In 2010, researchers published the first genome sequence of ancestors, through studying the hair of a man who lived 4,000 years ago in Greenland.
In the ensuing 13 years, scientists have generated data from the genomes of 10,000 people who lived thousands of years ago (bioRxiv2 Study; Oceania 2%, Africa 3%, Central and South Asia 5%, Americas 7%, Middle East 8% , East Asia 8%, Europe and Russia 67%), with sequencing of almost one million DNA bases.
Physical activity and sleep quality in Brazilian students
(Santos M et al. Scientific Reports 2023; 13: 6652)
Changes in lifestyle have added to the demands of education and require the ability to adapt to the challenges of academic life.
Students are exposed to high pressures, which include institutional rules, low social support, changes in the family environment and social circles.
The proportion of individuals with poor sleep quality is usually particularly high, reaching up to 62% and 87.1%.
Additionally, there are other conditions that are related to poor sleep, such as being overweight, musculoskeletal pain, depression, anxiety, stress, and low quality of life.
Among the strategies that we have to mitigate and combat sleep disturbances or disorders, physical activity stands out with recognized beneficial effects.
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2,626 students were analyzed, 52.2% of them did not exercise and 75.6% had poor sleep quality, which was proportionally associated with each other.
Students who exercised 4 to 7 times a week had 28% less sleep disturbance.
In a previous study that included 7,626 students from 6 US universities, 62% had poor sleep quality, comparable to the 63.9% prevalence of Asian students and the 50.3% Chinese cohort.
In meta-analysis, it was observed that students who perform moderate to intense exercise have better sleep quality, similar to that observed in a Canadian longitudinal study.
Exercise results in increased total sleep time, particularly non-REM sleep, with improvement in sleep quality, which is associated with better and higher electrical brain waves, improvement in melatonin circadian rhythm and night temperature.
Giving asylum at home to people with psychiatric disorders is beneficial
(Stevis-Gridneff M and Ryckewaert K. New York Times)
It is a type of psychiatric care that, according to the archives, has existed in Geel (Belgium) since the 13th century. In the mid-14th century, locals began building a church for Saint Dimpna, the patron saint of the mentally ill, and pilgrims arrived in Geel quickly. They stayed on the farms of the local peasants, where they worked the land alongside their new families.
By the end of the 19th century, nearly 2,000 guests were living with the Geel people. Today this town of 41,000 in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, hosts 120 guests in the homes of locals.
Geel is proof that “even those who might appear to be incurably ill have the chance to live a full and dignified life, with love and security.”
For centuries, the city has been a haven for people living with mental illness. Since the 1860s, Geel has had its own state mental hospital, which is the linchpin and safety net for this programme.
The Belgian government provides host families with a remuneration of 23 to 28 euros (25-30 dollars) per day for each guest, an amount that, by all accounts, is not enough.
Belgium recently submitted an application for UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to recognize the Geel foster care program as an “intangible cultural heritage”.
Those responsible for the program have also launched an advertising campaign so that more families want to offer foster homes.
It is common for the Geel authorities to come across guests behaving strangely in public or even not abiding by the law and thanks to the foster home culture of this town, they know how to defuse these situations and call 911 immediately. psychiatric hospital.
This approach differs from other places, where law enforcement may be the first thing to do when someone is having a mental health crisis.
In many situations involving inadequately trained police officers, the results can be violent and even deadly.
“The proximity of the experience within a community makes values emerge, that we do not abandon the elderly or the mentally ill or the disabled.”