Category Archives: Human Longevity

The study also found that as pet owners adjust to their new normal, 67% expect to make changes in how they care for their pets once theyre not home as often. 47% of people are committed to spending more quality time with their pets when they are home, 21% will adjust their schedule to be at home with their pets more often, and 10% plan to adopt another pet to help keep their dog or cat company.

Pets continue to bring joy and comfort to peoples lives every day and pet owners can attest to this.45% shared that their households happiness has increased while spending more time with their pet during quarantine, with many revealing their pet helped lower their anxiety and uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

With owners spending more one-on-one time with their pets, 33% of people feel more attuned to their dog or cat now than before the pandemic began. Many owners believe their pets appear to be happier and more playful during this time. Pets are also receiving increased affection and their owners are talking to them more than before the pandemic.

Taking better care of your pets

A key finding is that the majority of owners feel more attuned to their pets health and are planning to make changes to how they care for their pet, suggesting quarantining with our cats and dogs may have lasting effects on how people approach pet ownership, says Le Roux.

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Here's How Our Pets Have Protected Our Mental Health During The Pandemic - Longevity LIVE

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on ground-breaking conferences in London (2017) and Washington (2019), Metabesity 2020 will be held online, with an all-access free pass option, on Oct. 12-15.

Keynoters include Dr. Victor Dzau, (President of the National Academy of Medicine), Dr. Kenneth Dychtwald (Founder of Age Wave and one of America's leading gerontologist), and Lord Geoffrey Filkin (Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity). Congresswoman Shalala, the longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in history and now representing Miami-Dade County, Florida, one of the oldest demographics in the U.S., will join for a fireside chat in a session on making healthy longevity a national priority. Other speakers include Peter Stein(Director of FDA's Office of New Drugs), Luigi Ferrucci (Scientific Director of the National Institute on Aging of NIH), top researchers in geroscience, diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases, and their peers in industry, capital markets and other stakeholders.

This unique, silo-busting conference gathers more than 70 speakers in 20 sessions and will focus on preventing chronic disease and the extension of "healthspan," the portion of life spent free of significant disease.Targeting Metabesity 2020 will also offer a full day for Longevity Sector Investors at the Shark Tank-inspired Emerging Company Showcase on Oct. 15.

Founder and Co-Chair of Metabesity 2020, Dr. Alexander Fleming commented, "We are a part of a global moonshot project to advance healthy longevity for all within the next decade. We aim to make healthy longevity a national policy and part of everyday clinical practice. In addition to presenting the amazing scientific advances, in this Pandemic year, we are spotlighting the importance of equal access to solutions and the related disparities across ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups."

Conference Co-chair, Stanford ProfessorDr. Lawrence Steinman, a co-discoverer of the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri and a number of other therapeutic approaches, added, "After several decades of stupendous progress in treating immediately life-threatening conditions, orphan and genetic disorders, and incapacitating degenerative diseases, we must turn our attention to slowing the aging process and reducing the risks of the major chronic diseases. Collectively, these diseases account for the great majority of morbidity and mortality and healthcare spending across the globe."

Conference organizer and Kinexum CEO Thomas Seoh noted, "This year's edition of Metabesity is a major milestone for the conference. A large and diverse online global audience has registered, and many more will be able to view the recorded proceedings.We are thrilled that the not-for-profit Kitalys Institute is taking the conference forward, along with related initiatives. Kitalys and the Metabesity Conference are partnering with a powerful network of academic, business, and governmental organizations to help reap the longevity dividend, a triple health, well-being and economic win for our young, our growing elderly, taxpayers, and our economy."

Conference organizer and Kitalys Institute Executive Director Adriane Berg added, "The Kitalys Institute mission is to accelerate the translation of emerging science into equitable gains in public health.We are thrilled and honored to work with the prominent speakers and motivated attendees of the Metabesity conferences to prevent or delay chronic diseases and extend healthy longevity."

To simulate the ambience and networking of previous conferences, Metabesity 2020 will include social gatherings after each day's program and a gala event on Wednesday evening. Acclaimed artists Voces8 and composer Eric Whitacre and his 17,000+ singers virtual choir will provide musical interludes. Amazing improv rapper and comedian Chris Turner will emcee the gala event.

For further information, please contact:

Adriane Berg, Executive Director, Kitalys Institute, at [emailprotected], +1 (201) 303-6517.

AlisonCockrell, Custom Management Group, at[emailprotected].

Targeting Metabesity 2020 website at http://www.metabesity2020.com

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SOURCE Kitalys Institute

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Stellar Speakers to Make Targeting Metabesity 2020 One of the Most Important Healthy Longevity Conferences of the Year - PRNewswire

Dr. Evelyne Bischof speaking at the 2020 China-Israel Summit on Longevity Medicine

Over the past decade, we witnessed unprecedented advances in the field of biogerontology, and the massive convergence of biotechnology, information technology, AI, and medicine. And now we are witnessing the birth of a new field of longevity medicine, which integrates the latest advances in many of these fields of science and technology. My definition longevity medicine is advanced personalized preventative medicine powered by deep biomarkers of aging and longevity.

And, like in the field of AI for drug discovery, women are at the forefront of this revolution and there were precedents when we had to look for a male physician to make a conference panel more diverse.

One of the physician-scientists who stands out in this area is Dr. Evelyne Yehudit Bischof. I first got a note with a request for more information on one of our research papers from Dr. Bischof on December 30th, 2019 while in Shanghai. A request I almost ignored due to the heavy workload but accidentally I looked at her profile which was highly unusual. In brief, Evelyne is a German medical doctor with an MD from Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics, who interned at Columbia University, and Harvard MGH and Beth Israel Medical Deaconess, attending physician at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, and associate professor at Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences. She fluently spoke six languages including German, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese, which was quite impressive. The second time we met was at Human Longevity Inc, in San Diego when she was interviewing with one of the most influential entrepreneurs and investors in longevity biotechnology, Dr. Wei-Wu He to join HLI as a longevity physician.

Dr. Evelyne Yehudit Bischof

The longevity industry is rapidly emerging and longevity clinics are being set up in various parts of the world. So I decided to ask Eva a few questions to elucidate this new and emerging industry.

Alex: Eva, we know each other for almost a year and you do not fail to impress with your academic publications, public lectures, and clinical work. You are as close to the longevity physician as it can possibly get. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and about the work that you are doing on the clinical side and on the research side?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: Thank you, Alex it is an honor to be so generously introduced by a true innovator, scientist and entrepreneur, as well as a longevity KOL and allow me to revert the compliment. I am a rather globally oriented internal medicine specialist, with training and work experience in Germany, USA, Switzerland and China. For almost a decade now, I have been splitting my time between Shanghai and Basel, creating a path that allowed me to conclude my residency and fellowship, develop translational and clinical research niches and collaborators, as well as to engage actively in academic medical education. While my clinical work was mostly based in a university clinic in Basel in internal, intensive and onco-hematologic medicine wards, my scientific pursuits and academic teaching were mostly based in Shanghai, where I went along the track from a junior lecturer to an associate professor in 2016. My research focused primarily, but not exclusively, on oncology and being an internist at core on geroncology and precision medicine in general internal medicine. Geroncology is a crucial field that investigates the very much interlinked pathways of aging and tumorigenesis, leading to the epidemiological observation that age is the number one risk factor to develop cancer for all.

Both Switzerland and China are innovative hubs with strong medical and bioscientific profile, which allowed me to learn from some of the finest experts worldwide. The frequent travels and splitting my life between continents were not always easy, but - coming from a simple background of non-academic farmer and handcraft family Alongside - I will be forever grateful for all the great people I met and worked with, the abundant cultural nuances and differences I was able to learn and appreciate, the stimulating and constructive exchange and so much more in soft and hard skills, on professional and personal level. with the emergence of AI-based solutions in the clinic and with the rise of longevity medicine, my passion and efforts are now focused on these domains, while I continue my clinical practice in the university hospitals, academic lecturing at two medical schools (currently in Shanghai - due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions) and research/public speaking (globally - thanks to COVID-19-related shift to virtual communication).

Alex: Can you tell us about your perspective on the emerging field of longevity medicine starting from your own definition of the field?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: With pleasure! My personal definition of longevity medicine is clear: it is precision medicine driven by deep aging biomarkers. Surely, the definition is succinct, but extremely deep. Precision medicine is per se an enormously complex and dynamic field, driven by multimodally mined data and their constant re-evaluation, reannotation and reiteration to provide qualitative and quantitative using AI-algorithm outputs applicable for clinical practice. Longevity medicine is a to say the next generation of precision medicine that evaluates the patient within the reference range for the patients ideal age (usually 20-30) and is looking for ways to reduce the gap between the current parameters and the parameters of maximum physical performance for the ideal age. Deep aging clocks as quantifiable, trackable and accurate biomarkers of aging and an indispensable component of longevity medicine. Without being able to actually measure the biological age and its changes due to interventions, longevity medicine cannot be performed. I strongly believe that this field of medicine will revolutionize healthcare and change the mindset of all the doctors, the policy makers, the stakeholders and above all: the patients. Allow me to add that I consider each of us as a patient we all suffer from aging! I also believe that citing Peter Diamandis in the future, if a physician wont be using A.I. in guiding diagnosis and therapy, it'll be a malpractice". This said, I would love to add that we need more passionate physicians in longevity and this can only be achieved with an appropriate educational setting, which will be inaugurated this month by Deep Longevity and collaborators.

Alex: What do you see as the most promising developments in the field of longevity medicine that can truly push the needle and add a few decades if not more to the healthy youthful life of the individual?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: Besides of deep aging clocks and AgeMetrics, which I truly without cronyism embrace and would encourage all physicians to implement in their daily practice, I see a big potential in gene therapies, in (natural and designed) gerolytics and senolytics, as well as supplements that will show safe efficacy in combating senescence from the molecular to system level. Studies on AKG, rapamycin and metformin are already fueling this hope. Of course, all interventions will require a prior comprehensive precision health assessment and continuous monitoring. For the latter, the wearables and applications will certainly bring us even faster to an extension of a healthy and productive lifespan.

I am encouraged by the fact that there are two major developments, perpetuated by the racing speed of longevity medicine and geroscience. Number one: doctors are shifting from putting a patient on meds to putting a patient on a personalized longevity protocol that becomes a natural, integral, rewarding part of their lives. Number two: society is realizing that it is not important how old one is, but how one shows his/her own age. Remembering this allows one to make sure he or she does not become a slave of the myths about the elderly, but also to be mindful that even at an early chronological age, one might actually experience silent accelerating aging due to modifiable risk factors or pathomechanisms.

Alex: Without promoting Human Longevity Inc or Health Nucleus 100+, can you tell us what an average person with an average income can do to increase their performance and longevity?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof speaking at the 2020 China-Israel Summit on Longevity Medicine

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: This is a very valid question in fact, when it comes to reasonably boosting performance and creating a good base for longevity, one does not necessarily be wealthy. The components of the magic mixture are the well-known pillars of preventative and functional medicine: exercise, nutrition, supplements, moderation. However, longevity physicians are now able to customize the right proportions of each for a specific person, minding the biovariability, comorbidities, chronological age, but also lifestyle and preferences. In an extreme generalization, I would suggest caloric restriction via intermittent fasting to an overall healthy person, with at least an A-Z vitamin and mineral supplement, 15-30min workout at least 3 times a week, moderation in substance use to the minimum, but with permissible enjoyment, if needed (alcohol and cigarettes), a minimum of 6 hours of sleep without interruption, circadian rhythm (regular times) of sleep and food intake, no meals at night (at least 4 hours before night rest) and very importantly cognitive activities (books, foreign languages, crosswords), preferably rewarding ones so that the psychological wellbeing area is also covered. Everyone is able to use stairs as their gym, to not to eat before sleep, to choose water over other drinks, to laugh aloud to oneself and to learn text parts by heart (because decelerating psychological aging and cognitive decline are crucial aspects of healthy longevity). I recall I was always reading the ingredients and how to use? texts on tubes during shower, so as not to waste the time. My first sentence in Russian was actually the instruction of how to use a shampoo.

Dr. Evelyne Bischof speaking at a conference on aging and longevity

Alex: And if someone has nearly unlimited access to capital, what should they do?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: I believe, as in any other business or property of this particular population, the individuals should seek good investments and insurance in relation to their health and the health of their significant surrounding (family, friends, workers etc.). The investment should involve as precise diagnostics as possible, that harnesses all cutting edge and untapped potential of the human genome, deep quantitative phenotyping, complete -omics and -ioms (e.g. microbiome, epigenomics, metabolomics, proteomics etc.), advanced imaging with radiogenomic algorithms etc. As it is a dynamic field, constantly evolving and implementing new features and/or better ways of interpretation, such diagnostic comprehensive checkups (or part of them) should be repeated regularly. The insurance part does not relate to a contracted policy, but to a complex entity of lifestyle recommendations and interventions lead by an entrusted longevity physician (basically a physician that can list and pronounce the aforementioned terms), who understands and permanently advances in the field, being able to combine human and artificial intelligence and customize an individual approach of prevention and (if needed) therapy for a specific patient. In addition, the leading physician needs to comprehend and implement the personal challenges and preferences of the patient, such as mostly disturbed wake-sleep rhythm, irregular and unhealthy social meals, acute and chronic stress exposure, irritability or fatigue etc., to create a program that will be realistic, allow the patient to remain compliant and engaged based on his/her educated informed decisions. Simply said: knowing 150 GB of a patients data, a physician of trust should be a good lead towards identification, mitigation and elimination of actionable diseases (years and decades ahead) and risk factors that curb the quantity and quality of life.

Alex: I know maybe 3-4 people like you in the world, who have an MD, are actively engaged in biomedical research, and work with some of the high-profile clients who are spoiled with the most cutting-edge medical care provided by the top medical institutions. And all of them are women. Why do we see such gender imbalance in the field?

Dr. Evelyne Bischof in the clinic

Dr. Evelyne Bischof: Again thank you very much for this encouraging statement, this time speaking on behalf of women in medicine, academia and STEM. As you know, one of my side areas of interest is the study of biological sex differences in various diseases, predominantly cancer, and ultimately also on the sex (biological) and gender (socio-cultural) variables influencing pathomechanisms, diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, resulting differing toxicities, follow up strategies and outcomes (recovery, chronification etc.). It was natural to engage in debates and develop curiosity about the gender distribution in academia in general. Recently, with an ad hoc group of collaborators from Europe, USA and China, we demonstrated in a Lancet Oncology paper that female representation at the podium, meaning as keynote speakers and scientific committees at the largest oncological conferences in China. Our data showed that China is much more inclusive, without an intensive active promotion or directives towards gender quotas. As you know, I am a big fan of this country, but this quantitative study once again showed how impressive this country is and perhaps we found one of the contributing factors for the nations booming leading role in biotech and medicine.

Overall however, there are indeed significant differences in various fields, as well as an overall underrepresentation of females in leadership and podium roles. I am happy to see that in longevity science and medicine, we have dedicated females that can unfold their passions and translate them into viable solutions that do impact the public and individual health. As always, the reasons are multifold, but perhaps the most important one is that in longevity, driven women are emerging in an inclusive environment that embraces non-discriminating and non-stigmatized diversion. In different words: the longevity field seems to embrace inclusion at the same (ultrarapid) pace as STEM and medicine are evolving. The sex and gender differences clearly allow to generate creativity and innovation it is a mutually perpetuating process. Last but not least, it is thanks to committed male mentors and collaborators that actually value D&I (diversity and inclusion) intuitively or knowingly (based on evidence that diverse teams outperform the less diverse one by over 35%). Most male KOLs in longevity, like yourself, promote and underline the importance of D&I. On a final note myself, personally, I have always remained at the unconscious side when facing a person I work with. Accountability, motivation and fairness have proven to be non-gender related in my experience as I have faced many challenges being a (previously young) female, permanent foreigner and on top of that blond. The typical situation at a round dinner table in China with 12 male professors usually ended up with us all laughing at my gambei with water being the only discrepancy from the norm.

Dr. Evelyne Bischof speaking at the 2020 China-Israel Summit on Longevity Medicine

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Women In Longevity Medicine And The Rise Of The Longevity Physician - Forbes

AFRICA

The United Nations Development Programme defines human development as a process of enlarging the range of peoples choice by increasing their opportunities for education, healthcare, income and employment, and covering the full range of human choices from a sound physical environment to socioeconomic, education, health, and political systems. And sustainable development refers to a multidimensional process defined by Michael Todaro as involving the reorganisation and reorientation of entire economic and social systems.

The process aims at meeting human development goals such as longevity, increased purchasing power and increased adult literacy rates, while at the same time sustaining the ability of the natural systems to provide natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy, people and society depend, now and in future.

Impactful research

In Africa and the world over, universities are responsible for research, scholarship and innovation and are depended upon to serve as agents for discovery, innovation, adoption and dissemination of knowledge generated. A major challenge that many researchers engaged in impactful research face is how to translate their seminal research findings into policy and practice. The standard research process is to design and conduct quality research, then to disseminate findings through peer-reviewed conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications.

The only limitation is that most times, the leaders, policy-makers, and practitioners are rarely at these conferences and may never read the peer-reviewed articles published in top tier journals in the field.

Some innovative researchers now prepare policy briefs, and distribute them to funders, leaders and policy implementers in government agencies, for-profit and not-for-profit agencies. In addition, blogs, podcasts and social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are being used to communicate pertinent research findings instantly. While these are positive steps, however, they do not guarantee research policy and practice adoption.

In the case of my own discipline of education, quality research findings exist on how to address absolute inequity and relative inequity in our schools, how to address equity and improve learning, how to tap into research findings on emotional intelligence to improve quality of learning in our schools and colleges, how to close learning opportunity gaps, and how to improve the quality of online learning during this time of COVID-19.

However the challenge remains: how to translate research findings into policy and practice and how to obtain buy-in from leaders, practitioners and community stakeholders, or how to successfully engage in translational research.

Technology impact

With advancements in technology, the advent of social media, and based on the science of data analytics, information on research findings is readily available. In most higher education institutions, we now have advanced tools that assist institutions to measure faculty productivity and to summarise the kind of impactful research findings being generated. In the case of some higher education institutions, however, the fact that data-analytical tools are not being utilised is institutional- and policy-dependent.

While it is no longer complex to access and disseminate research findings to policy makers and practitioners, the process requires additional resources as well as the institutional and governmental willingness to put in place policies and regulations that nurture collaboration among researchers and community stakeholders.

Faculty learning and development

The world over, university professors and graduate students produce the majority of research. However, in the case of many African countries, higher education systems seem to pay less attention to academic staff development through professional learning and development. For instance, in Kenya, the higher education system seems to pay less attention to faculty development, and only 43% of university faculty have PhDs.

The enrolment in PhD programmes has remained flat. It is estimated that 4,394, 1% of the total population of the students, enrolled for doctoral degrees and only 400 students graduate within five years (Commission for University Education, 2017). This situation is the same in many African universities. The challenge here is not only translating research findings to practice, but getting doctoral students to complete their research and then share their findings with policy-makers and practitioners in a timely manner.

Research policy and practice

The need to translate research findings into policy and practice is essential to guide policy and institutional leaders on how they may enhance research productivity in pursuit of their shared purpose, mission, and goals.

Given the increasing amount of funding allocated to research by governments, foundations, and non-government institutions, it is necessary to critically explore the issue of translating research to policy and practice. Aside from financial resources allocated to research and development, the translation of research findings into policy and practice ensures the accomplishment of the core mission of discovery and innovation.

As correctly noted by Dr Nailah Suad Nasir, president of the Spencer Foundation, as researchers we often do not think enough about the consumers of our work. In the case of education, Nasir observes that it is critical for researchers to think about how their work translates into educational policies, educational practice, and how they support their colleagues who are running school districts, teaching, and creating educational environments for children. This should be the case with all researchers in all disciplines, and they should involve policymakers and community stakeholders.

Going back to the So what? question: the core mission of every researcher has to be about how their research is impacting the world. In fact, research funding organisations such as the Spencer Foundation are now investing in scholars capacity to communicate their own research to a wider audience.

Interdisciplinary research

To successfully impact the world, researchers cannot continue working in silos and must engage in interdisciplinary research. In addition, researchers in Africa need to collaborate with researchers from within and without Africa, especially their colleagues in the diaspora.

Researchers engaged in interdisciplinary research have a leading role to play in addressing grand challenges facing humanity such as how can technological advances can work for everyone and not just for a few in society.

How should sustainable development be achieved for all, while addressing global climate change? How can everyone in the world have sufficient clean water without conflict? How can Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, for example, share the water resources of the river Nile? How can humane economies be developed to help to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and eliminate poverty in the world? How can we ensure equity and educational improvement?

These grand challenges are so complex that no single genius, no single academic discipline, no single institution, community or country can solve them alone. Researchers from all disciplines need to work together collaboratively beyond the silos of discipline, department, college, business or industry, to positively impact the world through research, policy-making and practice.

Fredrick Muyia Nafukho is professor of educational administration and human resource development and associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, United States. He can be reached at nafukho@gmail.com.

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Translating research findings into policy and practice - University World News

Theres plenty of evidence for it, Gallo said. The weakness is we dont really know the longevity [of the protection]. It will probably work only for months, but we cant say for sure.

Talk about flu vaccines comes as coronavirus vaccine trials remain underway.

Abram Wagner, a research assistant professor at the University of Michigans department of epidemiology, told Time magazine he thinks its understandable for some people to want the flu shot but feel skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine considering the flu vaccine has been tried and tested.

If you have experience with getting the jab, and you have the shot, its no big deal, then I think you will be just more likely to get another shot in the future, even if its not the same shot you got in the past, Wagner said.

Mayo Clinc states that a coronavirus vaccine will take 12 to 18 months or longer to develop and test in human clinical trials. And we dont know yet whether an effective vaccine is possible for this virus.

For now, frequently washing your hands, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing are among the ways people can protect themselves and others against COVID-19, according to the CDC.

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Evidence suggests getting the flu shot could help protect you against COVID-19 - Atlanta Journal Constitution

The human brain is the command centre for the nervous system and enables thoughts, memory, movement, and emotions by a complex function that is the highest product of biological evolution. Maintaining a healthy brain during ones life is the uppermost goal in pursuing health and longevity. As the population ages, the burden of neurological disorders and challenges for the preservation of brain health increase. It is therefore vital to understand what brain health is and why it is important. This article is the first in a series that aims to define brain health, analyse the effect of major neurological disorders on brain health, and discuss how these disorders might be treated and prevented.

Human ageing is mainly reflected in the aspects of brain ageing and degradation of brain function. The number of people aged 60 years and over worldwide was around 900 million in 2015 and is expected to grow to two billion by 2050.3 With the increases in population ageing and growth, the burden of neurological disorders and challenges to the preservation of brain health steeply increase. People with neurological disorders will have physical disability, cognitive or mental disorders, and social dysfunction and be a large economic burden.

Globally, neurological disorders were the leading cause of disability adjusted life years (276 million) and the second leading cause of death (9 million) in 2016, according to the Global Burden of Diseases study.4 Stroke, migraine, Alzheimers disease and other dementias, and meningitis are the largest contributors to neurological disability adjusted life years.4 About one in four adults will have a stroke in their lifetime, from the age of 25 years onwards.5 Roughly 50 million people worldwide were living with dementia in 2018, and the number will more than triple to 152 million by 2050.6 In the following decades, governments will face increasing demand for treatment, rehabilitation, and support services for neurological disorders.

Opportunities and challenges exist in the assessment of brain health, the mechanism of brain function and dysfunction, and approaches to promote brain health (box 1).

Lack of metrics or tools to comprehensively assess or quantify brain health

Little knowledge about the mechanisms of brain function and dysfunction

Few effective approaches to prevent and treat brain dysfunction in some major neurological disorders, such as dementia

Need to precisely preserve brain functions for people with neurosurgical diseases

Defining and promoting optimal brain health require the scientific evaluation of brain health. However, it is difficult to comprehensively evaluate or quantify brain health through one metric owing to the multidimensional aspects of brain health. Many structured or semistructured questionnaires have been developed to test brain health by self-assessments or close family member assessments of daily function or abilities. In recent decades new structural and functional neuroimaging techniques have been applied to evaluate brain network integrity and functional connectivity.7 However, these subjective or objective measures have both strengths and weaknesses. For instance, scales such as the mini-mental state examination and Montreal cognitive assessment are simple and easy to implement but are used only as global screening tools for cognitive impairment; tests such as the digit span, Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test, trail making A and B, Stroop task, verbal fluency test, Boston naming test, and clock drawing test are used mainly to assess one or two specific domains of memory, language, visuospatial, attention, and executive function; and neuroimaging techniques, although non-invasive and objective, still have disadvantages of test contraindications, insufficient temporal or spatial resolution, motion artefact, and high false discovery rates, which limit their clinical transformation.

Another difficulty in measuring brain health is that age, culture, ethnicity, and geography specific variations exist in the perception of optimal brain health. Patient centred assessment of brain function, such as self-perception of cognitive function and quality of life, should also be considered when measuring brain health.8 Universal acceptable, age appropriate, multidimensional, multidisciplinary, and sensitive metrics or tools are required to comprehensively measure and monitor brain function and brain health.

To promote optimal brain health, we need a better understanding of the mechanisms of brain function and dysfunction. Unfortunately, little is known about the working mechanism of the brain. Although we have made considerable developments in neuroscience in recent decades, we still cannot totally decipher the relations between spatiotemporal patterns of activity across the interconnected networks of neurons and thoughts or the cognitive and mental state of a person.9 Recent progress in brain simulation and artificial intelligence provides a vital tool to understand biological brains, and vice versa.1011 The development of brain inspired computation, brain simulation, and intelligent machines was emphasised in the European Union and China Brain Project.912

Meanwhile, the mechanisms behind the brain dysfunction in some neurological disorders are still not well understood, especially for mental and neurodegenerative disorders. Further investigation of the mechanisms of brain diseases may indicate approaches to treatment and improve brain function. Brain imaging based cognitive neuroscience may unravel the underlying brain mechanism of cognitive dysfunction and provide an avenue to develop a biological framework for precision biomarkers of mood disorders.13

Most common neurological diseases, such as cerebrovascular diseases and Alzheimers disease, have complex aetiopathologies, typically involving spatial-temporal interactions of genetic and environmental factors. However, a single genetic factor could account for the disease progression of monogenic neurological disorders. These diseases could be more readily investigated by simplified cross species modelling, leading to better understanding of their mechanisms and greater efficiency in testing innovative therapies. Such research may provide a window to promote the investigation of common neurological disorders and general brain health, as discussed by Chen and colleagues elsewhere in this series.14

Few effective approaches are available to prevent and treat brain dysfunction in some major neurological disorders, such as dementia. Neurons are not renewable, and brain dysfunction is always irreversible. Recent trials targeting amyloid clearance and the selective inhibition of tau protein aggregation failed to improve cognition or modify disease progression in patients with mild Alzheimers disease.1516 More attention has focused on other potential therapeutic targets, such as vascular dysfunction, inflammation, and the gut microbiome, as discussed by Shi and colleagues.17 In particular, recent studies showed that the early impairment of cognition was induced by the disruption of neurovascular unit integrity, which may cause hypoperfusion and the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and subsequent impairment in the clearance of proteins in the brain.1819 Physical activity, mental exercise, a healthy diet and nutrition, social interaction, ample sleep and relaxation, and control of vascular risk factors are considered six pillars of brain health. The AHA/ASA presidential advisory recommended the AHAs Lifes Simple 7 (non-smoking, physical activity, healthy diet, appropriate body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose) to maintain optimal brain health.2 Pan and colleagues discuss how this may indicate a new dawn of preventing some cognitive impairment and brain dysfunction by preventing vascular risk factors or cerebrovascular diseases.20

For other neurological disorders with potential therapeutic approaches, the main aim is to preserve brain function. Impaired brain function due to anatomical structural damage is underestimated in patients with neurosurgical diseases such as brain tumours, trauma, and epilepsy. In recent years, treatment targets for neurosurgical diseases have changed from focusing on survival or life expectancy to balancing brain structures and functions. Precise preservation of brain function requires an understanding of the exquisite relation between brain structure and function and advanced technologies to visualise brain structure-function relations.21

Another example of the predicament associated with protection of brain function is uncertainty in the treatment response in epilepsy management. Current standard care for epilepsy relies on a trial and error approach of sequential regimens of antiseizure medications. The time delay due to this treatment approach means that such treatments may be less effective and irreversible damage may occur. Chen and colleagues22 describe how recent advances in personalised epilepsy management based on artificial intelligence, genomics, and patient derived stem cells are bringing some hope to overcome this predicament in epilepsy management and promise a more effective strategy.2324

Brain health is the maintenance of multidimensional aspects of brain function. However, several neurological disorders may affect brain health in one or more aspects of brain function. Deciphering and promoting the function and health of the brain, the most mysterious organ in the human body, will have a dramatic impact on science, medicine, and society.25 In the past seven years, a number of large scale brain health initiatives have been launched in several countries to promote the development of neuroscience, brain simulation, and brain protection.9 However, further challenges are raised by the different key research directions of brain projects in different countries. In the face of these challenges, Liu and colleagues argue that collaboration on brain health research is urgently needed.26 As the other articles in this series describe, coordinated research has enormous potential to improve the prognosis of brain disorders.

Brain health is the preservation of optimal brain integrity and mental and cognitive function and the absence of overt neurological disorders

Human ageing increases the burden of brain dysfunction and neurological diseases and the demands for medical resources

Further studies are required to assess brain health, understand the mechanism of brain function and dysfunction, and explore effective approaches to promote brain health.

Originally posted here:
What is brain health and why is it important? - The BMJ

Express News Service

KOCHI: Since 1992, the World Mental Health Federation has been observing October 10 as World Mental Health Day. Many world organisations and NGOs come together to use this day to spread the word about mental health.This year, the theme of World Mental Health Day is mental health for all; greater investment, greater access, everyone, everywhere. This theme rightly points to the need of the hour - to make standard mental health care accessible and affordable to everyone all over the world. An unexpected pandemic, the lockdown that followed and its socio-economic impact has sent a large section of the global population through unparalleled, unprecedented stress.

The prevalence of depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and somatoform disorders have increased. A large number of suicides are also being reported by people of all age groups. The stress experienced by health care workers is another area of grave concern.Even before the onset of the pandemic, the issue of accessibility to mental health care was an issue that affected many in our country.

A survey conducted by Kerala State Mental Health Authority in 2016 had identified that 12.8 per cent of the population in Kerala is suffering from at least one mental health problem that required treatment. The survey also pointed out that 9 per cent of the states population is are suffering from clinical depression.

The unfortunate fact is that only 15 per cent people who suffer mental health problems receive scientific treatment to help them through it. There are three very important factors affecting this treatment gap.The first is a lack of mental health literacy among the public. Though the state is considered 100 per cent literate, with a large section of the people highly educated, scientific knowledge about mental health problems is severely lacking here. Many are ignorant about the fact that mental disorders are essentially disorders of the functioning of the brain, and can be common. They are also oblivious to the fact that mental illnesses can be effectively controlled if treated in initial stages.

The stigma prevalent in society regarding mental illnesses is the second issue. Many people hide the fact that they suffer mental disturbances due to the fear of being ostracized by society. People who have been treated for mental illness are blacklisted for marriage proposals or even employment. If mental disturbances are properly treated and controlled, there is absolutely no problem in leading a married life or working to earn a living.

Lack of access to mental health care services is the third barrier. Many people still believe that they have to go to hospitals or Mental health centres to get treatment for mental illnesses. But the reality is that services of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are available in all district hospitals and general hospitals as well. Moreover, all the fourteen districts in the state have a fully functioning District Mental health program ( DMHP), in which a mental health team under the leadership of a psychiatrist visits selected primary health centres once in a month, and provides treatment to patients there. So utilisation of all these services can improve access to mental health care.

Fifty per cent of all mental illnesses begin before 14 years, while 75 per cent begin before 24 years. So, early identification and intervention are of utmost importance in preventing long term complications. The Harward Human Development Study which began in 1938 has proved that the quality of human relationships developed in life, especially during childhood and adolescence accounts to longevity. In the days of this physical distancing, lets all pledge to keep ourselves mentally connected so that we can be of service to those in destress. The author is a consultant psychiatrist at MedicalCollege, Trivandrum

Make a small difference

What can you do if you find a person in your family, neighbourhood or workplace suffering from a mental health issues? A friend or acquaintance, without any formal training in mental health care, can do something called mental health first aid in such situations.Approach the person and proactively enquire whats troubling him.Patiently and non judgementally listen to him while he is narrating his problems. A feeling that someone is willing to listen maybe a source of great relief.Give him the necessary scientific and factual information to correct his misconceptions, if any.If problems are still persisting, encourage him to consult a competent mental health professional and take appropriate treatment.Ensure social support to the person in distress. We should ensure that they are not isolated. Its the responsibility of the family members, neighbours, friends, colleagues, and society at large to see that he receives enough social and emotional support.

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Mental health; its never late to seek help - The New Indian Express

The Columbine Health Systems Center for Healthy Aging is hosting a virtual panel discussion at noon on Friday, Oct. 16, to answer community questions about how young people can live longer, healthier lives.

One of the Centers new initiatives is to encourage people in their 20s and 30s to think about what they can do now to support longevity and health across their lifespan and into advanced age, says Nicole Ehrhart, director of the Center and professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences. Research shows that people in their second and third decades rarely explore these topics.

As such, the premise of the panel is to cut through the noise and abundance of health and wellness tips to provide clear recommendations for healthy aging in young adults.

CSU faculty members from the College of Health and Human Sciences will serve as panelists for the discussion, including:

All questions surrounding diet, nutrition, fitness, mental health and general well-being are welcome. Questions can be submitted by emailing healthyaging@colostate.edu. Some to be answered by the panelists include:

Thus, while the panel is geared toward younger people, it will provide general health advice that people of all ages can benefit from.

Attendees may register in advance for the webinar at col.st/pAe2s

The webinar will be recorded for later viewing on the Center for Healthy Agings YouTube playlist.

Excerpt from:
'Aging in Your 20s and 30s' panel to be held Oct. 16 - College of Health and Human Sciences - Source

Los Angeles is the city without a heart, we used to hear when I was growing up in England, few of us having come within 5,000 miles of California. Seventy-eight school districts in search of a center, a desert car culture in which every last soul is locked inside her own four doors, a teenage wasteland: The clichs came streaming in on us as we stood in the rain at bus stops in chilly Oxford, on our way to another unheated basement.

Of course, we all greedily devoured the pictures radiating out from L.A., but even they confirmed our sense that it was the City of the Image, home of the two-dimensional. Yes, the metropolis might have inspired weirdly alternative realities from Thomas Pynchon and Joan Didions passages of dissociation along the 405, but really it was, we assured one another, Disneyland writ large. Yes, we were secretly transfixed by the mean streets of Raymond Chandler nothing seemed to have happened in Oxford since 1555 and, later, the tanned bodies of Baywatch, but we told ourselves that even those who loved and lived in the city of fallen angels described life there as performance art. In Los Angeles its hard to tell if youre dealing with the real true illusion or the false one, wrote the ultimate L.A. woman, Eve Babitz.

Reputations have a longevity that real life might envy, so even today I know that my neighbors in Japan, my cousins in India, see Los Angeles very often as the place where ideas take a breather and a book is rough material for a treatment. If I could invite them over for a single weekend to dispel such secondhand images, it would be the brilliant April days when the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books explodes across the city.

This year, the 25th such festival will be held in the form of 25 virtual events, broadcast every day starting Oct. 18. Appropriately enough for this year of loss, the great Southern Californian rite of spring is being held in autumn. As such, it joins only a handful of years in more than two decades during which I havent cleared my calendar out months in advance to be there. Presenting a book at 18 of the first 20 festivals, I came to see it as the one time in the year when my faith in words in democracy, in diversity, in openness itself got a boost, precisely by overturning everything I had assumed of L.A. before I ever saw it.

A writer these days is paid or, at least, encouraged to spend most of his time not writing. Instead, he babbles about books hes hoping to write and masquerades as the unseen being whos usually, by definition, alone at a desk. Ive spent much of the last 30 years flying to literary festivals everywhere from Shanghai to Bogot and Wellington to Bhutan. Last year alone, in quick succession, I found myself at such gatherings in London, Belfast, Vancouver, Toronto, Berlin, Nashville, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Many of us know how such events play out. Groups of book-club veterans assemble to see in person their charming heroines while more pointy-headed types take notes on yet another discussion of auto-fiction. On comfy seats in big auditoria, writers pretend that the 200 souls in front of them represent the world. As a frequent audience member myself, I relish looking around to be reminded of how many others are thrilling to Dinaw Mengestus explorations of exile and Emma Clines unsettling evocations of young girls loose in the West.

Author Pico Iyer

(Brigitte Lacombe)

The Festival of Books is different in part because its at least as festive as it is bookish and the seats often arent so comfy. All of L.A. County seems to be there, as lovers of Octavia Butler bump up against readers of Hctor Tobar. Kids are carrying balloons on a family outing in the sun, and large groups are heading with delighted shouts toward the En Espaol Stage. Music is blasting from another area and some cheerleaders are strutting their stuff over there, while crowds throng the stalls from Vromans and the Travelers Bookcase and get to see their favorite KCRW or KPCC hosts in person.

Inside the halls, meanwhile, are wide-ranging chats that honor L.A.s status as a home to world-class universities, a capital of dreams for people from everywhere and a city that produces presidents (as well as their fiercest opponents). Ive seen Oliver Stone hold forth on our political landscape and Jared Diamond talk about nearly everything in human existence. Wherever I turn, there are Spanish-speaking writers and considerations of Southeast Asia that Id seldom find in Auckland or London.

Yet, crucially and essentially, the festival is an outdoors celebration in the usually stainless mid-April sunshine, where for once Baldwin Park and South Central and Brentwood and Van Nuys seem to come together. Just before the first Festival of Books, in 1996, Id been living in and around LAX, taking the airport to be a model of the global city of the future. I watched newcomers from Iran, Guatemala, Tibet and China stream into the arrivals hall, only to head out into the daylight and get into cars. And from inside those cars, Koreatown hardly seemed to touch Santa Ana, and Compton and Thai Town belonged to parallel universes.

Get Lit Words Ignite poets, from left, C.E Oldham, Tyris Winter, Khamal Iwvanyanwu and Mila Cudas break into a group poem for passersby at the 2019 festival.

(Ana Venegas / For The Times)

A few months later, at the festival, I saw everyone released from their vehicles and mingling all around me, freeing me at last from the latest L.A. clich. The city may indeed be spread out in a way that precludes the braided density of Toronto or New York, but at the festival, everyones on foot, sharing the same village green, gathering around the childrens stage or snapping up books about Paul Beattys visions of the city, or Cristina Garcias. Colors run.

____

L.A.s enduring advantage over every other city is, of course, its position at the heart of the planetary entertainment industry. So perhaps its fitting that the most high-toned and stimulating session I ever attended featured Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh delivering deeply literate answers about his memoir to a room packed with 800 Deadheads.

This might not be a coincidence. In my 20s, I used to haunt Dead concerts again and again, not for the music but for a sense of community. Suddenly one was off the freeway and out of the office and in some alternative universe in which people were smiling and things were given away for free and we all had the happily woozy sensation of loving something together. My first week of working in Midtown Manhattan, I hurried to catch the Dead at Madison Square Garden; around me were all the same tunes all the same fans but somehow the magic of the Ventura Country Fairgrounds was gone.

Elisa Sifuentes and Kaitlyn Bin, both 16, browse displays of books on the USC campus.

(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Community! That or, rather, its seeming absence lay at the heart of all our cheap jibes about Los Angeles from afar. How could one begin to have a real city scattered across a county more populous than North Carolina (and, in fact, 40 other American states), in which everyone was nosing along those crisscrossing freeways? A city based on mobility is not known for constancy. A life based on fluidity cant be held up by tradition.

For everyone within 100 miles or more, the Festival of Books is a joy precisely because it has so quickly become such a rich and solid tradition. And as some of us return, year after year, it becomes a very human and specific community too. The festival has given me a new friend in Marc, who brings his high school English classes there. Nora, whom I met while I was signing a book of hers, invites me to her Saturday evening party every festival, a lead-up to her Cuban pig roast on Memorial Day. I even get to see my Santa Barbara neighbor T.C. Boyle, whom Ive never seen in Santa Barbara, loping back across a lawn from his Sunday afternoon reading.

There are many reasons to read, and the ones I learned about while studying literature in grad school speak for only a few. Books bring us together; I dont know of many groups that gather to discuss movies or music in the same way. Books put us inside the shoes, the skin, the soul of the Other, something ever more important in our violently polarized times. Books free us from the prison of the self. I like to believe that the Festival of Books honors this by not charging for its events, by offering a wild variety of authors Ive seen Ursula K. Le Guin and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar there, Paul Anka and Huston Smith and by flooding the campus of first UCLA and now USC with 450 authors, 500 booths and sunny diversions on every side.

Jason Ham and Baily Pham read books during the 2018 festival.

(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Im thrilled that the festival will find a way to join us together again this fall even in an age of social distancing: the Year of Zoom has shown me that one can often get an even more intimate sense of an author onscreen than from the far end of a hall. At the same time, as a lifelong fan of the NBA and Major League Baseball, Ive been stunned at how much their games lose in the absence of a real-life crowd. The beauty of the festival lies in part in the fact of 200,000 people coming out to celebrate a pastime that each of us practices alone.

So Ill be keen on listening to Laila Lalami, Marilynne Robinson and Jerry Brown over the coming weeks, and celebrating 25 years of unexpected friendships and golden afternoons and rich memories. (How can I forget the time, as moderator, when I asked a question of a former prime minister of Vietnam, only to realize 30 minutes later that hed been waiting 40 years to offer a full answer?) But, as much as anything, Ill be waiting for next April, and the Aprils to come, to be reminded that conversation, literacy, surprise humanity itself might be alive and well in Los Angeles in ways that poor Oxford could never conceive.

Iyer is the author, most recently, of twinned books, Autumn Light and A Beginners Guide to Japan.

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Pico Iyer on the L.A. Times Festival of Books and community - Los Angeles Times

Now that Im finished crying and touching up my makeup from said tears, I can write about the Digimon Adventure I just finished, Last Evolution Kizuna.

I grew up watching Digimon. It premiered in North America in 1999 when I was just 9 years old. And while I was enjoying Pokemon at the time, choosing between that franchise and Digimon was never really an issue for me. I took the why not both? approach.

But while Pokemon just keeps going and going, making more games for me to buy, Digimon, its original story, finally concluded after two decades.

The story follows a group of kids (or DigiDestined) at summer camp who were transported into a parallel world called the Digiworld. There, they were met by digital monsters that became their partners. The digimon are a combination of different animals, elements, weapons and more. And at the heart of the story is their relationship with their human companions. The children and their digimon often end up fighting bad guys to save the human and digital worlds.

Thats kind of why Im crying as this final movie wraps up. Ive watched these kids and their digimon grow up for 20 years now, from brats at summer school to high school students and college grads. Its ultimately the message of Last Evolution Kizuna that everyone grows up, no matter what.

Sometimes friends grow apart, and sometimes people pass away. But ultimately, youll always have the memories and feelings those friends brought you. Its a bittersweet message, but one this movie delivers in its full capacity. The trailer for the movie makes it immediately clear what the story will focus on.

A mysterious digimon is attacking DigiDestined across the world and causing them to fall into comas. So our central heroes are asked to stop it. Theres just one problem. Two of the characters, arguably the main heroes of the whole series, find out their own time with their digimon partners is running out. And the more they battle, the faster that time passes.

If youre expecting to escape Last Evolution Kizuna without any sniffling, forget it. My wife watched the trailer with me earlier this week and said she was starting to get sad. She doesnt even watch Digimon.

Digimon has always boasted a large cast of characters. The original television series, which had 54 episodes, followed eight kids (and their digimon). Thats essentially 16 characters. But with 54 episodes, writers can give them enough time to develop. The second Digimon series added four more characters and their digimon, while also keeping the original kids involved in the story. Of course, it also had 50 episodes to weave their narrative all together.

Then there are some movies to follow, and it all culminates in Last Adventure Kizuna. So this isnt a movie you can just launch into without having seen all the other stuff.

I spent most of the weekend getting caught up on Digimon Adventure Tri, a multi-part film series that takes place between the TV show and this last movie. The character designs of all the digidestined aging from middle school to high school and college was fascinating to watch. And it just further imitates real-life where kids have grown up watching this show for so many years.

The pacing in Last Evolution Kizuna is quick. And the film doesnt waste time explaining much. If you arent on board with the story up until now, youre out of luck. And even if you are on board, youd best not blink, or youll watch the narrative zoom right by you. With an hour and 34-minute run time, Digimon knows it doesnt have five more movies or 49 more episodes. Everything goes into one punch.

And while I was glad to see the characters from the second television series return, ultimately it robbed some of the first series main characters of screen time. As much as I love the series number two characters being included, they feel kind of tacked on in this story, probably so fans wont complain about them being ignored. But they really dont add much.

The movie kind of bills itself as one last adventure for the main characters of Tai and his digimon partner, Agumon, before they have to say goodbye forever. And because Tais rival, Matt (and his digimon partner Gabumon), has always been sort of the secondary protagonist, the story really focuses on them. So much of the original story is based on their teamwork.

Just about every other character in the movie gets pushed to the side so the narrative can focus on Tai and Matt. But the character I feel gets dropped is Sora. She went from being the mother hen of the DigiDestined, and the romantic interest of both Tai and Matt, to maybe getting two scenes in this movie. Shes the only character who doesnt join in the final fight. Its kind of a bummer. I wondered if shed gotten more screen time if the series two characters hadnt been tacked on.

But I would be lying if I said I was disappointed that the film focused mostly on Tai (and Agumon). Theyve been my favorite characters since 1999 (Im biased). What made this movie even more amazing was I snagged an interview with Tais voice actor, Joshua Seth, before I watched Last Evolution Kizuna.

Hes been homeschooling his kids down in Florida, trying to survive the pandemic like the rest of us. I asked him what its been like to play this character for 20+ years. Seth told me its been amazing, rare, and lucky hes gotten to play the role for so long. He credited fans for his longevity playing Tai.

And Seth said Tai has changed as a character over the years.

Hes become more of the reluctant warrior [and] quiet. Hes hesitant to jump into battle because he realizes the destruction itll have on the world around him and shows himself to be a better leader as a result, Seth said.

His assessment of Tai? Spot on. Tai has always been the leader of the DigiDestined, and they fall to pieces without him. But I do feel like this movie really shows hes not the same cocky kid he was in 1999. Theres much more focus and thought that goes into his actions now. Its great to watch that kind of development in a character I love.

Seth, as the voice of Tai, has a unique perspective on what this final movie means for the group leader and his relationship to Agumon. Because the digimon really do become best friends with their human partners. Seth said Last Evolution Kizuna shows its important to value special relationships in your life and hold dear memories you have of others.

At the same time, when its time to move on, let that person go. We all have to deal with this. Its part of the nature of life, loss, and change. Were going to experience that with Tai and Agumon, he said.

Keeping that quote in mind, I asked Seth if he was ready to say goodbye to Tai, and he said Last Evolution Kizuna feels like an ending. But he added Digimon has millions of fans across the globe. And he could see new places the producers could go with Tai and the franchise, maybe even prequels.

I feel like Tai is part of me, especially since Im using my own voice for him, he said.

Seth said the character defined his career, going back to the beginning when he was pounding the pavement in Los Angeles.

And he left the door open for more.

As always, if they call me, I will come back and voice again, he said.

I blubbered for the entire ending of the movie. No matter what the Digimon writers come up with in the future, Last Evolution Kizuna really feels like a satisfying goodbye.

The animation is stellar, the music is good, and the story is solid.

Id say the only complaint I have about the movie is more about the series as a whole. Continuity is a problem. And what I mean by that is, the way the movie ends, it seems to contradict how the second television series concluded.

The final episode of the second television series gave fans a view of the DigiDestined in 2028. And what we were shown when the episode aired in 2001 doesnt seem to match up with how Last Evolution Kizuna ends.

Maybe I missed something along the way, but I dont know how the two endings can both be canon. And sure, I know its a nitpick. But sometimes, thats what we geeks do.

If youre ready to watch this conclusion two decades in the making, I only have two pieces of advice. Make sure youre up to date. And bring the tissues. Youll need them.

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OPINION | PLATFORM DIVING: Message in new 'Digimon' film is that everyone grows up - Arkansas Online