From Neuro Covid to lifestyles useful for protecting the brain increasingly ‘under attack’, up to the harm reduction policies by now consolidated in the addiction sector, but which are making their way in many other fields including the environmental one and smoking. These are the main themes of the joint conference ‘Mohre X Neuromed‘, which compares neurology and neuroscience experts from Irccs Neuromed in Pozzilli (Isernia) and the scientific board of Mohre, the Mediterranean Observatory for risk reduction in medicine.
“Faced with environmental threats, genetic predispositions and physiological decay due to greater longevity, it is necessary to protect the brain from threats that open the door to neurodegenerative diseases and chronicity which accounts for 81% of the costs of the National Health Service. Longevity only makes sense if the years gained are lived in health. We are grateful to Neuromed for having taken up our proposal to discuss the future of the brain in a transversal way “, he declares Johann Rossi Mason, editorial director of Mohre. “Degenerative brain diseases are not an inescapable fate – he says Giovanni de Gaetano, president of Neuromed – We can do a lot to grow old with a clear mind, starting with correct lifestyles, started when young, but continued as adults and even in the most advanced ages. The ideal is to have a healthier and longer lasting biological life of the brain than chronological life. A demanding challenge, to which we are dedicating new research programs here at Neuromed “.
The first topic at the center of the work is the Long Covid, Sars-CoV-2 post-infection syndrome which affects 75% of patients who have been hospitalized for Covid-19. Symptoms also found neurological and cognitive ones, along with anxiety and depression, which can last up to a year even in young people. A recent study, which included 90,000 over 65s recovered from Covid – a note from the conference reads – found debilitating long-term symptoms in 32% of cases, so much so as to suggest considering the Long Covid a ‘geriatric syndrome’. The theory is supported by a study by Fenstein Institutes for Medical Research, which found 13% of new diagnoses of dementia within one year of hospitalization for Sars-CoV-2. Furthermore, in a work published in ‘Frontiers Aging Neuroscience’, of the 181 participants, 78% said they had difficulty concentrating, 69% reported ‘brain fog’, 68% forgetfulness and 60% complained of problems finding the right word as he speaks.
Under the lens of the experts too environmental factors capable of impacting on the genetic heritage, lifestyles and individual behaviors. “We can do a lot to defend ourselves – he assures Giuseppe Novelli, professor of genetics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata – For example focus on education and interests to build a good cognitive reserve, a treasure trove of neurons and connections that has also been shown to protect in part from the manifestation of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s symptoms. It is never too late to start cultivating an interest or studying. In fact, an ‘educated’ brain is protected from decline for longer: as explained by the ‘Journal of Neuroscience’, the prefrontal regions stimulated by prolonged education turn on some genes involved in both the transmission of signals and the immune defense. It is a magnificent example of how epigenetics works, ie the ‘dress’ that genes wear, which can then be changed or modified by the environment. “
“In the case of tobacco – he points out Fabio Beatrice, director of the scientific board of Mohre – Harm reduction strategies are a potentially life-saving public health intervention for 1.1 billion smokers worldwide, supported by international human rights principles. It goes without saying that there is no such thing as healthy smoking and that the ideal would be not to start smoking or drinking alcohol, especially at a young age, but for adults in whom addiction is consolidated it is necessary to provide a viable solution. Nicotine is therefore both the problem and the solution, but there is a right to health that must not be hindered by prejudices or preconceived positions “.
Two very recent studies – it is noted in the note – have indicated that the complete replacement of combustion cigarettes with electronic ones would lead to millions of lives saved. In particular, switching to alternative smoking by 2040 could save 2.52 million lives and 26 million years of life lost, just by taking into account the impact of smoking on the main four smoking-related diseases: lung cancer, pulmonary disease. chronic obstructive, ischemic heart disease and stroke.
A recent document then recommends that tobacco harm reduction is promoted as a health rights issue by advocacy organizations representing nicotine users. According to the latest publication launched by Knowledge, Action, Change (KA C), which promotes harm reduction as a key human rights-based public health strategy, tobacco harm reduction is not just an intervention of potentially life-saving public health for 1.1 billion smokers worldwide, but is also supported by international human rights law. The paper recommends that tobacco harm reduction be promoted as a health rights issue even for those who use nicotine.