Beneficial Effects of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var italica) By-products in Diet-induced Obese Mice.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Obesity currently affects the whole world, with greater incidence in high-income countries, with vast economic and social costs. Broccoli harvest generates many by-products equally rich in bioactive compounds with potential anti-obesity effects. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-obesity effects of broccoli by-products flour (BF) in obese mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A commercial high-fat diet formulation (representing a Western diet) was used to induce obesity in mice. BF (0.67% or 1.34% weight/weight) was incorporated as a chemoprevention compound into a control and a hypercholesterolemic diet, at two different concentrations, and fed for 14 weeks to C57BL/6J mice. For a therapeutic approach, two groups were fed with the hypercholesterolemic diet for 10 weeks, and then fed with BF-supplemented diets in the last 4 weeks of the study. RESULTS: BF supplementation helped to maintain a lower body weight, reduced adipose tissue accumulation, and enhanced the basal activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase. Although BF supplementation tended to reduce the relative liver weight increased by the Western diet, the differences were not significant. CONCLUSION: BF appears to have a beneficial effect in preventing weight gain and fat accumulation induced by hypercholesterolemic diets.

Responses to COVID-19 in five Latin American countries.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 reached Latin-American countries slightly later than European countries, around February/March, allowing some emergency preparedness response in countries characterized by low health system capacities and socioeconomic disparities. OBJECTIVE: This paper focuses on the first months of the pandemic in five Latin American countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It analyses how the pre-pandemic context, and the government's responses to contain and mitigate the spread together with economic measures have affected the COVID-19 health outcomes. METHODS: Extensive qualitative document analysis was conducted focused on publicly-available epidemiological data and federal and state/regional policy documents since the beginning of the pandemic. RESULTS: The countries were quick to implement stringent COVID-19 measures and incrementally scaled up their health systems capacity, although tracing and tracking have been poor. All five countries have experienced a large number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19. The analysis on the excess deaths also shows that the impact in deaths is far higher than the official numbers reported to date for some countries. CONCLUSION: Despite the introduction of stringent measures of containment and mitigation, and the scale up of health system capacities, pre-pandemic conditions that characterize these countries (high informal employment, and social inequalities) have undermined the effectiveness of the countries' responses to the pandemic. The economic support measures put in place were found to be too timid for some countries and introduced too late in most of them. Additionally, the lack of a comprehensive strategy for testing and tracking has also contributed to the failure to contain the spread of the virus.

Interpretações locais sobre a malária e o discurso sobre os provedores tradicionais de cuidados de saúde no sul de Moçambique / Local interpretations on malaria and the discourse on the traditional health care providers in southern Mozambique

As narrativas sobre o diagnóstico e as causas da malária são diversas e aparentemente ambíguas, sendo baseadas para além do corpo, nas relações sociais estabelecidas entre pares, os seus antepassados e a natureza. Com base num estudo qualitativo e na permanência em Moçambique durante quatro anos, este artigo pretende analisar os discursos dos pacientes e praticantes biomédicos sobre os provedores de cuidados de saúde tradicionais, isto é, tinyanga e pastores ziones, articulando-os com as terminologias locais da malária, num distrito rural no sul de Moçambique. No atual contexto de pluralismo terapêutico e elevada mobilidade, a falta de compaixão e solidariedade atribuída aos tinyanga é fundamentada pela monetarização e comoditização dos seus saberes e rituais medicinais, bem como pela competição com outros provedores na captação de doentes. A implantação das igrejas ziones, de cariz cristão e com práticas terapêuticas semelhantes às dos tinyanga, apresenta-se como uma solução local vantajosa devido à forte ligação comunitária, ao consolo e reciprocidade entre os seus membros e aos resultados terapêuticos a baixo custo. No nível das políticas de saúde e da prática clínica, a invisibilidade dos pastores ziones e o papel subalterno dos tinyanga é gerido à medida dos interesses, das ideias vagas e dos preconceitos que os provedores biomédicos possuem sobre esses provedores terapêuticos. A implementação de políticas de saúde que atendam à diversidade local, às relações de poder existentes e aos conhecimentos e práticas médicas podem fortalecer os cuidados biomédicos prestados e harmonizar as relações entre os provedores e a população.

The narratives on the diagnosis and causes of malaria are diverse and apparently ambiguous, being based beyond the body, on the social relations among peers, their ancestors, and nature. Based on a qualitative study and a four-year stay in Mozambique, this article analyzes the discourses of patients and biomedical practitioners on traditional health care providers, i.e., tinyanga and zion pastors, linking them to local terminology of malaria, in a rural district in southern Mozambique. In the current context of therapeutic pluralism and high mobility, the lack of solidarity and compassion attributed to tinyanga is supported by the monetization and commodification of their medicinal rituals and knowledge, as well as by competition with other providers in attracting patients. The implementation of zion churches, of Christian nature and performing therapeutic practices similar to tinyanga, is presented as a local advantageous solution due to the strong community connection, the comfort and reciprocity among the members, and the therapeutic results at low cost. In terms of health care policies and clinical practice, the invisibility of zion pastors and the subordinate role of healers is managed according to interests, based on vague ideas and prejudices from biomedical providers. The implementation of health policies that address the local diversity, the existing power relations and medical knowledge and practices can strengthen the biomedical care services and harmonize relations between the providers and the population.

"Isto só pode ser malária!": produção de saberes e práticas locais na prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento da doença e, as relações entre os doentes, os curandeiros, os pastores ziones e os técnicos de saúde, no sul de Moçambique / "This can only be malaria!": Production of local knowledge and practices in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and relationships between patients, healers, Zion herders and health workers in southern Mozambique

As sociedades do distrito de Chókwè, no sul de Moçambique, caracterizam-se por uma diversidade de etnomedicinas, nomeadamente a biomedicina, a medicina tradicional e a cura espiritual. No âmbito das atividades de controlo da malária, analisaram-se os conhecimentos e práticos relacionados com a sua etiologia, o diagnóstico, a prevenção e o tratamento, de acordo com os diferentes provedores de cuidados de saúde consultados. A análise deste fenómeno foi realizada à luz de uma perspectiva interpretativa e crítica, integrando fatores de ordem económica, social, política, organizacional e cultural, que são frequentemente marginalizados na compreensão desta doença.Com base numa abordagem multidisciplinar e qualitativa, concluiu-se que a construção social da enfermidade emerge não só da experiência psicossocial dos doentes e grupos sociais mas também de todas as dinâmicas que integram a vida em sociedade, em especial da teia de relações socioculturais, ideológicas, políticas e vivências, simbolismos, fluxos de informação e os múltiplos atores, que compõem a complexa arquitetura do Sistema Nacional de Saúde, em Moçambique. Recusando a "monocultura epistémica", as histórias de vida relativas aos provedores de saúde tradicionais (curandeiros e pastores) e os discursos sobre a sua identidade evidenciam os conflitos e as tensões existentes bem como as tentativas de harmonização, cooperação e complementaridade terapêutica. Do mesmo modo que o mosquito Anopheles resiste e se adapta às alterações do meio, também os conhecimentos, as práticas terapêuticas e as relações sociais respeitantes à saúde e à doença estão em constante mutação. Em ambos os casos, desconhecem-se as subsequentes modalidades e configurações.

The societies of Chókwè's district in the south of Mozambique are characterized by a diversity of ethnomedicines, including biomedicine, traditional medicine and spiritual healing. Focusing on malaria control activities, knowledge and practices related to malaria's etiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment were analyzed, according to the consultation of different health care providers. The analysis of this phenomenon was based on an interpretive and critical perspective, integrating economic, social, political, organizational and cultural factors, which are often marginalized in the understanding of illnesses. Based on a multidisciplinary and qualitative approach, it was concluded that diseases' social construction emerges not only from the psychosocial experience of patients and social groups, but also from the social dynamics, especially socio-cultural, ideological and political relationships as well as experiences, symbolisms, flows of information and multiple actors that constitutes the complex architecture of the National Health System in Mozambique. Refusing the "epistemic monoculture", the traditional health care providers' oral histories (traditional healers and pastors) and their discourses about identity illustrate the current conflicts and tensions as well as matching attempts to achieve therapeutic cooperation and complementarity. Just as the mosquito Anopheles resists and adapts to environmental changes, also the knowledge, therapeutic practices and social relations relating to health and disease are constantly changing. In both cases, we are unaware of subsequent arrangements and configurations.

Isto só pode ser malária / Produção de saberes e práticas locais na prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento da doença e, as relações entre os doentes, os curandeiros, os pastores ziones e os técnicos de saúde, no sul de Moçambique / This can only be malaria

As sociedades do distrito de Chókwè, no sul de Moçambique, caracterizam-se por uma diversidade de etnomedicinas, nomeadamente a biomedicina, a medicina tradicional e a cura espiritual. No âmbito das atividades de controlo da malária, analisaram-se os conhecimentos e práticas relacionados com a sua etiologia, o diagnóstico, a prevenção e o tratamento, de acordo com os diferentes provedores de cuidados de saúde consultados. A análise deste fenómeno foi realizada à luz de uma perspectiva interpretativa e crítica, integrando fatores de ordem económica, social, política, organizacional e cultural, que são frequentemente marginalizados na compreensão desta doença. . .

The societies of Chókwè's district in the south of Mozambique are characterized by a diversity of ethnomedicines, including biomedicine, traditional medicine and spiritual healing. Focusing on malaria control activities, knowledge and practices related to malaria's etiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment were analyzed, according to the consultation of different health care providers. . .

"Isto só pode ser malária" produção de saberes e práticas locais, diagnóstico e tratamento da doença e as relações entre os doentes, os curandeiros, os pastores ziones e os técnicos no sul de Moçambique / This can only be malaria, production of local knowledge and practice, diagnosis and treatment of the disease and relationships between patients, healers, zion herders and technicians in southern Mozambique

As sociedades do distrito de Chókwè, no sul de Moçambique, caracterizam-se por uma diversidade de etnomedicinas, nomeadamente a biomedicina, a medicina tradicional e a cura espiritual. No âmbito das atividades de controlo da malária, analisaram-se os conhecimentos e práticas relacionados com a sua etiologia, o diagnóstico, a prevenção e o tratamento, de acordo com os diferentes provedores de cuidados de saúde consultados. A análise deste fenómeno foi realizada à luz de uma perspectiva interpretativa e crítica, integrando fatores de ordem económica, social, política, organizacional e cultural, que são frequentemente marginalizados na compreensão desta doença. Com base numa abordagem multidisciplinar e qualitativa, concluiu-se que a construção social da enfermidade emerge não só da experiência psicossocial dos doentes e grupos sociais mas também de todas as dinâmicas que integram a vida em sociedade, em especial da teia de relações socioculturais, ideológicas, políticas e vivências, simbolismos, fluxos de informação e os múltiplos atores, que compõem a complexa arquitetura do Sistema Nacional de Saúde, em Moçambique. Recusando a "monocultura epistémica", as histórias de vida relativas aos provedores de saúde tradicionais (curandeiros e pastores) e os discursos sobre a sua identidade evidenciam os conflitos e as tensões existentes bem como as tentativas de harmonização, cooperação e complementaridade terapêutica...

The societies of Chókwè's district in the south of Mozambique are characterized by a diversity of ethnomedicines, including biomedicine, traditional medicine and spiritual healing. Focusing on malaria control activities, knowledge and practices related to malaria's etiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment were analyzed, according to the consultation of different health care providers. The analysis of this phenomenon was based on an interpretive and critical perspective, integrating economic, social, political, organizational and cultural factors, which are often marginalized in the understanding of illnesses. Based on a multidisciplinary and qualitative approach, it was concluded that diseases' social construction emerges not only from the psychosocial experience of patients and social groups, but also from the social dynamics, especially socio-cultural, ideological and political relationships as well as experiences, symbolisms, flows of information and multiple actors that constitutes the complex architecture of the National Health System in Mozambique. Refusing the "epistemic monoculture", the traditional health care providers' oral histories (traditional healers and pastors) and their discourses about identity illustrate the current conflicts and tensions as well as matching attempts to achieve therapeutic cooperation and complementarity...