Brunella Longo
@brunellalongo.bsky.social
Technologist, Writer
(London, UK)
Recent titles:
>The Blind Spot. Adverse childhood experiences and autoimmune diseases. Short stories
>The Sicca Messenger: on knowledge about Sjögren's and other autoimmune diseases
>Source. Poems about homelessness
(London, UK)
Recent titles:
>The Blind Spot. Adverse childhood experiences and autoimmune diseases. Short stories
>The Sicca Messenger: on knowledge about Sjögren's and other autoimmune diseases
>Source. Poems about homelessness
Pinned
"The Gory Twins" delves into rare blood disorders, difficult to diagnose, and early symptoms of #autoimmunity through the life of Ron and Jeffrey, dizygotic twins,and so different from each other. Dense, gripping story that sheds lights on epistaxis, blood phobia, antiphospholipid syndrome....
Somebody read The Gory Twins and said the journalist of Mitochondria Tomorrow (the research company) is actually a metaphor of the way #scicomm tends to deal with patients stories, trying to connect unknowns, to dig out breakthroughs from medical records...
May be.
May be.
I made it! After Long COVID + complications of #autoimmunedisease I was able to travel again today for a very long day bicycle trains flights car to go and visit my mum in Italy turning 85 🥰 After 30 months of exercise, walks, work and innumerable changes in diet... Love #selfcare
Now to sleep!
Now to sleep!
November 15, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I made it! After Long COVID + complications of #autoimmunedisease I was able to travel again today for a very long day bicycle trains flights car to go and visit my mum in Italy turning 85 🥰 After 30 months of exercise, walks, work and innumerable changes in diet... Love #selfcare
Now to sleep!
Now to sleep!
My short story The Patch talks about youth resilience, the power and limits of different types of knowledge, 3 decades before the discovery that alopecia areata is an #autoimmunedisease.
It is written with lightness and precision.
#jakinhibitors in the footnotes.
Sorry the judges didn't like it.
It is written with lightness and precision.
#jakinhibitors in the footnotes.
Sorry the judges didn't like it.
We are delighted to share the shortlist of six stories for The London Magazine Short Story Prize 2025!
Congratulations to all shortlisted writers, and a huge thank you to our judges Gurnaik Johal, Ben Pester and CAA’s Erika Price.
Winners will be announced next week.
Congratulations to all shortlisted writers, and a huge thank you to our judges Gurnaik Johal, Ben Pester and CAA’s Erika Price.
Winners will be announced next week.
November 14, 2025 at 7:23 PM
My short story The Patch talks about youth resilience, the power and limits of different types of knowledge, 3 decades before the discovery that alopecia areata is an #autoimmunedisease.
It is written with lightness and precision.
#jakinhibitors in the footnotes.
Sorry the judges didn't like it.
It is written with lightness and precision.
#jakinhibitors in the footnotes.
Sorry the judges didn't like it.
Whatever the cause of their hairpulling, people should bear in mind that doing so they spread dandruff and demodex mites all around... very annoying for those who suffer from demodicosis blepharitis meibomian gland dysfunction keratonjuntivitis (all very often present in #sjogrens)
NEW: Researchers found that shame partly explained the link between hair-pulling and depression, and fully explained the link between hair-pulling and anxiety.
Find out more ⬇️
Find out more ⬇️
Research finds that shame is a significant factor in hairpulling in
It found that shame partially explained the relationship between hairpulling and depression, and fully explained the relationship between hairpulling and anxiety.
www.ox.ac.uk
November 13, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Whatever the cause of their hairpulling, people should bear in mind that doing so they spread dandruff and demodex mites all around... very annoying for those who suffer from demodicosis blepharitis meibomian gland dysfunction keratonjuntivitis (all very often present in #sjogrens)
The viral hypothesis in the aetiology of autoimmune disease does not loose traction, since the 1960, and it is still popular and strong in respect of #Sjogrens
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 PM
The viral hypothesis in the aetiology of autoimmune disease does not loose traction, since the 1960, and it is still popular and strong in respect of #Sjogrens
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Disabled but working in digital media? Read this:
A pamphlet about the invasion of design thinking and programmatic advertising:
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by #AI and crip autotheory (2025)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FGVK87CR
A pamphlet about the invasion of design thinking and programmatic advertising:
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by #AI and crip autotheory (2025)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FGVK87CR
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by AI and crip autotheory
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by AI and crip autotheory eBook : Longo, Brunella: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
www.amazon.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Disabled but working in digital media? Read this:
A pamphlet about the invasion of design thinking and programmatic advertising:
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by #AI and crip autotheory (2025)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FGVK87CR
A pamphlet about the invasion of design thinking and programmatic advertising:
The end of freedom (to write what you want): A short trip into the world of online influence powered by #AI and crip autotheory (2025)
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FGVK87CR
Reposted by Brunella Longo
Somebody read The Gory Twins and said the journalist of Mitochondria Tomorrow (the research company) is actually a metaphor of the way #scicomm tends to deal with patients stories, trying to connect unknowns, to dig out breakthroughs from medical records...
May be.
May be.
"The Gory Twins" delves into rare blood disorders, difficult to diagnose, and early symptoms of #autoimmunity through the life of Ron and Jeffrey, dizygotic twins,and so different from each other. Dense, gripping story that sheds lights on epistaxis, blood phobia, antiphospholipid syndrome....
November 9, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Somebody read The Gory Twins and said the journalist of Mitochondria Tomorrow (the research company) is actually a metaphor of the way #scicomm tends to deal with patients stories, trying to connect unknowns, to dig out breakthroughs from medical records...
May be.
May be.
What I feel deeply as an informed patient, a researcher, a former consultant in ICT and media is that we should not surrender to #autoimmunedisease and #chronicillness as a business model.
No need to exploit "in vivo" people suffering on social media for advocacy and research.
#BOOKSKY #scicomm
No need to exploit "in vivo" people suffering on social media for advocacy and research.
#BOOKSKY #scicomm
My short stories talk about complex #autoimmunediseases with a pinch of optimism: Prof Labutta, in "The surgeon with the parakeets", at 84, in spite of some signs of dementia, has something to teach about the vermiform "vestigial" organ, now considered the "brain of the gut" 😲 🧵
#sciencecom
#sciencecom
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
What I feel deeply as an informed patient, a researcher, a former consultant in ICT and media is that we should not surrender to #autoimmunedisease and #chronicillness as a business model.
No need to exploit "in vivo" people suffering on social media for advocacy and research.
#BOOKSKY #scicomm
No need to exploit "in vivo" people suffering on social media for advocacy and research.
#BOOKSKY #scicomm
This ebook has two short stories about "Men with Sjögren's", Sam and Simon, extracts from "The Blind Spot".... inspiring and instructive for patients, carers, researchers, clinicians, students, everybody interested (or not) in #autoimmunediseases #scicomm
#BOOKSKY
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FXBK99MT
#BOOKSKY
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FXBK99MT
November 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
This ebook has two short stories about "Men with Sjögren's", Sam and Simon, extracts from "The Blind Spot".... inspiring and instructive for patients, carers, researchers, clinicians, students, everybody interested (or not) in #autoimmunediseases #scicomm
#BOOKSKY
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FXBK99MT
#BOOKSKY
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FXBK99MT
Reposted by Brunella Longo
My short stories talk about complex #autoimmunediseases with a pinch of optimism: Prof Labutta, in "The surgeon with the parakeets", at 84, in spite of some signs of dementia, has something to teach about the vermiform "vestigial" organ, now considered the "brain of the gut" 😲 🧵
#sciencecom
#sciencecom
October 17, 2025 at 8:01 PM
My short stories talk about complex #autoimmunediseases with a pinch of optimism: Prof Labutta, in "The surgeon with the parakeets", at 84, in spite of some signs of dementia, has something to teach about the vermiform "vestigial" organ, now considered the "brain of the gut" 😲 🧵
#sciencecom
#sciencecom
Good heavens! I did not mean to blow any whistle about the BBC or Panorama ...
In this story, Penicillin Power, part of "The Blind Spot" Rose, the protagonist, raises concerns about a certain method of speech editing in video and documentary productions...
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
In this story, Penicillin Power, part of "The Blind Spot" Rose, the protagonist, raises concerns about a certain method of speech editing in video and documentary productions...
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
November 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Good heavens! I did not mean to blow any whistle about the BBC or Panorama ...
In this story, Penicillin Power, part of "The Blind Spot" Rose, the protagonist, raises concerns about a certain method of speech editing in video and documentary productions...
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
In this story, Penicillin Power, part of "The Blind Spot" Rose, the protagonist, raises concerns about a certain method of speech editing in video and documentary productions...
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
Reposted by Brunella Longo
Problem is not Trump here. Problem is how impartiality and professionalism are derided within the BBC and its whole media ecosystem, its contractors, the toxic culture that transpires from this story... a fake montage on a White House candidate broadcast by the BBC the week before the election? Sad.
November 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Problem is not Trump here. Problem is how impartiality and professionalism are derided within the BBC and its whole media ecosystem, its contractors, the toxic culture that transpires from this story... a fake montage on a White House candidate broadcast by the BBC the week before the election? Sad.
I've been trying for days to remember who wrote (in Italian, but it was translated) something like "literature starts when something in life goes out of order" or "goes out of the rules". I had in mind Simone de Beauvoir. Eventually, today another name surfaced: I think it was Tahar Ben Jelloun
November 9, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I've been trying for days to remember who wrote (in Italian, but it was translated) something like "literature starts when something in life goes out of order" or "goes out of the rules". I had in mind Simone de Beauvoir. Eventually, today another name surfaced: I think it was Tahar Ben Jelloun
Somebody read The Gory Twins and said the journalist of Mitochondria Tomorrow (the research company) is actually a metaphor of the way #scicomm tends to deal with patients stories, trying to connect unknowns, to dig out breakthroughs from medical records...
May be.
May be.
"The Gory Twins" delves into rare blood disorders, difficult to diagnose, and early symptoms of #autoimmunity through the life of Ron and Jeffrey, dizygotic twins,and so different from each other. Dense, gripping story that sheds lights on epistaxis, blood phobia, antiphospholipid syndrome....
November 9, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Somebody read The Gory Twins and said the journalist of Mitochondria Tomorrow (the research company) is actually a metaphor of the way #scicomm tends to deal with patients stories, trying to connect unknowns, to dig out breakthroughs from medical records...
May be.
May be.
Reposted by Brunella Longo
Available in most markets from today
The Blind Spot: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases. Short Stories
www.amazon.com/dp/1838090991/
The Blind Spot: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases. Short Stories
www.amazon.com/dp/1838090991/
October 31, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Available in most markets from today
The Blind Spot: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases. Short Stories
www.amazon.com/dp/1838090991/
The Blind Spot: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases. Short Stories
www.amazon.com/dp/1838090991/
Reposted by Brunella Longo
Very interesting conversation about #hypothyroidism and hashimoto's #thyroiditis focusing on gluten and inflammatory foods, minerals and vitamins that help keeping at bay this systemic #autoimmunedisease, often overlapping in #sjogrens
www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m9...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m9...
The Functional Medicine Approach To Hypothyroidism And Hashimoto’s Disease
YouTube video by Mark Hyman, MD
www.youtube.com
September 14, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Very interesting conversation about #hypothyroidism and hashimoto's #thyroiditis focusing on gluten and inflammatory foods, minerals and vitamins that help keeping at bay this systemic #autoimmunedisease, often overlapping in #sjogrens
www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m9...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m9...
Reposted by Brunella Longo
Physical activity as a modifiable risk factor in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease www.nature.com/articles/s41... via @natmed.nature.com
#Alzheimers #dementia #publichealth #exercise #fitness #geriatrics #GeriSky
#Alzheimers #dementia #publichealth #exercise #fitness #geriatrics #GeriSky
Physical activity as a modifiable risk factor in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease - Nature Medicine
In cognitively normal older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s dementia, physical inactivity was associated with faster tau protein buildup and cognitive decline.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Physical activity as a modifiable risk factor in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease www.nature.com/articles/s41... via @natmed.nature.com
#Alzheimers #dementia #publichealth #exercise #fitness #geriatrics #GeriSky
#Alzheimers #dementia #publichealth #exercise #fitness #geriatrics #GeriSky
More than 48000 images of analog clocks and still AI cannot say what time is it! for the time being, there is still hope
AI excels in complex tasks but falters at reading analog clocks—what does this tell us about its limitations?
AI Struggles to Read Analog Clocks Correctly
AI struggles with analog clocks. What does this reveal about its limitations in image analysis?
spectrum.ieee.org
November 8, 2025 at 8:15 PM
More than 48000 images of analog clocks and still AI cannot say what time is it! for the time being, there is still hope
I was thinking about this 👇 today organising a short trip: after my long-covid in 2023 when I'd already been diagnosed with other autoimmune diseases fatigue is always over the corner.
I recovered from the worst but additional symptoms haven't disappeared, only their frequency is more manageable
I recovered from the worst but additional symptoms haven't disappeared, only their frequency is more manageable
The Lancet, Infectious Disease: 'Negative results in long COVID clinical trials: choosing outcome measures for a heterogeneous disease'
By Lisa McCorkell, Femke van Rhijn-Brouwerb, Letícia Soares, Julia Moore Vogel, Lara Goxhaj, Chloé de Canson
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
By Lisa McCorkell, Femke van Rhijn-Brouwerb, Letícia Soares, Julia Moore Vogel, Lara Goxhaj, Chloé de Canson
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Negative results in long COVID clinical trials: choosing outcome measures for a heterogeneous disease
Long COVID is an umbrella term for the heterogeneous long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2
infection. It encompasses a wide spectrum of phenotypes (sometimes overlapping), and
its underlying mechanisms...
www.thelancet.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I was thinking about this 👇 today organising a short trip: after my long-covid in 2023 when I'd already been diagnosed with other autoimmune diseases fatigue is always over the corner.
I recovered from the worst but additional symptoms haven't disappeared, only their frequency is more manageable
I recovered from the worst but additional symptoms haven't disappeared, only their frequency is more manageable
The load of emotions was so huge I had to turn to poetry to tell the story.
It may seem weird, but "Source. Poems about homelessness" is actually the first spin off from "The Sicca Messenger", my research book on knowledge and #autoimmunediseases
To buy your copy 👇
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FM3RRR78
It may seem weird, but "Source. Poems about homelessness" is actually the first spin off from "The Sicca Messenger", my research book on knowledge and #autoimmunediseases
To buy your copy 👇
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FM3RRR78
Source: Poems about homelessness eBook : Longo, Brunella: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Source: Poems about homelessness eBook : Longo, Brunella: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
www.amazon.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The load of emotions was so huge I had to turn to poetry to tell the story.
It may seem weird, but "Source. Poems about homelessness" is actually the first spin off from "The Sicca Messenger", my research book on knowledge and #autoimmunediseases
To buy your copy 👇
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FM3RRR78
It may seem weird, but "Source. Poems about homelessness" is actually the first spin off from "The Sicca Messenger", my research book on knowledge and #autoimmunediseases
To buy your copy 👇
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FM3RRR78
Informative post 👇 also, in several #autoimmunediseases, with or without gastrointestinal issues, these symptoms are often coming and going, triggered by overreaction to food stress fatigue
We need to know, be vigilant, TEST, change DIET, pacing ourselves and ... REST!
#selfcare can be tiring too
We need to know, be vigilant, TEST, change DIET, pacing ourselves and ... REST!
#selfcare can be tiring too
Anal cancer vs. haemorrhoids; they can feel similar, but the stakes are very different. If you have pain, itching or bleeding, don’t brush it off. Get checked. Early detection saves lives (and your dignity).
#TCSC #CancerAwareness #Health #Oncology #EarlyDetection
www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/a...
#TCSC #CancerAwareness #Health #Oncology #EarlyDetection
www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/a...
Anal cancer vs. hemorrhoids: How to know the difference
Everyone is born with hemorrhoids. But when they become enlarged, they can cause symptoms that mimic anal cancer symptoms. Colon and rectal surgeon Craig Messick M.D., explains how the two conditions ...
www.mdanderson.org
November 6, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Informative post 👇 also, in several #autoimmunediseases, with or without gastrointestinal issues, these symptoms are often coming and going, triggered by overreaction to food stress fatigue
We need to know, be vigilant, TEST, change DIET, pacing ourselves and ... REST!
#selfcare can be tiring too
We need to know, be vigilant, TEST, change DIET, pacing ourselves and ... REST!
#selfcare can be tiring too
Several short stories included in "The Blind Spot. Childhood Adverse Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases" can also be read as single ebooks, free extracts or through Kindle unlimited
Here is the printed on demand paperback
#sciencecommunication #scicomm
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
Here is the printed on demand paperback
#sciencecommunication #scicomm
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
November 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Several short stories included in "The Blind Spot. Childhood Adverse Experiences and Autoimmune Diseases" can also be read as single ebooks, free extracts or through Kindle unlimited
Here is the printed on demand paperback
#sciencecommunication #scicomm
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
Here is the printed on demand paperback
#sciencecommunication #scicomm
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838090991
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction to Helen Garner, 82, for the publication of 800 pages of her diaries (1978-1998) is a recognition for her career and life, and for the social function of the genre, that I'm very proud I've used for my debut short story "The Burn".
Regeneration of skin tissue after burns and gene editing for the removal of the extra copy of chromosome 21 (cause of Down Syndrome) are two of many social and scientific progresses and change mentioned in The Burn, a short story that travels through space and time over a period of 60 years. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction to Helen Garner, 82, for the publication of 800 pages of her diaries (1978-1998) is a recognition for her career and life, and for the social function of the genre, that I'm very proud I've used for my debut short story "The Burn".
Reposted by Brunella Longo
"Immunologists seem to have picked up speed! Imaging, molecular biology and biobanks are turbocharging the field"
Read more starting from this short article, by me:
Immune Light
www.linkedin.com/pulse/immune...
Read more starting from this short article, by me:
Immune Light
www.linkedin.com/pulse/immune...
May 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
"Immunologists seem to have picked up speed! Imaging, molecular biology and biobanks are turbocharging the field"
Read more starting from this short article, by me:
Immune Light
www.linkedin.com/pulse/immune...
Read more starting from this short article, by me:
Immune Light
www.linkedin.com/pulse/immune...
Reposted by Brunella Longo
I mentioned studies about mortality in Sjogren's disease:
Damage is the word
www.linkedin.com/pulse/damage...
Now interesting data about Lupus 👇 by ACR
These data should not scare anybody
They make clearer issues of quality of life and importance of #healthliteracy with #autoimmunedisease
Damage is the word
www.linkedin.com/pulse/damage...
Now interesting data about Lupus 👇 by ACR
These data should not scare anybody
They make clearer issues of quality of life and importance of #healthliteracy with #autoimmunedisease
June 24, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I mentioned studies about mortality in Sjogren's disease:
Damage is the word
www.linkedin.com/pulse/damage...
Now interesting data about Lupus 👇 by ACR
These data should not scare anybody
They make clearer issues of quality of life and importance of #healthliteracy with #autoimmunedisease
Damage is the word
www.linkedin.com/pulse/damage...
Now interesting data about Lupus 👇 by ACR
These data should not scare anybody
They make clearer issues of quality of life and importance of #healthliteracy with #autoimmunedisease
Reposted by Brunella Longo
I wonder why doctors prescribe medications containing exactly the allergens patients say they need to avoid?
Both patients and doctors need to understand that any allergen can initiate an immune response!
P Matzinger about allergens in this video @ 00:05:50
videocast.nih.gov/watch=54723
Both patients and doctors need to understand that any allergen can initiate an immune response!
P Matzinger about allergens in this video @ 00:05:50
videocast.nih.gov/watch=54723
“The Danger model: are we cutting off too small a slice of the pie?”
Dr. Matzinger will give IIG seminar on May 1st 2024, she studies mechanisms of T-cell tolerance and memory. She proposed the Danger model of immunity, which suggests that the immune system is far less...
videocast.nih.gov
June 27, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I wonder why doctors prescribe medications containing exactly the allergens patients say they need to avoid?
Both patients and doctors need to understand that any allergen can initiate an immune response!
P Matzinger about allergens in this video @ 00:05:50
videocast.nih.gov/watch=54723
Both patients and doctors need to understand that any allergen can initiate an immune response!
P Matzinger about allergens in this video @ 00:05:50
videocast.nih.gov/watch=54723