Category Archives: Human Longevity

With June comes hot sunny days, beautiful rolling green fields, and lightning bugs. It is also Alzheimers and Brain Health Awareness Month. June is a wonderful month to create long-lasting memories with friends and family. Many of us go on vacation or enjoy a weekend cookout or two. How precious are the memories we build; they are more valuable than any worldly possessions that we can gain.

Unfortunately, our memories are just like anything else as they can vanish. I watched this happen to my grandmother, and it was a painful experience. My grandmother loved to cookand she could make the best fried chicken, roast, and potatoes. However, we started to notice a difference in her ability to cook around the last decade of her life. She was forgetful. The beginning signs of something going wrong were very subtle. As time went on, the symptoms became more obvious.

At the end of my grandmothers life, she suffered from end-stage dementia. She could not remember people, things, or past events. When I would visit her in the nursing home, she would gaze out as if no other person were in the room with her. It was painful for all the family to see her like that. In the end, the disease progressed to the point that she would not eat or drink. In November of 2017, my grandmother lost her battle to this disease.

According to the Alzheimers Association, beginning symptoms of Alzheimers may include forgetfulness, an inability to complete daily tasks, misplacing or losing things, and a withdrawal from social activities These signs can be very subtle at firstand will gradually become more evident over time.

There is still so much about Alzheimers that is unknown. The brain is a complex part of our body. The way it functions is miraculous and mysterious. Sadly, so are diseases that impact it. Although science has allowed us to understand more about the human brain, there is still more that needs to be understood before we can defeat horrible diseases.

Overall, the best way to promote brain-health longevity is to exercise and stay active. The CDC also recommends learning new things and staying connected to loved ones. Furthermore, regular check-ups with a medical provider can help ensure brain-health, too.

One of the most valuable things we have as human beings is the ability to remember. My grandmother, like millions of other men and women, lost her ability to remember because of a horrible disease such as dementia. My prayer is that one day diseases such as these will be defeated.

For more information about this topic, please visit http://www.www.alz.org.

See the rest here:
June is Alzheimer's and Brain Health Awareness Month - messenger-inquirer

The naked mole rat never develops age-related diseases. It stays active and enjoys good bone health, reproductive success and mental acuity for its lifespan of up to 30 years.

Two of many reasons for this creatures healthy longevity are its low body temperature and slow metabolic rate.

For the first time, researchers from the Institute of Gerontology in Kiev and Prof. Vadim Fraifelds Lab for the Biology of Aging at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have replicated those conditions in lab mice. A naked mole rat generally lives about eight times longer than a mouse despite its similar size.

The research results, published in Biogerontology, have intriguing implications for increasing longevity and decreasing major pathologies in humans as well.

According to the scientists, the naked mole rats burrows are poorly ventilated, keeping oxygen levels are low and carbon dioxide levels high. This may cause the reduction in the naked mole rats body temperature by 3-4 degrees as compared to mice and slow its metabolism significantly.

A naked mole rat in its burrow. Photo by Neil Bromhall via Shutterstock.com

Subjecting laboratory mice to the same conditions called a hypoxic-hypercapnic environment (HHE) successfully reduced their body temperature and metabolic intensity for weeks and even months.

And the mice in the HHE voluntarily consumed less food, which is one of the well-known factors in increased longevity.

Unexpectedly, the HHE accelerated skin wound healing, despite the lower energy expenditure, the researchers also noted.

All in all, a chronic exposure to HHE offers a potential of being a lifespan-extending intervention as well as an efficient tool for treating the overweight and associated metabolic disorders.

The scientists explain that at one point in history, the Earth contained much lower levels of oxygen and higher levels of carbon dioxide.

There is still some memory in our cells of that period and therefore it should be possible in the future to induce such a state for longer periods, they said.

Moreover, they believe that HHE conditions could be used to help fight obesity, diabetes and perhaps even cancer.

Secrets of long life

The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber), a rodent native to East Africa, has long been the subject of study because of its unusual healthy longevity and particularly its resistance to cancer.

In 2012, Tel Aviv University evolutionary biologist Dorothee Huchon and colleagues at the Texas Health Science Center and the City College of New York determined another reason for the naked mole rats unusual life expectancy: very high levels of a neuro-protective protein called Neuregulin 1 (NRG-1) in its brain.

Because NRG-1 is also found in the human brain, Huchon and her fellow researchers suggested that learning more about how aging and NRG-1 are related could be significant.

Fraifeld studies many aspects of human aging genomics. Graduate students in his Lab for the Biology of Aging at BGU won an award for their study on longevity genes, genetic protective factors that some people are lucky enough to inherit.

By modulating the activity of these genes in advanced age, it could be possible to combat major diseases.

Although an apparent paradox, it appears that the most effective way to delay or even to avert age-related diseases is to live longer, Fraifeld told ISRAEL21c.

Another prominent Israeli longevity researcher, Bar-Ilan Universitys Haim Cohen, recently published a study showing that SIRT6, considered a longevity-related protein, is involved in regulating biological processes including aging, obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation and metabolism. His team hopes to identify therapeutic approaches that target and activate SIRT6.

Ben-Gurion University researcher Debbie Toiber specializes in studying SIRT6 and DNA repair as models of age-related diseases.

Read the rest here:
Researchers can extend the lifespan of mice: Are WE next? - ISRAEL21c

Editors note: This is part two of a two-part series.

Deer appear in paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira, on the north coast of Spain, going back 36,000 years.

The white tailed deer has been in North America for about 4 million years, making the white tail one of the real veterans of nearly all varying habitats in North America, ranging from Nova Scotia west to southern Alberta, sweeping south into Central America, with gaps west of the Rockies.

To put that in perspective, modern moose have only been in North America about 15,000 years, having migrated through Berengia about the same time the ancestors of native Americans began to trickle across.

In North America, moose have much more serious problems with winter ticks in affected habitats than deer have. For example, deer go through winter with an average of about 300 winter ticks, while moose may accumulate from 10,000 to 90,000 winter ticks, a condition which is probably a serious factor in why moose are in trouble all along the US-Canadian border from Maine to Minnesota. Winter ticks are beginning to show up in New York as well. Are white tails simply more efficient groomers, or could there be a connection related to longevity in habitat, and the ability of animals to adapt to parasites and challenges not found in previous habitats?

Deer on the food chain

Deer have played a major role in human nutrition and survival for a very long time. European immigrants to America, learned from native Americans about utilizing all parts of the white tail. Deer numbers rose and fell in the 19th century with market hunting by both native Americans and the growing numbers of settlers and immigrants, joining individual hunting, along with deforestation and destruction of deer habitat. State regulation of hunting slowed down the hunting free-for-all, and helped increase deer numbers, but two other factors in the first decades of the 20th century led to an explosion of deer.

Everything in nature is connected. The increasing suburbanization and the expansion of farming in America had the effect of moving more people into deer habitat, while introducing deer to our orchards, crops and gardens, thereby increasing their ability to making a living and reproduce. The more deer saw, heard and smelled human activity, without being shot at, the more it helped to inure them to the dangers of our presence.

In an environment without humans, gray wolves tend to be the number one controller of both deer and western coyotes, the latter in competition for safer prey, smaller than moose, elk and bison, but the accelerating persecution of gray wolves, which included poisoning campaigns and bounties led to an explosion of both deer and coyotes. Predators tend to strengthen the health of prey populations by detecting and eliminating disease and weakness. An unfortunate example of why we shouldnt eliminate predators is the reappearance of chronic wasting disease, an infectious disease in deer which is slowly spreading in areas where wolves had historically kept it in check.

As wolf habitat in the lower 48 dwindled to Minnesota, the only state which kept the Federal wolfers out, western coyote numbers exploded out west, leading to a manifest destiny in reverse, with coyotes increasingly moving east under and over the Great Lakes, exploiting available wolf habitat in the lower 48, and causing further hybridization of Algonquin wolves in Ontario and Quebec, already averaging 20% western coyote going back tens of thousands of years, long before there were any humans in North America.

Yes, you read that correctly. Wolves have the most dangerous job in nature for two reasons. An alpha female may deliver 4 to 7 pups every Spring. While it is much safer for wolves to go after deer, snowshoe hare and beaver, pressure to produce food compels wolves to go after much larger, more dangerous prey, such as moose, elk and bison. Moose, for example, are so dangerous in defending themselves, that wolves test 20 moose for each one they decide to take a chance and attack. As though that factor in intself didnt make a wolfs life dangerous enough, in wolf economics, the pack has to defend a territory large enough to contain enough prey for the pack to make a living, and if a neighboring packs territory is not producing, theyll be invading another packs territory, which will result in wolves killing each other over access to prey. Add these factors to our inclination to shoot and trap wolves, and wolves are lucky to reach their fifth birthday in the wild.

Gray wolves tend to kill coyotes, just as coyotes kill fox, routinely and opportunistically eliminating the smaller predator, as a means of creating a larger base of smaller, safer prey, but starting in Minnesota and heading east over Lake Superior, young male wolves, who disperse from, in other words, leave Mom and Dads territory, to seek an unguarded territory, or a territory they may be able to take over, may discover that female wolves dont generally disperse as far as males, so they may end up defending a territory no other wolf wants, and they may end up mating with a female coyote.

Deer hunters tend to bemoan the impact of eastern coydogs, more accurately termed coywolves, because of their hybridization with Algonquin wolves, on the deer population in the Northeast. But the coyote impact on deer numbers is much greater on fawns than it is on adults, partly thanks to our assistance with traffic accidents supplying deer as roadkill. A study by SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry a few years back concluded that, excluding fawns, 92% of deer eaten by coyotes in New York were killed by cars. About 60% of fawns reach maturity, while 80% of fawn mortality is caused by predators, including bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars, bobcats, lynx, fishers, eagles, and even foxes. Other fawn mortality factors range from car accidents to getting caught in fencing or under farm equipment, or natural causes like starvation and drowning.

More recently, hunting generally, and deer hunting in particular, which peaked among baby boomers in 1982, while rising in some states, and falling in others, is in a fairly steady decline nationwide. Weve lost 10% of all hunters in the last ten years, with less than 4% of Americans involved in hunting today, at exactly a time when, having largely eliminated wolves, natures tool for deer control, we need more human hunters to control deer numbers. For those concerned about health and red meat, venison is much leaner than beef, and probably half the calories.

Controlling deer without natural predators is no easy problem. Highest deer densities are often found in thickly settled suburban areas, where it is unsafe, and often illegal, to fire rifles within 500 feet of a dwelling, or shoot arrows, and the deer take a heavy toll on gardens and landscaping generally. Some towns and villages are experimenting with immunocontraception, to cut down the number of does breeding. Such methods may require multiple doses, and may only be good for a couple of years. Other towns employ specially vetted deer hunters to control local deer populations. Habitat carrying capacities, which increase as deer learn how to eat more human planted and invasive vegetation, determine how many deer a particular area can support, which means as you eliminate deer, other deer come in from surrounding areas.

This is a lesson we seem to refuse to understand. As we eliminate animals from habitat, for example beavers, they are replaced by other beavers who are attracted to the habitat for the same reason the removed beavers were. Its good beaver habitat. The same thing happens with deer, but because deer eat a much wider range of vegetation, and learn to eat our gardens, as well as invasive plants, they expand the areas they can make a living in. We always treat the symptom, rather than the cause, and end up throwing natures balance further out of whack.

In New York State, we have just under a million deer, with 60 to 70 thousand in the Adirondacks, and about 70,000 vehicle deer collisions statewide annually. Hunters took about 225,000 deer in New York State in 2018. As elegant and visually appealing as white tails are, their lives tend to be violent and short, with the average age of death for deer being about 3 years old. As a sign of the times, the mosquito, which for 80 years was the most likely animal to be involved in human mortality in the lower 48 states, just as it is in most moderately temperate countries, was knocked out of first place by the white tailed deer, because of the number of people killed in accidents involving deer.

Photos by Joe Kostoss, Eye in the Park, courtesy of the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge

Steve and Wendy Hall run the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge and Rehab Center in Wilmington. They've been rehabbing and releasing wild animals for over 45 years, specialize in predators, keep wolves as the cornerstone of their educational program, and have lived in the Adirondacks for the past 20 years. The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge became a non-profit about 10 years ago.

Visit http://www.AdirondackWildlife.org to learn more.

Original post:
The resiliency of white-tailed deer - - Adirondack Almanack

Global Precision Medicine Software Market (COVID-19 Impact) Size, Status and Forecast 2020-2026

This report studies the Precision Medicine Software market with many aspects of the industry like the market size, market status, market trends and forecast, the report also provides brief information of the competitors and the specific growth opportunities with key market drivers. Find the complete Precision Medicine Software market analysis segmented by companies, region, type and applications in the report.

New vendors in the market are facing tough competition from established international vendors as they struggle with technological innovations, reliability and quality issues. The report will answer questions about the current market developments and the scope of competition, opportunity cost and more.

The major players covered in Precision Medicine Software Market: Syapse, Allscripts, Qiagen, Roper Technologies, Fabric Genomics, Foundation Medicine, Sophia Genetics, PierianDx, Human Longevity, Translational Software, Gene42, Inc, Lifeomic Health

The final report will add the analysis of the Impact of Covid-19 in this report Precision Medicine Software industry.

Get a Sample Copy @ https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/covid-19-impact-on-global-precision-medicine-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

Global Precision Medicine Software Market: Competitive Landscape

This section of the report identifies various key manufacturers of the market. It helps the reader understand the strategies and collaborations that players are focusing on combat competition in the market. The comprehensive report provides a significant microscopic look at the market. The reader can identify the footprints of the manufacturers by knowing about the global revenue of manufacturers, the global price of manufacturers, and production by manufacturers during the forecast period of 2020 to 2026.

Precision Medicine Software Market in its database, which provides an expert and in-depth analysis of key business trends and future market development prospects, key drivers and restraints, profiles of major market players, segmentation and forecasting. An Precision Medicine Software Market provides an extensive view of size; trends and shape have been developed in this report to identify factors that will exhibit a significant impact in boosting the sales of Precision Medicine Software Market in the near future.

This report focuses on the global Precision Medicine Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Precision Medicine Software development in United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America.

Market segment by Type, the product can be split into

Market segment by Application, split into

The Precision Medicine Software market is a comprehensive report which offers a meticulous overview of the market share, size, trends, demand, product analysis, application analysis, regional outlook, competitive strategies, forecasts, and strategies impacting the Precision Medicine Software Industry. The report includes a detailed analysis of the market competitive landscape, with the help of detailed business profiles, SWOT analysis, project feasibility analysis, and several other details about the key companies operating in the market.

The study objectives of this report are:

Inquire More about This Report @ https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/enquiry/covid-19-impact-on-global-precision-medicine-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2020-2026

The Precision Medicine Software market research report completely covers the vital statistics of the capacity, production, value, cost/profit, supply/demand import/export, further divided by company and country, and by application/type for best possible updated data representation in the figures, tables, pie chart, and graphs. These data representations provide predictive data regarding the future estimations for convincing market growth. The detailed and comprehensive knowledge about our publishers makes us out of the box in case of market analysis.

Key questions answered in this report

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Global Precision Medicine Software Market Overview

Chapter 2: Precision Medicine Software Market Data Analysis

Chapter 3: Precision Medicine Software Technical Data Analysis

Chapter 4: Precision Medicine Software Government Policy and News

Chapter 5: Global Precision Medicine Software Market Manufacturing Process and Cost Structure

Chapter 6: Precision Medicine Software Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast

Chapter 7: Precision Medicine Software Key Manufacturers

Chapter 8: Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis

Chapter 9: Marketing Strategy -Precision Medicine Software Analysis

Chapter 10: Precision Medicine Software Development Trend Analysis

Chapter 11: Global Precision Medicine Software Market New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis

About Us:

Reports and Markets is not just another company in this domain but is a part of a veteran group called Algoro Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. It offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for a wide range of sectors both for the government and private agencies all across the world. The database of the company is updated on a daily basis. Our database contains a variety of industry verticals that include: Food Beverage, Automotive, Chemicals and Energy, IT & Telecom, Consumer, Healthcare, and many more. Each and every report goes through the appropriate research methodology, Checked from the professionals and analysts.

Contact Us:

Sanjay Jain

Manager Partner Relations & International Marketing

http://www.reportsandmarkets.com

Ph: +1-352-353-0818 (US)

View post:
Precision Medicine Software Market (impact of COVID-19) Growth, Overview with Detailed Analysis 2020-2026| Syapse, Allscripts, Qiagen, Roper...

Human beings are wired for connection.

Many studies over the years have confirmed this, and many scientists agree that the emotional pain associated with having our social ties damaged or severed can have negative consequences on our overall health.

It may therefore come as no surprise that law enforcement and other first responders in Utah County recently reported an uptick in the number of mental wellness calls during COVID-19 quarantine efforts.

Its terribly unfortunate to see this, and although it doesnt make up the entirety of mental health issues being reported, its a reflection of the toll isolation and a lack of social support can have on individuals over an extended period of time.

It also raises an unbelievably important question: When was the last time you made a friend?

Not an acquaintance. Not a good working relationship. A friend.

Friends can increase your sense of belonging, reduce stress and boost self-confidence. They can also add meaning to your life and challenge you to grow as a person. Health outcomes such as increased happiness and longevity are also experienced when a healthy support network of friends is available.

Quarantine efforts, however, seem to exacerbate an already existing problem. Friends, for a recognizable percentage of the population, are difficult to come by.

A YouGov survey from 2019 revealed that millennials are a rather lonely generation. Thirty percent say they always, or often, feel lonely; and 27% say they have no close friends. That same survey indicates that 20% of Generation X respondents felt the same way.

A similar study in 2019 from OnePoll surveyed 2,000 Americans and learned that 45% of adults found it difficult to make new friends. So difficult, in fact, that the average adult has not made a new friend in the last five years.

Quarantine certainly did not make efforts to gain friends any easier. The inability to hug, or put a hand on another persons shoulder was difficult for nearly everyone to endure. Even if the attempt was made to go out in public, the expectation to stay 6 feet apart, avoid shaking hands and taking precautions when a transaction takes place added even more obstacles.

We do have social media at our fingertips to meet others. At last check, though, the health of the discourse in that landscape could easily be described as a disaster.

Maybe its unfair to suggest that all of the 34% year-over-year increase in mental wellness calls between February and May in Utah County involved suicide attempts, and maybe its unfair to attribute a majority of that increase to quarantine and a lack of human connection. Its perfectly reasonable, however, to see the correlation when theres a sustained and irregular increase in reported mental wellness incidents during an international pandemic.

Having more, and better, friendships may not have prevented some of these calls to local law enforcement, but most mental health professionals would agree those numbers would have been reduced with a healthy support network.

If theres one thing COVID-19 lockdown efforts should have taught many to appreciate, its connection with our friends, family and neighbors.

Now, with quarantine largely at an end in the state of Utah, the opportunity to form a close connection with others is on the upswing.

Sure, its vulnerable and sometimes nerve wracking to put yourself out there and meet new people. Just remember that the numbers say youre not alone in your loneliness. There are others looking for connection who dont have any, and many more who do have close connection and friendships who would like more.

Use this opportunity, a renewal of interacting with others socially, to form connections, reduce stress, increase happiness and challenge yourself to grow.

View post:
Herald Editorial: Pandemic reveals necessity of support network - Daily Herald

The Anti-Senescence Therapy market research encompasses an exhaustive analysis of the market outlook, framework, and socio-economic impacts. The report covers the accurate investigation of the market size, share, product footprint, revenue, and progress rate. Driven by primary and secondary researches, the Anti-Senescence Therapy market study offers reliable and authentic projections regarding the technical jargon.All the players running in the global Anti-Senescence Therapy market are elaborated thoroughly in the Anti-Senescence Therapy market report on the basis of proprietary technologies, distribution channels, industrial penetration, manufacturing processes, and revenue. In addition, the report examines R&D developments, legal policies, and strategies defining the competitiveness of the Anti-Senescence Therapy market players.The report on the Anti-Senescence Therapy market provides a birds eye view of the current proceeding within the Anti-Senescence Therapy market. Further, the report also takes into account the impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on the Anti-Senescence Therapy market and offers a clear assessment of the projected market fluctuations during the forecast period.

Get Free Sample PDF (including COVID19 Impact Analysis, full TOC, Tables and Figures) of Market Report @ https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=2506911&source=atm

The key players covered in this studyUnity BiotechnologySiwa TherapeuticsCalico LLCAgeX TherapeuticsIncNumeric BiotechHuman Longevity, Inc. (HLI)Cleara BiotechOisinBiotechnologiesRecursion PharmaceuticalsSierra SciencesProteostasis TherapeuticsSenolytic TherapeuticsAllergan

Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoGene TherapyImmunotherapyOthers

Market segment by Application, split intoCardiovascular DiseasesNeural Degenerative DiseasesOphthalmology DisordersOthers

Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South America

Do You Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement? Ask to Our Industry [emailprotected] https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=2506911&source=atm

Objectives of the Anti-Senescence Therapy Market Study:To define, describe, and analyze the global Anti-Senescence Therapy market based on oil type, product type, ship type, and regionTo forecast and analyze the Anti-Senescence Therapy market size (in terms of value and volume) and submarkets in 5 regions, namely, APAC, Europe, North America, Central & South America, and the Middle East & AfricaTo forecast and analyze the Anti-Senescence Therapy market at country-level for each regionTo strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trends and their contribution to the global Anti-Senescence Therapy marketTo analyze opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying high growth segments of the global Anti-Senescence Therapy marketTo identify trends and factors driving or inhibiting the growth of the market and submarketsTo analyze competitive developments, such as expansions and new product launches, in the global Anti-Senescence Therapy marketTo strategically profile key market players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategiesThe Anti-Senescence Therapy market research focuses on the market structure and various factors (positive and negative) affecting the growth of the market. The study encloses a precise evaluation of the Anti-Senescence Therapy market, including growth rate, current scenario, and volume inflation prospects, on the basis of DROT and Porters Five Forces analyses. In addition, the Anti-Senescence Therapy market study provides reliable and authentic projections regarding the technical jargon.

You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.marketresearchhub.com/checkout?rep_id=2506911&licType=S&source=atm

After reading the Anti-Senescence Therapy market report, readers can:Identify the factors affecting the Anti-Senescence Therapy market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities and trends.Examine the Y-o-Y growth of the global Anti-Senescence Therapy market.Analyze trends impacting the demand prospect for the Anti-Senescence Therapy in various regions.Recognize different tactics leveraged by players of the global Anti-Senescence Therapy market.Identify the Anti-Senescence Therapy market impact on various industries.

Read more:
COVID-19: Responding to the business impacts of Global Anti-Senescence Therapy Market 2020 How the Market has witnessed Substantial Growth in recent...

A top Department ofHealth and Human Services (HHS) official acknowledged that telehealth is here to stay after anexplosion of use due to COVID-19 but hedged on whether new regulatory flexibility on reimbursement is going to stick around.

The cat is out of the bag, so to speak, said Jim Parker, senior adviser for health reform for HHS. We look forward to helping policymakers, congressional leaders and regulators move the interest in telehealth and healthcare consumerism particularly for rural areas forward in a more permanent way.

Parker spoke during a Thursday webinar sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center on telehealth and rural healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic. His remarks come as the healthcare industry is speculating about the future of telehealth changes after increased use during the pandemic.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave providers more flexibility to get Medicare reimbursement for telehealth at the onset of the pandemic a few months ago. Since then, telehealth use has exploded as patients were terrified to head to the doctors office due to the pandemic.

We have one physician who wasnt doing any telemedicine before, said Alan Levine, CEO of Ballad Health, a healthcare system that serves parts of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Even now that they reopened their practice, 70% of visits [are] still telehealth visits.

RELATED: UnitedHealth exec on telehealth use, reimbursement: 'The genie is out of the bottle'

Levine said on the call that from July 2019 through March the system had 2,400 telehealth visits. From April through May, the system has had 15,000 telehealth visits.

But there are lingering questions about the longevity of the telehealth boom. For one, no one knows whether CMS will continue to offer the same flexibility on reimbursement after the pandemic wanes.

We do face the challenge of where we go from here, Parker said. Consumer expectations are likely changed moving forward.

An open question is whether telehealth increases costs or saves money for Medicare, he added.

We always knew telehealth was an efficient tool for rural health and by saving travel time and expense, as well as providing quicker access to care, Parker said. However, travel time and expense are not covered Medicare expenses.

Parker noted there are some statutory questions that will require action by Congress too on telehealth.

RELATED: Teladoc exec: Why COVID-19 is proving a 'great equalizer' for mental health care

The pandemic is a good opportunity to see what works and what doesnt with telehealth, which should help determine what regulatory changes should become permanent, said Kripa Sreepada, health policy advisor for Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, on the webinar.

We are seeing a huge uptick in the use of telehealth services, she added. What we need to see is if patients and providers are preferring this as the first step for a visit.

There are larger considerations on the technology infrastructure, especially for rural areas that may lack access to high-speed internet.

Which services should we be providing that are audio-only or by video? Sreepada asked.

CMS said in late April it will grow the number of services it will cover as audio-only telephone visits, including behavioral health and patient education. It also will boost the payment rate for such visits.

See the article here:
HHS official: 'Cat out of the bag' on telehealth but unclear what changes will stick - FierceHealthcare

Science has shown that, Thinking positive, happy, hopeful and optimistic thoughts decreasesCortisol [the bodys stress hormone] and produces Serotonin [the bodys natural anti-depressant], which creates a sense of well-being. This helps the brain function at peak capacity.

The Mental Health Foundations book, Doing Good Does You Good says, Its often said that its better to give than receive, but this is actually backed up by research While its easy to feel too busy or stressed to help others... evidence shows that doing good for others is actually beneficial for your mental health and well being. It can help reduce stress, improve mood, self-esteem, longevity and happiness. From volunteering, to random acts of kindness, your good works can help others and yourself.

With these facts in mind and an awareness that many people are feeling discouraged and helpless during these uncertain times, the longtime friends and bandmates, Katrina Carlson and Jefferson Denim say, [we] felt compelled to create and co-host a podcast that would share the inspiring stories of everyday humans doing crazy amazing things... people who utilize their time, talent and resources to give back, pay it forward and just make a really positive difference.

This resulted in the Crazy Amazing Humans (CAH) podcast, which now consists of seven episodes on YouTube and several other platforms. In the introductory episode, Getting to Know You, Carlson and Denim immediately connect with their audience in a sincere and transparent way. They have an innate ability to create a personal relationship with their listeners and viewers.

It is clear that they themselves are crazy amazing humans who effectively dedicate their skills, talents, and empathetic gifts while drawing from real-life experiences to create a sincere interaction with their podcast guests, bringing inspiration to their audience.

Carlson and Denim are both accomplished professional musicians, singers, and songwriters. Each podcast episode has its own individual song performed by them. Both have strong ties to the Santa Monica community and are involved in several non-profit organizations. Carlson has lived in Santa Monica for over thirty years. She and her family are host to the well-known Santa Monica Halloween House, which is visited, free-of-charge, by an estimated 15,000 people every October.

The CAH podcast episodes, one through seven, span a wide range of guests. From a teenage paralympic track champion who founded a sports organization; to a behind-the-scenes look at the award winning documentary, The Heart of Nuba which follows an American doctor working in a war-torn region of Sudan; to an Oceanscape photographer dedicated to raising blue consciousness.

Every episode ends with inviting listeners to connect and be heard by emailing comments, questions, or sharing their own Crazy Amazing Humans story or experience. Carlson says, Our mission is to find stories of people from all walks of life who are choosing to write their own narratives by becoming a part of solutions. We celebrate choices that make the world a better place, we do so in a way that shows that all of us have this capacity... We want to inspire people and make them feel not alone. We all have our stories and our challenges. We focus on everyday people, not people who are unattainable.

Regarding his own experience in living a life that uplifts and inspires others, Denim says, If you go through rough times you look for people who may be going through rough times too...[and] say, I get it, let's talk, how can I help?

Carlson says, we are on a mission to inspire and remind you that you are Crazy Amazing.

It is as simple as saying, yes and responding to the needs that are right in front of us. Remember that every little kindness has the potential to create Crazy Amazing Human experiences. The podcast can be found at crazyamazinghumans.com.

Read this article:
Inspiration is Just a Podcast Away The | Corsair - The Corsair

The differences among target date funds (TDFs) can be hard for some plan sponsors and participants to immediately see, but it is moments like the one were in now that can reveal important distinctions between them.

The market volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic vividly demonstrates that while risk exposure is important at every point in a TDFs glide path, its particularly impactful for people nearing retirement.

This is not a new point of view, but its newly relevant. Prior to the market declines weve seen since February, investors had enjoyed one of the longest-running bull cycles in U.S. history. That led to impressive equity returns, and with it a heightened focus on asset accumulation.

Subsequently, we believe too much embedded risk crept into many multi-asset class portfolios and remained hidden until now.

Of course, not everyone agrees. There are those who continue to make the case for keeping equity allocations at higher levels near and into retirement. And its worth looking at their arguments. Here are two:

From our perspective, the two most critical factors for TDF portfolios during periods of volatility are time horizon and cash flow. As a result, they impact younger people on the front end of the glide path differently than older people nearing their retirement date.

Generally, TDF investors just starting their career with long time horizons and limited savings can benefit from significant volatility exposure, as this can help them accumulate wealth over time and benefit from the ups and downs of the market through dollar-cost averaging.

As investors accumulate wealth and approach and enter retirement, however, higher levels of equity exposure in volatile markets can work against them. It can cause them significant stress when balances fluctuate, given the larger dollar impact and shorter recovery times before investors need to tap into assets.

Consider how a hypothetical 20% portfolio loss might affect two TDF investors, one at age 25 and one at age 60.

The pandemic has exposed more than just the importance of risk exposures within a TDF for people nearing retirement. It has also revealed how important human emotion is as a factor in glide path design.

Too often, glide paths are developed quantitatively in the lab and can ignore or underappreciate the fact that these are products that will ultimately be used by real people with real needs and emotions.

Theres an important takeaway for advisors and plan sponsors here. When evaluating funds, keep participants in mind, and remember theyre human just like you. Ask your provider if their funds factor in participants emotions and behavioral biases into the investment process.

The range of threats to retirement savings include things such as market risk, longevity risk, sequence risk, inflation risk, tail risk, and interest rate risk. But human decision-making concerning those risks differs depending on the persons stage of life. Those behavioral patterns can and should be factored into a TDFs design to help drive toward successful outcomes for retirement savers.

We encourage advisors and their plan sponsor clients to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as a prompt to re-examine the TDFs theyre offering in their retirement plans.

To help evaluate portfolios, advisors and plan sponsors should:

Questioning TDF equity exposures for near-retirees may not have been the most popular message even a few months ago. But just like so many other parts of our lives, were in a whole new world now.

Omar Aguilar is Chief Investment Officer for Passive Equity and Multi-Asset Strategies andJake Gilliam is Head of Multi-Asset Portfolio Solutions with Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc.

Read the rest here:
What the Pandemic is Revealing About Target Date Funds - The 401(k) Specialist

Building a culture of trust is a composite of many things, there is no unified field theory of trust. There are many individual components both within a culture, and environmental conditions without that will determine the longevity of success after a culture of trust is created.

For businesses, society, or even for personal development trust begins with awareness. Awareness of ones own abilities without comparison to those around them. To build a culture of trust, you first have to know who you are and what your strengths and weaknesses are. This is part that is not very comfortable if a change is going to happen. Its not comfortable for individuals, companies, cities, or countries.

Why? Because, part of instituting real, valuable, and lasting change that breeds success and growth means shedding old skin. It means giving up things that once felt safe and comfortable. It means allowing space to mourn what we once thought was good for us (and it very well could have been) is now no longer serving us or our need to grow. We can move on. Life, growth, and change happen in cycles.

What does this look in real-time? What are practical steps to building a culture of trust with ourselves, in society and in business?

PERSONAL: Know who you are. Take time to get real with yourself.-Write down your strengths. Write down your weaknesses. Write down your passions. Then take a hard long look at where you are, how you got there, and where you want to be. Then map out where you want to be for the next 5 years, the changes you need to make to get there. Create a supportive community of people around who will keep you accountable. Create a joy ritual. If you have a goal. Enjoy it. Reward yourself for hitting milestones.

SOCIETY:

BUSINESS:

These are not all-inclusive lists. But these are all areas we need to take seriously. This is beyond the fad of having a growth mindset its seeing that whatever our context is, the long game is the way to succeed. To choose positivity and chase the outcomes wholeheartedly. To do it with tenacity, joy, and creativity. Be willing to challenge the status quo (this is the true seat of growth).

Once these lists are executed, true incremental change can begin. Perspective and how to phrase growth has to be filtered in and through the context. This is key. It has to speak the language of the person, brand, or society. Culture is about incarnation. This means every step toward building a culture of growth and success has to be intentional if it is not then that is a direct sign of something that either should not be taken on or something that should be jettisoned.

Read the original:
A Quick Primer On Creating A Culture of Trust - PsychCentral.com