealed a paradox: when the researchers inhibited sickness behaviors like food avoidance, mice were less likely to die from the flu. This counters conventional wisdom that sickness behaviors act as a protective mechanism to allow for recovery.
Conclusion: The new findings are incomplete. The infection-sensing tonsil neurons only cause sickness during the upper airway-affecting flu’s first week. Another nerve pathway drives sickness behaviors as the virus enters the lower respiratory tract. “If we could block that second pathway, that, in combination, could have tremendous clinical impact,” Liberles says.
🏷️ Tags: #Influenza #BrainResearch #NonHumanResearch #FluResearch
🔗: Manage Your Asthma: Know Your Triggers and Treatment Options
✍🏼 By: FDA Staff Writer(s) • @US_FDA
Summary: Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects both children and adults. Although there is no cure, symptoms can be controlled with FDA-approved medications.
Context: “Nearly 25 million people in the U.S. (about 7.8 percent of the population) have asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There’s no cure for asthma, and, in most cases, we don’t know what causes it. We do know people living with asthma can reduce the number and severity of their asthma attacks.”
Support Info: Although there is no cure, symptoms can be successfully managed using FDA-approved medications.
Analysis: Prescription asthma medications are classified into two types: those that provide immediate relief and those that provide long-term control. Nonprescription medications may be available, but they should not be used without first consulting a healthcare professional.
Conclusion: The FDA has not evaluated homeopathic asthma products, so they should be avoided. Untreated asthma can cause long-term lung damage and potentially fatal attacks. It is critical to work with a doctor to develop an action plan that includes identifying triggers and having the appropriate medications on hand.
🏷️ Tags: #Asthma #LungHealth #LungIssues #ChronicLungDisease
🔗: Long COVID: 3 years in
✍🏼 By: The Lancet Writer(s) • @TheLancet
Summary: The article discusses Long COVID, which is a post-infection condition that has been reported globally, causing symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive impairment.
Context: At least 65 million people are estimated to be suffering from long COVID, three years after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Support Info: Long COVID is frequently dismissed as a psychosomatic condition despite affecting 10–20% of cases and people of all ages due to a lack of diagnostic tests and consensus definition.
Analysis: Long COVID has a general lack of public awareness and data, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Prevention and patient-centered multidisciplinary care are critical in the absence of specific treatments.
Conclusion: More research, recognition, treatment, and support are required for long-term COVID patients.
🏷️ Tags: #COVID19 #SarsCovid #LongCovid #SARSCoV2