Daily Archives: December 9, 2021

Laura Bottini, the founder and practitioner of Our Body Wise

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on all of us in many, many different ways. We all are concerned with the dramatic loss of human life worldwide and an unprecedented challenge to public health, economy and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: according to WHO, tens of millions of people are falling into extreme poverty facing an existential threat. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many have been unable to feed themselves and their families. Those who have been luckier are still facing multiple challenges financial, personal or health related.

These challenges can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, during the pandemic people have been facing psychological stress caused by fear and anxiety due to the high transmission and mortality rate of the disease, the social isolation, economic problems, and difficulties in reaching health services. Public health actions, such as social distancing, are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they can make us feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. Fears related to COVID-19 (coronavirus fears) have emerged as a new psychological effect of the pandemic and have been associated with psychological distress and impairment. Other adverse effects include an increase in anxiety and depression symptoms and the respective disorders.

Over the past few months fear has been consistently topping the list of reasons why people ask for psychological help. This fear can cause multiple related conditions, such as anger, sadness, worry, numbness, or frustration; some people experience changes in appetite, energy, desires, and interests, others - difficulty sleeping or nightmares. It is natural to feel stress, anxiety, grief, and worry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is, how do we choose to deal with it and how we can can help ourself and others.

While some people turn to medications, others are naturally reluctant to take prescription pills to deal with their mental conditions. For those who prefer other ways of addressing their fears and anxiety there are alternative approaches to healing not only mental health but also emotional and physical ailments. I myself truly believe that we are so much more than our mind and body; we are multidimensional beings, and therefore I prefer the holistic approach of alternative medicine. My conviction comes from travelling abroad and studying with international teachers and healers as well from understanding the need for connection we all have.

After over 12 years of experience working in holistic medicine and more than 18 years of experience teaching and working with people of all ages, I learned different healing modalities. I understood how energy works, and the way it affects our body, mind, and spirit as well. Every cell of our body is filled with all our memories, experiences, emotions, and thoughts. And whenever there is an imbalance, by using the right tools, we can get to the root of the issue and I can help to detect what needs to be reviewed or overcome.

I have always been curious about how we can naturally overcome physical and psychological challenges, and while I was living in the UAE, I discovered PKP Kinesiology. Then I learned to not only muscle test but to listen to the body on a whole new level. PKP Kinesiology is the art and science of energy balancing, grounded in the study of anatomy and physiology, Chinese medicine, and coaching. Following an energy model which recognizes that people are much more than just symptoms kinesiology tests clients muscles to detect and release stress and energy imbalances in their bodies, restore the flow of natural energies, and help them achieve their full potential.

Kinesiology has proven to be extremely effective in helping patients deal with fear and anxiety. In my experience, when kinesiology is combined with other approaches, such as Pranic Healing, Sound Therapy, or Cleansing and Consecrating Physical places, the effects are particularly impressive. In Our Body Wisewe combine different techniques centered on a holistic approach, that provides with a wide range of alternative medicine disciplines and preventative measures.

It is amazing to see how through holistic medicine we can not only help overcome fear, but also improve energy balance and alignment, recharge and restore body, mind, and spirit. Over and over again I see evidence of how by creating new neural pathways that support us at all levels we can improve our energy levels and boost our sense of connection and belonging. This is much more than just dealing with COVID-related anxiety it is a way to keep your body in the best shape at all levels.

More:

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AS A WAY OF DEALING WITH CORONAVIRUS FEARS" - Bangkok Post

Acupuncture is a type of complementary medicine that uses needles inserted at specific sites on the body to help relieve pain and treat other health concerns. These needles aren't the same as the ones you're used to seeing at a doctor's office they are solid, very thin, and flexible.

"The needles don't really hurt. Most people feel peaceful and calm during a treatment. They usually end up taking a nap," says Sam Soemardi, a licensed acupuncturist at The People's Acupuncture of Asheville.

It's believed acupuncture originated in China approximately 3000 years ago. More recently, it continues to receive interest in the United States as research expands and Americans increasingly seek out complementary and alternative medicine.

And indeed, research does suggest that acupuncture can have benefits for certain conditions, but many people find it effective for issues beyond those supported by research.

"Pain relief is the most common reason people come to my clinic, but I also see all sorts of health and wellness concerns, from autoimmune disease to insomnia to gynecological issues. People are just trying to find a way to feel better," Soemardi says.

Here are eight conditions acupuncture may benefit.

Anxiety disorders affect about 18% of Americans each year. Common treatments include talk therapy, medication, and according to some preliminary research acupuncture.

In a small 2015 study of 36 people with chronic anxiety, participants reported a decrease in anxiety symptoms after receiving acupuncture for 10 weeks. This improvement lasted through follow-up 10 weeks later.

Acupuncture may also have benefits for easing dysmenorrhea, or painful periods:

Numerous studies show that acupuncture may help relieve different digestive concerns:

Acupuncture is safe to receive during pregnancy, and research suggests it can help relieve the low back and pelvic pain pregnant people commonly experience.

It could help with other common pregnancy concerns, too.

"Moms-to-be come to see me for nausea, heartburn, difficulty sleeping, and aches and pains," says Nic Pitts, a licensed acupuncturist who operates the private practice Onward Acupuncture.

Everyone experiences stress sometimes, but finding ways to reduce or cope with stress can offer plenty of health benefits.

Acupuncture works to relieve stress by regulating the autonomic nervous system, which helps get the body out of the flight or fight response.

"This could be as simple as feeling your heart rate slow and breath lengthen, or it could be that you fall asleep. I tell patients that this feeling may stay with you and slowly fade for the rest of the day," says Pitts.

Acupuncture is increasingly used as an integrative approach to cancer care.

According to the National Cancer Institute, acupuncture can help with both cancer-related symptoms and side effects of treatment, including:

Up to 80% of people will experience low back pain at some point in life, and many studies have explored the benefits of acupuncture for low back pain:

Evidence also suggests acupuncture can ease persistent head pain:

When choosing an acupuncturist, you'll want to make sure they attended a three or four-year accredited graduate program and hold a current state license.

What's the cost? Acupuncture treatments usually cost between $75-$150 for a 45 to 60-minute session. You can also look for low-cost community acupuncture clinics that focus on accessibility by offering low-cost acupuncture in a group treatment setting.

Before getting started, take the opportunity to ask any questions you have about the process. They'll tell you what to expect, and they should also clearly communicate a treatment plan.

Your acupuncturist should also use pre-wrapped, single-use, sterilized needles and dispose of these needles safely immediately after your session. This reduces the risk of infection and blood-borne diseases.

Feel free to ask what experience they have treating the issue you're seeking help for some practitioners might have more experience treating specific conditions or symptoms.

"Make sure your acupuncturist is someone you can connect with. It's very important to be comfortable with who you choose to work with," Pitts says.

Evidence supports acupuncture's effectiveness in treating some common ailments, and research on this treatment continues to expand.

That said, it's generally recognized as a safe form of complementary medicine with few side effects, so if you're considering alternative treatments for pain, anxiety, or digestive concerns, it could be worthwhile to give acupuncture a try.

Go here to read the rest:

8 benefits of acupuncture and how to find an acupuncturist - Insider

NEW JERSEY On Tuesday, New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory Commission announced it has approved licenses to 30 new medical marijuana dispensaries that will open throughout the state.

The medical pot shops will be spread equally through the state: 10 in North Jersey, 10 in Central Jersey and 10 in South Jersey, said the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, or CRC.

However, the CRC declined to make public the exact towns where the applicants applied to open up shop, saying it was not yet considered public information. Stay tuned for towns.

In 2019, dozens of people submitted applications to open medical marijuana shops in New Jersey. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission is the government agency that reviews all the applications and decides which applications will be approved.

The CRC said these new shops opening will avoid people having to make long drives to buy medicinal weed.

"We constantly hear from patients that prices are too high and that there are too few dispensaries with too few product options," said CRC Chairwoman Dianna Houenou. "More medicinal dispensaries will mean prices will come down and patients will have more choices for where they go."

Here are the names of the 30 new licensees and where they will be located:

10 medical pot shops opening in North Jersey:

10 medical pot shops opening in Central Jersey:

10 medical pot shops opening in South Jersey:

Currently, there are 23 medical pot shops in New Jersey, so these new licencees will bring the total up to more than 50 medical pot shops throughout the state, once they all open.

The chair of the commission said supply cannot keep up with New Jersey's demand for medicinal pot: They originally were only going to approve 15 new medical pot shops, but decided to increase it to 30.

"The intent was to award 15 dispensaries, but based on our assessment of patients' access to medicine in the New Jersey market considering price and location we believe that would be inadequate," said CRC's executive director Jeff Brown. "The number of registered patients go up every month."

There are currently 121,357 patients enrolled in New Jersey's medical marijuana program. The state expects that number to increase in 2022 despite the fact that recreational marijuana is now legal in New Jersey as well.

"The situation has not changed with the legalization of recreational cannabis; the current alternative treatment centers have not kept pace with patient need," Houenou said previously.

Since Gov. Phil Murphy legalized recreational marijuana at the start of 2021, many New Jersey towns scrambled to pass laws restricting where or even if pot shops can open.

But these medical pot shops "are not subject to any of the restrictions municipalities have adopted for recreational facilities in recent months," said the CRC.

And newly licensed medical pot shops may expand into the recreational business, said the Commission. Legal pot shops can start opening in New Jersey in 2022.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is the regulating agency for New Jersey's booming legal weed industry. In October, the commission approved eight new medical marijuana grow facilities: Five in Central Jersey, three in North Jersey and two in South Jersey. These are strictly facilities where medical marijuana can be grown.

Here is the original post:

30 New Medical Pot Shops Are Coming To NJ: Heres Where - Patch.com

The German government has announced a lockdown for the unvaccinated and is considering making Covid vaccines mandatory, after weeks of record infections in the country and much of German-speaking Europe.

In Austria, thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against a string of measures: from February, the government will be introducing compulsory vaccines for all, with exemption for those unable to receive a jab on medical grounds.

Vaccination rates in both Germany and Austria are lagging behind the rest of western Europe, with under 70% of the populations having had two jabs.

People from both countries explain what they make of the current situation, and what they think of vaccine mandates and restrictions for the unvaccinated.

Max, 26, lives in the German state of Baden Wrttemberg and has chosen to remain unvaccinated against Covid.

I have a medical condition, an autoimmune disorder, which raises my risk of side effects from the current set of vaccines, and led my GP to recommend that I not take them. We are both closely following the development of alternative vaccines, which may not have this elevated risk.

Max, who says his doctors concerns dont suffice to make him exempt on medical grounds, is exasperated by the restrictions for those in the population who have not been immunised against the virus.

Public health bureaucrats have decided that they know more about my medical circumstances than my own doctor. The personal risk analysis that was once the hallmark of good clinical care is now strongly discouraged by the Robert Koch Institute [Germanys federal health agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention], and doctors are told to make decisions based not on their patients needs but on the assessments of bureaucrats.

Because I decided to listen to the honest medical advice of my doctor, I have been subjected to an increasingly insane series of measures, openly designed to make my life functionally unliveable, until I take a medical intervention that I know is not right for me.

These measures have done absolutely nothing to convince me they have simply made my life harder and lonelier. I am now barred from public life; I cant go to the shops, and I am subject to a ridiculous personal curfew that makes it illegal for me to leave the house after 9pm.

Donovan, 27, a geoscientist from Potsdam, Germany who got vaccinated as soon as it was possible and has had his booster jab, is comfortable with restrictions for the unvaccinated, but is feeling very ambivalent about a possible vaccine mandate for the general population.

I dont like mandates. Im uncomfortable with any government, anywhere, telling any person what they are obliged to do with their body, and I sincerely hope that, as Austrian ministers have said, the mandate will be a tool for persuasion, rather than an actual mechanism to pressure people into getting vaccinated.

People in this region in particular were required to do things they didnt want to do for a long time, historically speaking, and I hope that the new coalition government in Germany will uphold every persons inviolable autonomy over their own body.

Distrust in government is especially rife in east Germany, he says, where the population was spied on and controlled for decades by the former communist regime.

This distrust is a bigger issue in my view than anything else. But I have hope that some people will change their minds.

What exactly a vaccine mandate would mean in practice, however, remains as unclear in Germany as in Austria.

I support measures that significantly reduce the personal freedoms of the unvaccinated, given the risk they pose to society.

I additionally support vaccine mandates in the care sector, and I would support further measures, like those taken by companies in the USA, which would require unvaccinated individuals to pay higher health insurance or social care contributions. Those of us who are vaccinated should not continue to subsidise the medical costs of the unvaccinated.

In the state of Brandenburg, where he lives, only 61% of people had had two doses of the vaccine when he looked it up about a week ago.

Thats simply not enough. I dont want anyone to lose their job because they didnt want to get vaccinated, but I understand that in these extraordinarily difficult times, extraordinarily difficult measures may have to be taken.

Heike*, 68, a pensioner from Munich, echoes Donovans views, and feels uneasy about compulsory vaccinations.

Im fully vaccinated, and just had a booster, but hesitate about vaccines becoming mandatory. We should preserve freedom of choice, but I dont have a problem with the unvaccinated becoming severely restricted regarding restaurants, cafes, travel, visitors, employment, social events and shopping for anything else but essentials.

The unvaccinated, Heike believes, have soaked up unscientific advice that is clouding their judgment, but a constructive dialogue between pro- and anti-vaccine camps that might convince sceptics to be inoculated no longer seems possible.

People here are very black and white about things. My husband would support it if people would be restrained and forcefully vaccinated. The conversation has become very aggressive.

Many of those refusing to get jabbed favour alternative medicine, Heike thinks.

All my friends who arent vaccinated always visit homeopathic doctors. There are horrible consequences as a result of this refusal to get the vaccine cancer operations are cancelled, for instance.

My friend thought it was OK for people to forge vaccine certificates. These people should be jailed in my view.

Thomas Steiner, 49, a video producer from Vienna, believes a widespread lack of appreciation for science in Austria is one of the root causes of the countrys low vaccine uptake.

I have no idea where this comes from, but Austria, like Germany, is an esoteric hotspot. Alternative medicine and homeopathy are big business here and sold in pharmacies; its deeply ingrained. A lot of people say thats one of the culprits for the situation we have now.

But, he adds, the matter is complex. The reasons are of course multifaceted, and the other major factor is political: our governing party, VP, announced the end of the Covid crisis on massive billboards this summer, and said from now on it would be a private matter for individuals to deal with. We have beaten the pandemic, fought the crisis. Finally, together again, one of these billboards read. That was the message.

In addition, not enough was done to promote vaccines. The rightwing FP party is openly against vaccination. In this political climate, everything is an uphill battle.

Overall, Steiner thinks there is no way around a general vaccine mandate. We need one to counter our low vaccination rate, like we had in the 70s against smallpox. It wont be a challenge to get this mandate through the courts.

Its not what everyone wanted, but here we are.

Some names have been changed

See the original post:

I dont like mandates: Germans and Austrians on new Covid measures - The Guardian

Featured Image for Experimental Biology and Medicine

Featured Image for Experimental Biology and Medicine

WASHINGTON, Dec. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recently published article in Experimental Biology and Medicine (Volume 246, Issue 23, December, 2021) highlights the importance of early-in-life screening for brain damage in children with sickle cell. The study, led by Dr. Jane Hankins in the Department of Hematology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH) in Memphis, along with colleagues at SJCRH, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Washington University (USA), reports that children with sickle cell anemia which present with alterations in MRI/MRA imaging at a young age are more likely to have new or worsened brain lesions as young adults.

Brain lesions among children living with sickle cell anemia is a prevalent problem with serious consequences later in life. In addition to the risk of overt stroke, which can be devastating for a child with sickle cell anemia, micro (silent) infarcts and vessel stenoses (vessel narrowing) can occur and accumulate over time. Lesions to the brain impair the brain's function, namely, the person's cognitive (or thinking) abilities, limiting their academic success and future earning potentials. Treatments to prevent or reduce the impact of brain damage in individuals with sickle cell anemia have the potential to mitigate the effects of brain damage, but have not been adequately studied, nor have they been described in real-world settings, outside of the very controlled (and artificial) environment of clinical trials.

Dr. Hankins and colleagues performed one of the longest observational studies of children with sickle cell anemia. Children were followed for up to 25 years, and their brains monitored for brain and vessel damage in young adulthood. From childhood to young adulthood, approximately one-fifth of these children had new or worsened brain lesions. Among those patients whose brain lesions were present since childhood (approximately 30%), brain damage progressed with more micro infarcts and vessel narrowing more frequently (up to 11 times more likely) compared with those whose lesions appeared after childhood. However, the development of brain lesions seemed to attenuate after adolescent years, a finding that suggests a possible protective role of the treatments these children had received since early in life, including hydroxyurea and monthly blood transfusions. Dr. Hankins said, "Brain damage among individuals with sickle cell anemia causes grave consequences, therefore more efforts are needed to fully understand, mitigate and prevent them from occurring in first place. Although the treatments these children received (hydroxyurea and monthly blood transfusions) might have attenuated the further development of brain damage, they did not fully prevent it, therefore alternative treatments must be investigated and considered, including curative ones, such as hematopoietic cell transplant and gene therapies, to fully protect these children's brains."

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Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, said, "Hankins and colleagues have performed a long longitudinal follow-up made possible through a strong collaboration between those taking care of children and young adults with sickle cell disease in Memphis, Tennessee. Their important findings argue for early and frequent imaging of potential brain lesions, along with therapies to slow or eliminate progression in those most effected with central nervous system damage."

Experimental Biology and Medicine is a global journal dedicated to the publication of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences. The journal was first established in 1903. Experimental Biology and Medicine is the journal of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine. To learn about the benefits of society membership, visit http://www.sebm.org. If you are interested in publishing in the journal, please visit http://ebm.sagepub.com.

For more information, please contact ebm@sebm.org.

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Protecting the brain in sickle cell anemia: the value of beginning early in life - Yahoo Finance

People protest a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers on Oct. 28 in New York City. Polling, vaccination and mortality data all suggest that Republicans lag far behind in vaccination and are suffering the worst consequences as a result. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption

People protest a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for municipal workers on Oct. 28 in New York City. Polling, vaccination and mortality data all suggest that Republicans lag far behind in vaccination and are suffering the worst consequences as a result.

Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. That's according to a new analysis by NPR that examines how political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic.

NPR looked at deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which vaccinations widely became available. People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.73 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates.

In October, the reddest tenth of the country saw death rates that were six times higher than the bluest tenth, according to Charles Gaba, an independent health care analyst who's been tracking partisanship trends during the pandemic and helped to review NPR's methodology. Those numbers have dropped slightly in recent weeks, Gaba says: "It's back down to around 5.5 times higher."

The trend was robust, even when controlling for age, which is the primary demographic risk of COVID-19 mortality. The data also reveal a major contributing factor to the death rate difference: The higher the vote share for Trump, the lower the vaccination rate.

The analysis only looked at the geographic location of COVID-19 deaths. The exact political views of each person taken by the disease remains unknowable. But the strength of the association, combined with polling information about vaccination, strongly suggests that Republicans are being disproportionately affected.

Recent polling shows that partisanship is now this single strongest identifying predictor of whether someone is vaccinated. Polling also shows that mistrust in official sources of information and exposure to misinformation, about both COVID-19 and the vaccines, run high among Republicans.

"An unvaccinated person is three times as likely to lean Republican as they are to lean Democrat," says Liz Hamel, vice president of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy think tank that tracks attitudes toward vaccination. Political affiliation is now the strongest indicator of whether someone is vaccinated, she says: "If I wanted to guess if somebody was vaccinated or not and I could only know one thing about them, I would probably ask what their party affiliation is."

It was not always this way. Earlier in the pandemic, many different groups expressed hesitancy toward getting vaccinated. African Americans, younger Americans and rural Americans all had significant portions of their demographic that resisted vaccination. But over time, the vaccination rates in those demographics have risen, while the rate of Republican vaccination against COVID-19 has flatlined at just 59%, according to the latest numbers from Kaiser. By comparison, 91% of Democrats are vaccinated.

Being unvaccinated increases the risk of death from COVID-19 dramatically, according to the CDC. The vast majority of deaths since May, around 150,000, have occurred among the unvaccinated, says Peter Hotez, dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

While vaccine hesitancy exists in many different groups, Hotez suspects that the deaths are "overwhelmingly" concentrated in more politically conservative communities. "How does this make sense at any level?" he asks.

The consequences for individuals are real. Mark Valentine still remembers when his brother called him to tell him he had contracted coronavirus. Valentine is a trial consultant in North Carolina. His brother Phil, 61, was a well-known conservative talk show host in Nashville, Tenn., who often expressed skepticism about vaccination.

Conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine (right), pictured with his brother, Mark (second from left). Phil had been skeptical about COVID and the COVID vaccines, sometimes mocking them on his talk show. Earlier this year, he contracted the virus and died. Courtesy of Mark Valentine hide caption

Conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine (right), pictured with his brother, Mark (second from left). Phil had been skeptical about COVID and the COVID vaccines, sometimes mocking them on his talk show. Earlier this year, he contracted the virus and died.

Neither brother was vaccinated, and neither one was particularly worried about Phil's positive result. His brother said he was trying several alternative therapies commonly promoted in conservative circles. "He said, 'I've got the ivermectin, I started it this morning, and I don't think it's going to be a big deal,' " Mark Valentine recalls. "And frankly I didn't think about it anymore."

But a week later, Mark said he got a call from his brother's wife saying that the two were going to the hospital. "Before I knew it, he was in there and I couldn't get to him, couldn't talk to him," Valentine recalls. "His situation took a nosedive like you can't believe."

Phil Valentine died in August about five weeks after he announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Misinformation appears to be a major factor in the lagging vaccination rates. The Kaiser Family Foundation's polling shows Republicans are far more likely to believe false statements about COVID-19 and vaccines. A full 94% of Republicans think one or more false statements about COVID-19 and vaccines might be true, and 46% believe four or more statements might be true. By contrast, only 14% of Democrats believe four or more false statements about the disease.

Belief in multiple false statements highly correlates with vaccination status, Hamel says. "If you believe that the vaccines can damage your fertility, that they contain a microchip and that the government is inflating the number of COVID-19 deaths, you're going to think really differently about whether to get vaccinated."

Perhaps the most pernicious pieces of misinformation have to do with the perceived severity of COVID-19 itself. The most widely believed false statement was: "The government is exaggerating the number of COVID-19 deaths."

Hamel says that underestimating the severity of COVID-19 appears to be a major reason why Republicans in particular have fallen behind in vaccination: "We've seen lower levels of personal worry among Republicans who remain unvaccinated," she says. "That's a real contrast with what we saw in communities of color, where there was a high level of worry about getting sick."

Complacency around the risks of contracting COVID-19 certainly seemed to be a major reason why the Valentine brothers avoided vaccination. While not conspiracy theorists, they were staunch Trump supporters. The arrival of coronavirus just ahead of the presidential election of 2020 seemed like "the most fortuitous pandemic in the history of the world" for the Democratic Party, recalls Mark.

Despite the media coverage, Phil Valentine didn't believe COVID-19 was serious as long as you were healthy: "He said, 'The likelihood of me getting it is low. In the unlikely event that I do get it, the likelihood that I will survive it is 99-plus %,' " Mark Valentine recalls.

Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez is deeply troubled by the current state of affairs. A winter surge in COVID-19 cases is brewing, and the newly discovered omicron variant has the potential to make things far worse.

He thinks the elements of the Republican Party that are endorsing anti-vaccine ideas need to take a big step back. "I'm not trying to change Republican thinking or far-right thinking," he says. "I'm trying to say: 'The anti-science doesn't belong; it doesn't fit. ... Just stop it and save lives.' ''

Before his illness, Phil Valentine had sometimes promoted unproven alternative therapies and taken a mocking tone toward vaccination. As his situation deteriorated, Mark says the talk show host realized he needed to encourage his listeners to get vaccinated. Phil told his brother, "'My fear is that because I didn't get it, other folks may not get it," Mark Valentine recalls. The family put out a statement in support of vaccination, and Mark went on to his brother's talk show to encourage listeners to take the shot.

He also headed to his local Walmart to get vaccinated. "The guy comes out; he said, 'Do you have any questions or concerns?' " Mark Valentine recalls. "I said, 'Hell yeah, I've got both, but do it anyway.' "

Methodology

Vaccination rate data are the rate of vaccination among all people 18 years of age or older, as of Nov. 30. They are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents are calculated by dividing the deaths from COVID-19 in a county since May 1 by the county's population. County population data come from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 decennial census. May 1 was chosen as the start date of our analysis because that is roughly the time when vaccines became universally available to adults ages 18 and older. COVID-19 death data is collected by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University and is current as of Nov. 30. COVID-19 death data for Florida and Utah are from the May 2 and December 1 editions of the COVID-19 Community Profile Report, produced by the White House COVID-19 Team.

2020 election result data are from MIT Election Data and Science Lab.

Alaska does not report election results by county-equivalent area, so it is excluded from the analysis. Nebraska is excluded from the analysis because it does not report county-level COVID-19 statistics. Hawaii is excluded because it does not report county-level vaccine data. Some counties that have reported no COVID-19 deaths since May 1 may have stopped reporting. These counties generally have very small populations and have a negligible impact on the weighted averages. Erring on the side of caution, we include all data unless it is known that they are in error.

All averages are weighted by county population. The overall average represents the average of the 3,011 counties included in the analysis.

Thanks to Emily Gurley, Professor of the Practice and Emily Pond, Research Data Analyst, both of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for discussions about our methodology.

NPR's Huo Jingnan contributed to this story.

Read the rest here:

Pro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death rates. Misinformation is to blame - NPR

Dr Rebecca Wong Shin Yee, Professor of Physiology and Head of Preclinical Sciences at SEGi Universitys Faculty of Medicine, has been named among the Worlds Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in the list published in October 2021.

This is the second consecutive year that Prof Dr Wong made it into the prestigious list, which represents the top 2% of the worlds most-cited scientists in various disciplines. (Source: https://doi.org/10.17632/btchxktzyw.3)

The Worlds Top 2% Scientists list was created by researchers from Stanford University. It selected over 100,000 top scientists worldwide based on standardised citation indicators such as information on citations, H-index, co-authorship, and a composite indicator. The database consists of scientists across 22 major scientific fields and 176 sub-fields from 149 countries.

Scopus data were used for analyses of the citations and the composite indicators. Scopus is a huge multidisciplinary database with citations and abstracts from peer-reviewed journal literature, trade journals, books, patent records, and conference publications.

Prof Dr Wongs recognition places SEGi University on the global map of excellence in medical research and brings great pride to the university.

Professor Hew Moi Lan, Group Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of SEG International Berhad congratulated Prof Dr Rebecca Wong on behalf of SEGi University.

SEGi is honoured to have one of our esteemed academics recognised as the Worlds Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University for two consecutive years. This will encourage our faculties to continue and strengthen their research efforts to emulate Prof Dr Wongs achievements, she stated.

Prof Dr Wong is a trained and registered medical practitioner. Her passion for leukaemia, stem cell and medical education research has yielded more than 40 publications in high-impact international journals. Her works have been cited more than 2700 times by researchers worldwide and she has also published five academic books in the field of physiology.

Prof Dr Wong feels greatly honoured to be listed as one of the Worlds Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University again. I view this as a motivational force to continue conducting quality research and publishing my works in good journals, she said.

Prof Dr Wongs contribution to academia is not limited to her own research and publications. She is frequently invited to be a peer reviewer by many high-impact international journals. Among the journals are PLoS ONE, Cell Biochemistry and Function, Journal of International Nanomedicine, Journal of Cell Science and Therapy, Journal of Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Cell Proliferation, Journal of Diabetes Research, Journal of Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Biomed Research International, Food and Function, Archives of Medical Research, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, as well as Journal of International Medical Research.

Recently, Prof Dr Wong was also invited to be a judge and plenary speaker for research symposiums in the country.

Throughout her career, Prof Dr Wong has received numerous awards, such as the Malaysia Most Impactful Young Educator Award in 2019 and Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians Awards 2018 by Junior Chamber International.

Her other recognitions include the Outstanding Young Scientist/Student Award 2011 at the Asian Congress of Biotechnology 2011, Shanghai, China, as well as 1st prize for the Young Investigator Award at the Diabetes Asia 2010 Conference by National Diabetes Institute Malaysia. She was also a recipient of the prestigious Science and Technology Research Grant by Malaysia Toray Science Foundation in 2009.

This content is provided by SEGi University and Colleges.

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For the 2nd time listed as the World's Top 2% scientists by Stanford University - Malaysiakini

The diagnosis of a split in society is commonplace today societies are shaken by discord and divisions are intensifying. The claims differ in details but on some basic assumptions, there is usually agreement.

First, there are increasingly testy disputes, largely along a traditional left-right axis but sometimes deviating from it. Culture wars break out over gender issues, racism and anti-racism, immigration and who belongs to the us even lifestyles. Pundits talk about societies breaking into hostile tribes.

There is also a degree of unanimity in the analyses about alienation from the conventional political system anger that they are not interested in us at all especially in underprivileged segments of the population, including the old working classes but also the marginalised lower middle class and the underclass.

Those who are victims of growing insecurity feel that they can no longer rely on solidarity: You cant count on anyone anymore. Many people say I just look out for myself now in a depressed, negative individualism. These social milieux are then particularly appealing to right-wing populists and extremists who proclaim: Yes, no one listens to you but I am your voice.

This is a particular challenge for progressive political parties: the social democrats, the Labour Party, the American Democrats, the vast majority of traditional labour and left-wing movements. On the one hand, left-wing parties have a great deal of sympathy with popular revolts against ruling elites and systems of chronic injustice indeed, for many decades of their existence, they were the bearers of them. Yet, on the other hand, in the eyes of many who turn away in disappointment, they themselves are part of that detested elite. Even if they the parties see themselves as part of the solution, many of their potential voters see them as part of the problem.

Those who are under economic pressure, who struggle with job insecurity and who generally see themselves as losers of economic transformations easily feel politically unheard.

This is by no means to say that the supporters of right-wing, anti-system parties are primarily part of a working-class that has become politically homeless but they do also come from this group. Those who are under economic pressure, who struggle with job insecurity, who are confronted with stagnating wages and who generally see themselves as losers of economic transformations easily feel politically unheard, no longer represented, disrespected and left behind as innocent victims of injustice. I have analysed all this in my bookThe False Friends of the Ordinary People, including how right-wing populists appeal successfully to the traditional values of the working classes.

The left-wing and progressive parties have, of course, already recognised the problem and are responding to it in a wide variety of ways: shifting to the left, managing a gradual course correction, or dissolving into hopeless debates about strategy. The fact that the German social democrats went into the recentBundestagelection campaign with the slogan Respect is due to this diagnosis, and at least it led to the SPD regaining first place and the chancellorship.

It is remarkable that, while different countries on different continents have strikingly different political cultures and traditions, these discourses and rhetorics are astonishingly similar. The structural transformation of debate in the public sphere through the internet, blogs, and social media of course contributes massively here and yet this is oftendramatically underestimated.

These days, however, the diagnosis of polarisation is being invoked almost daily in a specific context. That is the anti-virus regime, with the disputes over lockdowns, rejection of vaccination, denial of the pandemic or its danger and the rise of conspiracy theories. This, too, is global, but there are nonetheless notable national differences.

In the United States, opposition to measures to contain Covid-19 is a common slogan of the radical right under its front figure, the former president, Donald Trump. In other countries, this is less pronounced.

Scepticism and rejection of modern medicine and thus of vaccination also varies widely. Portugal has a vaccination rate of around 90 per cent and Denmark 87 per cent but, of the traditionally western European countries, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have the lowest rates. Theystagnatedfor a long time at just around 65 per cent.

These countries have far-right and right-wing populist parties mobilising against vaccination. The same groups which score points on the culture war issues claiming to be the voice of the common people, the regular guy are now saying: the elites, the government, want to poison you with a vaccine. They are establishing enforced vaccination, a corona dictatorship. They are bought by Big Pharma, street mobsters of sinister world rulers. And they are exploiting an invented or exaggerated disease to destroy freedom and bully the common people.

There is evidently a massiveloss of trustin the entire political system so that many no longer believe anyone perceived in any way to be part of an imaginary establishment.

Given its obvious madness, the astonishing thing is that a not insignificant part of their followers buy into all this craziness. Those who believe the whole radical nonsense are rather few. But a much larger group have doubts about medical science and are less willing to believe the experts than people who pontificate on the internet. Whats happening here?

There is evidently a massiveloss of trustin the entire political system, so that many no longer believe anyone perceived in any way to be part of an imaginary establishment. How alienated and frustrated must they be if they simply dont believe anything anymore and, on the contrary, are willing to take at face value what they read in some weird group on Telegram or WhatsApp?

Rebellion has traditionally connoted emancipation. But this is a revolt against reason.

Especially in the German-speaking countries, where enlightenment rationalism took less deep roots romanticism with its anti-rationalism rather more hostility to science is probably even more widespread than in other cultures. The Nazi movement and its totalitarianism, too with its penchant for the occult and the obscure as well as its contempt for reason may have left deeper traces in this respect than one might think.

Progressive and left-wing parties have always been in the traditional stream of the enlightenment, acting as educational movements. But they too have seen simplifications and conspiratorial ideas among their followers: in 1890 Ferdinand Kronawetter described anti-Semitism as the socialism of the stupid guys (der Socialismus der dummen Kerle).

Also, the environmental movement, considered by many to be alternative and somehow a product of the rebellious counter culture of the 1960s, has its questionable traditions. It upholds the natural and the feeling, life in balance with nature, and has a scepticism of the rationality of science and technology. Natural healing methods, homoeopathy, alternative medicine, and obscurantism of all sorts are quite popular here and are opposed to orthodox medicine, which primarily wants to cram chemicals into people.

Anyhow, if we want to understand current, extremely weird and yet still unclear events, then we should start to bring these elements together. The alienation from the system of politics caused massive annoyance even before the pandemic and is now making the fight against the pandemicdifficult. There is an exasperation with the system on the part of people who often rightly no longer feel represented or even noticed by it.

The popularity of right-wing populism and extremism is certainly a revolt with legitimate aspects but in perverse forms. The depth of this loss of trust is also evident in anti-rationalist revolts against management of the pandemic and even against medical science.

Those who fall into the clutches of such an ideology and an entire system of misinformation come to believe ever more absurd things. They remodel themselves, so to speak, and fall into a dynamic of self-radicalisation which can very soon become truly dangerous.

This is a joint publication by Social Europe andIPS-Journal

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The revolt against reason Democracy and society - IPS Journal