By Jeff Moyer, Rodale Institute CEO

Jeff Moyer, CEO of Rodale Institute

The world is slowly reopeningbut the COVID-19 crisis isnt over, and everyone still has concerns. While in many areas, the number of cases is decreasing, our health will remain in danger until we make a major change and paradigm shift.

That change is closer than you might think. Its in your kitchen, your backyard garden, and at the farmers market you visit every weekend.

The solution is our soil and in our food. What we eat is critical to protecting our health, and our broken food system needs an overhaul.

...

The coronavirus pandemic has focused the spotlight on the importance of health, immunity, and disease prevention. We watched as our medical systems became inundated with patients, while feeling helpless to support our own health in the face of an invisible threat.

As we return to a new normal, it is imperative that we stay vigilant about maintaining our health. Sales of organic food rose 22 percent in March, 18 percent in April, and 16 percent in May as consumers looked for ways to boost their immune systems. We cannot return to our industrial, chemical food system as the crisis recedesa food system that is harming both people and the planetand expect positive impacts on our personal health. We need resilient agriculture for the future.

What we eat is directly related to how we feel and how we protect our health. So why have we allowed an agricultural system that sprays our food with chemicals, disproportionately harms vulnerable communities, and poisons our environment be the main source of food for our families? Why is our medical system so out of touch with the role that food plays in our physical health, prescribing pharmaceuticals for lifestyle diseases that create even more side effects and problems?

...

For too long, farmers and doctors have been siloed while pursuing the same goal: keeping people healthy. Remember the grade school adage an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Its far past time that we bring these individuals, and professions, back together.

The path towards change can be found in Regenerative Healthcare. Regenerative organic food is free of the threat of chemicals like glyphosate, a probable carcinogen. At Rodale Institute, our research has shown not only that organic can feed the world, but that it can feed the worlds families more nutrient dense food, full of natural antioxidants and phytonutrients that can prevent, suspend, and even reverse the most wide-spread of lifestyle diseases.

And yet, the Standard American Diet comprises only 11 percent of its calories from whole plant foods, and more than 50 percent from highly processed products. Today, over 70 percent of global deaths are due to lifestyle-related diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic immune disorders.

When facing a threat as strong as COVID-19, we need to avail ourselves of every support system we have. Our diet is one of the simplest ways to improve our health and take control over our lives. And yet, nutrition is roundly downplayed in the medical community. In fact, many medical students receive less than 25 hours of training in nutrition during their entire education.

We need to deploy a health care system in which farmers and physicians work together to inform a prevention-based approach to human and environmental health. Regenerative Healthcare is the only path forward.

We must combine what we know about the power of food with our knowledge of nutrition and our bodies, working to prevent disease through an organic, whole-foods, plant-forward diet that begins on farms that work in harmony with nature.

...

For over 70 years, Rodale Institute has been researching the benefits of regenerative organic agriculture. From the beginning, our mission has been to support healthy soil that grows healthy food, feeding healthy people.

Results from Rodale Institutes Farming Systems Trial, a 40-year side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional grain cropping systems, has shown conclusively that organic systems are not only comparable to conventional systems in terms of yields, but can yield up to 40 percent higher in years of inclement weather like drought. Organic systems also use 45 percent less energy, reducing carbon emissions.

We started this research in 1981, long before a world-wide pandemic upended our society. The wholesale benefits of a regenerative organic food system were true then and are even truer now. Consumers clearly understand that organic food is healthier, as organic grocery sales and CSA memberships have skyrocketed since the pandemic took hold.

...

Adapting the holistic, regenerative model to our nations healthcare systems is a crucial step in improving human health. A shift in our medical system away from pharmaceutical-based disease management towards an integrative system founded on lifestyle medicinesupported by organic, nutrient-dense whole foodscould dramatically alter the trajectory of chronic disease and create a healthier future.

Let us agreewe cannot forget the critical role our food plays in protecting our health. Though the everyday threat of COVID-19 will eventually be a memory, the decisions we make about our food will always affect us. Take the first steps to protect your health now. You wont regret it.

Interested in more solutions? Rodale Institute, with our partners at The Plantrician Project, have released a new scientifically documented white paper that brings together, for the first time, doctors, scientists, and farmers to analyze the ways our food system has failed us, and, more importantly, solutions for a new path. The Power of the Plate: The Case for Regenerative Organic Agriculture in Improving Human Health is available for download at RodaleInstitute.org/poweroftheplate.

Jeff Moyer is the Chief Executive Officer of Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He has worked in regenerative organic farming for over 40 years and is the author of Organic No-Till Farming: Advancing No-Till Agriculture.

An op-ed by Jeff Moyer, CEO of the Rodale Institute

Despite the risks of COVID-19, millions of citizens have sparked protests and riots in their cities to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the thousands of other victims killed by police brutality and violence.

Mayor Sal Panto comments on the protests and unrest following the death of George Floyd.

By PA State Police Commissioner Col. Robert Evanchick

What we saw this weekend in Philadelphia was not a protest - it was a riot. In fact, nearly every major city across the nation was ravaged by looting, violence and arson.

See the rest here:
As the world reopens, a threat to our health still looms - WFMZ Allentown

In an ideal situation, you and I wouldnt have to speak about zinc and selenium to boost immunity. This is because a balanced, unprocessed, traditional diet, along with an overall healthy lifestyle, is enough to provide every macro and micronutrient needed for our immune functions.

However, the kind of lifestyles we are living today, the processedfood we eat, the stress we put our mind and bodies through, and the massive amount of damage we do to our gut because of it, have left us malnourished.

This is not only limited to the rural population but highly prevalent inurban cities too. Thus, highlighting the importance of zinc andselenium becomes important.

These are two power micronutrients that feed not only immunity butskin, hair, hormones, gut health, fertility, the thyroid gland and a lotmuch, at the cellular level.

Although focusing on a well-rounded dietwith nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, lentils, pulses, legumes and cerealscan provide enough of both nutrients, it becomes all the more necessaryto boost immunity in cases of immunocompromised individuals and casesof cancer where the immunity is anyway low and treatments like chemotherapy and radiation deplete it further.

The beauty of these minerals is that they are not required in huge quantities, but traces. Yet, theyre very important for multiple functions.

Zinc: Your body desires very small quantities of it. However, when you start understanding what a deficiency of zinc can do to your body, you begin correlating reasons as to why your immunity is low, inflammation is high, fat loss is a struggle and hormones are imbalanced. Research shows that a deficiency of zinc causes decreased T-cell (an immune cell) function and antibody responses, and if the zinc deficiency is corrected, immune status is restored. The nutrient plays a necessary role in activating enzymes that are necessary for cell division and maturation of immune cells.

Another interesting fact is that zinc and copper are antagonistic with one another, meaning a deficiency of zinc can lead to rise in levels of copper and conversely, an excess of zinc can lead to a deficiency of copper.

Selenium: Diseases from thyroid to diabetes usually have a depletion of selenium, and sometimes, just boosting levels of selenium can help one handle these better. One of the functions of selenium is that it forms the architecture of your cells. It also can latch onto heavy metals like cadmium and remove it from the body, and works as a fantastic antioxidant. Selenium deficiency is known to impair antibody production in the body. Bestsources for selenium are nuts and seeds such as sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds and walnuts.

Additionally, one can get enough zinc and selenium through natural sources, but in certain cases where immunity has taken a hit, one may need a high-quality supplement. The best sources are pumpkin seeds and oysters.

It is also found in lima beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, pine nuts, peanuts, cashew, almonds and seeds-pumpkin, cacao, wheat germ, spinach, milk and yoghurt, mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, and zucchini. Other good sources are Brazil nuts, mushrooms (especially Shiitake).

It is also present in dark chocolate, fish especially salmon and tuna, antibiotic- and hormone-free eggs, asparagus, sunflower seeds, mustard, garlic, rice, puffed wheat,spinach, oatmeal, cashew nuts, bananas and peaches.

The author is a Mumbai-based holistic lifestyle coachIntegrative Medicine

Continued here:
Zinc and Selenium: Underdogs of Immunity - The New Indian Express

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Pharmaceutical Glass Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The pharmaceutical glass packaging market was valued at USD 15.6 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 23.35 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.5% over the forecast period 2020 - 2025. Glass packaging is one of the primary packaging material for the pharmaceutical industry as it limits the alkalinity and hydrolytic resistance of the glass container. Also, glass containers offer high transparency, which allows easy inspection of its contents, enables protection because it is relatively impermeable to air and moisture and chemical resistance to most of the medicinal products.

The economies across the globe are growing, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. With this, spendings on medicines are also increasing year on year. IQVIA states in its latest report that, in 2018, this spending has reached USD 1.3 trillion globally and is expected to reach USD 1.3 trillion by the year 2023. This is one of the factors forcing for the growing pharmaceutical industry worldwide and ultimately reflecting the increasing demand for the pharmaceutical glass packaging market.

According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industris, Inc., the recycled glass is the substitute of 70% of the raw material used in making new glass. The initiatives of glass recycling are adding value to glass as a commodity.

Over 130 million tonnes of glass is currently being produced annually, out of which, 46% are of container glass. The recycling for container glass is the highest, which estimated to be 32% globally (Recovery Magazine). Effective recycling is driving the pharmaceutical industry for adopting glass packaging solutions apart from its other benefits.

However, the growing demand for alternative materials like plastics and its polymers, which are also used for sterilized packagings in the pharmaceutical industry is limiting the growth of the pharmaceutical glass packaging market to an extent.

Companies Mentioned

Key Market Trends

Ampoules Packaging to Hold a Significant Share

Europe Expected to Grow Significantly

Key Topics Covered:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4. MARKET INSIGHTS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.3 Industry Value Chain Analysis

5. MARKET DYNAMICS

5.1 Market Drivers

5.1.1 Growth of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Emerging Economies

5.1.2 Commodity Value of Glass Increased with Recyclability

5.2 Market Restraints

5.2.1 Increased Relevance of Alternate Material

6. MARKET SEGMENTATION

6.1 By Product

6.2. By Geography

6.2.1 North America

6.2.2 Europe

6.2.3 Asia-Pacific

6.2.4 Latin America

6.2.5 Middle East & Africa

7. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

8. INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

9. FUTURE OF THE MARKET

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4nenxb.

See more here:
Global Pharmaceutical Glass Packaging Market (2020 to 2025) - Growth, Trends and Forecast - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

Global health experts on Wednesday said novel coronavirus is here to stay for more than a year and called for aggressive testing to prevent its spread. In an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, health experts Professor Ashish Jha and Professor Johan Giesecke talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the series being aired on Congress social media channels.

While Jha exuded confidence that a vaccine will be available in a year's time, Prof Giesecke said India should practice a lockdown that is as 'soft' as possible, as a severe lockdown will ruin its economy very quickly.

"When the economy is opened up after lockdown, you have to create confidence among people," Harvard health expert Ashish Jha told Gandhi.

Jha is a professor of Global Health at TH Chan School of Public Health and Director, Harvard Global Health institute. He said coronavirus is a '12-18 months' problem and the world is not going to be free of this till 2021.

Professor Johan Giesecke, former chief scientist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said India should have a 'soft lockdown'. "The situation that India is in, I think, you should have a soft lockdown, as soft as possible," he said. "I think for India, you will ruin your economy very quickly if you have a severe lockdown. It is better, skip the lockdown, take care of the old and the frail...," he noted.

See the article here:
COVID-19 here to stay till 2021, aggressive testing needed to curb its spread: Health experts - ETHealthworld.com

By Deepak Chopra, MD

The COVID crisis is being fought on two fronts, medical and economic, but most people are suffering psychologically. The word existential rarely comes up in normal everyday life, but the crisis has created all the symptoms of existential dread: a sense of futility, anxiety about the human condition, and a deep fear of death. This comes as a shocking occurrence, and if there is such a thing as existential healing, now is the time for it.

Questions about existence baffle people, and there seems to be no reason to confront them until the last moment. One of the reasons that Elisabeth Kbler-Rosss 1969 book, On Death and Dying, was seized upon by millions is that she drew a map of grief that showed dying patients that the inevitability of death wasnt terrifying in the end. The five stages of grief outlined by Kbler-Rossdenial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptancecoincides with what is seen in hospice care. The prospect of death for most people leads to acceptance.

But there is a sixth stage of grieving that applies right now: meaning. The most fortunate patients go beyond acceptance to see that their lives had purpose, that existence is meaningful, and therefore that death lost its final power, which is fear and dread. This is the healing that I think should be embraced now. The actual deaths caused by COVID-19 are outnumbered by the cases of fear and dread being experienced on a mass scale. One way or another, we have all entered the grieving process.

There are two paths to arrive at the peace that comes when your life is meaningful. The first path is through action and achievement. You set out on a purpose, and you succeed in fulfilling it. Ideally everyone should be able to create meaning through the work they do, the service they offer, the love they share, and the good they achieve. But during lockdown, there is often no outlet for this path. We find ourselves passively victimized by a mindless virus that is achieving far more than its human victims; that is, its purpose in life, which is to find a host and multiply, has been astoundingly successful.

But the second path to a meaningful life hasnt been touched by the virus, and never can be. This path is one of realization. You go inside and discover that you are sustained by your own being. At your core you find value, no matter what you do in life, and no matter what external threats assail you. This path has been open forever, and its teaching occupies the worlds spiritual traditions both East and West. Nirvana, Moksha, liberation, the Kingdom of Heaven within, the peace that passes understanding: by whatever name, the path is essentially the same.

The problem is that we have erected mental barriers that block this path, which should be the easiest path imaginable. Its message is grasped naturally by children: You are here, and that is enough. There is no need to a pilgrimage to a holy place, years in a spiritual retreat, long immersions in silence, or the proverbial cave in the Himalayas. The only thing to do is to wake up as directly as you can, here and now. So why dont we? It isnt as if the teachings from spiritual guides, teachers, seers, sages, avatars, gurus, and saints is lacking. Whats the problem?

Once you ask this question, you are on your way to waking up. Existential dread is actually a mental creation. We listen to the voice of fear in our heads; we let fear become an emotion that we feel powerless to oppose; we are lulled into passivity by the everyday routine of life; we dont bother to see for ourselves; and we have a lot of desirable goals in mind that make it easy to avoid the inner journey.

If you set all of that baggage aside for one moment of clarity, you will see clearly that existence has never been the problem. In fact, it is the solution. Every moment of epiphany, revelation, divine presence, inner peace, etc. has only one source: existence. You have to be here first before anything, good or bad, can happen. So why not just be here? The thinking mind cannot just be here, because it is filled with a riotous display of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Yet these must have a source, and the source isnt a thought, feeling, or sensation.

The source is existence. The spiritual promise, the goodie that every religion holds out, is that there is higher existence. But this too is a mental construct. Existence isnt like a luxury high rise that saves the best apartments for the top floors. Existence is the rock solid, indestructible, eternal, immutable zero point at which everything begins. Simply by existing, human beings are given infinite possibilities in life. That alone is the source of lifes vibrancy, as well as our own joy, live, creativity, discovery, and evolution.

The real promise that we should all explore is this: Being is more meaningful than doing. The ultimate healing, the end of all fear, including the fear of death, is contained in that simple axiom. Being is more meaningful than doing. This is why Buddhism engendered the concept of non-doing. Settle down in yourself, meet yourself in silence, appreciate the silence, and accept the peace that is part of existence. You cant create peace; you can only discover it.

We test out how life works through our experiences. The good experiences encourage us to give a cheer for being alive; the bad experiences raise doubts, fear, uncertainty, and depression. So healing cannot come from amassing more good experiences until your bank account is bursting with them. Goodies dont make for a good life. Only life makes for a good life. Shed all your experiences temporarily, in other words sit in silence for a few minutes. You wont know who you really are or what your life means until you meet yourself inside. What awaits is the merging of self, silence, existence, and being. In this merging lies the answer to fear and dread. More importantly, this is where life finally begins to mean everything we want it to mean.

DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is the author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His 90th book, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential, unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Read more:
Existence and the Virus: A Healing Solution - SFGate

MONTREAL, May 26, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In an ongoing webinar series presented by Thought Technology Ltd., experts from various fields discuss how they are using biofeedback in their practices. Today's mental health practitioners have many tools at their disposal to best address the individual needs of their clients. In an upcoming webinar, Dr. Donald Moss will discuss adjunctive therapies that can be used in conjunction with biofeedback.

Adjunctive therapies are interventions that combine well with biofeedback and neurofeedback training and augment the therapeutic effect of the biofeedback and neurofeedback. The combined therapeutic effect of biofeedback and relaxation together is often greater than the effect of either intervention alone. Regular home practice of relaxation skills improves basal autonomic nervous system regulation and reduces the onset of problematic symptoms. This Webinar introduces six adjunctive therapies, including progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, paced diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery, meditation, and mindfulness. Two of them will be demonstrated, and brief clinical vignettes will illustrate the use of the adjunctive techniques. Each of these skill sets can be administered on its own, with therapeutic effect, or provided in combination with biofeedback as a treatment package.

Adjunctive Therapies for Use with Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Presenter: Dr. Donald Moss Date: May 29, 2020 Time: 1:00-2:00 pm EDT

Click here to register.

About Dr. Donald Moss Donald Moss, Ph.D., BCB, is Dean, College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, at Saybrook University, Oakland, CA. Dr. Moss is the Education Chair of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH). He is also the ethics chair and international certification chair for the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance. He has served as president of Division 30 (hypnosis) of the American Psychological Association, SCEH, and the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). Dr. Moss has a book with co-author Angele McGrady on Integrative Pathways: Navigating Chronic Illness with a Mind-Body-Spirit Approach (Springer, 2018), and a book with co-editor Fredric Shaffer on Physiological Recording Technology and Applications in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback (AAPB, 2019). He has a book in press with co-editor Inna Khazan on Mindfulness, Compassion, and Biofeedback Practice (AAPB). Moss is co-editor of Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (AAPB, 2016), co-author of Pathways to Illness, Pathways to Health (Springer, 2013), and chief editor of Handbook of Mind-Body Medicine for Primary Care (Sage, 2003) and Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology (Greenwood, 1998).

About Thought Technology Ltd. Founded in 1975, Thought Technology is the world's leading biofeedback and physiological instrument manufacturer. Its products are used as an essential part of many therapeutic treatments and clinical assessment protocols in over 85 countries and are used by tens of thousands of clinicians in thousands of medical institutions.

Always supportive of new research and development ideas, Thought Technology Ltd. has encouraged a number of special interest groups and clinicians to create cutting edge applications for its instrumentation. Thought Technology Ltd. equipment is now being used in telemedicine, web-based monitoring and biofeedback, sports training, research in human-machine interface, physiology-driven multimedia environments and virtual reality. Constantly striving to improve the quality of the products and services, TTL has obtained, and maintains, ISO 13485, and CE certification for the organization and products.

SOURCE Thought Technology Ltd.

See the article here:
Thought Technology's Webinar Series Focuses on Adjunctive Therapies That Combine Well with Biofeedback and Neurofeedback - Benzinga

More p eople die of heart disease and cancer in the U.S. daily than of COVID infections.

If you have uncontrolled hypertension, you are still at risk for a stroke.

Yes, that chest pain with exertion could be a heart attack.

Blood sugars in the 400s are an imminent coma.

Bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract or abdominal pain needs investigation.

A urinary tract infection in an elderly person perhaps escalating a worsening confusion can quickly lead to a full-blown systemic infection, shock and death.

As UTMB and physicians around the country have shifted to the telehealth model due to concerns about social distancing and the risks of interpersonal contact, we see increased concerns from our patients about getting needed face to face care. This is understandable as rapid diagnosis and treatments for COVID are still evolving.

We do know the same health risks we faced prior to COVID are still out there. In fact, those most at risk for serious infection are those with conditions like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, the older patient and those with compromised immune system.

Emergency room visits for heart attacks have dropped 50 percent or more at some hospitals. Are people no longer having heart attacks or are they just ignoring them out of paranoia from seeking care? You can guess the answer.

Heres an example. For no good reason I can yet decipher, one of my interns and I were scheduled with a telehealth phone consult for a patient from another part of the state. His body was rejecting his heart transplant. He was on a home medication drip usually reserved for ICU care. His diabetes was also way out of control. This was not something to deal with over the phone. He needed to be seen post-haste. Because the immunosuppressant drugs he was taking put him at higher risk of COVID, he didnt want to go out to a doctor despite our urging.

We have had phone visits with patients with chronic lung disease that is getting worse, unstable heart failure, you name it, who are reluctant to seek appropriate in-person care. Collateral, downstream damage is a bigger risk than COVID.

Hospitals everywhere like UTMB are taking extraordinary measures: systematic screening, designated isolation rooms and units for patients with diagnosed/suspected COVID-19, visitor restrictions, universal masking, daily temperature checks, the use of personal protective equipment and increased disinfection procedures.

As UTMB gradually reopens our clinical facilities and services in the upcoming weeks, hopefully well get over this hurdle of self-defeating fear of getting needed care. The first few hours are critical for a person with a heart attack or stroke.

Be safe, but be sensible. Make the right decision.

Dr. Victor S. Sierpina joined UTMBs Department of Family Medicine in 1996. He is a professor of family medicine and currently holds the W.D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professorship in Integrative Medicine.

Originally posted here:
Don't Ignore Your Other Health Needs in a Pandemic - Brazosport Facts

CLAIM

"smoking may protect against COVID-19"

DETAILS

Inadequate support: Some studies have found a disproportionately low number of smokers among COVID-19 patients. However, these studies have not provided direct evidence that smoking is actually protective against COVID-19.Overstates scientific confidence:: The hypothesis that nicotine from cigarette smoking lowers ACE2 expression in cells is not confirmed. Furthermore, several studies have shown that smoking actually increases ACE2 expression, which theoretically would increase risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Preliminary studies showing a disproportionately low percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patients have led to suggestions that smoking protects against COVID-19. However, these studies have not demonstrated a causal association between smoking and a reduced risk of either SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 disease severity. Much more research is needed before any causal association can be established. Furthermore, the established science indicates that smoking increases the risk of developing respiratory infections and complications in general.

SUMMARY Claims that smoking might protect against COVID-19 have been reported in several media outlets. Although many outlets, such as The Times and Franceinfo, urge caution towards such suggestions, still others have promoted smoking as a preventative measure against COVID-19. Such claims are currently going viral with more than 410,000 interactions on Facebook in April 2020.

Some of the evidence used to support this claim includes preprintsreports of studies that have not been peer-reviewed or formally published. These include a data analysis of five Chinese studies[1], a study by Miyara et al. based in France[2], a study in New York[3], and a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[4], which all report a disproportionately low number of smokers among COVID-19 patients compared to the general population.

Some scientists have proposed that this means that smoking actually protects against COVID-19 infection and severity[1,2]. Researchers involved in the French study proposed in a separate preprint that the nicotine contained in cigarettes might reduce the expression of ACE2[5], a receptor located on the surface of certain cells in the body which SARS-CoV-2 targets for entry[6], which would theoretically make it more difficult for the virus to infect cells.

Scientists acknowledged to Health Feedback that this observation of fewer smokers than expected among COVID-19 patients is interesting and requires further investigation. Josef Penninger, professor and director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia, said that This is an interesting correlation that has been also noted in earlier published data from China. Ankit Patel, a nephrology fellow at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, also found that the suggestion that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors could modulate SARS-CoV-2 neuroinfection is interesting. However, he cautioned that this has yet to be tested.

Penninger also pointed out that these studies have not provided evidence that smoking reduces ACE2 levels in cells, and that the proposed mechanism by Changeux et al. is not supported by current evidence. There are also data that claim that smoking induces ACE2 expression and hence this should actually make the disease worse, cautioned Penninger.

Indeed, numerous studies have already shown that smoking actually increases ACE2 expression[7,8,9,10], highlighted Stephanie Christenson, a pulmonary specialist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Therefore, the ability of the virus to bind and infect cells would actually be increased with smoking/nicotine, she said. Michael Farzan, professor at Scripps Research Institute, came to the same conclusion, saying that The abundance of evidence suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity.

As of yet, no published or preprint studies have provided enough evidence to establish a causal association between smoking and COVID-19 infection rate and/or severity. A commentary by clinical pharmacologist Ivan Berlin and colleagues examined the potential relationships between COVID-19 and smoking in six studies, all from China[11].The largest study comprised nearly 1,100 patients[12], however the remaining five studies included relatively small numbers of patients, ranging from 40 to 200[13-17]. As such, Berlin et al. concluded that the the number of cases in most studies to date is very low, making it difficult to draw conclusions either way.

In the preprint of the French study by Miyara et al., the authors examined 343 inpatients and 139 outpatients who tested positive for COVID-19[2]. They reported finding a disproportionately small number of daily smokers among COVID-19 in- and outpatients, and suggested that current smokers have a lower probability of developing serious COVID-19 illness.

However, the French study contains significant weaknesses. For example, smoking status is not the only factor that might influence the clinical course of COVID-19. Age and pre-existing medical conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, can also adversely affect the clinical course of COVID-19. While the preprint did report the prevalence of such conditions within the combined study cohort of inpatients and outpatients, it did not report age or disease prevalence according to smoking status. It is therefore unclear whether the non-smoking group comprised more older individuals and/or those with pre-existing health conditions than the other, which might have influenced the results.

When comorbidities and age arent taken into account, it appears that smoking is protective, but when these variables are appropriately factored into analyses, these associations do not hold up[18,19]. This COVID-19 study does not appropriately factor in comorbidities. Indeed, in appropriately designed studies, smoking is associated with increased risk for developing severe pulmonary infections and ARDS in general[20-22], said Christenson.

The U.S. CDC report also recorded a disproportionately low percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patientssmokers made up just 1.3% of COVID-19 patients[3], when the percentage of smokers among all adults in the U.S. is 13.7%. However, the report is also highly limited due to a lot of missing data about underlying conditions such as smoking status: Information on underlying conditions was only available for 7,162 (5.8%) of 122,653 cases reported to CDC. In fact, this problem of incomplete medical recording has also been suggested as a possible factor behind the low percentage of smokers reported in Chinese studies.

A group of U.S. researchers, who studied more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients in New York, reported in a preprint that they did not find smoking status to be associated with increased risk of hospitalization or critical illness[3]. However, one of the studys weaknesses is that in their analysis, the researchers grouped never-smokers together with individuals whose history of smoking was unknown. It is not clear why these two populations were classified together and whether this may have influenced the results.

While more studies are needed to establish a clear relationship between smoking and COVID-19 infection risk or severity, some preprints are beginning to shed more light on the subject. A preprint showing a meta-analysis by Patanavanich and Glantz suggests that smoking actually doubles the risk of severe COVID-19 infections[23], while another study by Muus et al. also suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, correlating with broadened distribution of ACE2 in the lower respiratory tract[24]. And past studies clearly show that smoking increases the risk of respiratory infection and complications[20-22,25]. At the moment, there is little to no evidence indicating that these risks would be any different for COVID-19. Furthermore, smoking is a leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), which is a known risk factor for developing respiratory complications.

The World Health Organization has clarified that smoking is likely to increase ones risk for COVID-19 infection:

Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.

In summary, while the disproportionately lower percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patients is interesting and deserves further investigation, no causal association has been confirmed yet. And given the weight of evidence from past studies on respiratory infection risk and preliminary evidence on COVID-19, it is more likely that smoking worsens COVID-19 infection instead. Until larger and more rigorous studies examining the link between COVID-19 and nicotine, as well as smoking, are available, it would be unwise to begin smoking based on unproven claims that it might protect against COVID-19.

SCIENTISTS FEEDBACK Josef Penninger, Professor (Department of Medical Genetics), University of British Columbia:This is an interesting correlation that has been also noted in earlier published data from China. For the proposed mechanism there is no evidence at all as far as I know. There are also data that claim that smoking induces ACE2 expression and hence this should actually make the disease worse[7-10]. Thus, if this is indeed true, then we better find the mechanisms before promoting the idea that smoking is good against COVID-19.

Ankit Patel, Nephrologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital:ACE2 is noted to be the conduit for SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells and is particularly important for viral entry in the type II alveolar cells in the lung. Reports regarding the use of nicotine as an agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to dampen immune regulation do not provide validation in the setting of coronavirus infection and translatability of previous studies is limited. Although the suggestion that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors could modulate SARS-CoV-2 neuroinfection is interesting, it has yet to be tested. The Guan et al. study in the New England Journal of Medicine that noted 12.6% of patients from China with COVID-19 were active smokers[12] failed to mention that a higher percentage of patients that did not survive or meet the primary endpoint were smokers, suggesting potential risk from smoking.

The role of smoking on ACE2 expression and the pathogenesis of COVID-19 has yet to be elucidated and more evidence will be required before making conclusions on the effect smoking cigarettes or nicotine has on COVID-19.

Michael Farzan, Professor, Scripps Research Institute:The abundance of evidence suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, correlating with broadened distribution of ACE2 in the lower respiratory tract. Perhaps the most careful and nuanced study of this point is now in BioRxiv from the Broad Institute by Muus et al.[16]

Stephanie Christenson, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco:The preprint by Changeux et al. is an editorial[5] that appears to be a companion article to another preprint by the same group[2] in which they assert that smoking decreases your susceptibility to developing COVID-19 symptoms/severe infection. These articles are misleading and unsupported (low credibility) at best, but generally mostly inaccurate with flawed reasoning (very low credibility).

The study on smoking being associated with lower susceptibility is misleading and not statistically sound. This study is reminiscent of other studies of smoking in acute diseases, including heart attacks and acute respiratory distress syndrome (or ARDS, the syndrome of lung injury that is largely associated with death in COVID-19). When comorbidities and age arent taken into account, it appears that smoking is protective, but when these variables are appropriately factored into analyses, these associations do not hold up[18-19]. This COVID-19 study does not appropriately factor in comorbidities. Indeed, in appropriately designed studies, smoking is associated with increased risk for developing severe pulmonary infections and ARDS in general[20-22]. A recent meta-analysis of 12 studies still in preprint using statistically sound methods also recently showed that smoking doubled the risk for severe COVID-19 infections[23].

The authors then suggest that the virus enters humans through neurons and that nicotine competes with the virus, preventing binding to the receptor (ACE2) on these neurons and blocking viral entry. However, COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory virus and thus likely binds along the respiratory tract (nose/mouth/airways). Multiple studies in humans have now shown that smoking increases ACE2 expression in the airways, thus suggesting that the ability of the virus to bind and infect cells would actually be increased with smoking/nicotine[9,10]. The authors have no data to support that viral entry in the neurons plays a significant role in disease susceptibility/severity in COVID-19. They point to data on high rates of neurological complications with COVID-19, but viral illness in general is associated with increased risk of these complications[26]. There is no data yet to show that these findings are specific to COVID-19.

Health Feedback previously fact-checked a claim suggesting that smoking was not actually harmful because not all smokers lungs turned black. We found it to be misleading.

Go here to see the original:
Little to no evidence that smoking protects against COVID-19; may increase risk of complications instead - Health Feedback

The best way to avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms is to slowly reduce your intake instead of quitting cold turkey, recommends holistic psychiatrist Ellen Vora, M.D.

There are a couple of ways you can do this effectively. Selhub recommends taking away half a cup of caffeine every week for about six weeks. "You can replace regular coffee with decaf, but I recommend drinking more water," she says.

If you're comforted by sipping something warm, Vora recommends this method: "Turn a few cups a day into half-caf, then transition those to black tea...to green tea...to just a few sips." Eventually, your caffeine intake will be so low, you should be able to quit altogether.

One study shows exercise may help manage symptoms of caffeine withdrawal, as well. Selhub explains that exercise can increase dopamine and serotonin levels, which may have dropped with your caffeine decrease. Getting quality sleep and spending time in nature can have similar positive effects.

Selhub also recommends eating a balanced diet, full of antioxidants. "A little bit of dark chocolate might also help," she says. Now that's a recommendation we can get behind.

Originally posted here:
Caffeine Withdrawal Is Very Real: Here Are The Symptoms & How To Deal - mindbodygreen.com

As scientists around the world race toward finding an effective treatment and cure for COVID-19, health officials in China have started encouraging an alternative type of medicine to help those who get sick with the respiratory infection traditional herbal remedies.

Using herbs for illness isnt a novel idea. For thousands of years, herbs like licorice, ginger, and ephedra have been used to treat respiratory infections like the flu and pneumonia.

Some remedies, like forsythia, were put to the test for SARS and found to be somewhat effective in laboratory studies.

Anecdotally, people have claimed herbal medicines have kept them healthy or improved their symptoms, but the bulk of research on herbs is inconclusive. Health experts warn that we dont have enough data to support the use of herbal remedies for COVID-19.

Though we may eventually find that certain herbs may be beneficial for the coronavirus, the science is scarce and now is not the time to start experimenting with herbal remedies on your own if you contract COVID-19.

Everything has to be taken with an understanding that we dont have any data with the coronavirus, Dr. Felicia Gersh, the founder and director of the Integrative Medical Group of Irvine in Irvine, California, told Healthline. Who knows what the future may bring.

Herbal remedies have long been used to treat infections and viruses, such as the common cold, influenza, fever, and even herpes.

Some are thought to enhance the immune system and put the body in a healthier position to fight infections. Others are believed to be powerful antivirals that block certain viruses from replicating in the body.

But just because weve seen some promise with other illnesses does not mean people should assume herbal remedies provide the same benefit with COVID-19.

Every virus is unique in its structure and behavior. The herbs that seem to work for other viral infections will need to be tested to see if they also hold up against COVID-19.

This ones a little bit more of a dangerous virus, said Jeffrey Langland, PhD, an assistant research professor at Arizona State Universitys Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy and associate professor of medical microbiology at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe.

Historically, theres been a major lack of evidence surrounding natural medicines.

For one, its been difficult to secure the necessary funding to study the health effects of plants and herbs. The United States is a very pharmaceutical-driven society, so thats where the priority has historically been.

Research has also been somewhat inconsistent. There are so many parts of a plant the root, stem, leaf, flower and its hard to get studies that consistently analyze the same portion of a plant.

Langland has been leading up a team of researchers who have been studying if and how certain herbs could potentially be used to treat COVID-19.

His team is testing over 30 herbs, and looking at each plants antiviral and immune-supportive properties.

Langland is hopeful theyll find a treatment, but says it will take time to get the results and put the science behind botanicals.

Even for those herbs we find effective, we want to go through and make sure we look at any sort of toxicity, and sort of side effects that may be associated with them, look at quality of extracts, and start to move that forward, Langland said.

Were not going to jump and throw this out there for people to start using without regarding things like safety, Langland added. Just like any pharmaceutical, we cannot rush this.

Just like any other medicine, herbal remedies could cause adverse side effects.

Take licorice, one of the remedies that officials in China have recommended for COVID-19.

According to Gersh, licorice is thought to be an effective treatment for herpes viruses.

Licorice paste, when applied to a herpes sore, can prevent the virus from replicating and stop it in its tracks, says Gersh. But it also has a major downside.

It can activate a hormone in the body called aldosterone which causes fluids retention and can actually induce hypertension, Gersh said.

Because hypertension is a huge risk factor for COVID-19 complications, Gersh said she would be concerned about using licorice, especially in high quantities, in someone with coronavirus.

St Johns wort is a widely available supplement but it can cause issues if a person is on medication.

It can interact with other medications that a patients on and block their absorption in the body and prevent them from acting, Langland said.

Furthermore, some peoples immune systems are overreacting to COVID-19, triggering widespread inflammation that can be even more problematic than the infection itself.

Certain herbs, if misused, could boost the immune system even more and lead to a cytokine storm, or a fatal overactive immune response, according to Gersh.

One of the biggest problems, according to Langland, is that many herbal and natural remedies are low quality.

There is so much herbal medicine that is adulterated, which means the product youre buying has been spiked with other botanicals or doesnt contain any of the botanicals that are labeled on the bottle, Langland said.

If you are getting the product from a local health store, theres a good chance you arent getting a high quality product, he added.

You cant assume every herb is safe. It may have some properties that could be potentially harmful, Gersh said.

If you are considering trying herbal remedies for COVID-19, keep in mind that we dont fully understand the risks and benefits.

How a botanical works in one persons body may be drastically different from how it behaves in another, depending on their health, age, and symptoms.

With botanicals, you want to treat people individually, Langland said, noting how the type of herb and dosage would likely vary from person to person.

If people are curious about herbal remedies, its best to consult a physician or naturopathic doctor who is well versed in various herbs and their properties.

I wouldnt advocate that people willy-nilly start taking all kinds of herbal products and not have a clue whats in it, Gersh said.

You want to have data, and be aware of any potential side effects before you take herbal products for an infection as potentially life threatening as COVID-19.

Health officials in China are recommending traditional herbal remedies for COVID-19, but many experts warn that we dont have enough data on COVID-19 to understand how different herbs may affect peoples health.

Though herbal remedies may seem harmless, if misused, they could increase a persons risk for COVID-19. We may find that certain herbs are effective in preventing and treating COVID-19 in some people, but there currently isnt enough data regarding the use of herbal remedies for the new coronavirus.

Read more:
Herbal Remedies and COVID-19: What to Know - Healthline

PHOENIX At a time when many are working from home, kids are being homeschooled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some wellness tips come handy.

If you were like me, you probably complained about traffic on the way to work. It was the best thing ever to be able to get out of work at non-rush hour times and have a smooth drive back home, what a good way to end your day.

Since were so used to living a life in a hurry, we might feel like well go crazy if we dont go back to our normal lives soon.

Lets stop right there for a minute and try to make the best out of what we have right now.

Here are some tips that you can put into practice to help you keep mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Harpreet Gujral, Program Director of Integrative Medicine at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital shared some recommendations to help you while working from home during the pandemic.

RELATED: Social distancing may need to continue to 2022, Harvard study finds

Its time to adapt and create new routines. Let's start with the first part of our day, the morning.

I recommend spending 10 to 15 minutes on self-care. I take a moment to think about three things Im grateful for, suggests Dr. Gujral.

Some might be stressed before their day begins, practicing stress-relieving breaths can help you cope with your day better.

There is a technique called 4-7-8 breathing, or relaxing breath, which helps you concentrate on deep breaths. The practice is simple: Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and breathe out for a count of 8, says Gujral.

She recommends practicing this breathing exercise four times a day to help relieve anxiety.

Walking, jogging, dancing, stretching, do something that you enjoy. If youre tired of being indoors, you can take some time before you start your day or towards the end to take a walk and enjoy the beautiful spring weather while practicing social distancing.

Dr. Gujral recommends trying about 10 minutes to 15 minutes of some kind of activity, but some experts recommend 30 minutes. You can increase the minutes at your own pace.

Its so easy to eat and eat and eat while youre home, I feel is even worst when youre working because you are concentrating on something else.

Plan your meals if you can, using healthier ingredients.

Eat meals rich in plant-based foods, especially leafy vegetables and fruit, work in the whole rainbow of produce colors to get all the phytonutrients, she said.

Its recommended to choose healthy snacks as well and drink plenty of water.

RELATED: Working from home? Here are 7 tips to help keep your electric bill down

It might be difficult to concentrate when working from home especially if you have kids around you.

If you do well with aromatherapy, she said eucalyptus or jasmine can make your work area more conducive to calm productivity.

Dr. Gujral also said oils can help create a relaxing environment.

For some people relaxing music - instrumental, piano, etc. helps them concentrate.

During these difficult times stay in touch with people that are going to bring something positive to your life and lift your spirits when you need to.

Be grateful for what you have and remember that constantly.

When you wash your hands, take a moment and say to yourself, I fill my heart with gratitude for whats going well. Sprinkle this affirmation through your day, with every hand-wash, said Dr. Gujral.

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#SendTheLove to others while social distancing

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#SendTheLove to others while social distancing

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Wellness Wednesday: Working from home? Here are some tips to help you with this new 'normal' - 12news.com KPNX

Abby Lee Miller may be known as the tough talking coach of Dance Moms, but this time shes taking a moment to appreciate the people around her specifically her physical therapy team who have helped her walk again following complications after cancer treatment.

On Instagram, Miller, 53, shared a video of her walking out of Casa Colina Hospital with a walker, and penned a message thanking the physical therapy team for all their hard work and how its helped her progress. Miller has been confined to a wheelchair since 2018, after complications occurred while she was battling a rare cancer called Burkitt lymphoma, which is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, Miller has been working hard to regain her strength, and judging by the video, shes clearly making significant steps towards recovery.

It takes doctors/professionals/a whole village to raise a#paraplegic.Im regressing everyday [without] proper#PT! Hope the wonderful pros at all the rehab facilities [know] how much they are appreciated! Miller wrote.

Miller was diagnosed withBurkitt lymphoma in April 2018, and underwent an emergency surgery on her spine as well as six rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Despite regularly attending physical therapy treatments, Miller is still confined to an electric wheelchair in order to be mobile. Over the years, Miller has been extremely transparent about how she struggled with treatment and the impact being paralyzed has had on her mental health. However, Miller has also shared her recovery with fans by posting photos of her swimming, walking, and openly saying that she will keep fighting to build her muscles again.

Researchers have told SurvivorNet that physical therapy can help patients manage side effects brought on by cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Some patients may experiencefatigue, neuropathy, weakness,balance issues, and more, and by consulting with a personal physical therapist, patients can work through these symptoms.

[Physical therapists] can work with you before chemotherapy to get your baseline and get you on a program to help reduce the symptoms that may happen from chemotherapy, and they can work with you along the entire spectrum of chemotherapy treatment in order to reduce those side effects,Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos, aoncology physical therapist forCancer Rehab and Integrative Medicine in Austin, Texas, tells SurvivorNet.

Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos explains how physical therapy can help patients deal with chemotherapy side effects

Dr. Wicker-Ramos also says that chemotherapy and radiation treatments can have side effects on hormones, which can lead to issues withweight gain as well as some sexual dysfunction. Luckily for patients, personalized physical therapy routines will be able to help with those side effects as well.

A lot of the side effects that happen from cancer treatmentcan be improved or significantly reduced with physical therapy, Dr. Wicker-Ramos says. All of those things can be helped with an exercise programand with a very structured, individualized program.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

Abby Lee Miller may be known as the tough talking coach of Dance Moms, but this time shes taking a moment to appreciate the people around her specifically her physical therapy team who have helped her walk again following complications after cancer treatment.

On Instagram, Miller, 53, shared a video of her walking out of Casa Colina Hospital with a walker, and penned a message thanking the physical therapy team for all their hard work and how its helped her progress. Miller has been confined to a wheelchair since 2018, after complications occurred while she was battling a rare cancer called Burkitt lymphoma, which is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, Miller has been working hard to regain her strength, and judging by the video, shes clearly making significant steps towards recovery.

Miller was diagnosed withBurkitt lymphoma in April 2018, and underwent an emergency surgery on her spine as well as six rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Despite regularly attending physical therapy treatments, Miller is still confined to an electric wheelchair in order to be mobile. Over the years, Miller has been extremely transparent about how she struggled with treatment and the impact being paralyzed has had on her mental health. However, Miller has also shared her recovery with fans by posting photos of her swimming, walking, and openly saying that she will keep fighting to build her muscles again.

Researchers have told SurvivorNet that physical therapy can help patients manage side effects brought on by cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Some patients may experiencefatigue, neuropathy, weakness,balance issues, and more, and by consulting with a personal physical therapist, patients can work through these symptoms.

[Physical therapists] can work with you before chemotherapy to get your baseline and get you on a program to help reduce the symptoms that may happen from chemotherapy, and they can work with you along the entire spectrum of chemotherapy treatment in order to reduce those side effects,Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos, aoncology physical therapist forCancer Rehab and Integrative Medicine in Austin, Texas, tells SurvivorNet.

Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos explains how physical therapy can help patients deal with chemotherapy side effects

Dr. Wicker-Ramos also says that chemotherapy and radiation treatments can have side effects on hormones, which can lead to issues withweight gain as well as some sexual dysfunction. Luckily for patients, personalized physical therapy routines will be able to help with those side effects as well.

A lot of the side effects that happen from cancer treatmentcan be improved or significantly reduced with physical therapy, Dr. Wicker-Ramos says. All of those things can be helped with an exercise programand with a very structured, individualized program.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

Read this article:
It Takes A Village To Raise A Paraplegic Cancer Survivor Abby Lee Miller Thanks Physical Therapy Team As She Walks Out Of Rehab - SurvivorNet

Cristina Cuomo, the wife of journalist Chris Cuomo, who had been setting progressive hearts aflutter with his jovial sort-of interviews with his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, before contracting COVID-19, has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Nothing surprising there. What is shocking is that she is founder of The Purist, a "wellness" (read: rich white people) brand which promotes woo like homeopathy, "energy medicine" and "oxygenated herbs" as how you prevent disease.And yet she got the disease anyway.

That has not stopped her and him from promoting all of the above plus marijuana oil, Peruvian tree bark and hemp. They think tinctures, organic food, and supplements FDA does not bother to validate because they are ridiculous will help.

None of those are medicine. They are not even alternative medicine or complementary medicine or integrative medicine or whatever folk medicine has rebranded itself as these days. The only thing missing is perineum sunning.

Is is any wonder that weeks later he is still sick?

In the interview with the Extra celebrity television show above she throws in the 'food is medicine' trope that we have been hearing about for years, while never answering the awkward question 'if food is medicine instead of just being food, why do healthy people need it?'

While there is nothing harmful in their beliefs in rubbish, they have money to burn, they are doing a disservice to the public who should not be wasting money on pseudoscience, because it is only beneficial in the way that Zicam is; buy it and you feel like you did something while you wait.

She must know it doesn't really work because she drops in the "integrative" term and admits she is giving him actual cold and allergy pills along with her nonsense. Why not play Belgian Symphonic Death Metal too? That could also be an "adjunct" to real medicine.

Cuomo cites Linda Lancaster, a Naturopath and Homeopath who nonetheless calls herself "Dr."(2) and makes supernatural claims like that "light harmonics" will change our energy and prevent disease, as will goat milk cleanses. She tells fellow woo believers the pretend Doctor created a "formula for those who had already contracted the virus, by adding antivirals. The main one is andrograghisa Chinese herb used for flu and viruses; the formula also includes olive leafwhich is antiviral and antifungaland now oil of oregano.

Here, buy these placebos and you may feel like you did something while you wait out COVID-19.

She says Cuomo also takes cannabidiol, which has never been shown to do anything, but claims Chris swears by it now.

If any of that were really preventative, how did Cristina get the disease? The reason is because it's all nonsense.

She runs an obscure website for fellow rich people, so whatever. Yet Chris is a journalist and his employer wants their brand to be taken seriously. None of us can do anything about the weird cosmic beliefs of our families but by indulging them, we are doing a huge disservice to the public. And in this case, to the credibility of science.

NOTES:

(1) Yes, $100 million of your tax dollars that should go toward science instead goes toward showing us each year that acupuncture still doesn't work.

(2)I bought a Ph.D. in Theoretical Phys Ed as a joke one time, so I can call myself Dr. with just as much credibility.

Visit link:
Journalist Chris Cuomo Is Setting Back Science Embracing Homeopathy And 'Oxygenated Herbs' As Coronavirus Treatment - Science 2.0

About Dr. Taz Bhatia, MD:Physician, best-selling author of The 21-Day Belly Fix and What Doctors Eat, international lecturer, integrative health expert, acupuncturist, certified nutritionist, wife and mom of a young son and daughter. Dr. Taz Bhatia M.D., a board certified physician and Founder and Medical Director of the nationally recognized Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine, is a specialist in the practice of integrative medicine, prevention and wellness, pediatrics, womens health and emergency medicine. Dr. Taz has been featured on media outlets including the Dr. Oz Show, The Weather Channel, TODAY, Access Hollywood, CNN, LIVE with Kelly and Michael. She is also a Dr. Oz Sharecare expert, a Huffington Post contributor, and served as a Prevention magazine columnist. She is an assistant professor at Emory University in Preventive and Integrative Medicine and continues to bring attention to the frequently ignored health issues of women and children. She currently serves as a Health Expert for MomCorps, MomDocs, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and is a board member for Green of Hearts.Featured in Atlantas Top Docs, Dr. Taz Bhatia M.D., is a multi-talented and innovative physician and fellow of the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine led by Dr. Andrew Weil, completing her fellowship in 2008.

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Ways to Support Immune Health - Fox 4

NEW DELHI :Raising hopes for a potential treatment of Covid-19, Indias premier research organization Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to test its new drug against Sepsis to treat critical patients of Covid-19.

The drug has recently been approved for marketing in India and would be available commercially as Sepsivac from Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited. The pharmaceutical company was supported by CSIR laboratories led by Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu in development of this drug, which has also found effective for leprosy patients.

This is a moment of pride for all of us as, as it is the only such drug in the global market which has been approved to treat Gram-negative sepsis. If it works against Covid-19, it will be a major breakthrough. But we have to be patient, and wait, as clinical trials are yet to begin," said Shekhar Mande, Director General, CSIR, New Delhi.

Sepsis is a serious life-threatening condition caused when bodys response to any kind of infection goes out of balance, triggering changes that can lead to multi-organ failure. According to scientists, there are some clinical similarities between patients suffering from gram-negative Sepsis and Covid-19.

A Covid-19 infection leads to a cytokine storm, quite similar to the one seen in Sepsis, when there is a heightened immune response and over production of immune cells because of which body starts attacking its own cells. There is inflammation and it reduces lungs capacity to absorb oxygen.

This drug can help boost the immunity of our body, so that this cytokine storm does not take place. It does so, by activating what is called a Th1 pathway, which helps our body to generate a very specific immune response against the virus. In short, it increases our ability to fight the infection," said Mande.

The drug which contains heat-killed mycobacterium has shown to reduce the mortality of critically ill patients of Sepsis by more than half and enables their faster recovery.

CSIR has already tied up multiple hospitals to start a randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of the drug in critically ill COVID-19 patients. An approval for the same has already been granted by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

According to the team, the drug has been found to be extremely safe in patients and no systemic side effects have been associated with its use and hope that it shows positive results against Covid-19.

The plan is also to evaluate the drug in providing prophylaxis to persons coming in contact with COVID-19 infected patients like family members and health care workers.

The entire development effort including the pre-clinical and clinical studies of the drug was supervised by CSIR appointed Monitoring Committee.

As of now, there are no confirmed drugs or vaccines against Covid-19, though several clinical trials are underway.

View original post here:
CSIR to test its new sepsis drug for severe patients of Covid-19 - Livemint

THREE OAKS The doors might be closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Vickers Theatre is still committed to bringing movies to Southwest Michigan residents.

On Friday, April 17, the Three Oaks venue starting offering virtual movie screenings on its website, vickerstheatre.com.

Through the streaming platform Virtual Cinema, people can watch movies on their smartphones, tablets and computers at home.

The distributors of independent cinemas are making first-run movies available to our theater, owner Judy Scully said in an email. These movies are available exclusively through art house-theater distributors.

The current rentals range from 3-5 days, and cost $10-$12.Approximately 50 percent of all proceeds will go to support the Vickers and other art house theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, Scully said.Currently screening through Vickers website are:

Saint Frances: 106 minutes, not rated, comedy/drama. Aimless server Bridget hasnt yet achieved her goal of becoming a respected writer. When casual relations with a younger nice guy leads to an unexpected confrontation with potential motherhood, she manifests a job nannying a pint-sized spirit guide disguised as an obstinate 6-year-old.

The Dog Doc: 101 minutes, not rated, documentary. Dr. Marty Goldstein is a pioneer of integrative veterinary medicine. By holistically treating animals after other vets have given up, Goldstein provides a last hope for pet owners with nothing left to lose.

Bacurau: 132 minutes, not rated, drama/mystery/suspense. After the death of her grandmother, a doctor comes home to her matriarchal village in a near-future Brazil to find a succession of sinister events that mobilizes all of its residents.

Corpus Christi: 115 minutes, not rated, drama. Daniel experiences a spiritual transformation in a detention center. Although his criminal record prevents him from applying to the seminary, he has no intention of giving up his dream and decides to minister a small-town parish.

For more information, call (269) 756-3522.

The rest is here:
Streaming online movie rentals to support Vickers and other art-house theaters - Harborcountry News

Retirement offers the unprecedented stage of life to boost the quality in the moment experiences, deepen existing social connections and choose new ones that nurture the brain, mind, soul and purpose.

I had the pleasure to interview Evian Gordon MD, PhD. Evian is Chairman of the Board for Total Brain. He has over 30 years experience in brain research and considered to be one of the originators of field of integrative neuroscience. He has authored more than 300 peer reviewed publications.

Thank you so much for joining us Dr. Gordon! Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

MyPhD was focused in serum lipids and heart attacks, in the days when cardiology was the golden highway of medicine. I was on a roll. And by chance, my PhD supervisor showed me the missing link fossil of the first hominids (primates) that stood upright. He pointed out to me that in the past 5 million years, the hominid brain has tripled in size. No other species has done anything like this.

I completed my PhD and switched my medical and science goals to set up a Standardized International Brain Function and Performance Database and use the insights from the database to build tools for self-transformation. That has remained my daily mission for 30 years.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Most of my early applied integrative neuroscience team had science and medical backgrounds. We were immersed in rational thinking and built a system to simultaneously measure electrical brain function, heart rate variability, sweat rate, breathing and response time to a range of activation tasks.

Tasks included nonconscious presentation of face emotions that were presented so rapidly (in a hundredth of a second) that the viewer was not aware of what was being presented.

We showed the viewers all the different face emotions (fear, disgust, sad, happy etc.) and analyzed the brain-body measures.

The first time we saw that nonconscious fear stimuli, it was processed 30 thousandths of a second faster than other emotions, we realized two shocking things:

Ever since that moment, those discoveries put a different lens into how we approach the function of the brain. More so, it shifted the focus to the motherload of the brains operating system how to best align nonconscious emotion intuition and conscious rational thinking.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I always thought I was the smartest person in the room.

The lesson I learned, was how little I knew then. And more so now.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Peter Cooper is the Founder of Cooper Investors, a $12 billion equities fund that only invests in long range opportunities (and whose team has interviewed over 1,000 CEOs to select their long range value latency strategies).

My company had set up the worlds largest standardized brain database (over a million datasets and featured in 300 publications) and built an online brain fitness platform to better understand your key brain capacities, train and track new habits, and generated what is likely to be the first objective test to predict treatment response in depression. We succeeded beyond our expectations, with over 30 highly-respected US companies using the online product.

However, by under-resourcing along with experiencing slow revenue growth, it resulted in stretching the company in too many directions to keep the mission on track. Therefore, it was leading investors to run out of patience and the company was running out of money.

Peter introduced me to Louis Gagnon and persuaded him to become the CEO of Total Brain. Louis has not only scaled the company but has brought fresh approaches to help destigmatize mental health around the globe.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Work strategically harder.

But with a focus on finishing tasks!

Burnout is not about hard work.Its about being too stretched and a lack of finishing tasks.

And I would also advise them to only work with people with whom you are authentically aligned. Misalignment is the motherload of burnout.

If its not aligned, cut the chord as soon as possible.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

3 things:

1) A differentiated mission real differentiating ideas matter.

2) People alignment and be vigilant about not hiring self-righteous opportunists.

3) A growth mindset and a respectful, deep understanding of innovation and implementation of groundbreaking ideas.

With that in place: a differentiating product, a good product-market fit and the quickest paths to sustainable revenue, are more likely to happen.

Ok thank you for all that. Now lets move to the main focus of our interview. Retirement is a dramatic life course transition that can impact ones health. In some cases, retirement can reduce health, and in others it can improve health. From your point of view or experience, what are a few of the reasons that retirement can reduce ones health?

Can you share with our readers 5 things that one should do to optimize mental wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.

We live in the era of increasing awareness about age related memory mental health deterioration. There is however, growing evidence that although the brain diminishes in some tasks as it ages, it gains in other ways. Here are five factors that can help improve mental health after retirement.

1. Self-Awareness

Retirement inevitably increases the opportunity for self awareness and self reflection. The insights can be enhanced by a check-in of brain capacity strengths and mental health challenges, to magnify strengths and protect against mental health negativity.

2. Emotion Regulation

The widespread negative reality is that memory usually declines with age. However, neuroimaging evidence shows that emotional stability and negativity bias improves with age. The increased personal bandwidth of retirement provides an opportunity to magnify that strength.

3. Wisdom

The ability to see the patterns that matter increases with age. This ability allows an enhanced ability to make rapid and effective decisions that could increase the ability to savor ones retirement new opportunities. It is not coincidental that many great inventions and artistic outcomes have occurred late in late.

4. Quality Time and Social Connections

Retirement offers the unprecedented stage of life to boost the quality in the moment experiences, deepen existing social connections and choose new ones that nurture the brain, mind, soul and purpose.

5. Gratitude

The Positive Psychology Movement have highlighted the benefit to mental health of magnifying strengths, a positive solution focused attitude and the power of gratitude. When better to immerse in gratitude for what worked, than in retirement?

In your experience, what are 3 or 4 things that people wish someone told them before they retired?

1. Focus on what you will do, not what you wont do.

2. Dont generate self limiting age related beliefs. Go for it.

3. Its time to use your life learnt wisdoms.

4. Have deep gratitude for what is working for you, in health and life.

5. Stay on your lifes mission.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

Daniel Khaneman (2011): Thinking Fast and Slow. Macmillan.

I was shocked to discover the extent to which nonconscious emotions, intuition and biases drive most of our decisions.

In this book, Nobel Laureate Kahaneman and his collaborator Amos Tversky highlight through simple but elegant experiments, how unambiguously small random nudges nonconsciously shape most of our decisions.

This book has helped many people think afresh about how to best be aware and align their nonconscious intuition and their rational conscious thinking, to make better decisions.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Democratize the brain.

By providing the most engaging, impactful, intuitive and concrete online brain platform to align your nonconscious and conscious brain powers.

Can you please give us your favorite Life Lesson Quote? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

The only good is knowledge.

The only evil is ignorance.

Socrates (469399 BC).

This was one of the earliest seeds of the current brain revolution. It regularly inspires me on my 30 year journey, since I set up the worlds largest standardized brain function, performance database and applications Total Brain.com.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

Jim Kwik.

Because his mission is to create a smarter and more caring world by helping you rebuild our brains.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

YouTube Channel:https://www.dreviangordonsbrain.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/evian-gordon-a94bbab1/Facebook,https://www.facebook.com/dr.evian.gordonTwitter,https://twitter.com/dreviangordon?lang=en

See original here:
Focus on what you will do. With Beau Henderson & Dr. Evian Gordon - Thrive Global

Is green tea good for weight loss?

Research in humans and animals points to a resounding sort of. What that means:

A number of small but respectable clinical trials have found that overweight people who had green teaeither in drinkable form or in extract formlost more weight than people who didnt have any. Science being science, there are also a few studies that showed no benefit from green tea drinks or supplements. Overall, I would say it may assist modestly, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D.N., consultant for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine for the Cleveland Clinic.

In studies that found a weight-loss benefit in green tea, there was a trend toward weight loss or tea drinkers lost significantly more. But its not usually a total transformation. One small study conducted at Oklahoma State University, for instance, found that people who drank green tea or took green tea extract lost about 1.3 pounds more over 8 weeks than people who drank water. Some studies suggest even decaf green tea may have a benefit.

An older study found that among people who ate regularly and exercised 180 minutes a week, those who drank a beverage with the most biologically active compounds in green tea, called catechins, had a greater percentage change in abdominal fat (belly fat) than did people who got a drink with no catechins.

There are a number of theories on why green teaespecially the main catechin called epigallocatechin gallatemight help you out a bit if youre looking to lose weight.

Its possible that catechins in green tea may actually inhibit carbohydrate digestion and absorption, Kirkpatrick says, citing a report in the journal Scientific Reports that showed lower carb absorption after people downed a green tea extract.

I think some of the most promising ones are looking at green teas effects on the microbiome, she says. Research is increasingly finding that it alters the guts microbiome, and those changes could be what makes it helpful for dropping pounds.

Kirkpatrick gets a lot of questions from her clients on whether trendy matchathe powdered version of green teais as helpful as the green tea leaves that come in teabags or as loose tea. There havent been a ton of studies on matcha alone, she says. But adds that its reasonable to think its just as useful, as green tea comes out of the leaves of the plant, and matcha is made of the ground-up plants.

While numerous studies have looked at green tea extracts taken as supplements, Kirkpatrick urges people to get their green tea from the actual tea itself; in the most whole form possible.

There are more reasons than weight to drink green tea. Kirkpatrick points out the impressive benefits being found regarding green tea and the prevention of cancer. And then there are benefits in possibly preventing heart disease, potential memory benefits and other health boosters in the green stuff.

Weight loss is so multifaceted; green tea is not going to guarantee weight loss, Kirkpatrick says. But as long as youre not getting a sugared-up version of the stuff; green tea doesnt interfere with any medications youre taking; and youre not looking for it to be a weight-loss panacea, then go ahead and drink up.

Link:
The Truth About Green Tea and Weight Loss - Pulse Ghana

April 16, 2020

Contact: Michael Tullier, APR, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing

On Tuesday, April 14, doctoral fellows in Tuskegee Universitys Integrative Biosciences (IBS) Ph.D. Program hosted Real Talk About COVID-19: Facts, Updates and Actions a webinar addressing the epidemiology, symptoms, misnomers and other public health matters related to the current coronavirus pandemic.

Now more than ever, we want to serve our community, especially our brothers and sisters of color as they are significantly more vulnerable as a result of health disparities, lower incomes and inadequate access to health care and now, inadequate access to COVID-19 testing, explained Lauren Mayo, an IBS Ph.D. fellow, as she cited the universitys status as a land-grant institution, as well as its outreach and service mission.

The webinar featured subject-matter expertise provided Muhammad Gamal Omar, DVM, who also is an IBS Ph.D. fellow. His experience includes research with RNA viruses that behave similarly to SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

View the full webinar program below:

The session was presented in partnership with the Graduate Public Health Program, College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, the Tuskegee University Cooperative Extension Program, and the Community Engagement Subcommittee of the Tuskegee University Community Health Task Force.

2020, Tuskegee University

See more here:
RECAP: Tuskegee University hosts 'real talk' COVID-19 webinar - Tuskegee University

You probably know that your immune system plays an important role in keeping you healthy, but there's so much more to this critical system that works as our defense against infection.

Budding research says stress-relieving activities like meditation may benefit your immune system.

Image Credit: Marcin Wiklik/iStock/GettyImages

Here, two immunity experts break down the key parts of the system and what we mean when we talk about "strong" or "weak" immune responses.

Put simply: "The immune system is all the parts of the body that help to defend us against infection, whether by bacteria, virus, fungi, mold or parasites," Adam Lacy-Hulbert, PhD, who conducts research on immunity at the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, tells LIVESTRONG.com.

The system is "a network of cells, channels and nodes" that work together, adds Cynthia Li, MD, integrative and functional medicine doctor and author of Brave New Medicine, a memoir about her path to healing her own autoimmune illness.

Let's take a closer look at these parts of a whole:

The immune system relies on lymphocytes aka white blood cells. Two types of these white blood cells T cells (thymus cells) and B cells (bone marrow- or bursa-derived cells) do a lot of the first-responding when something foreign threatens the body.

"These are the real workhorses of the immune system," Lacy-Hulbert says. "The job of T cells is to recognize and kill cells that are infected. The job of B cells is to make antibodies that are designed to bind specifically to viruses and bacteria, and to neutralize them to stop them from working."

Some of these B and T cells become memory cells; they remain dormant until they get the word that something they know how to fight (whether from experience with a vaccine or previous infection) has intruded. "That immune memory you have can last for a lifetime," Lacy-Hulbert says, which is important for fighting off infection faster and allowing the body to recover more quickly.

T cells and B cells are very important, but their laser-like focus can actually be problematic at times. "They don't know what to attack all the time," Lacy-Hulbert explains.

To balance this out, another part of the immune system the innate system, which is composed of a different group of cells acts as a kind of patrol, directing the B and T cells.

"Innate cells try to work out what's going on, go to lymph nodes, interact with T and B, and tell them what the deal is and whether they need to neutralize or kill [what's triggering the immune system]," Lacy-Hulbert says.

Innate immune cells are messengers; if you get a cut on your skin and that cut gets infected, innate immune cells "send out an alarm" to signal a need for help, Lacy-Hulbert says.

Neutrophils and Monocytes

These innate cells recruit a host of other immune cells, called neutrophils and monocytes, which speed their way to the site of injury and fight whatever they find.

Neutrophils and monocytes are early-wave defenders. They work hard, but without much specific knowledge about the infection, so they can cause damage to host cells, stimulate inflammation and are often responsible for the pus that can form inside a cut.

These cells hold down the fort, so to speak, for a few days until those specialized T and B cells arrive to fight the infection in a specific way.

Eating a healthy diet can help your immune system function at its best.

Image Credit: SDI Productions/E+/GettyImages

This is a valid question, but it may not be the right one to ask. That's because a strong immune system isn't always a helpful one, Lacy-Hulbert says.

"If you have a strong immune system, you might fight infection better, but you might have a stronger response of that initial collateral damage more inflammation than you actually need, more scar formation, maybe a wound takes longer to heal," he explains.

He believes that when we say "strong" immune system, what we really mean is a healthy immune system.

This answer isn't so clear cut, either.

"This is a debate and a problem we struggle with in immunology as a whole," Lacy-Hulbert says. "To me, a healthy immune system is one that makes good choices it's out there sampling things, checking out what's going on, and decides whether something is infected."

In other words, a healthy immune system is a good communicator: It works nimbly with each of its parts to tackle what it needs to while refraining from overreacting.

Having a compromised immune system isn't the same as having a "weak" one. To be immune-compromised means that a particular part of your immune system doesn't work as well as it should, Lacy-Hulbert says.

Those who may be considered immunocompromised may include people who don't have T or B cells, which can make it very difficult for them to fight off infections. In milder forms, a compromised immune system might be one that doesn't function properly maybe the B cells are produced, but the antibodies they produce aren't great at making memories.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list the following as examples of people who may be immunocompromised:

Sometimes, it's the luck of the draw. Genetics play a big role in determining our immune strengths, weaknesses and overall abilities.

"There's a tremendous amount of genetic variability in terms of immune function and the capacity to detoxify or to transform certain foods or pollutants or infections," Dr. Li says. "But what we're finding right now is that a huge amount of the variability depends on the total lifestyle not just what we're eating, doing, drinking, breathing, but also what we're thinking and feeling."

Our emotions and thoughts have potential to majorly influence the immune system, says Dr. Li, whose free e-book, How to Shield Yourself Against COVID-19, explores this concept in more depth.

For this reason, she says relieving stress can positively affect the immune system. Practices like yoga, meditation and qigong can help put you in the "rest and restore state," she says, which, in turn, could help the immune system rest and restore, too.

While research around how emotions affect our immune systems is pretty nascent, Lacy-Hulbert says that "it's becoming more obvious that there is quite a specific link between the nervous system and the immune system."

Indeed, a March 2017 review in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience concluded that the emotional and immunological systems "talk" to one another, and that more research needs to be done in this area.

Still, Lacy-Hulbert says, there are "many things about the immune system and function of the body as a whole that we still don't really understand."

Read more stories to help you navigate the novel coronavirus pandemic:

Read more from the original source:
What Is the Immune System: Definition, Function and Parts - LIVESTRONG.COM