Monthly Archives: December 2022

Alternative Treatment (CAM) for MS: Types, Side Effects & Cost

Posted: December 26, 2022 at 10:25 pm

Alternative treatment (CAM) for MS facts

Multiple sclerosis symptoms vary widely, and a description of "typical" symptoms is difficult. Some signs and symptoms of MS may include:

What is complementary or alternative treatment or CAM?

CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) is care provided in addition (integrative medicine) to or instead of traditional or standard medical practices. This group of therapies is wide-ranging and includes:

Some people who seek out alternative medicine feel that conventional therapy has not successfully controlled their symptoms, or that the potential side effects associated with traditional therapy aren't acceptable. Others find that adding complementary medicine to their program allows improved control of symptoms. When complementary medicine is added to traditional routes, it is referred to as integrative medicine.

Recent studies through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specifically the National Health Interview Survey, suggest that as many as 38% of residents within the United States seek out CAM.

Many therapies that are considered within the group of complementary and alternative medicines haven't been studied extensively or investigated in comparison to conventional treatment options.

What is of multiple sclerosis (MS)?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that causes demyelination of the brain and spinal cord or a loss of the covering around axons. When this occurs, the axons (the parts of the nerve cells that transmit impulses to other cells) don't work well. As more areas of the central nervous system are affected by the loss of myelin, different symptoms develop.

What are the symptoms of MS?

The specific symptom seen in MS is related to the area of injury in the brain or spinal cord. Examples of symptoms of MS include:

What alternative treatments can be used for MS symptoms?

Fatigue and spasticity seem to respond best to CAM.

Therapies that have been shown to be of some benefit for fatigue have included:

Spasticity has reportedly been reduced with the use of acupuncture and massage therapy. A sense of tingling (paresthesias) has been reportedly improved with reflexology.

Symptoms including depression, memory loss, urinary incontinence, and progression of MS itself (including relapses, disease extent as measured on MRI), and disability have had limited improvement when treated with CAM.

Therapies tested in an effort to improve these symptoms have included:

None of these treatments led to any significant benefit in the studied symptoms.

What about medical marijuana (cannabis) for MS symptoms?

There have been a number of studies looking at the potential benefits of medical marijuana (cannabis) on MS symptoms, including spasticity and chronic pain. There is some suggestion that FDA-approved forms of medical cannabis (Marinol or Sativex) may be beneficial in improving spasticity or bladder frequency. However, there are no reports that ingested or inhaled medical marijuana is beneficial for conditions associated with MS.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has more information about medical marijuana for MS symptoms (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Treating-MS/Complementary-Alternative-Medicines/Marijuana)

Who is eligible to pursue treatment with CAM?

Anyone can participate in CAM therapy. However, it is important to recognize that most of these therapies are not covered by insurance, and may be an "out of pocket" cost for patients with MS.

Patients who decide to pursue CAM need to share this information with their physicians, as some supplements may interact with conventional medication and lead to side effects.

How much does CAM cost?

The costs of CAM can vary widely; regular exercise and yoga can be low or no-cost options, while massage therapy, acupuncture, and some supplements can be quite expensive.

Every patient must have a good relationship with treating healthcare professionals of traditional and non-traditional therapies to best understand potential costs.

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What are the potential risks and side effects of CAM?

Side effects of CAM vary depending on the treatment.

It is important to discuss any potential or ongoing use of CAM with your healthcare professional, who may need to adjust your current therapies to prevent any adverse effects caused by interactions between the two types of therapies.

What different types of CAM were studied in the National Health Interview Survey?

Different types of complementary and alternative medicines that were studied in the National Health Interview Survey from 2002 through 2012 include:

Medically Reviewed on 10/26/2022

References

REFERENCES:

Clarke TC, Black LI, Stussman BJ, Barnes PM, Nahin, RL. Trends in the Use of Complementary Health Approaches Among Adults: United States, 2002-2012. National Health Statistics Reports. Number 79; February 10, 2015.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. MS Symptoms.

UpToDate. Patient information: Multiple sclerosis in adults (The Basics).

Yadav V, Bourdette D. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Is There a Role in Multiple Sclerosis? Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports 2006, 6:259267.

Yadav V, Bever C, Bowen J, et al. Summary of evidence-basaed guideline: Complementary and alternative medicine in multiple sclerosis. Report of the Guideline Development Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 2014;82;1083-1092.

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Complementary and alternative medicine | History & Facts

Posted: at 10:25 pm

complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), any of various approaches intended to improve or maintain human health that are not part of standard medical care, also known as conventional, or Western, medicine. The various approaches of CAM typically are used in a manner that is complementary to standard medical practices or are used in place of standard medicine. Such approaches are sometimes referred to as holistic or traditional medicine, although those areas of medicine do not cover all forms of CAM. Indeed, CAM includes not only classical systems, such as Ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, which are centred on bringing together the mind, body, and spirit, but also a wide range of other forms of therapy, including chiropractic medicine, biofeedback, art therapy, hypnosis, prayer, specialty diets, and therapeutic touch. Many of those practices are considered to be marginal when compared with conventional practicesthat is, they usually are not a central part of the medical curriculum, nor are they typically prescribed by physicians who practice conventional medicine. However, partly because of the growing evidence base that supports the safety and efficacy of certain CAM approaches, some practitioners of conventional medicine have also become practitioners of CAM.

Prior to the rise of scientific medicine in the 19th century, medical practice was a relatively undifferentiated field. Herbal remedies were prescribed regularly, and the range of practitioners on offer included not only the precursors of contemporary doctors but also groups such as bonesetters and healers. In some cultures those suffering from illness and disease were able to make use of what was a relatively strong cradle of neighbourliness and community support, where the human condition was viewed holistically. In other cultures, however, the sick and disabled were shunned, alienated, or neglected, largely because of a lack of knowledge of disease. With the rise of scientifically based medicine and the development of the modern medical profession, however, the understanding of human disease increased dramatically. Health care became increasingly centred on biomedicine, and a division of labour proliferated. Some doctors, for example, specialized in surgery, whereas others focused on areas such as infectious disease, human development, or mental health. In addition, beginning in the 19th century, scientists discovered ways to isolate and synthesize the active ingredients of plant-based medicines, which gave rise to the modern pharmaceutical industry. By the mid-20th century the advances in medicine had marginalized CAM in Western countries.

In the 1960s and 70s, however, a sort of medical counterculture arose in the West, born from the more general countercultural trend that involved, among other things, a rising interest in Eastern practices of meditation, mysticism, and other philosophies. There was a growing awareness of the limits of conventional medicine, and some believed that modern biomedicine was becoming increasingly counterproductive. Such perspectives were fueled in part by highly publicized medical tragedies, such as those involving thalidomide, which was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s, and diethylstilbestrol, which was withdrawn in the 1970s; both agents were found to increase the risk of prenatal toxicity. Some people also associated conventional medicine with depersonalization and disempowerment of the patient. Consumers demanded increasing control over their own health, which led to the development of self-help and to the emergence of campaign groups that lobbied on behalf of health consumers and specific groups, such as the disabled and those afflicted by cancer and HIV/AIDS. In the wake of the counterculture, public interest in CAM gained new impetus.

The number of people in Europe and North America who use CAM is considerable. In the United States, for example, a 2007 survey revealed that about 38 percent of adults had used some form of CAM in the past year. A study published in 2010 indicated that about 26 percent of people in England had used CAM at some point in the year prior to filling out the studys survey.

The therapies employed and the extent of their use vary considerably by country. Although the majority of use involves self-help (e.g., use of over-the-counter herbs), a rise in the number of CAM practitioners enabled increasing numbers of people to seek the assistance of CAM providers. Growing numbers of conventional practitioners also employed CAM. In such cases, CAM therapies tend to be prescribed or administered for very specific and evidence-supported purposes, such as the use of acupuncture to relieve pain. As a result, in some cases, the use of CAM by conventional practitioners is not wholly in agreement with traditional principles. Acupuncture, for example, is viewed in traditional Chinese medicine as a panacea, being used to restore balance between the polar forces of yin and yang along meridians.

Reluctance among doctors to employ CAM often is related to the protection of their patients. Despite the ideology of a safe, natural approach to health care frequently espoused by CAM therapists, the approaches used in CAM pose certain hazards to users, ranging from punctured lungs in the case of acupuncture to potentially fatal overdosing from herbal remedies. There are also major gaps in the evidence that has been provided for such therapies. By the late 20th century many complementary and alternative therapies still had not been explored in clinical trials in human patients, unlike most drugs and devices employed in conventional medicine. That was largely because manufactured pharmaceuticals and other medical products were thought to be superior to complementary and alternative therapies, and so the latter did not attract significant investment from governments and biomedical companies. In the early 21st century, however, an increased need for medicines generally resulted in renewed interest in natural-products drug discovery and in unorthodox medical practices, which in turn led to a rise in the clinical exploration of various CAM therapies.

Much debate remains about how to assess the efficacy of CAM. The need for large-scale randomized controlled trials is highly controversial, particularly because many complementary and alternative therapies have been used by humans for centuries and because certain conventional medicines that have been scrutinized by such means have later been discovered to cause severe side effects, resulting in their removal from the market. There are also significant methodological questions about whether the randomized controlled trial is the best way to evaluate complementary and alternative therapies, especially when they are employed holistically. Many treatments associated with CAM are targeted toward individuals, rather than toward conditions (e.g., diabetes or heart failure) as in conventional medicine, suggesting that alternative methods of assessment may be more appropriate. For example, randomized controlled trial methodology attempts to eliminate the placebo effect, but some researchers have claimed that the placebo effect should be more fully employed in studies of complementary and alternative therapies. Other methods, such as case studies and consumer-satisfaction surveys, are attractive evaluative tools for CAM.

Many small-scale controlled trials of CAM have been conducted, with comparisons to placebos and to conventional approaches. Some of those trials have produced encouraging resultsfor example, the use of acupuncture in the relief of chronic pain. However, from the standpoint of conventional research methodologies, the numbers of participants usually has been too restricted to make firm judgments about the likely efficacy of particular complementary and alternative therapies. In such cases, systematic reviews of trial data can be helpful, provided that clear criteria to assess the quality of the studies are employed and that there is a sufficient number of credible trials on which to build the meta-analysis. In the field of herbal medicine, such systematic reviews have suggested that extracts of St. Johns wort (Hypericum perforatum) can provide symptomatic relief in cases of mild to moderate depression and that peppermint oil is more effective than a placebo for the treatment of irritable bowel disease.

Beyond evidence from randomized controlled trials, the data set on CAM is enriched by a plethora of individual case studies, many of which indicate the positive qualitative outcomes that can be obtained from such therapies. The use of CAM also tends to produce high levels of consumer satisfaction. The subjective views elicited in such research, however, must be weighed against a variety of methodological pitfalls in interpreting such results. Nonetheless, data from case studies and consumer surveys have indicated that unorthodox therapies could help to fill the vacuum created in areas where conventional medicine has little to offer. Case studies and surveys have also emphasized the fact that the many diverse approaches of CAM vary in their effectiveness and use. In the United Kingdom, for example, research has suggested that therapies such as herbalism, homeopathy, and osteopathy tend to be relatively more effective for users than approaches based on crystal therapy, iridology, and radionics. Such variations in evidence for specific forms of CAM have necessitated careful and critical scrutiny of claims about curative or palliative powers.

Even where it is felt that CAM can benefit patients, major challenges remain. For example, complementary and alternative therapies may not be accessible to consumers within state-financed health provision and insurance programs. Furthermore, complementary and alternative therapies are not inexpensive versions of conventional medicines or practices. Some CAM approaches can, in fact, be quite costly, particularly when repeat visits are made to a practitioner. Thus, patients cannot turn to CAM to save on health care costs.

Another issue concerns the extent to which CAM is regulated in terms of protecting the interests of health consumers. The remedies themselves, as well as CAM practitioners, have been increasingly subject to regulation, but the parameters of regulation are not always well balanced. For instance, despite growing trends toward professionalization, the practice of CAM in some countries may be exclusively concentrated among certain doctors, medical groups, or allied health professionals. In other countries, CAM is loosely assigned to anyone who wishes to be engaged in the field, with CAM systems largely based on voluntary regulatory arrangements to which not all practitioners are legally bound.

Finally, CAM does not simply challenge biomedicine in terms of best practice. In its most radical forms, it also challenges some of the assumptions underpinning medical orthodoxy and questions the medical concept of disability. Many of those currently involved in practicing CAM, for example, no longer see consumers in medicalized terms as patients. Rather, individuals are seen as actively participating in their own well-being. Given its links to the counterculture, the self-help aspect of CAM therefore may not be viewed simply as an appendage to medicine. Some see it instead as challenging the power of the medical profession. Scientifically based medicine remains dominant, but the approaches that are categorized as CAM are expected to become more fully integrated into conventional medicine, which ultimately could give rise to a new medical orthodoxy.

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fiscal federalism | public finance | Britannica

Posted: at 10:22 pm

fiscal federalism, financial relations between units of governments in a federal government system. Fiscal federalism is part of broader public finance discipline. The term was introduced by the German-born American economist Richard Musgrave in 1959. Fiscal federalism deals with the division of governmental functions and financial relations among levels of government.

The theory of fiscal federalism assumes that a federal system of government can be efficient and effective at solving problems governments face today, such as just distribution of income, efficient and effective allocation of resources, and economic stability. Economic stability and just distribution of income can be done by federal government because of its flexibility in dealing with these problems. Because states and localities are not equal in their income, federal government intervention is needed. Allocation of resources can be done effectively by states and local governments. Musgrave argued that the federal or central government should be responsible for the economic stabilization and income redistribution but the allocation of resources should be the responsibility of state and local governments.

The following are benefits of fiscal decentralization: regional and local differences can be taken into account; lower planning and administrative costs; competition among local governments favours organizational and political innovations; and more efficient politics as citizens have more influence. There are several disadvantages of fiscal federalism as well: the lack of accountability of state and local governments to constituents; the lack of availability of qualified staff; the possibility for people to choose where to reside; a certain degree of independence of the local governments from the national government; and unavailability of infrastructure of public expenditure at the local level.

Fiscal federalism is affected by the relationship between levels of government and thus by the historical events that shape this relationship. For instance, in the early years of American federalism, geographic separation, slow communication, and clear division of labour made it possible for each level of government to function without significant interactions with other levels. Several developments resulted in more interactions and central planning among the levels of government: improvement in transportation and communication technologies; the New Deal of the 1930s; the World Wars and the Cold War; and the war against poverty from the 1960s. These developments increased the interactions among levels of government and helped the development of national policy making and state and local policy implementation. It also changed traditional intergovernmental relations. National fiscal policies and financial decisions have been the predominant vehicle forming intergovernmental relations. Fiscal federalism operates through the various federal taxes, grants, and transfers that occur in addition to states and localities. The federal government regulates, subsidizes, taxes, provides goods and services, and redistributes income. In federal systems like that of the United States, fiscal policies have also sought to empower the states through deregulation.

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Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and …

Posted: at 10:21 pm

Abstract

Rising support for populist parties has disrupted the politics of many Western societies. What explains this phenomenon? Two theories are examined here. Perhaps the most widely-held view of mass support for populism -- the economic insecurity perspective--emphasizes the consequences of profound changes transforming the workforce and society in post-industrial economies. Alternatively, the cultural backlash thesis suggests that support can be explained as a reaction against cultural changes that threaten the worldview of once-predominant sectors of the population. To consider these arguments, Part I develops the conceptual and theoretical framework. Part II of the study uses the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) to identify the ideological location of 268 political parties in 31 European countries. Part III compares the pattern of European party competition at national-level. Part IV uses the pooled European Social Survey 1-6 (2002-2014) to examine the cross-national evidence at individual level for the impact of the economic insecurity and cultural values as predictors of voting for populist parties. Part V summarizes the key findings and considers their implications. Overall, we find consistent evidence supporting the cultural backlash thesis.

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The Physics of DNA: In Each of Us Lies a Message, Its Beginnings Lost in the Mists of Time – The Daily Galaxy –Great Discoveries Channel

Posted: at 10:19 pm

The Physics of DNA: In Each of Us Lies a Message, Its Beginnings Lost in the Mists of Time  The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel

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Is Applied DNA Sciences Inc (APDN) Stock at the Top of the Diagnostics & Research Industry? – InvestorsObserver

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Is Applied DNA Sciences Inc (APDN) Stock at the Top of the Diagnostics & Research Industry?  InvestorsObserver

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Polygamy: Yul Edochie publicly apologises to first wife

Posted: at 10:18 pm

Actor, Yul Edochie, on Wednesday tendered a public apology to his first wife, May, over his decision to marry another wife and fellow actress, Judy Austin.

The actor unveiled Judy as his second wife in April 2022, when he revealed that they both had a son together.

Eight months later, Yul decided to publicly apologise to his wife for his actions, as he stated that he meant no disrespect to her.

He said he had apologised to his first wife, with whom he has four children, countless times before now.

In his apology post, Edochie said, To my dear wife, Queen May Yul-Edochie. I acknowledge that I hurt you deeply and Ive apologised to you countless times.

I take the blame for my actions. I agree with you that polygamy shouldnt be forced on anyone. You never bargained for it from the beginning neither did I. But I guess life happens. You already know the whole story.

I didnt do it to disrespect you. I didnt do it to replace you, nor because I do not love you anymore, no. I have always loved you and always will.

Ive been a good husband and a wonderful father. Ive supported all your hustle from day one. I have been an exceptional father to our children to date, making sure they lack nothing and always there for everyone.

Out of 100, I have done 99 things right. Hating me because of one thing isnt the best. Nobody is perfect. Im not. Youre not. Nobody is, except God.

I assure you that nobody is trying to take your place. I have apologised to you countless times sincerely from my heart.

Im sorry. Ive always loved you and always will. Butuo nwanyi oma. We can live peacefully and happily.

Shortly after he announced his second marriage, May openly stated that her belief and faith did not permit polygamy.

Prior to his public apology, Yul had at several times boasted about his polygamous marriage, adding that the decision had brought him blessings.

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Utah polygamist sect accused of indoctrination, rape and child marriage …

Posted: at 10:18 pm

Ten former members of a Utah-based polygamist sect known as the Kingston Group are pursuing punitive damages against the organization after they say it subjected them to years of unpaid labor, sexual violence and human trafficking.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, the sects ex-members allege: It is largely through illegal marriage practices that the [Kingston Group] is able to unlawfully make girls and their children religious martyrs and traffic them for sexual and labor purposes.

The lawsuit contains explicit details of how Kingston Group leaders who also own and operate several businesses and schools in the suburbs of Utahs capital, Salt Lake City allegedly arrange incestuous and sometimes underage marriages between teenage girls and adult men with exalted status to produce hundreds of children.

The suit alleges episodes of rape aimed at forcing pregnancy, group members covering up years of sexual abuse and indoctrinating children in elementary school about plural marriage.

The plaintiffs attorney, Roger Hoole, declined to elaborate beyond his clients lawsuit or respond to requests for interviews with former group members.

In a response to the allegations against it, the Kingston Group also known officially as the Davis County Cooperative Society and internally as the Order said its current policy prohibits plural marriage for members under 18. They also claimed to believe that marriage is a personal choice that should not be coerced.

Members are encouraged to prayerfully seek guidance from their parents or through personal inspiration, but ultimately, the decision must be their own, the group said in its response to the lawsuit.

The group added: Once an individual has made a decision on who to marry, members are encouraged to seek the blessing of their parents, family and/or church leaders, but to say that one individual chooses or heavily influences who will marry who is entirely inaccurate.

Nine of the plaintiffs claim the Kingston Group made them begin working during their elementary or preschool days through their late teenage years. None of them received a paycheck, they allege.

In her complaint, Amanda Rae Grant claims she was assigned to work in her early teens at Advance Copy, where wedding announcements and invitations were printed, because wedding pictures of little girls marrying men in incestuous or plural marriages could not be printed at Walmart.

Another plaintiff, Jeremy Roberts, said he started working four hours a day year-round at a farm run by the Order when he was seven or eight. He allegedly was told that his hourly pay was $3.23.

By the time he was 12, Roberts said, he was working 12-hour shifts at a mine the Order ran.

The Kingston Group denied allegations that children worked for their businesses. The group also said that its business owners are strongly encouraged to follow all applicable laws when hiring, employing and compensating their employees.

The allegations facing the Kingston Group come after the state of Utah effectively decriminalized polygamy between consenting adults in 2020, making plural marriage an infraction similar in gravity to a speeding ticket. However, if a spouse is coerced or underage in a plural marriage in Utah, it becomes a felony.

It marked the latest chapter in Utahs long, complicated history with polygamy. To help Utah achieve statehood, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints issued a manifesto ending polygamy as a practice in 1890.

However, more than 130 years later, polygamist sects exist in close-knit settlements throughout the state, including the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), run by its imprisoned leader and convicted rapist Warren Jeffs.

Pro-polygamy groups estimate there are about 30,000 to 40,000 people in Utah who live in polygamist communities. The Kingston Group declined to confirm its membership numbers.

While the Kingston Group, founded in 1935, is not affilated with the FLDS, members practice a fundamentalist version of Mormonism that involves polygamy. Members are primarily born into the organization whose leader Paul Elden Kingston is known as the Man in the Watch Tower.

The lawsuit against the group is not the first time it has faced media scrutiny or legal peril. In August, the Utah state charter school board mandated that the Kingston Group-run charter school, Vanguard Academy, replace all nine members of its governing board after various and repeated violations.

Officials alleged that school leaders hired Kingston-connected businesses and paid them with taxpayer money, the Salt Lake City television news station KUTV reported.

Vanguard Academys leaders sued state charter school officials in response, and a judge issued a restraining order that kept the targeted governing board members in their positions. The school faces a three-month probation during which it is required to rectify its issues or face closure.

Meanwhile, in July 2019, four members of the Kingston family pleaded guilty to fraud charges after federal authorities established that an Order-run business Washakie Renewable Energy stole a half billion dollars worth of biodiesel tax credits and laundered it through shell companies.

The lawsuit cites Washakie Renewable Energy as an example of the groups many attempts to defraud the government.

At times, the Order has members forge and fabricate documents, often against their will, to further [their] self-interests, the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs complaint added those practices facilitated so-called attempts by the Kingston Group to bleed the beast a term used in polygamous communities to describe how they can benefit by defrauding the government and its taxpayers.

The Kingston Group said the concept of bleeding the beast is abhorrent and was never a tenet of its organization.

The group argued that its values exact self-sufficiency and that per capita its members save or contribute more to their community than the average citizen does.

However, the fraud accusations confronting the Kingston Group extend well beyond Washakie and other Order-run businesses.

The lawsuit explains how the birth certificates of multiple plaintiffs failed to list their biological fathers, so those men could escape the legal consequences inherent to having multiple and often underage wives.

Two of the plaintiffs Michelle Afton Michaels, 22, and LaDonna Blaklyn Ruth Lancaster, 18 share the same father, Jesse Orvil Kingston, the lawsuit alleges. The suit alleges Kingston family members try to preserve their blood purity which they refer to as Pure Kingston Blood by marrying and procreating with other Kingstons.

The group has called the Pure Kingston Blood term fringe, unfamiliar, and somewhat offensive for its members, and it rejects any preference for any particular family or bloodline.

Jesse Orvil Kingston is not listed on either Michaels or Lancasters birth certificates, according to the lawsuit, which additionally accuses him of fathering more than 300 children with 14 wives.

The Guardian typically does not identify people who allege to be a victim of sexual violence, but the publicly available lawsuit identifies Michaels, Lancaster and other plaintiffs by name.

Amanda Rae Grant alleges her father is Verl Johnson, accusing him of marrying 17-year-old Lori Peterson and two others to produce 33 children.

Instead of being listed on her birth certificate, Grant says the document listed a fictitious father called Kyle Grant.

The lawsuit claims that Utah state officials went so far as to track down a man named Kyle Grant for the purposes of collecting child support payments, but they concluded he was not Amanda Rae Grants father.

This was told as a funny story in Amandas family, the lawsuit alleges.

The Kingston Group argued that it is parents prerogative to file birth records for their children how they choose within the bounds of the law.

This is especially true of the mother, who has the legal right to establish paternity or not to establish paternity at the time of filing, the Kingston Group said in a statement. The statement added that the group has not issued any specific guidance for members pertaining to birth certificates, or medical records, but encourages its members to follow the law.

One of the lawsuits more shocking allegations centers on claims from plaintiff Jenny Kingston, 25, that her parents sent her to a rehabilitation center named Lifeline for Youth for six months to punish her for resisting her marriage to Jacob Daniel Kingston Jr, the son of the Washakie energy companys boss.

She accuses Kingston Jr of physically overpowering and raping her to try to get her pregnant. Group members knew of the abuse, her complaint alleges, but did not report or stop it. Instead, she claims they used group money to get her in vitro fertilization treatment.

She later fled the group with her twin children.

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Demographics of Russia – Wikipedia

Posted: at 10:17 pm

Overview of the demographics of Russia

Russia, the largest country in the world by area, had a population of 147.2 million according to the 2021 census,[1] or 144.7 million when excluding Crimea and Sevastopol,[a] up from 142.8 million in the 2010 census.[9] It is the most populous country in Europe, and the ninth-most populous country in the world; with a population density of 8.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (22 per square mile).[10] As of 2020, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth is 71.54 years (66.49 years for males and 76.43 years for females).[2]

From 1992 to 2012 and again since 2016, Russia's death rate has exceeded its birth rate, which has been called a demographic crisis by analysts.[11] Subsequently, the nation has an ageing population, with the median age of the country being 40.3 years.[12] In 2009, Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years; and during the mid-2010s, Russia had seen increased population growth due to declining death rates, increased birth rates and increased immigration.[13] However, since 2020, due to excess deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's population has undergone its largest peacetime decline in recorded history.[14] In 2020, the total fertility rate across Russia was estimated to be 1.5 children born per woman,[15] which is below the replacement rate of 2.1 and about equal to the European average.[13]

Russia is a multinational state,[16] home to over 193 ethnic groups nationwide. In the 2010 Census, roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the population were ethnic minorities;[17] and over four-fifths of Russia's population was of European descent, of which the vast majority were East Slavs,[18] with a substantial minority of Finnic and Germanic peoples.[19][20] According to the United Nations, Russia's immigrant population is the world's third-largest, numbering over 11.6 million; most of whom are from other post-Soviet states.[21]

Demographic statistics according to the latest Rosstat vital statistics[22] and the World Population Review in 2019.[23]

Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation [24]

The total fertility rate is the number of children born to each woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.[25]

In many of the following years, Russia had the highest total fertility rate in the world.[25] These elevated fertility rates did not lead to population growth due to the casualties of the Russian Revolution, the two world wars and political killings.

Population pyramid in 1927

Population pyramid in 1941

Population pyramid in 1946

Population pyramid in 2015

Infant mortality rate

All numbers for the Russian Federation in this section do not include the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia annexed in September 2022 and which are currently partly under Russian military control. The annexation is internationally recognized only by North Korea.

In 2006, in a bid to compensate for the country's demographic decline, the Russian government started simplifying immigration laws and launched a state program "for providing assistance to voluntary immigration of ethnic Russians from former Soviet republics".[37] In August 2012, as the country saw its first demographic growth since the 1990s, President Putin declared that Russia's population could reach 146 million by 2025, mainly as a result of immigration.[38] New citizenship rules introduced in April 2014 allowing eligible citizens from former Soviet republics to obtain Russian citizenship, have gained strong interest among Russian-speaking residents of those countries (i.e. Russians, Germans, Belarusians and Ukrainians).[39][40]

There are an estimated four million undocumented immigrants from the ex-Soviet states in Russia.[41] In 2012, the Russian Federal Security Service's Border Service stated there had been an increase in undocumented migration from the Middle East and Southeast Asia (Note that these were Temporary Contract Migrants)[42] Under legal changes made in 2012, undocumented immigrants who are caught will be banned from reentering the country for 10 years.[43][44]

Since the collapse of the USSR, most immigrants have come from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, from poor areas of China, and from Vietnam and Laos[45]

Temporary migrant workers in Russia consists of about 7 million people, most of the temporary workers come from Central Asia (mostly from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan), South Caucasus (mostly from Armenia and Azerbaijan), East Asia (mostly from poor areas of China, from Vietnam and Laos). Most of them work in the construction, cleaning and in the household industries. They primarily live in cities such as Moscow, Sochi and Blagoveshchensk. The mayor of Moscow said that Moscow cannot do without worker migrants. New laws are in place that require worker migrants to be fluent in Russian, know Russian history and laws. The Russian Opposition and most of the Russian population opposes worker migration. The hate of worker migration has become so severe it has caused a rise in Russian nationalism, and spawned groups like Movement Against Illegal Immigration.[46][47]

The fourth wave of Russian emigration took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 when people began migrating from Russia in large numbers. This wave continues into the present, with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine leading to considerable Russian emigration associated with the invasion.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 300,000 Russian citizens and residents are estimated to have left Russia by mid-March 2022, at least 500,000 by the end of August 2022, and an additional 400,000 by early October,[citation needed] as political refugees, economic migrants, and conscientious objectors,[48][49][50][51][52] making a total of approximately 900,000. Aside from a desire to evade criminal prosecution for opposing the invasion and fear of being conscripted after president Vladimir Putin's 21 September announcement of partial mobilization, those fleeing voiced reasons such as disagreement with the war, the uselessness and cruelty of the war, sympathy for Ukraine, disagreement with the political roots of the war with Ukraine, the rejection of killing, and an assessment that Russia is no longer the place for their family.[53]

Russia, by constitution, guarantees free, universal health care for all Russian citizens, through a compulsory state health insurance program.[55] The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation oversees the Russian public healthcare system, and the sector employs more than two million people. Federal regions also have their own departments of health that oversee local administration. A separate private health insurance plan is needed to access private healthcare in Russia.[56]

Russia spent 5.32% of its GDP on healthcare in 2018.[57] Its healthcare expenditure is notably lower than other developed nations.[58] Russia has one of the world's most female-biased sex ratios, with 0.859 males to every female,[12] due to its high male mortality rate.[59] In 2019, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 73.2 years (68.2 years for males and 78.0 years for females),[60] and it had a very low infant mortality rate (5 per 1,000 live births).[61]

The principal cause of death in Russia are cardiovascular diseases.[62] Obesity is a prevalent health issue in Russia; 61.1% of Russian adults were overweight or obese in 2016.[63] However, Russia's historically high alcohol consumption rate is the biggest health issue in the country,[64][65] as it remains one of the world's highest, despite a stark decrease in the last decade.[66] Smoking is another health issue in the country.[67] The country's high suicide rate, although on the decline,[68] remains a significant social issue.[69]

Russia had one of the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Analysis of excess deaths from official government demographic statistics, based on births and deaths and excluding migration, showed that Russia had its biggest ever annual population drop in peacetime, with the population declining by 997,000 between October 2020 and September 2021, which demographer Alexei Raksha interpreted as being primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[70]

Ethnic groups in Russia of more than 1 million people in 2010

Percentage of ethnic Russians by region in 2010

Russia is a multinational state, with many subnational entities associated with different minorities.[16] There are over 193 ethnic groups nationwide. In the 2010 census, roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the population were ethnic minorities;[17] while over four-fifths of Russia's population was of European descentof which the vast majority were Slavs,[18] with a substantial minority of Finnic and Germanic peoples.[19][20] Turkic peoples form a large minority, and are spread around pockets across the vast nation.[71] Various distinct ethnic groups also inhabit the North Caucasus.[72] Other minorities include Mongolian peoples (Buryats and Kalmyks),[73][74] the Indigenous peoples of Siberia,[75] a historical Jewish population,[76] and the Koryo-saram (including Sakhalin Koreans).[77]

According to the United Nations, Russia's immigrant population is the third-largest in the world, numbering over 11.6 million;[21] most of which are from post-Soviet states, mainly Ukrainians.[78] There are 22 republics in Russia, who have their own ethnicities, cultures, and languages. In 13 of them, ethnic Russians constitute a minority:

Russian is the official and the predominantly spoken language in Russia. It is the most spoken native language in Europe, the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, as well as the world's most widely spoken Slavic language.[81] Russian is the second-most used language on the Internet after English,[82] and is one of two official languages aboard the International Space Station,[83] as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[81]

Russia is a multilingual nation; approximately 100150 minority languages are spoken across the country.[84][85] According to the Russian Census of 2002, 142.6million across the country spoke Russian, 5.3million spoke Tatar, and 1.8million spoke Ukrainian.[86] The constitution allows the country's individual republics the right to establish their own state languages in addition to Russian, as well as guarantee its citizens the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.[87] However, various experts have claimed Russia's linguistic diversity is rapidly declining.[88][89]

Religion in Russia (2012)[90]

Undeclared (5.5%)

Russia is a secular state by constitution, and its largest religion is Christianity. It has the world's largest Orthodox population.[91][92] As of a different sociological surveys on religious adherence; between 41% to over 80% of the total population of Russia adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church.[93][94][95] Other branches of Christianity present in Russia include Catholicism (approx. 1%), Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans and other Protestant churches (together totalling about 0.5% of the population) and Old Believers.[96][97] There is some presence of Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism; pagan beliefs are also present to some extent in remote areas, sometimes syncretized with one of the mainstream religions.

In 2017, a survey made by the Pew Research Center showed that 73% of Russians declared themselves as Christiansout of which 71% were Orthodox, 1% were Catholic, and 2% were Other Christians, while 15% were unaffiliated, 10% were Muslims, and 1% followed other religions.[98] According to various reports, the proportion of Atheists in Russia is between 16% and 48% of the population.[99]

Islam is the second-largest religion in Russia, and it is the traditional religion amongst most peoples of the North Caucasus, and amongst some Turkic peoples scattered along the Volga-Ural region.[100] Buddhists are home to a sizeable population in three Siberian republics: Buryatia, Tuva, Zabaykalsky Krai, and in Kalmykia; the only region in Europe where Buddhism is the most practised religion.[101]

Russia has an adult literacy rate of 100%.[103] It grants free education to its citizens under its constitution.[104] The Ministry of Education of Russia is responsible for primary and secondary education, as well as vocational education; while the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia is responsible for science and higher education.[105] Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia is among the world's most educated countries, and has the third-highest proportion of tertiary-level graduates in terms of percentage of population, at 62%.[106] It spent roughly 4.7% of its GDP on education in 2018.[107]

Russia has compulsory education for a duration of 11 years, exclusively for children aged 7 to 1718.[105] Its pre-school education system is highly developed and optional,[108] some four-fifths of children aged 3 to 6 attend day nurseries or kindergartens. Primary school is compulsory for 11 year-olds, starting from age 6 to 7, and leads to a basic general education certificate.[105] An additional two or three years of schooling are required for the secondary-level certificate, and some seven-eighths of Russians continue their education past this level. Admission to an institute of higher education is selective and highly competitive:[104] first-degree courses usually take five years.[109] The oldest and largest universities in Russia are Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University.[110] There are ten highly prestigious federal universities across the country. Russia was the world's fifth-leading destination for international students in 2019, hosting roughly 300,000.[111]

Russia is one of the world's most urbanized countries, with roughly 75% of its total population living in urban areas.[12] Moscow, the capital and largest city, has a population estimated at 12.4 million residents within the city limits,[112] while over 17 million residents in the urban area,[113] and over 20 million residents in the metropolitan area.[114] Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely within Europe, the most populous urban area in Europe,[113] the most populous metropolitan area in Europe,[114] and also the largest city by land area on the European continent.[115] Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital, is the second-largest city, with a population of roughly 5.4 million inhabitants.[116] Other major urban areas are Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Chelyabinsk.

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Russia warns US military aid to Ukraine will escalate conflict as …

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As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was preparing to address Congress, Russia warned that increasing military aid to the beleaguered country would only aggravate the 10-month conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at an earlier press briefing in Moscow that the expansion of Western weapon supplies to Ukraine "leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, does not bode well for Ukraine."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting with senior military officers in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (Sergey Fadeichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Asked whether Zelenskyys visit to Washington would possibly lead to possible peace talks with Russia, Peskov said: "I dont think so."

His comments were the first official Russian reaction to news that Zelenskyy was heading to Washington the presidents first known foreign trip since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion triggered a war that has killed thousands and laid waste to towns and cities across Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY VISIT IS A MESSAGE TO PUTIN THAT US WILL BACK UKRAINE FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES: WHITE HOUSE

Zelenskyy met with President Joe Biden in Washington Wednesday, where U.S. officials announced a huge new military aid package for Kyiv. He later addressed Congress, where he thanked U.S. leaders and "ordinary Americans" for their support in fighting off the invaders and pressed for additional aid.

Biden said the U.S. and Ukraine would continue to project a "united defense" as Russia wages a "brutal assault on Ukraine's right to exist as a nation."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The massive $1.8 billion package includes for the first time a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officials said.

Speaking during a meeting with his top military brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would take lessons learned in the conflict to "develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops."

ZELENSKYY'S MESSAGE TO AMERICANS: I REALLY WANT TO WIN TOGETHER

He said special emphasis would go to developing nuclear forces, which he described as "the main guarantee of Russia's sovereignty."

Putin also said the Russian military's new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter service shortly. The Sarmat is intended to replace aging Soviet-built ballistic missiles and form the core of Russia's nuclear forces.

A local resident walks next to a house destroyed in a Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the beefed-up Russian military will include 695,000 volunteer contract soldiers, 521,000 of whom should be recruited by the end of 2023. The Russian military had about 400,000 contract soldiers as part of its 1-million-member military before the fighting in Ukraine began.

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He also said Russia would form new units in the country's west in view of ambitions by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

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Russia warns US military aid to Ukraine will escalate conflict as ...

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