New research by Edith Cowan University (ECU) Centre of Precision Health visiting PhD scholar Ms Debora Barbosa Ronca found that people with excess weight are more likely to experience long-term neurological and mental health symptoms after COVID-19, including headache, vertigo, smell and taste disorders, sleep disturbance, and depression. 

Liver fluke infection caused by Opisthorchis viverrini is a significant public health challenge in the Lower Mekong Basin, affecting over 10 million people and leading to cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a fatal bile duct cancer. Traditional control efforts often fail due to complex socio-cultural and ecological factors. The Lawa model, implemented in the Lawa Lake region of Khon Kaen, Thailand, adopts a One Health framework to integrate human health interventions, environmental modifications, and animal reservoir management, addressing the transmission cycle comprehensively. This approach respects the cultural context of Isan communities and leverages evidence-based, community-driven strategies. Over 15 years, the model has achieved remarkable success, reducing human infection rates from 60% to below 5% and eliminating infections in intermediate hosts. Key lessons include the importance of systems thinking, transdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement in achieving sustainable health outcomes, despite challenges like cultural dietary practices and environmental disruptions such as flooding.

Parents’ genes – even when not directly inherited by a child – may play a role in their educational and mental health outcomes, finds a new report by UCL researchers.

Nearly one out of five women and one out of seven men aged 20 and older globally faced sexual violence as a child, according to a study published in The Lancet today. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle conducted the analysis using the newest Global Burden of Disease research. This is the most comprehensive investigation of the prevalence of sexual violence against children (SVAC) covering 204 locations by ages and sex from 1990 to 2023, while accounting for when people were first exposed to such violence. 

A brief spell of talking therapy with a general practitioner reduces symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for survivors of critical illness, finds a trial from Germany published by The BMJ today.