The Chikungunya (CHIK) virus is epidemic in Brazil, with 170,000 cases in the first half of 2016. More than 60% of patients present relapsing and remitting chronic arthralgia with debilitating pain lasting years. There are no specific therapeutic agents to treat and rehabilitee infected persons with CHIK. Persistent pain can lead to incapacitation, requiring long-term pharmacological treatment. Advances in non-pharmacological treatments are necessary to promote pain relief without side effects and to restore functionality. Clinical trials indicate transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can treat a broad range of chronic pain disorders, including diffuse neuromuscular pain and arthralgia. Here, we demonstrate that the tDCS across the primary motor cortex significantly reduces pain in the chronic phase of CHIK. High-resolution computational model was created to analyze the cortical electric field generated during tDCS and a diffuse and clustered brain current flow including M1 ipsilateral and contralateral, left DLPFC, nucleus accumbens, and cingulate was found. Our findings suggest tDCS could be an effective, inexpensive and deployable therapy to areas lacking resources with a significant number of patients with chronic CHIK persistent pain.
COVID-19 outbreak has been dogged the whole world and besides economic damage; this new virus has been collapsing health units worldwide. Many people have been infected and died every day and so far, there are no vaccines or drugs approved to fight off COVID-19. In this sense, many countries have adopted strategies to avoid virus spread during the quarantine. Social isolation has caused psychological impacts and changes in people's routine, thus physical exercise emerges as an alternative to decrease cognitive problems developed by people during the quarantine. The use of technology to guide people during physical education classes has become a great strategy for people who cannot leave their homes. Besides, technology can insert people in an immersive environment increasing their interaction, merriment, improving their immune and cardiovascular systems. Physical education teacher must be considered an essential health professional during this pandemic period because they can guide and stimulate individuals to practice physical exercise routinely, in order to keep and improve their health.
SUMMARY Currently, many people have been infected by the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and presented cardiorespiratory symptoms caused mainly by the host immune system response and respiratory tract inflammation. So far, there is no effective treatment to fight off COVID-19 and, despite many daily speculations about new treatments and vaccines, in this article, we discuss the effectiveness of a cheap and scientific proven technique to treat and prevent several diseases. Many studies have shown the benefits of physical exercise in individuals who have practiced it routinely. This approach is a great strategy to improve people's cardiorespiratory capacity, inflammation system, and immune response. Due to the quarantine period, the practice of physical exercise at home can also be used to fight off COVID-19 and must be inserted into people's routines.
The novel coronavirus disease has infected millions of people worldwide and generated many sequels in the survivors, such as muscular pain and fatigue. These symptoms have been treated through pharmacological approaches; however, infected people keep presenting physical limitations. Besides, the COVID-19 damage to the central nervous system has also been related to the presence of some physical impairment, so strategies that focus on diverse brain areas should be encouraged. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non-pharmacological tool that could be associated with pharmacological treatments to improve the central nervous system function and decrease the exacerbation of the immune system response. tDCS targeting pain and fatigue-related areas could provide an increase in neuroplasticity and enhancements in physical functions. Moreover, it can be used in infirmaries and clinical centers to treat COVID-19 patients.
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