Recent increase in asthma mortality in Brazil: a warning sign for the public health system.

Objective: To provide an update on asthma mortality trends in Brazil and its regions between 2014 and 2021.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive observational study based on asthma mortality data from the Brazilian National Ministry of Health Mortality Database for the 2014-2021 period.

Results: In the study period, there were 18,584 asthma deaths in Brazil, with an annual increase of 2.

"She has become my best friend": a qualitative study on the perspective of elderly with type 2 diabetes regarding the use of an interactive virtual assistant device for diabetes care and mental health promotion.

Aims: To qualitatively evaluate the experiences and emotional responses of elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes regarding the use of an interactive virtual assistant device.

Methods And Results: This qualitative study included elderly individuals who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and who had been using the Smart Speaker EchoDot 3rd Gen (Amazon Echo) device for three months. A structured face-to-face interview with open-ended questions was conducted to evaluate their experiences and emotional responses associated with the device.

Hidden barriers: obesity bias in hypertension treatment.

Background And Objectives: Individuals with obesity often face obesity bias, which may influence the delivery of appropriate medical care. Our aim is to evaluate the adequacy of therapeutic decisions regarding the pharmacological treatment for hypertension in patients with diabetes, both with and without obesity.

Methods: This is a multicentric cross-sectional study of patients with type 2 diabetes and arterial hypertension who received outpatient care in Southern Brazil.

Preserving isohydricity: vertical environmental variability explains Amazon forest water-use strategies.

Increases in hydrological extremes, including drought, are expected for Amazon forests. A fundamental challenge for predicting forest responses lies in identifying ecological strategies which underlie such responses. Characterization of species-specific hydraulic strategies for regulating water-use, thought to be arrayed along an 'isohydric-anisohydric' spectrum, is a widely used approach.