All posts by Carmen Gomaro

Carmen Gomaro - leading international news and investigative reporter. Worked at various media outlets in Spain, Argentina and Colombia, including Diario de Cádiz, CNN+, Telemadrid and EFE.

Alcaraz wins against Evans in Shanghai one of the "toughest matches of the year"

The number two in world tennis, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, progressed this Monday to the round of 16 of the Shanghai Masters after beating the British Daniel Evans in two sets, 7-6 (1) and 6-4.

The match was settled in 2 hours and 23 minutes, and offered some points of true spectacle that were rightly recognized with thunderous applause by the public on the main court of the Qizhong sports center.

Specifically, in the fifth game of the first set, Evans ended up crashing into the net after brilliantly saving an equally meritorious drop shot from Alcaraz to avoid the Spaniard's advantage.. Until that moment, the Englishman had saved eight breaking points, putting himself ahead 1-4.

Alcaraz, although he missed some theoretically easy shots, little by little he found his tennis to force a 'tie break' in which he was imperial – Evans only managed one point – and took the first set.

In the second set, Evans, 33rd in the world ranking, put Alcaraz in trouble again by going 4-4, but the Spaniard did not hesitate and closed his victory to the rest with a great setback.

Alcaraz and Evans had already faced each other three times, all of them with favorable results for the Spaniard, the last one at the United States Open (6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3) last September. .

After passing this phase, the top seed in Shanghai will have to face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the next round, ranked 19th in the world rankings, after he beat the Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (6) and 6-4.

hard test

The Spaniard assured that this Monday's match against the British Daniel Evans was “one of the hardest” he has played this year: “I think (the key) was being there mentally strong. I have had many opportunities, of which I have not taken advantage of almost any. The easy thing there would have been to go down a little (…), and the key has been to wait for opportunities, to know that I was going to have more,” said the world tennis number two.

Asked about the trouble that Evans put him in – whom he had already faced three times, all of them with victory for the Spaniard -, Alcaraz pointed out: “He has been more aggressive than in the other games. “It was one of the hardest games I've played this year.”

Specifically, when referring to his last victory against the Englishman (at the US Open in September), he said that the conditions in Shanghai “are different”. “It's slower than the US Open, I've had to adapt my game a little bit,” he explained.

Regarding his rival in the round of 16, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (19th in the ranking), the tournament's top seed assured that he is a “very talented” player.. “I will try to be focused all the time and not let him dominate the game. “He feels comfortable if the game goes his way, so I will try to put pressure on him,” he commented.

The Russian Daniil Medvedev, current champion of the competition but already eliminated this year, pointed out Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner as great candidates to win the title, something about which the Murcian said: “(Seeing) the level we are showing Jannik and I, it doesn't surprise me that the players can put us as favorites (…), but this is tennis, anything can happen.”

Controversy on the French left over its ambiguity in condemning Hamas attacks on Israel

The war in Israel has unleashed a new controversy in French politics, specifically due to the ambiguous attitude of the extreme left when condemning Hamas attacks.. The leader of Rebellious France, Jean Luc Mélenchon, compared these attacks on Saturday with the Israeli occupation policy in Gaza: “The armed offensive of the Palestinian forces carried out by Hamas occurs in a context of intensification of the occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” said Mélenchon, who did not use the word “terrorism.”

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne criticized Mélenchon's “disgusting ambiguities” on Sunday, and assured that this anti-Zionism “is a way of hiding anti-Semitism.”. The criticism comes mainly from the socialist bloc, partners of La Francia Insumisa in Nupes, the coalition of left-wing parties in the Assembly.

This controversy delves deeper into the crack that already exists within this alliance, where the socialists increasingly differ from the positions of Mélenchon, who has also been ambiguous with support for Ukraine, for example.. Numerous leaders have attacked the leftist leader, from former president François Hollande to Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris. She has urged her party to “end the 'disalliance' with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which has nothing to do with him.”

“Following Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a dead end. It was true yesterday, it is true today,” he said on Twitter (now X). “His positions against Israel and his refusal to condemn the terrorist organization Hamas are unsustainable.”. The Socialist Party cannot continue to lose itself. There can be no hope or victory in dishonour,” he said.

To know more
Exteriors. A Basque man and a woman from Seville, those missing after the Hamas attack on Israel: “I think they caught him and his wife”

A Basque man and a woman from Seville, those missing after the Hamas attack on Israel: “I think they caught him and his wife”

Middle East. A war that opens the doors to a nuclear Iran

A war that opens the doors to a nuclear Iran

Former minister Pierre Moscovici has deemed this position “desperate”. “Any position that does not clearly condemn Hamas makes me sick,” said socialist Jérôme Guedj.. That there are disputes “that they talk about Hamas as a Palestinian armed force disgusts me. Hamas is a terrorist organization,” said socialist Valérie Rabault.

La Francia Insumisa has defended itself against the criticism and accusations of Elisabeth Borne, “which are ignoble,” said Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La Francia Insumisa.. Some have accused the French government of “having closed its eyes to Israel's colonization of Palestine,” said Louis Boyard.

As disputes continue in seats, the Government is concerned about the safety of the Jewish community in France. Over the weekend, around twenty anti-Semitic acts have been recorded, such as graffiti, threats or calls, but there is “no concrete threat” against Jews in the country.

This was confirmed by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who chaired a meeting on Sunday to assess security.. “We have witnessed ignoble statements from groups, associations and even political parties, appealing to hatred, appealing to the apology of terrorism,” Darmanin said this afternoon, after a meeting at the ministry with the affected groups.

On Saturday he already announced that places of worship and schools in the country would be secured and monitored after Saturday's attacks. In addition, some 700 reports of potentially criminal content have been received on the Pharo Internet surveillance platform and relevant judicial investigations have been opened.

This afternoon there is a rally called at half past six in Paris in support of the Jewish community organized by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France. About 100,000 French or Franco-Israeli people live in Israel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the death of a French woman in the attacks this weekend, although it has not given details of her identity or the circumstances.. There are also several missing nationals

British Labor leader vows to end plan to deport migrants to Rwanda

The leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, has promised to end the plan to deport immigrants to Rwanda pending their asylum application. The announcement by Starmer, who this Tuesday will present his Government program for the 2024 elections at his party's annual conference in Liverpool, comes at the same time as the Supreme Court debates whether the plan promoted by the Secretary of the Interior Suella Braverman is illegal.

“I think it is a wrong policy,” Starmer declared this Monday on the BBC, when asked about the future of the Rwanda Plan.. “It is enormously expensive and only a minimal number of people would ultimately go to Rwanda, when the problem is at the source.”

“The government has said time and time again that this plan would reduce the number of immigrants, but that has not happened,” he added.. “No one wants to see these crossings in the English Channel, but the only way to stop it is to crush the gangs who exploit the situation.”

Starmer warned that the anti-immigration rhetoric used by the Conservative Government “gets us nowhere” and said he was convinced that a Labor Government would be capable of achieving greater collaboration from France and other European Union countries to dismantle the gangs. of human trafficking.

The Labor leader also promised to give instructions to speed up the queue of pending asylum cases, currently estimated at more than 160,000.. “People would be surprised to know that of all the people who have arrived by boat, only 1% of asylum applications have been processed.”

The Secretary of the Interior Suella Braverman has assured for her part that the so-called Illegal Immigration Law, which includes deportations to Rwanda, is taking effect and that crossings of the English Channel have decreased by 20% this year (after exceeding the 45,000 in 2022).

In his recent speech at the Conservative Party conference, Braverman warned that “the hurricane of mass immigration” is hovering over British shores and suggested that his country is willing to renounce international conventions that have become outdated.

The Rwanda Plan has meanwhile reached the Supreme Court, following the appeal presented by Rishi Sunak's Government against the decision of an appeal court that considered it “illegal” for contravening the obligations of the United Kingdom as a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights. Humans.

For three days, the Supreme Court will hear the arguments of the Government and the NGOs that brought the plan to court. Although the ruling is not expected until mid-November, tension is maximum after Braverman's recent threats, interpreted as a measure of pressure on the judges.

The Government will argue that Rwanda is a “safe” country and that there are sufficient legal guarantees so that migrants pending asylum are not returned to their countries of origin while their asylum application is pending.

The first flight with just half a dozen immigrants heading to Rwanda was stopped in extremis by the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights in July 2021, when Boris Johnson was prime minister.. Rishi Sunak promised to move forward with the controversial plan, which has since been paralyzed by the legal dispute before the British courts.

The 'gum artist' asks that his works be preserved on London's Millennium Bridge

That. The Norman Foster Millennium Bridge will be temporarily closed to the public and will undergo a cleaning operation.

Who. Ben Wilson, known as the 'gum artist', has called for the preservation of his more than 600 pieces executed on the famous pedestrian bridge over a decade.

Because. Also known as 'the Picasso of the Pavement', Wilson has painted more than 15,000 small, ground-level 'mosaics' in London.

Ben Wilson has taken street art to extremes never seen before. Known as the chewing gum artist, he usually spends long hours lying down and painting the chewing gum that has been stepped on and “fossilized” on the sidewalks.. With the patience of a minimalist, Wilson turns the patches on the floor into mosaics of furious colors where a Bengal tiger roars, where a smiling angel flies or where two doves kiss.. He calls it “gum art”, a genre of his own with which he has become famous all over the world without leaving London.

A decade ago we spent an entire morning with the bubblegum artist, watching him in action in his Muswell Hill neighborhood, converted into something like a ground-level museum. From there he jumped to Shoreditch, the neighborhood par excellence of graffiti, until he finally found his habitat on Norman Foster's Millennium Bridge, which connects St. Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern.

Up to 600 small works by the also known as the Picasso of the Pavement can be counted along the 325 meters of the wobbly bridge, which will close to the public on October 14 to undergo a facelift. Ben Wilson has cried foul, fearful that his paintings will be erased with the replacement of the synthetic membrane and the renewal of the worn surface…

“I have been working on this bridge for more than ten years, turning what is literally trash into pieces of art. “I would like people to be able to continue enjoying them because I know they are loved and admired.”

Ben Wilson is right: dozens of tourists who cross the bridge every day bend down to the pavement to immortalize their small, great works on their cell phones.. A double-decker bus, a black cab or a stray cat come incredibly alive under our feet on a canvas the size of a two-euro coin.. Sometimes they are simply phrases, declarations of love (“Will you marry me?”) or dedications that people ask of him and with which he can make his art profitable.

“There is nothing like capturing everyday beauty and creating connections with people,” insists Wilson, always so inclined to talk to the curious or explain on the fly how he does it.. Using a blowtorch, soften and spread the trampled gum on the sidewalk. Then he applies a varnish and several coats of enamel.. And so the canvas is ready, waiting for the master hand that will give it life with very fine brushes and a small palette.

The artist occasionally takes a lighter out of his backpack to dry the acrylic paint and ensure that the chewing gum converted into a micromosaic can withstand the footsteps of passers-by.. According to his calculations, over 15 years (almost 60) he has carried out more than 15,000 small works. He keeps a very precise record of all of them.

And although he can now paint in peace, thanks to a safe passage from the local Police, it was not always like this. He was arrested twice at the beginning with his hands in the gum, and one of them (in 2010) was precisely on the Millennium Bridge.. “I was painting the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral before a group of students who were enthusiastic. The police came, they accused me of “criminal damage” and I couldn't finish the painting. “They dragged me over the bridge, forced me into a van and I ended up in a cell.”

Time has moved on in his favor, and the authorities now look favorably on Ben Wilson, who is also an accomplished sculptor and exhibits in galleries. The City Bridges Foundation has recognized “the value of his art” and has committed to “identifying a limited number of pieces that will be preserved” during the cleaning and maintenance works of the also known as “tremble bridge.”

Israel warns that "the enemy is still on the ground" and issues an emergency order so that more civilians can arm themselves

More than 700 Israelis murdered, 2,048 injured and a hundred kidnapped is the still not definitive balance of the bloodiest armed attack that Israel has suffered since the 1973 war.. The offensive launched this Saturday by the Islamist group Hamas under the name “Al Aqsa Storm” and the subsequent Israeli military retaliation called “Iron Swords” lead all parties to agree on one word: “War”. After hours of combat, the spokesman for the Israeli Army, General Daniel Hagari, assured this afternoon that “800 objectives had been reached” and that the surroundings of Gaza would be reinforced.. “The enemy is still on the ground,” he warned.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah, which supported the Hamas attack, has claimed responsibility for launching mortar shells against military targets this Sunday morning in a border area under Israeli control.. In response, a Tsahal drone has attacked the tent that this pro-Iranian movement had installed months ago in that area controlled by Israel in another sign of the loss of Israel's deterrence capacity against its enemies in 2023 as a result of deep internal division around the Government and its judicial reform proposal that also affected cohesion in the army.

Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, issued this Sunday an “emergency order” to the Firearms Licensing Division to facilitate the greatest possible number of Israeli citizens to arm themselves in the middle of the war with Hamas.

“Any citizen who meets the criteria for possession of firearms, without a criminal or medical record, may receive approval to possess firearms,” the minister's office said.. The deadline to obtain the license will be only one week, after the interested party has undergone a telephone interview.

In addition, it will be expedited for citizens who have deposited their weapon in the last year due to not having renewed their license or training to recover it.. As part of the order, permits will be issued for the possession of firearms with a bonus for the purchase of up to 100 cartridges, down from the current limit of 50.

50 years and 15 hours after the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria that started the Yom Kippur War, the armed wing of Hamas broke the Shabbat calm in Israel. The biggest offensive of the fundamentalist group since it took control of Gaza in 2007 began at half past six in the morning with the launch of thousands of projectiles against large areas in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and as a dramatic differential factor, with the infiltration of dozens of militiamen in numerous Israeli towns near the Palestinian enclave.

Israel, which until this morning was fighting with some of the terrorists infiltrated in cities and several kibbutzim that have not yet been killed or have not managed to return to Gaza, launched at noon its first retaliatory air strikes against Hamas which, along with the fighting, left a toll of at least 413 Palestinians dead and more than 2,000 injured. According to the army, most of those killed were from Hamas.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Hamas terrorists invaded our territory and murdered innocent citizens, babies and elderly people in their homes.. “It is an enemy that murders babies and mothers in their homes, in their beds,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after announcing “the broad mobilization of reservists and counterattacking with a strength and reach that the enemy has never known.”. At night, he announced revenge for “this black day” and asked Gazans to leave the places where Hamas operates.

Hamas and Hizbula attacks against Israel October 2023

Netanyahu, who gathered his mini-cabinet to study an unprecedented scenario due to the number of deaths in the rear and the kidnapping of dozens [many more than dozens, according to Hamas], faces the worst attack in decades precisely when his country is going through its greatest internal crisis. of its history due to the judicial reform proposal launched in January by its ultra-conservative government inaugurated days before. The shock of the Hamas attack is so great in Israel that the chances are growing for the creation of an “emergency unity government” between Netanyahu (Likud) and the centrist parties of Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.

If the attack by Egypt and Syria began at 1:50 p.m. on October 6, 1973, the one carried out by Hamas, which has been ruling an isolated mini-state for years, took place at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023.. Dozens of motorcycles and vans driven by Gaza militiamen crossed the border fence and entered two cities located three kilometers away (Sderot) and 25 kilometers away (Ofakim), a military base and kibbutzim that, like in past wars in Israel, became the scene. of harsh armed clashes and last opposition front. Hamas used rifles, drones, boats, projectiles and anti-tank missiles while harassing some bodies in front of the cameras.. Soldiers, young people participating in a massive open-air music festival, and elderly women with their foreign caregivers were kidnapped according to various reports.

“I woke up early and soon the alarms began, which were numerous and followed, unlike what I had experienced in the past,” says Spanish Lázaro Herrera, who lives in an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip.. As he explains to EL MUNDO, he also heard gunshots. “In a while I saw a video of terrorists in an SUV driving unopposed through the streets. “The security system has completely failed and is unacceptable considering where we live and the constant threat,” he adds.

“There are numerous terrorists here! I have never seen anything like this. Where are our soldiers?”, another resident of Sderot told us on the phone with fear and anger who, like other Israeli towns bordering the Palestinian enclave, has had a violent awakening that It preceded a day of great tension and fighting that continued in some kibbutzim late into the night.. After one in the morning, Israeli forces managed to rescue hostages in the Kibbutz Beeri dining room.

“We had already warned the enemy, who cursed the prophet in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque. We have decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation. The time for not being held accountable for their crimes is over,” declared the head of Hamas's armed wing, Mohamed Deif, in a rare appearance to explain and boast about an attack planned for months.. After revealing that they launched 5,000 projectiles, Deif asked to expand the fronts in reference to an intervention by other groups from Lebanon and Syria. All of them, also supported by Iran. Hezbollah and Tehran praised what they called “heroic operation” and “Palestinian liberation war” but without intervening directly and openly.

In an appeal to Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel, Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Obeida said: “Today is your chance. You must now go to all the places where the occupation is. “The enemy is collapsed.”

Hamas announced the captivity of “dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and officers, who have already been transferred to tunnels”. The stated objective of the group led by Ismail Haniya and Yahya Sinwar is an exchange with Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel. Sinwar's house was bombed in the afternoon before Hamas launched a new burst of rockets against the Tel Aviv area, leaving several injured.. Since they started the fight, their political and military leadership took safety hours before in the numerous tunnels that cross houses and buildings in Gaza.

Beyond the euphoria over an attack that not even Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East, could or dared to carry out from Lebanon against populations in northern Israel, Hamas fears that the retaliation will endanger its regime.. The official in charge of civil affairs with Gaza and the West Bank, Major General Rasan Aliyan, sent a message in Arabic: “Hamas has opened the gates of hell for Gaza”. The Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, ordered the interruption of the electricity supply to Gaza where the inhabitants, beyond the demonstrations of joy from sympathizers and members of Hamas, fear long days and nights of bombings.

“Today we saw the face of evil. Hamas has launched a brutal attack against the citizens of Israel, indiscriminately attacking men, women, children and the elderly.. Hamas will quickly understand that it has made a serious mistake and will pay the price for it. What was, is not what will be. We will change the face of reality in Gaza in the years to come,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised as unprecedented images spread of Israeli military jeeps driven by Hamas on the streets of Gaza and Palestinian militia SUVs on the streets of Sderot. Images more typical of the Israeli series Fauda.

Aphrodisiacs do not exist: from Casanova oysters to Montezuma chocolate

No oysters, no chocolate, no honey. Despite what legend says, aphrodisiacs do not exist. However, almost all myths have a little bit of reality that someone clings to like a tick to build an entire lie.. And not always with bad intentions. We simply want to believe in magic, especially with the topics that interest us the most, such as in this case, the sexual topic.

CASANOVA AND THE OYSTERS

Legend has it that Casanova ate 50 oysters before going to work.. Pim-pam-pim-pam. Does this make any sense? The truth is that oysters have zinc and that zinc is necessary to produce testosterone and sperm.. Some clever person made the rule of three and thought: yes, oysters have a lot of zinc and zinc produces testosterone and sperm.. Therefore, if I eat a lot of oysters I will have a lot of testosterone and therefore a lot of sperm.

What is wrong with Casanova's theory?

Not to be a spoilsport but Casanova's theory is missing two things. The first thing is that there is no need to spend your salary on oysters because with the food you eat at home you can also get your zinc needs without any problem.. Zinc is in many foods that we eat daily such as meat, fish, whole grains or nuts.. Come on, the oyster is very cool and glamorous but the zinc is more distributed than the Christmas fat.

On the other hand, Casanova did not control the detail that too much zinc has adverse effects. Inflating yourself with oysters can be a shot in the foot.. or rather in the leg because excess zinc can block the absorption of copper. If you eat oysters with a lot of zinc like Casanova and don't let the copper be absorbed, the copper accumulates. And this excess can cause neurological problems including numbness and weakness in the arms and legs.. Come on, Casanova wanted his legs to tremble by eating oysters…. but for something else.

MOCTEZUMA AND COCOA

If Casanova ate 50 oysters before going to work, Moctezuma ate 50 cups of cocoa with water and spices.

Instead of pim pam, this one went glu glu.

Moctezuma had his true breakfast of champions in gold cups. And when Hernán Cortés arrived there and they offered him cocoa in such a container, he was amazed.. But of course, not for the cocoa, but for the gold. Hernán apparently conquered more women than towns and he already had aphrodisiacs in his veins.. In fact, Moctezuma's daughter did something to Hernán and something shady happened there.. So shady that Moctezuma's daughter had a child from Hernán and the mother never recognized her as her own daughter as she was not wanted.. But this is a melon that we leave for another day because I have come here to talk about chocolate.

Is chocolate really an aphrodisiac?

It is true that the chocolate that Moctezuma drank has phenylethylamine (FEA), which is a neurotransmitter that has a stimulating effect and releases dopamine.. They call it “the drug of love” because it is produced when we fall in love (curious, by the way, that they call the drug of love UGLY).

In reality, we eat chocolate and sugar in general, foods that calm our anxiety, for several reasons.. They generate a feeling of pleasure in us and anxiety also awakens some mechanisms in our body that also start when we are hungry.

The reality is that there is no conclusive study that links chocolate consumption with greater vigor. It is true that cocoa, by stimulating the release of dopamine, can predispose you to maintain more satisfactory relationships.. But, we insist, desire again depends on many factors.

HONEY… AND THE HONEYMOON

Legend has it that in the Middle Ages, newly married couples were given mead, the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world made famous by Game of Thrones.. Mead was a mixture of honey and water that was fermented with yeast until it became a kind of alcoholic brew.

They gave it to the newlyweds to drink during the first month of marriage – that's where the honeymoon comes from – with the idea that they would become more affectionate and bring babies into the world.. But the reality is that the stimulating properties of mead are more related to alcohol than to honey.. Regardless of the variety of honey.

IMPORTANT: DESIRE MATTERS

In the hypothetical case that filling ourselves with oysters and chocolate gets things going, let's not forget that desire is necessary and multifactorial.. Desire is influenced by physiological factors, among which it makes sense to take care of your diet, but it is also influenced by psychological factors, including the consumption of drugs.

And why does it work for me? Let's remember: aphrodisiacs do not exist but the placebo effect does.

"A tall person has a higher risk of suffering from cancer than a short one"

Is cancer only a human disease? Is its cause due to civilization? If humanity disappeared, would cancer disappear too? The answer to all these questions is no.. A resounding no. For about ten years it has been known that a species of trout called Plectropomus leopardus suffers from skin cancer.. This type of fish lives in the so-called Great Barrier Reef, which is located just below a huge ozone hole.. Ozone in the upper layers of the atmosphere, as we know, works as a protective cream against ultraviolet radiation from the sun; The lack of this gas causes a predisposition for the development of skin cancer not only in humans, but also in other animals such as coral trout.

There hasn't always been cancer on Earth. In fact, disease appears, like death, with multicellular organisms. All multicellular organisms can suffer from cancer. Only single-celled organisms are saved. It is necessary to be a multicellular living being to have cancer. It is in this type of structure where the uncontrolled proliferation characteristic of cancer occurs.. But it is not necessary to have many cells to suffer from it. You don't have to be an animal to suffer from tumors either.. Plants suffer from cancer.

Plant tumors are different. Thus, they do not produce metastases, they are more local: because the cells do not move along the plant, the tumors are characterized by a local growth like a lump, for example, on the crest of a cactus.. Since they do not produce metastasis, these tumors do not kill the plant that suffers from them.. Plants also do not have vital organs, such as the brain or lung, which, when affected by cancer, endanger the life of the animal.

Plant cells have a more rigid structure, different from animal cells, which is called “wall” and which keeps them fixed in place and does not allow, in the event that a cell transforms into a tumor, it to travel or invade. to neighboring ones. Furthermore, plant tumors are characterized by excessive multiplication of cells, but without invading neighboring cells or surrounding tissues.. Plant tumors are caused by infections or trauma that cause structural damage.. Among the infections, bacteria and fungi predominate, but they can also be infected by viruses.

As for animals, many of the creatures that inhabit the blue paradise can suffer from cancer. From the largest and most ancient ones, and before humans, like the dinosaurs, to the smallest ones like the hydra.. Those who have searched systematically have found animals that are more susceptible and others more resistant to getting cancer, but no animal has been found that is safe from the disease.. Cancer occurs at staggeringly high rates and may be responsible for 40 percent of total deaths in multicellular animals across the spectrum from mollusks to mammals.

Studies on the prevalence of cancer in wildlife suggest that there is a spectrum of susceptibility to tumors in vertebrate animals.. The highest prevalence of cancer occurs in mammals, followed by reptiles and birds. Frogs, toads and their amphibian companions enjoy the lowest prevalence of cancer. Among mammals, vulnerability to cancer varies from those that are extraordinarily resistant – among these lucky ones are two types of rats: the naked mole and the blind mole – to the other extreme, where there are animals that suffer from it with a higher frequency. than that of other groups. Among these unfortunates, experts cite Tasmanian devils, cheetahs, dogs, guinea pigs and ferrets.. Human beings are neither the ones who suffer the most from cancer nor the least, we occupy an intermediate place.

Why is this happening? What are these differences due to? If cancer is a disease of cells that increases with age, we should think that animals that are larger (and therefore have a greater number of cells) and those that live longer are those that would have a greater chance. And so it is within each species. Among humans, a tall person has a higher risk of cancer than a short person (10 percent higher risk with every four-inch difference in height). And cancer is a disease of the elderly. According to the US National Cancer Institute: Advanced age is the most important risk factor for cancer in general and many types of cancer in particular.. Cancer incidence rates increase steadily with advancing age, from less than twenty-five cases per hundred thousand people in the age groups less than twenty years old, to about three hundred and fifty cases per hundred thousand people among the forty-five and forty-nine years, up to more than one thousand per one hundred thousand people in the age groups of sixty years or more.

This means that, unless we find the elixir of youth (maybe one day we will have pills that repair DNA and contain telomerase, an enzyme that prevents the aging of chromosomes?), cancer will continue to be prevalent in humanity, and their figures, if we take into account that we live longer and older, can only increase with each generation.

Is your cold not just cured? These are the causes

Have you been suffering from a cold for several weeks that just won't go away? Science has the explanation for what is happening to you.. A new study published in EClinicalMedicine, one of the publications of The Lancet group, shows that some people may suffer from 'persistent colds', a prolongation of the usual cold symptoms, such as cough, stomach pain or diarrhea.

The work, developed by scientists at Queen Mary University of London, suggests that acute respiratory infections not related to Covid, such as colds or flu, can also cause long-lasting symptoms, lasting more than four weeks after the initial infection.

However, scientists have not been able to determine whether these long-lasting symptoms could be of the same severity or duration as those associated with long Covid, a problem that affects many people after the arrival of SARS-CoV-2..

The research compared the prevalence and severity of long-term symptoms after an episode of Covid versus episodes of another acute respiratory infection that tested negative for the coronavirus.. According to the work data, persistence of symptoms occurred in both groups, although individuals who recovered from Covid were more likely to experience lightheadedness or dizziness and problems with taste and smell compared to those who had an infection. respiratory not related to Covid.

“The study corroborates previous findings according to which long-term symptoms are common after respiratory infections in general, not only after covid-19. However, Covid-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of several conditions, including memory problems, suggesting that 'brain fog' may be particularly related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he said. noted, in statements to Science Media Center (SMC) Paul Harrison, professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

“One of the strengths of the study is its prospective nature, based on the UK population. A weak point is the relatively small number of cases of infection other than Covid-19,” he added..

For his part, David Strain, senior clinical professor and honorary consultant at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), also told SMC that the prospective review is “very well done.”.

“They have shown that, at least in the short term, the persistence of symptoms can be worrying not only after Covid-19, but also after many other infections”.

Strain clarified that “although this is the first prospective study on this topic, it is not a new phenomenon”. In fact, he emphasizes, “the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-1920 left many people with lethargic encephalitis that took decades to resolve (this was the subject of Oliver Sacks' book Awakenings or, depending on the audience, from the film by Robert De Niro and Robin Williams)”.

“The concept of post-viral disease is also well established. Today in the UK, approximately 280,000 people suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)), many of whom claim that the trigger was a fairly benign initial viral illness.”.

The scientist highlights that “a limitation of this study is that it only analyzes the symptoms at a single moment.”. While participants in the COVIDENCE trial report symptoms lasting more than three months and up to two years, many ME/CFS sufferers have experienced their symptoms for decades. Lacking an understanding of the mechanisms or diagnostic testing, they have faced unprecedented stigma from society.. Hopefully the legacy of the current healthcare system will not be to leave these young and previously fit people behind. This study will highlight the urgent need for further research into post-viral syndromes, risk factors and therefore pathways to mitigate them, diagnostic tests and potential treatments to help the more than quarter of a million people in the UK and millions around the world who suffer from this terrible disease.