Anti-atherosclerotic and cardiovascular protective benefits of Brazilian nuts.

Brazil nuts are rich in magnesium, selenium, arginine and other amino acids, dietary fiber, tocopherols (vitamin E), phytosterols, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, sitosterols, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols and other amino acids. Due to such a rich mixture of nutrients, Brazil nuts protect LDL from peroxidation, and improve endothelial function, blood pressure, lipid metabolism, and decrease endothelial inflammatory markers, DNA oxidation, and blood lipids (cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides). Here, we review and propose biological mechanisms by which bioactive compounds of Brazil nuts afford protections against atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Just a few nuts per day provide sufficient cardiovascular benefits, including protection against development and progression of atherosclerosis.

Implementation of public health policies for healthy lifestyles promotion: what Brazil should tell us?

The objective of this work was to update Brazilian experiences on implementation research (IR)regarding promotion of healthy lifestyles to decrease the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD). Some Brazilian governmental activities for promotion of healthy lifestyles have been adopted around the world such as the case of the "World Physical Activity Day" and the"Walking for health program". Following the example of many other developing and developed countries, Brazilian government has been sponsored leisure-time physical activity and healthy eating programs which still were not capable of promoting massive participation, especially from workers, elderly and people from the less privileged socioeconomic classes. Although successful exercise promotion strategies have been done in Brazil, the implementation science on promotion of healthy lifestyles is still rising and more research is necessary to identify the settings, circumstances, and processes for effective and sustainable adoption of healthy dietary and exercise practices. Understanding problems, concerns and barriers for implementation of health promotion (HP) policies in Brazil could be useful for many other developing nations.

Chronopharmacological effects of growth hormone on the executive function and oxidative stress response in rats.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the chronopharmacological effects of growth hormone on executive function and the oxidative stress response in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty male Wistar rats (36-40 weeks old) had ad libitum access to water and food and were separated into four groups: diurnal control, nocturnal control, diurnal GH-treated, and nocturnal GH-treated animals. Levels of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu, Zn-SOD), and superoxide release by spleen macrophages were evaluated. For memory testing, adaptation and walking in an open field platform was used. GH-treated animals demonstrated better performance in exploratory and spatial open-field tests. RESULTS: The latency time in both GH-treated groups was significantly lower compared with the latency time of the control groups. The diurnal GH treatment did not stimulate superoxide release but increased the CuZn-SOD enzyme levels. The nocturnal GH treatment did not influence the superoxide release and CuZn-SOD concentration. GH treatment also resulted in heart atrophy and lung hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: Growth hormone treatment improved the performance of executive functions at the cost of oxidative stress triggering, and this effect was dependent on the circadian period of hormone administration. However, GH treatment caused damaging effects such as lung hypertrophy and heart atrophy.

Diet, sleep and metabolic syndrome among a legal Amazon population, Brazil.

Metabolic syndrome incidence is increasing worldwide then it is important to study the possible risk and protective factors. Our previous study suggested an association between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to address possible associations between dietary lifestyle factors with metabolic syndrome. In a case-control study we compared 74 metabolic syndrome patients with 176-matched controls attended at a public health central unit. Incident cases diagnosed according to ATP III criteria were matched with control group composed of healthy subjects performing routine examinations. Having lower educational level compared to highest levels tend to increase metabolic syndrome prevalence, which was not statistically significant. Similar pattern was observed for marital status. No difference was found regarding gender and metabolic syndrome odds. Interestingly, daily drinking two to three cups of coffee (OR=0.0646, 95% CI, 0.0139-0.3005, p=0.0005) or until 2 cups of milk were inversely associated with metabolic syndrome odds (OR=0.5368, 95% CI, 0.3139-0.9181, p=0.0231). Sleeping seven to eight hours per night was also associated with decreased odds of metabolic syndrome (OR=0.0789, 95% CI, 0.0396-0.1570, p<0.0001). Eating at least two portions of chocolate was also associated with decreased risk of metabolic syndrome (OR=0.3475, 95%CI, 0.1865-0.6414, p=0.0009). Adequate sleeping and dietary intake of some foods materially decreased the metabolic syndrome.

Gestação precoce e reincidência de gestações em adolescente e mulheres de uma unidade de estratégia de saúde da família ( ESF 302) / Premature pregnancy and re-incidence of pregnancy among adolescent and adult women attended at a unit of the family health strategy (ESF 302)

A gravidez na adolescência está associada a diversos problemas físicos, sociais e emocionais que revelam um importante problema de Saúde Coletiva. Nos últimos anos, vários estudos têm reportado que a gravidez na adolescência pode trazer consequências negativas tanto para a mãe quanto para o bebê. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o perfil de gestantes adolescentes atendidas no Programa da Saúde da Família (PSF) 302 da cidade de Aragarças, GO. Foram avaliadas 54 gestantes na faixa etária de 15 a 40 anos. O método utilizado foi o de entrevista com questionário contendo perguntas relacionadas à vida pessoal da mãe, à gravidez, além dos fatores associados à ocorrência da gestação. Observou-se que 18% das gestantes eram adolescentes, destas 40% foram reincidentes e 30% solteiras. Entre as adolescentes, 88% não exerciam atividades remuneradas e estavam com as atividades escolares comprometidas. Quando se avaliou o índice de gravidez não planejada, 75% relataram não ter planejado a gravidez. Esses dados reforçam a falta de educação sexual e planejamento familiar entre as jovens residentes na cidade de Aragarças (Goiás), indicando, assim, a necessidade de programas de prevenção de gravidez na adolescência.

Adolescent pregnancy is associated with various physical, social, and emotional problems and is currently considered an important public health problem. In recent years, a number of studies have been reporting that adolescent pregnancy can carry negative consequences for both the mother and the baby. The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile of pregnant adolescents treated at the Family Health Program (PSF) 302 in the city of Aragarças, GO. The assessment included 54 women with ages from 15 to 40 years. The method used was an interview including a questionnaire about the mother?s personal life, the pregnancy process, and its associated factors. It was observed that 18% of the pregnant women were adolescents, 40% of these were pregnancy re-incident, and 30% were single. Among the adolescents, 88% did not have paid employment and their school activities had been compromised. In evaluating the unplanned pregnancy rate, 75% of these adolescent or adult women reported not having planned the pregnancy. These findings suggest a lack of sex education and family planning among the younger residents of the city of Aragarças (Goiás), thus indicating the urgent need for adolescent pregnancy prevention programs.

[Knowledge about viral hepatitis in a sample of Brazilian students from Vale do Araguaia, Legal Amazonia]. / Conhecimentos sobre hepatites virais numa amostra de estudantes brasileiros do Vale do Araguaia, Amazônia Legal.

Viral and non-viral hepatitis are of great concern among developing nations because of their pathogenicity and virulence, and also their wide spreading by contaminated blood, food or water. The objective of this work was to evaluate the knowledge about hepatitis of academic students from three life/health sciences courses and also students from the last year of high school To measure the students' knowledge on hepatitis an instrument containing 22 questions was applied. Surprinsingly, it was verified that 41.9% of students had poor knowledge of viral hepatitis. Among the high school students, 31.8% ignored that viral hepatitis are infectious and transmissible diseases. Considering hepatitis symptomatology, just 18% of high school students declared knowledge of the symptons, but none of those cited the ictericia. Among the academic students, 75.9% of nursing students had adequate knowledge of hepatitis, followed by pharmacy (51.3%), and biology students (18.2%). Nursing students had also higher scores of right answers regarding viral hepatitis and chronic disease. On contrary, biology and high school students had poor knowledge of that matter (37% and 44.5%, respectively). Less than 15% of nursing and pharmacy students did not know that viral hepatitis are sexually transmissible, whereas 78.6% of the 3rd year and 52.4% of the 4th year biology course ignored the sexual transmission of viral hepatitis. Still considering the same question, 54.5% of the high school students also ignored that viral hepatitis are sexually transmitted diseases. Important conclusions can be drawn from this study, since the higher hepatitis knowledge scores were found among nursing students, followed by pharmacy academics. However, biology students, which will serve as high school teachers, had poor and insufficient knowledge on hepatitis. This finding could explain the same poor disease knowledge among high school pupils.

Oxidative and nitrosative stress on phagocytes' function: from effective defense to immunity evasion mechanisms.

Although oxygen, nitrogen, and chlorine reactive species have been associated with disease pathogenesis, their partial absence is very harmful to the body's innate immune defense. Lacking of adequate release of free radicals from activated phagocytes is related to impaired ability on fungi, bacteria, and protozoa killing. We constructed an updated conceptual landmark regarding the paramount role of free radicals in phagocyte defense systems (phagocyte oxidase, myeloperoxidase, and nitric oxide/peroxynitrite system) on natural immunity. Diverse fungal, bacterial and protozoal pathogens evade the phagocytes' oxidative/nitrosative burst though antioxidant genes, enzymes and proteins. The most important evasion mechanisms were also described and discussed. These interconnected systems were reviewed and discussed on the basis of knowledge from relevant research groups around the globe. Phagocyte-derived free radicals are essential to destroy important human pathogens during the course of innate immunity.

Uso de medicamentos para perda de peso e índice de massa corporal em universitários do Vale do Araguaia (MT/GO), Amazônia Legal / Use of weight loss drugs and body mass index among academicians from Vale do Araguaia (MT/GO), Legal Amazon

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A obesidade está associada a diversas doenças, como a hipertensão arterial, diabetes mellitus tipo 2, doenças cardiovasculares e cerebrovasculares, além do aumento do risco de neoplasias. No Brasil, o consumo de moderadores de apetite é um dos maiores do mundo. Deste modo, o objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer a prevalência de consumo de medicamentos para perda de peso e a prevalência de sobrepeso em população de estudantes universitários. MÉTODO: Foram avaliados 487 alunos do Campus Universitário do Araguaia, UFMT. Foi realizada avaliação do índice de massa corpórea (IMC) e aplicação de questionário para avaliação dos medicamentos para perda de peso mais consumidos, tempo de consumo, ocorrência de efeitos adversos, acompanhamento médico e motivo para seu uso. RESULTADOS: Dos entrevistados, 9% utilizaram medicamentos com intuito de emagrecer, dentre estes 47,7% estavam com IMC normal e 88,6% eram mulheres. A prevalência de sobrepeso nos estudantes foi de 22,9% dentre os homens e 9,6% dentre as mulheres. Os fármacos mais utilizados foram a quitosana (13,1%), seguidos pela alcachofra (Cynara scolymus L.), chá verde (Camelia sinensis), femproporex e sibutramina, com 6,7% cada. A reação adversa mais citada foi boca seca (21,6%). Dentre os estudantes, 41% afirmaram ter obtido informações acerca do medicamento utilizado com um médico. Além do medicamento para emagrecer, 52,5% dos entrevistados afirmaram utilizar dieta de restrição alimentar, 30% fizeram dieta e exercícios físicos. CONCLUSÃO: A maioria das mulheres que utilizaram medicamentos para perda de peso não precisavam fazê-lo.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obesity associated with many diseases, such as arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, beyond the increased risk of neoplastic disorders. In Brazil, the consumption of anorexigen drugs is one of the most high in the world. Then, the objective of this work was to know the prevalence of overweight and use of weight loss drugs in a population of university students. METHOD: 487 students from the "Instituto Universitário do Araguaia", Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) were analyzed. Beyond the body mass index (BMI), a questionnaire was used to evaluate the most consumed weight loss drugs, time of drug use, occurrence of adverse health effects, medical consulting, and declared motive for using those drugs. RESULTS: Among the interviewed, 9.0% used drugs for weight loss, and between those 47.7% presented normal body mass index (BMI), and 88.6% were female. The prevalence of overweight was 22.9% for male and 9.6% for female students. The most used weight loss drugs were chitosan (13.1%), followed by alcachofra (Cynara scolymus L.), green tea (Camelia sinensis), fenproporex and sibutramine, with 6.7% each drug. The most frequent related adverse health effect was dry mouth (21.6%). Among the students, 41.0% declared had obtained drug information use with a medical doctor. Beyond use of weight loss drugs, 52.5% of the students declared use food restriction diets, and 30.0% were involved in both food restriction diets and practice of physical exercises. CONCLUSION: The majority of women had used weight loss drugs must not use it because of their normal body weight.

Functional foods and physical activities in health promotion of aging people.

Foods contain many bioactive compounds that can improve humans' health, helping to decrease the risk of cataract, macular degeneration, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer. Regular practice of exercise and physical activity could also help to drive away aging-associated diseases (obesity, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia, and stroke). Exercise recommendations to promote both women's and men's health and disease conditions that hinder exercise practice are described. Health promotion practices should focus on both dietary intake of functional foods and regular practice of exercise within the framework of a healthy lifestyle.

Functional foods, herbs and nutraceuticals: towards biochemical mechanisms of healthy aging.

Aging is associated with mitochondrial dysfunctions, which trigger membrane leakage, release of reactive species from oxygen and nitrogen and subsequent induction of peroxidative reactions that result in biomolecules' damaging and releasing of metals with amplification of free radicals discharge. Free radicals induce neuronal cell death increasing tissue loss, which could be associated with memory detriment. These pathological events are involved in cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and carcinogenic processes. Dietary bioactive compounds from different functional foods, herbs and nutraceuticals (ginseng, ginkgo, nuts, grains, tomato, soy phytoestrogens, curcumin, melatonin, polyphenols, antioxidant vitamins, carnitine, carnosine, ubiquinone, etc.) can ameliorate or even prevent diseases. Protection from chronic diseases of aging involves antioxidant activities, mitochondrial stabilizing functions, metal chelating activities, inhibition of apoptosis of vital cells, and induction of cancer cell apoptosis. Functional foods and nutraceuticals constitute a great promise to improve health and prevent aging-related chronic diseases.

Contaminación de los alimentos por virus: un problema de salud pública poco comprendido / Viral contamination of food products: a poorly understood public health problem

En todas partes del mundo han surgido epidemias de enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos (ETA) sobre las que no existe suficiente información para guiar las acciones de las instituciones de salud pública. El presente estudio se hizo con objeto de contribuir a la diseminación de información sobre esas enfermedades, sus agentes etiológicos y su epidemiología y control. Se utilizaron datos de 61 estudios, entre ellos revisiones, descripciones de brotes y sistematización de datos. De los resultados obtenidos se pudo concluir que hay un gran problema de subregistro y falta de datos sobre estas enfermedades en los diversos países, pero los virus constituyen la segunda causa más importante de ETA en los Estados Unidos de América. Dos agentes, el virus Norwalk y el de la hepatitis A, ocuparon el quinto y sexto lugares, respectivamente, entre las causas principales de ETA, aunque el primero ocupó el primer puesto en 1982 y el segundo lugar como causa principal de enfermedades de transmisión hídrica durante el período de 1986 a 1988. A pesar de la escasez de datos al respecto, los rotavirus, poliovirus, virus de la hepatitis E, astrovirus y pequeños virus gastroentéricos también tienen importancia como agentes de ETA. En el artículo se discute también la importancia de las zoonosis víricas, especialmente de las fiebres hemorrágicas transmitidas por excretas de roedores y las encefalitis víricas transmitidas por garrapatas (fiebre difásica de la leche). Asimismo se presenta la polémica sobre la enfermedad de las vacas locas y su posible transmisión por los alimentos, además de los cuidados alimentarios relacionados con el sida y otras infecciones víricas. Por último, se describen los procedimientos de prevención y control de las ETA víricas

Throughout the world there have been several epidemics of food-borne diseases (FBD) about which there is lack of sufficient information for public health institutions to take appropriate measures. This study was conducted for the purpose of contributing to the dissemination of information on these diseases and their etiologic agents, epidemiology, and control. The study was based on data from 61 sources, including review articles, reports of outbreaks, and databases. Results reveal considerable underregistration and lack of data on FBD throughout the various countries, with viruses being the second most important cause of FBD in the United States of America. Two agents, Norwalk virus and hepatitis A virus, were the fifth and sixth most frequent causes, respectively, although the former was the single most frequent cause of FBD in 1982 and the second most frequent cause of water-borne diseases during the period from 1986 to 1988. Despite the scarcity of information on the problem, rotavirus, poliovirus, hepatitis E virus, astrovirus, and small gastroenteric viruses are also important causes of FBD. We also discuss the importance of viral zoonoses, especially hemorrhagic fevers transmitted by contact with rodent feces and tick-borne viral encephalitides (Lassa fever). There is discussion of the controversial mad cow disease and its potential transmission through food products, as well as of dietary aspects of the management of AIDS and other viral infections. Finally, measures for the prevention and control of FBD are described.

Contaminación de los alimentos por virus: un problema de salud pública poco comprendido / Viral contamination of food products: a poorly understood public health problem

En todas partes del mundo han surgido epidemias de enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos (ETA) sobre las que no existe suficiente información para guiar las acciones de las instituciones de salud pública. El presente estudio se hizo con objeto de contribuir a la diseminación de información sobre esas enfermedades, sus agentes etiológicos y su epidemiología y control. Se utilizaron datos de 61 estudios, entre ellos revisiones, descripciones de brotes y sistematización de datos. De los resultados obtenidos se pudo concluir que hay un gran problema de subregistro y falta de datos sobre estas enfermedades en los diversos países, pero los virus constituyen la segunda causa más importante de ETA en los Estados Unidos de América. Dos agentes, el virus Norwalk y el de la hepatitis A, ocuparon el quinto y sexto lugares, respectivamente, entre las causas principales de ETA, aunque el primero ocupó el primer puesto en 1982 y el segundo lugar como causa principal de enfermedades de transmisión hídrica durante el período de 1986 a 1988. A pesar de la escasez de datos al respecto, los rotavirus, poliovirus, virus de la hepatitis E, astrovirus y pequeños virus gastroentéricos también tienen importancia como agentes de ETA. En el artículo se discute también la importancia de las zoonosis víricas, especialmente de las fiebres hemorrágicas transmitidas por excretas de roedores y las encefalitis víricas transmitidas por garrapatas (fiebre difásica de la leche). Asimismo se presenta la polémica sobre la enfermedad de las vacas locas y su posible transmisión por los alimentos, además de los cuidados alimentarios relacionados con el sida y otras infecciones víricas. Por último, se describen los procedimientos de prevención y control de las ETA víricas