Could 'body odor therapy' ease anxiety? Plus, scientists get closer to understanding 'hidden' HIV, and more health news

Could inhaling a deep whiff of another person’s sweat help ease crippling social anxiety?

Quite possibly, new Swedish research suggests.

The notion stems from a trial that involved just 48 women. All struggled with what’s known as social anxiety disorder — an often intense and relentless fear of being watched or judged by others when participating in common social situations.

The standard course of treatment centers on talk therapy involving meditation practices that are designed to ease some of the anxiety that arises.

But Swedish researchers discovered that when such “mindfulness therapy” is combined with the inhaling of sweat of others, the result appears to be a far steeper drop in anxiety levels.

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Blind people are better at sensing their heartbeats

People who are blind are better at sensing their own heartbeats, according to a new study that found blindness appears to heighten one's ability to feel signals from the inner body.

Researchers from Sweden and Poland tested this in a study of 36 blind individuals and the same number of sighted people.

Each was asked to count their heartbeats without checking their pulse or touching their body.

Using a pulse oximeter, the researchers simultaneously recorded participants' actual heartbeats. Then, they compared the reported numbers with those actually recorded.

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Caregiving for someone with dementia

There is little doubt that caregiving for someone with dementia can be demanding and challenging, and that knowing how best to care for both the patient and yourself can be hard to figure out.

Here are some tips to help you navigate this difficult time and be the best caregiver you can be for your loved one.

According to the Dementia Society of America, dementia describes a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that damage the brain.

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Living near noisy traffic might raise suicide risk

Living with a lot of transportation noise can increase your risk of suicide, new research suggests.

A study from Switzerland found that with every 10-decibel increase of average road traffic noise at home, risk for suicides rose by 4%. An association between railway noise and suicide was less pronounced.

“We used suicides as an indicator for mental health disorders as we do not have robust Swiss data on mental health diagnoses such as depression or anxiety,” said study co-author Benedikt Wicki, a PhD student at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

“Noise increases the mental load, contributing to the development of mental disorders or worsening of preexisting conditions," he said in an institute news release.

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Scientists get closer to understanding 'hidden' HIV

Researchers are closing in on another immune system “hideout” that HIV uses to persist in the human body for years.

A subset of white blood cells called myeloid cells can harbor HIV in people who’ve been virally suppressed for years, according to a new small-scale study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The researchers showed that HIV in specific myeloid cells can be reactivated, with the virus going on to infect new cells. These specific cells include short-lived monocytes and longer-lived monocyte-derived macrophages.

The results suggest that myeloid cells contribute to a long-lived reservoir of HIV in those infected, researchers said.

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Wisconsin fungal infection sickened 4 people, 5 dogs

The first season of "The Last of Us" may be over, but many folks have been left with an abiding fear of fungal infections.

Some of that fear might be well-founded in real life: A cluster of the fungal infection blastomycosis was found in dogs and humans in Wisconsin in 2022, which led to serious health consequences, U.S. health officials report.

Blastomycosis is caused by a fungus called Blastomyces, which lives in moist soil and decomposing wood and leaves.

Most people who breathe in the spores don’t get sick, but some who do develop symptoms like fever and cough, and the infection can sometimes become serious.

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