Category Archives: Immortality Medicine

Dear Editor

While the revival of interest in Ivan Illichs work is welcome, there is a danger that only the parts endorsed by the medical world get incorporated into the discussion. As David Horrobin (1) pointed out at the time, Illichs critique of medical practice depended heavily on material produced by the profession itself about unnecessary surgery, inappropriate prescription and treatments that lacked a real evidence base.

The genuine radicalism of Illichs work lay in the wider questions he raised about the social and cultural damage that was resulting from what others were already calling medical imperialism. The management of the Covid pandemic in many countries should have reminded us of these concerns. Illich was critical of the way in which biomedicine had promoted the idea that a good society was defined purely by the health of its people in terms defined largely by the medical profession. The result was a culture that was losing its capacity to deal with the inevitability of pain, suffering and death. There is abundant evidence of both phenomena in the ways in which the collateral societal harms of pandemic management have been dismissed as unworthy of consideration and the cult of zero-infection has skewed debates over NPIs and childhood vaccination.

As Rene Dubos (2), for example, saw, health and illness are moments in evolutionary time, where the continual adjustments between humans and other species reach a particular balance. Sometimes we can dampen the fluctuating fortunes of humans and their commensals but often we cannot. If we forget this, then, as Illich saw, the result is an unbalanced society, where medical authority displaces other desirable features, like the rule of law, and citizens suffer from biomedicines implied promise of immortality.

Illich did not have the last word on many of these issues and his approach reflects his Jesuit past in ways that others would, and did, contest. Nevertheless, the questions that he asked have taken on a new relevance as we reflect on what went right and wrong with pandemic management. This should be the real reason to revive interest in his work.

Robert Dingwall

1.Horrobin DF. Medical hubris: a reply to Ivan Illich. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1978.2.Dubos R. Mirage of Health: Utopias, Progress and Biological Change. New York: Harper & Row; 1959.

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More to Illich than Overtreatment - The BMJ

ATHENS, Ga. The name, Kelee Ringo, is on the website. The image, Ringo poised to make the play that would seal his name forever in Georgia football history, is on the right side of the shirt, which you can buy for $24.99. That wouldnt have been possible a year ago, before college football players were allowed to join the capitalist market.

But in the case of Ringo, it goes a bit deeper than that. The real meaning can be divined by scrolling further down the page, to the option to buy a different T-shirt: Pink, with his name on it, and the pink ribbon signifying breast cancer awareness.

Ringos mother, Tralee Hale, has had a very public battle with breast cancer. When her son sealed Georgias national championship win with a pick-six they did what most anyone in their position would do, but could not until the past year: They capitalized on the moment, literally and figuratively, and used proceeds towards not only Hales medical care, but breast cancer awareness in general.

Yes, sir. We actually fundraised off battling breast cancer, Ringo said. It was a huge thing that we were able to help Bulldogs battling breast cancer, especially folks going through the same thing my mother did.

Ringo signed autographs at a collection show in March. And there were also the T-shirts, which include one that says Team Tralee over an outline of the state of Georgia, with pink and black lines through it. Hale and Ringo posed with a check for $165,000 that was donated by Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer to the foundation at St. Marys Hospital in Athens, where Hale had her latest round of surgeries in March.

A good amount, Ringo said when asked how much they had raised since the national championship and off his pick-six. I feel like that specific play definitely brought a lot of attention to us. But just being able to be humble about the situation, and taking things in, definitely helped us in the long run.

Ringos play became many things. A personal story about helping his mother and her cause. A national story about what NIL rights were supposed to be about. And the moment has become, and probably will stay, one of the top moments in Georgia football history.

Whatever Kelee Ringo does the rest of his football career, or really in his life, he now has something that will be forever remembered. Only a few people know what thats like. Lindsay Scott is one.

Run, Lindsay, Run. It became the most indelible moment from the previous Georgia national championship season. A book (by Robbie Burns in 2010) called it the greatest moment in Georgia football history: Georgia trailed 21-20 in the waning moments against Florida, and was at its own 7-yard line, when quarterback Buck Belue scrambled and found Scott at the 20, and then he outran the Florida defense as Larry Munson simultaneously described it and cheered:

Run Lindsay! 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott!

Less than a minute later, Munson proclaimed: Man, there is going to be some property destroyed tonight, which Kirby Smart harkened back to after this past seasons national championship: Theres going to be some property destroyed tonight in Indianapolis!

Munsons call became so indelible that it overshadowed whatever was said by the ABC play-by-play announcer. That man, Al Michaels, would have to settle for a memorable call in a certain hockey game earlier that year.

Scott went on to be a first-round pick, going 13th overall to the New Orleans Saints in the 1982 NFL Draft. He played four seasons, catching 69 passes and one touchdown. He has since spoken publicly about off-field problems, but positively about the impact that play has had on his life.

Look, Ive had some ups and downs in my life. But that game and that moment and winning a national championship with that group of guys is a ray of light for me, Scott told the SEC Networks Tony Barnhart in 2019. That fact that 40 years have passed and we still enjoy thinking about it is something really special. I will never get tired of it.

Belue, now an Atlanta radio host, was Scotts roommate on the road and remembered talking to him the night before about how frustrated Scott was about his lack of production. He didnt have a touchdown to date that season. That changed the next afternoon.

At the time you dont realize the impact, Belue said this month. We didnt realize until we got back early in the week, when we started hearing the Munson replay on Monday or Tuesday, it sort of sinks in then that Hey, youre part of Georgia history now. I think its a great example of how quickly things can change.

The parallels between Scott and Ringos touchdown arent perfect: The latter was in the actual national championship game, the former wasnt. But without Scotts touchdown Georgia almost certainly doesnt win that game, and thus almost certainly doesnt win the national title. Ringos pick-six, as electric a play as it was, only clinched the game and the national championship; Georgia was still sitting on an eight-point lead with more than a minute left before Alabama quarterback Bryce Youngs errant pass floated into Ringos hands.

There were other huge, game-turning moments in that game, all arguably more important: Stetson Bennetts 40-yard touchdown pass to AD Mitchell, which put Georgia ahead 19-18. Bennetts 15-yard touchdown pass to Brock Bowers on the subsequent drive, which came on third-and-1, so it was arguably the difference between a four-point and eight-point lead. And a number of other defensive plays down the stretch, such as William Pooles pass breakup on third down, forcing Alabama to punt down 19-18.

I dont think that play won the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. I know people would beg to differ, but I would argue the offensive drive prior to that did a lot to help that. I would argue that a lot of the plays made in the red area did that. I never look at games and say one play did it because its not that way. There were so many plays made in that game that you could point that to.

But the Ringo pick-six is the play that Georgia fans have latched onto, the play that spawned countless reaction videos. Belue was at an autograph show this summer and saw paintings and photographs of Ringos play.

It opens your eyes to how big that play was, or how large it will be remembered as one of the great plays in Georgia history, Belue said. I think it parallels sort of the same thing that Lindsay did.

There is another eerie, overlooked similarity between the two plays: Ringo caught the ball at the Georgia 21-yard line. Scott caught the ball at the Georgia 21. (Ringo was a bit closer to the 22, Scott was a bit closer to the 20.)

The goal now for Ringo is not to be forever known only for that play. Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith was a freshman when he caught the pass on second-and-26, and thats almost a footnote to what became a Heisman career. (The sad downside to that play was that ended up being the final one for Georgia safety Dominick Sanders, who otherwise had a great and record-breaking college career.) Ringo, meanwhile, has the tools to keep producing at a very high level. A former five-star prospect, hes already being mentioned as a possible high first-round pick whenever he enters the NFL Draft. Which is why Smart has perhaps downplayed The Play, and pushed Ringo to keep working, including on his tackling ability.

He can let that play live in infamy, or he can decide to make a lot of those plays, go be a great player and go make money to play in the NFL and develop, Smart said. I think thats the route he is taking.

Thats what Ringo said hes aiming to do: Yes, that was a big play in a big situation, but I feel like, Man, whats next? Its also not mutually exclusive with remembering the play enough in order to capitalize on it. For years college athletes were not legally (at least under NCAA rules) able to do that. The bylaws changed just in time for Ringo, his mother, St. Marys Hospital and everywhere else they choose to focus their energy.

Belue, who has spent some time with both Ringo and his mother, marveled at the mother-son duo.

Shes such a light, he said. Theyre out to do good. We need more of this, these days.

(Top photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

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Georgia CB Kelee Ringo, immortality and an example of why NIL was implemented - The Athletic

Polosko Monastery of St George Communion of the Apostles - Wikimedia image

Sunday 18 June 2022

The 'culture wars' as they are often called in American Catholicism at the moment, often centre around sharp, hard positions on issues like abortion, but also the reception and other practices surrounding the Holy Eucharist. This has included the formal banning from communion of Catholic politicians whom the bishops suggest are not upholding Church teaching! It matters not, it seems, that the Pope urges us all to get away from 'narrow' legalism and look at a far more pastoral and generous approach to things in general! Yes, by all means we must uphold good, strong, enriching and life-giving teaching, but never in a way that makes of us judges (something the Lord tells us to avoid). Therefore this great feast of the Holy Body and Holy Blood might be a very opportune moment to both examine our consciences and dive deeper into a living theology, spirituality and experience, contained in the wiser and wider purview of the whole meaning of the feast.

My first stop on this small journey is to pick up two phrases from Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, part of which forms our second reading: we start with this: 'For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you'(I Cor 11: 23) This is a small phrase that needs exploration, because here in an almost give away sentence, is the rich theology of what we call the 'tradition' of the Church, the constant handing on of the living theology and presence of Christ found in the gifts first offered by Christ to us. In another latin phrase we can call it an part of the 'Lex Orandi', that living vibrant ( never static) dynamic of our faith found in the actual celebration of sacrament, liturgy and prayer, of which the Holy Eucharist is the primary liturgical celebration!

It is also a reminder that the feast is about our celebration of the Eucharist and of its meaning for us in every nuance, not simply a focus on the 'reserved sacrament', which is after all a derivative of our activity as celebrants together. Ask yourself this; "by receiving communion in this Eucharistic Liturgy what am I doing?' When I receive the Holy Body and Blood, and the words 'the Body of Christ' and 'the Blood of Christ' are said as these gifts are offered what do I actually mean by responding 'Amen'?

The key is all in that word communion and is never a simple, individual alliance with the Lord Jesus, it is dynamic, and open to all, for you and me are part of that living Body of Christ where we strengthen our relationship with Him and the living icons of His presence, by reception of that gift which draws us both inwards and pushes us outwards, to serve for Him in the world NOW! It's worth a real long reflection.

The second passage gives us three thoughts, about behaviour, reception and also outreach.

'For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup'. (I Cor 11:26-28)

Take it like this; firstly, implicit in every celebration of the Eucharist is the fact the we, the Body of Christ, are not only proclaiming the memory and entering into the 'kairos' of his sacrifice and risen life, but through the gift of the Spirit are also accepting by taking and eating, drinking, the offer of loving forgiveness and reconciliation found in these simple gifts. So why then use communion as a weapon? It is a medicine and food of immortality, we have no right to judge a neighbours heart, leave that to Christ.

Secondly Paul is beating a drum about destiny, Eucharist, Communion, all we do is not an end in itself, we are also 'waiting for the Lord until he comes' and that means a real Christian view on the nature of this earth, its concern and care for all on it and our communion in Christ made flesh with this little home. To receive the Eucharist in the communion of bread and cup (yes the fullness of the offer to us is the invitation to accept BOTH bread and cup) is also to accept that all nature is blessed and sacred and we are in communion with it.

Thirdly there is a judgement we must make on ourselves, NOT on one another. In all the years of my ministry as a priest in both the Latin and Byzantine Catholic tradition I have never ever turned away a person from the reception of communion, and I never will, for I have no knowledge of what happened or happens between them, their conscience, and God in those moments of prayer, acclamation and procession to receive the gifts! I may create a greater and more pernicious scandal by my open aggression and refusal to allow someone to approach the Christ. Paul reminds us it is 'I' who need to examine myself, not point a finger at another, so as you celebrate Mass as a community and process to recieve communion, look at yourself, not at any other!

So for all who celebrate the 'Fete Dieu ' as they call it in France, enjoy the richness, the depth and the joy of this festival, and embrace the gift of the Spirit in this wonderful and enriching theology of our relationship with the `Lord `Jesus in the simplicity of human life and the matter understood in this heavenly food so earthly bound!

Lectio

Preparing for Communion

Saint John ChrysotomI am not sufficient, O Master and Lord, that Thou shouldest enter under the roof of my soul; but as Thou dost will as the Lover of mankind to dwell in me, I dare to approach Thee. Thou commandest: I shall open the doors which Thou alone didst create, that Thou mayest enter with Thy love for mankind, as is Thy nature, that Thou mayest enter and enlighten my darkened thought. I believe that Thou wilt do this, for Thou didst not drive away the sinful woman when she came unto Thee with tears, neither didst Thou reject the publican who repented, nor didst Thou spurn the thief who acknowledged Thy kingdom, nor didst Thou leave the repentant persecutor to himself; but all of them that came unto Thee in repentance Thou didst number among Thy friends, O Thou Who alone art blessed, always, now and unto endless ages. Amen.

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom "How to work out in ourselves such a purity that will make us capable of receiving Communion, and through that Communion to unite with God? I think the question has to be turned around. Only our ties with God can create such a purity. We cannot, in our corruption, cleanse ourselves and then, being a clean vessel, receive God. The Apostle Paul says that we carry holiness in earthen vessels. The vessel is not fit for what is in it. And we cannot first prepare a worthy vessel and then receive in it the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But we can come to God and openly say to Him: 'Lord, come! Lord, flow into me! Unite me with Thyself! I know that I am not worthy, but be Thou like fire which burns away the thorns [of sin and imperfection], not as fire that will burn me away completely in the horror of hell.' And this is something that happens gradually.

If you waited to unite with the Holy Gifts till you became worthy, no one would be able to do it. For a start, one would have to say to the person who says 'Today I shall go to Communion because I am worthy', - 'Oh, no! Not today, because you are puffed with pride or else have lost your senses! More likely than not, lost your senses.' What else could one say? If a person comes forward and says 'I am totally unworthy, but Thou became Man in order to save me' - that is possible."

-Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh, taken from his book Coming Closer to Christ: Confession and Forgiveness

Pope Francis

Angelus

Corpus Christi 2021

"In the Eucharist fragility is strength: the strength of the love that becomes small so as to be welcomed and not feared; the strength of the love that is broken and shared so as to nourish and give life; the strength of the love that is split apart so as to join us in unity,"

See the rest here:
Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ | ICN - Independent Catholic News

Where does he get all those wonderful toys? No we're not talking about Batman, but rather Muse frontman Matt Bellamy who captured the imagination of concertgoers by using a robotic glove to provide musical backing on the band's song "Uprising" at the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday (June 19).

Muse have continually raised the bar over the years when it comes to their live show, and their often futuristic vibe was only further enhanced when Bellamy emerged from the smoke rising below the stage to show off the glove he was wearing that allowed him to essentially play keyboard notes like typing keys on his glove.

After an intro aptly titled "Behold the Glove" that allowed him to demonstrate and experiment a bit on his new gadget, the band segued into The Resistance-era favorite with Bellamy tapping away on the glove to deliver the Close Encounters-esque opening notes.

Muse have been making the festival rounds over the last month, all in the lead up to the release of their forthcoming Will of the People album. While the glove may have turned a few heads, Muse also served up a number of heavier musical queues throughout the night, owing a nod to the heavier sound their forthcoming album seems to have.

"Hysteria" featured riff nods to AC/DC's "Back in Black" and Rage Against the Machine's "Know Your Enemy." The already heavy "Won't Stand Down" added a bit of Slipknot's "Duality" into the mix. Meanwhile, "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Plug In Baby" featured Jimi Hendrix "Foxey Lady" and Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" riff outros.

Muse's Will of the People arrives Aug. 26 and pre-orders are available here. The band's touring continues this week with festival appearances in Hungary, Denmark and Spain. See all their scheduled tour dates and get ticketing info here.

Continued here:
Muse's Matt Bellamy Plays a Robot Glove at 2022 Isle of Wight Show - Loudwire

In 2010, Rebecca Skloot published The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a compelling look at Henrietta Lacks story, her impact on medical science, and important bioethical issues. That book became the basis for the HBO/Harpo film by the same name, which was released in April 2017.

Henrietta Lacks was one of a diverse group of patients who unknowingly donated cells at Hopkins in 1951. The donation of Henrietta Lacks' cells began what was the first, and, for many years, the only human cell line able to reproduce indefinitely.

Her cells, known as HeLa cells for Henrietta Lacks, remain a remarkably durable and prolific line of cells used in research around the world. This guide addresses several important health care, research and ethical themes addressed in the book and in the movie.

Johns Hopkins applauds and regularly participates in efforts to raise awareness of the life and story of Henrietta Lacks. We were proud to support the book research and development of the film by providing full access to the Hopkins archives and granting permission to HBO to film several scenes for the movie on the Hopkins campus.

The publication of Skloots book led Johns Hopkins to review our interactions with Henrietta Lacks and with the Lacks family over more than 50 years. At several points across those decades, we found that Johns Hopkins could have and should have done more to inform and work with members of Henrietta Lacks family out of respect for them, their privacy and their personal interests.

We are deeply committed to the ongoing efforts at our institutions and elsewhere to honor the contributions of Henrietta Lacks and to ensure the appropriate protection and care of the Lacks familys medical information.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Johns Hopkins Medicine

Reishi is a traditional Chinese mushroom with adaptogenic properties that provides many benefits.

The purported health benefits of reishi include control of blood glucose levels, modulation of the immune system, liver support, bacteriostasis, and more.

In this article, we will look at the benefits of reishi, its safety, and its history.

Reishi, also known as the Mushroom of Immortality, is a fungus that grows out of decaying wood. It is considered to be one of the most beneficial herbal remedies in traditional Chinese medicine.

In China, this mushroom is called lingzhi.

It is a large, dark brownish-red mushroom with a glossy exterior and a woody texture. The exterior of the mushroom has a varnished sheen to it.

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Reishi has been used for thousands of years for its medicinal benefits.

According to TCM teachers, lingzhi acts to replenish Qi, ease the mind, and relieve cough and asthma, and it is recommended for dizziness, insomnia, palpitation, and shortness of breath (Wachtel-Galor, Yuen, & Buswell, 2011).

Today Reishi is commonly used to aid the immune system. New research also shows that this mushroom may have promising benefits for cancer patients, more on this below.

Considerable evidence supports the use of Reishi mushrooms for supporting the immune system.

Various in vitro (i.e. test tube) studies show that the phytochemicals within Reishi work to increase white blood cells, NK cells, and increase macrophage activity (Wachtel-Galor, Yuen, & Buswell, 2011).

In particular, reishi works to increase innate immune function.

Innate immunity, also known as natural immunity or non-specific immunity, is a series of defense mechanisms that respond quickly to various invading pathogenic microorganisms. They also play an important role in the initiation and effect processes of specific immunity.

Studies have found that a variety of innate immune cells such as natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells (DCs), and macrophages can regulate the innate immune response.

Enhancing the bodys non-specific immunity is of great significance to improve the overall immune function of the body.

Recent research shows that Reishi may have some promise in combatting cancer.

The initial research involving reishi and cancer was conducted in the 1980s in animal models. Reduction in cancer growth by 74%-95% was shown in a variety of different trials (Wachtel-Galor, Yuen, & Buswell, 2011).

While the initial animal studies looked very promising, human clinical trials havent been as clear-cut.

Two primary studies showed that reishi mushrooms helped to increase cellular immunity in 80% of the patients involved (Gao et al, 2003). In addition, quality of life scores were improved in around 65% of the patients involved.

Reishi is rich in powerful antioxidants, which have a variety of health benefits.

Antioxidants protect cells from oxidative damage, this helps to decrease the risk of mutations and carcinogenesis and also protect immune cells, allowing them to maintain immune surveillance and response.

Various test-tube studies have been conducted to show the effects of Reishi and its antioxidant properties. In particular, one study showed that reishi extract protects against oxidative damage induced by reactive oxygen species (Lee et al, 2001).

New animal research shows that reishi may be helpful in stabilizing blood sugar.

A trial conducted on mice showed that reishi extract help tolower the serum glucose levels in obese/diabetic mice, with effects seen after the first week of treatment (Seto et al, 2009).

As with all animal trials, this should be taken with a grain of salt. Further human clinical research is needed.

Safety Class: 1 (can be safely used when consumed properly)

Interaction Class: A (no clinically relevant reactions are expected)

Reishi mushrooms are generally well tolerated and safe to be taken by most people. Allergic reactions are rare but have been reported. There are no known contraindications or precautions to taking Reishi (Gardner & McGuffin, 2013).

There are no known cautions with taking reishi during pregnancy.

Tincture (1:5): 45 mL (80100 drops), three or four times per day.

Decoction: Add 12 oz. dried cut/sifted mushroom to 32 oz. water. Simmer slowly for 24 hours until reduced by one-half (16 oz.). Take up to three or four cups per day.

Capsules: Mycelial extracts. Take three 500 to 1000 mg tablets, three times per day.

Scientifically, Reishi is known as Ganoderma lucidum. The word lucidum is latin for shiny, which refers to the varnished appearance of the surface of the mushroom.

The Chinese name of this mushroom is Lingzhi, which translates as spirit plant.

Red reishi is relatively rare in the wild, and throughout the history of China, its use was restricted mostly to the emperor, his court, and the upper classes.

Reishi has been used in Chinese medicine for just over 2000 years.

Wild lingzhi is rare, and in the years before it was cultivated, only the nobility could afford it.

The sacred fungus was said to grow in the abodes of the immortals, on the three aisles of bliss off Chinas coast.

Its reputation as a cure-all, however, may have been enhanced more by its scarcity, and use by the rich and powerful members of Chinese society rather than by its genuine effects.

Nevertheless, theGanodermaspecies continue to be a popular traditional medicine in Asia and their use is growing throughout the world (Winston, 2019).

Reishi contains immunostimulating polysaccharides known as -glucans, bitter triterpenes such as ganoderic acid and ganoderenic acid, and a protein known as ling zhi-8 protein.

Adaptogen, immune stimulant

Reishi is a safe herb with promising adaptogenic and immune-supporting effects, as well as the ability to potentially stabilize blood sugar.

Consider using reishi and helping to naturally support your body.

As always, speak to your doctor before starting any herbal regimen or supplement plan that may interfere with medications you are taking for existing medical conditions.

Gardner, Z., McGuffin, M. (2013). The botanical safety handbook [2nd edition]. American Herbal Products Association

Gao Y. H, Sai X. H, Chen G. L, Ye J. X, Zhou S. F. (2003). A randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center study of Ganoderma lucidum (W. Curt.: Fr.) Lloyd (Aphyllophoromycetideae) polysaccharides (Ganopoly) in patients with advanced lung cancer. Int J Med Mushrooms. 2003;5:36881.

Lee, J. M., Kwon, H., Jeong, H., Lee, J. W., Lee, S. Y., Baek, S. J., & Surh, Y. J. (2001). Inhibition of lipid peroxidation and oxidative DNA damage by Ganoderma lucidum. Phytotherapy research : PTR, 15(3), 245249. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.830

Seto, S. W., Lam, T. Y., Tam, H. L., Au, A. L., Chan, S. W., Wu, J. H., Yu, P. H., Leung, G. P., Ngai, S. M., Yeung, J. H., Leung, P. S., Lee, S. M., & Kwan, Y. W. (2009). Novel hypoglycemic effects of Ganoderma lucidum water-extract in obese/diabetic (+db/+db) mice. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 16(5), 426436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2008.10.004

Wachtel-Galor, S., Yuen, J., Buswell, J.A., et al. (2011) Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi): A Medicinal Mushroom. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis. Chapter 9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92757/

Winston, David. (2019). Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief (2nd ed.). Inner Traditions/Bear & Company.

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Reishi: Benefits, Dosage, Safety, & Preparation - The Botanical Institute

In the third part of this series offering advice on decolonising the teaching of medicine, we discuss the importance of uncovering the full picture, surfacing silenced voices and information that has long been left out of curricula.

Unearthing inventors or inventions, events and issues that may not have been documented accurately or comprehensively is a big task. As educators, we need to be mindful and agile in actively searching for holistic information and hidden, silenced or sidelined voices.

This collaborative resource, which brings in student perspectives, provides examples on how to take the initiative to try to uncover the full picture. There are several questions to help with this process.

When examples of scientists and inventors are provided in the classroom, they are often portrayed for their excellence, inventions or contributions to specific fields. Lecturers are either unaware or leave out the potentially ugly parts of how progress has really been made. Acknowledging colonialism and the long-lasting negative impact it has had on racialised and marginalised communities would require the acknowledgement that much of our knowledge and higher education is also built on a colonial foundation.

In medicine, James Marion Sims is an apt example, because he has been widely celebrated in medicine as the hero of modern surgical gynecology. He is lauded for the development of surgical techniques that his predecessors failed at, and tools such as the speculum, used today for vaginal examinations. Undoubtedly, women are benefitting from the knowledge he produced through his research. Classroom discussions would typically revolve around his expertise, successes, resilience and brilliance.

Keep asking questions: Yet we need to ask, how did he perfect his techniques? Were they ethical? Where are the records of those voices that were part of his surgical experimentation? Sims had practised his techniques on a group of enslaved African American women, performing his surgeries without anaesthetic while using anaesthetic when later operating on white women. Some of the names of these women who were misused for the purpose of medical research were Anarcha, Betsy and Lucy.

Dont hide the ugly parts: While important to acknowledge the advancement in surgical gynaecology, it is equally important to elevate the voices of people who were unjustly treated or oppressed in the name of scientific advancement. These stories might be difficult to tell or read but omitting them and presenting only the success or positive stories continues to perpetuate the violence and oppression marginalised groups have faced in medical history. This is relevant to contemporary medicine and across all disciplines.

Search actively for objective narratives: Educators must look for sources that paint an accurate picture of the ethically dubious practices of researchers in the past, rather than simply glorifying their achievements. A good example comes from an article in the New York Times about Saul Krugman, focusing on his immense contributions to paediatric immunology, which resulted in the development of vaccines for hepatitis and measles, helping millions. However, it does not properly hold Krugman accountable for his role in the controversial Willowbrook study in which disabled children, mostly lacking a social safety net to protect them, were given faecal matter to purposely infect them with hepatitis and study its effects. Educators must acknowledge the failures of the past, include voices outside the Eurocentric lens and make judicious selection of sources.

There is a false assumption that knowledge is produced and disseminated in the Global North. This makes it a responsibility of educators to provide examples of hidden figures whose contributions to the advancement of their field have been systematically unrecognised. But teachers should go further, not only giving proper credit to hitherto unrecognised figures, but making students aware of the epistemicide of knowledge from marginalised groups and the Global South throughout history.

This allows students to critically analyse information they may otherwise accept passively as the objective truth, when in reality it is often clouded by stories told from a colonial lens, particularly in medicine.

Search actively for unrecognised voices: A simple Google search highlights multiple sources pointing to Jonas Salk as the principal inventor of the polio vaccine. An article in History celebrates his contribution to the discovery of the vaccine and his life. However, delving deeper you will find the significant role of multiple African American researchers, including Russel W. Brown, the director of Tuskegees Carver Research Institute, and his assistant James Henderson. Aided by cell culture supervisor Norma Gaillard, and Maria Telkes, who developed a packaging solution to keep cells cool during transport, they created the first HeLa cell factory. Despite their groundbreaking intellectual and practical contribution to the development of the vaccine, the names of these scientists are rarely mentioned or known. It is not unlikely that it is because of the researchers race, and gender. These scientists must be celebrated in the classroom, not just for the sake of diversity but for the authentic contributions they have made, which have been hidden and unrecognised.

Search actively for voices who are not credited: it is of note that HeLa cells themselves derive from the body of a black woman, Henrietta Lacks. Despite her immortal cell lines continuing to allow innovative research, Lacks contribution, through the cancer that ultimately killed her, is often hidden in both research and derived lectures. She gave no consent, and her family is yet to receive any compensation, despite many discoveries coming from and scientists profiting from the research she has facilitated.

With these examples in mind, it is clear that lecturers need a deeper understanding of the history of colonisation in education and research, which will encourage them to uncover the truth: that contributions exist beyond the white, male, cishet perspective. Lecturers understanding of the ethical and educational failures of the past will create more open-minded, critically astute students. This will play a pivotal role in decolonising education and driving research forward.

Musarrat Maisha Reza is senior lecturer in biomedical sciences and Emily Calvo-Hobbs is a second-year medical sciences student, both at the University of Exeter.

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Decolonising medical curricula, part three | THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect - Times Higher Education

From cities in the sky to robot butlers, futuristic visions fill the history ofPopSci. In theAre we there yet?column we check in on progress towards our most ambitious promises. Read the series and explore all our 150th anniversary coveragehere.

In 1923, Popular Science reported that people were drinking radium-infused water in an attempt to stay young. How far have we come to a real (and non-radioactive) cure for aging?

From the time Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium in 1898, it was quickly understood that the new element was no ordinary metal. When the Curies finally isolated pure radium from pitchblende (a mineral ore) in 1902, they determined that the substance was a million times more radioactive than uranium. At the time, uranium was already being used in medicine to X-ray bones and even treat cancer tumors, a procedure first attempted in 1899 by Tage Sjogren, a Swedish doctor. Coupled with radiums extraordinary radioactivity and unnatural blue glow, the mineral was soon touted as a cure for everything including cancer, blindness, and baldness, even though radioactivity had only been used to treat malignant tumors. As Popular Science reported in June 1923, it was even believed that a daily glassful of radium-infused water would restore youth and extend life, making it the latest in a long line of miraculous elixirs.

By May 1925 The New York Times was among the first to report cancer cases linked to radium. Two years later, five terminally ill women, who became known as the Radium Girls, sued the United States Radium Corporation where they had worked, hand-painting various objects with the companys poisonous pigment. As more evidence emerged of radiums carcinogenic effects, its cure-all reputation quickly faded, although it would take another half-century before the last of the luminous-paint processing plants was shut down. Radium is still used today in nuclear medicine to treat cancer patients, and in industrial radiography to X-ray building materials for structural defectsbut its baseless status as a life-extending elixir was short-lived.

And yet, radiums downfall did not end the true quest for immortality: Our yearning for eternal youth continues to inspire a staggering range of scientifically dubious products and services.

Since the early days of civilization, when Sumerians etched one of the first accounts of a mortal longing for eternal life in the Epic of Gilgamesh on cuneiform tablets, humans have sought a miracle cure to defy aging and defer death. Five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, priests practiced corpse preservation so a persons spirit could live on in its mummified host. Fortunately, anti-aging biotech has advanced from mummification and medieval quests for the fountain of youth, philosophers stone, and holy grail, as well as the perverse practices of sipping metal-based elixirs, bathing in the blood of virgins, and even downing Radium-infused water in the early 20th century. But what hasnt changed is that the pursuit of eternal youth has largely been sponsored by humankinds wealthiest citizens, from Chinese emperors to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Weve all long recognized that aging is the greatest risk factor for the overwhelming majority of chronic diseases, whether it be Alzheimers disease, cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, or diabetes, says Nathan LeBrasseur, co-director of The Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. But weve really kind of said, well, theres nothing we can do about senescence [cellular aging], so lets move on to more prevalent risk factors that we think we can modify, like blood pressure or high lipids. In the last few decades, however, remarkable breakthroughs in aging research have kindled interest and opened the funding spigots. Fortunately, the latest efforts have been grounded in more established scienceand scientific methodsthan was available in radiums heyday.

In the late 19th century, just as scientists began zeroing in on germs with microscopes, evolutionary biologist August Weismann delivered a lecture on cellular aging, or senescence. The Duration of Life (1881) detailed his theory that cells had replication limits, which explained why the ability to heal diminished with age. It would take 80 years to confirm Weismanns theory. In 1961, biologists Leonard Hayflick and Paul Moorhead observed and documented the finite lifespan of human cells. Another three decades later, in 1993, Cynthia Kenyon, a geneticist and biochemistry professor at the University of California, San Francisco, discovered how a specific genetic mutation in worms could double their lifespans. Kenyons discovery gave new direction and hope to the search for eternal youth, and wealthy tech entrepreneurs were eager to fund the latest quest: figuring out how to halt aging at the cellular level. (Kenyon is now vice president of Calico Research Labs, an Alphabet subsidiary.)

Weve made such remarkable progress in understanding the fundamental biology of aging, says LeBrasseur. Were at a new era in science and medicine, of not just asking the question, what is it about aging that makes us at risk for all these conditions? But also is there something we can do about it? Can we intervene?

In modern aging research labs, like LeBrasseurs, the focus is to tease apart the molecular mechanisms of senescence and develop tools and techniques to identify and measure changes in cells. The ultimate goal is to discover how to halt or reverse the changes at a cellular level.

But the focus on the molecular mechanisms of aging is not new. In his 1940 book, Organisers and Genes, theoretical biologist Conrad Waddington offered a metaphor for a cells life cyclehow it grows from an embryonic state to something specific. In Waddingtons epigenetic landscape, a cell starts out in its unformed state at the top of a mountain with the potential to roll downhill in any direction. After encountering a series of forks, the cell lands in a valley, which represents the tissue it becomes, like a skin cell or a neuron. According to Waddington, epigenetics are the external mechanisms of inheritanceabove and beyond standard genetics, such as chemical or environmental factorsthat lead the cell to roll one way or another when it encounters a fork. Also according to Waddington, who first proposed the theory of epigenetics, once the cell lands in its valley, it will remain there until it diesso, once a skin cell, always a skin cell. Waddington viewed cellular aging as a one-way journey, which turns out to be not so accurate.

We know now that even cells of different types keep changing as they age, says Morgan Levine, who until recently led her own aging lab at the Yale School of Medicine, but is now a founding principal investigator at Altos Labs, a lavishly funded startup. The [Waddington] landscape keeps going. And the new exciting thing is reprogramming, which shows us that you can push the ball back the other way.

Researchers like Levine continue to discover new epigenetic mechanisms that can be used to not only determine a cells age (epigenetic or biological clock) but also challenge Waddingtons premise that a cells life is one way. Cellular reprogramming is an idea first attempted in the 1980s and later advanced by Nobel Prize recipient Shinya Yamanaka, who discovered how to revert mature, specialized cells back to their embryonic, or pluripotent, state, enabling them to start fresh and regrow, for instance, into new tissue like liver cells or teeth.

I like to think of the epigenome as the operating system of a cell, Levine explains. So more or less all the cells in your body have the same DNA or genome. But what makes the skin cell different from a brain cell is the epigenome. It tells a cell which part of the DNA it should use thats specific to it. In sum, all cells start out as embryonic or stem cells, but what determines a cells end state is the epigenome.

Theres been a ton of work done with cells in a dish, Levine adds, including taking skin cells from patients with Alzheimers disease, converting them back to stem cells, and then into neurons. For some cells, you dont always have to go back to the embryonic stem cell, you can just convert directly to a different cell type, Levine says. But she also notes that what works in a dish is vastly different from what works in living specimens. While scientists have experimented with reprogramming cells in vivo in lab animals with limited success, the ramifications are not well understood. The problem is when you push the cells back too far [in their life cycle], they dont know what theyre supposed to be, says Levine. And then they turn into all sorts of nasty things like teratoma tumors. Still, shes hopeful that many of the problems with reprogramming may be sorted out in the next decade. Levine doesnt envision people drinking cellular-reprogramming cocktails to stave off agingat least not in the foreseeable futurebut she does see early-adopter applications for high-risk patients who, lets say, can regrow their organs instead of requiring transplants.

While the quest for immortality is still funded largely by the richest of humans, it has morphed from the pursuit of mythical objects, miraculous elements, and mystical rituals to big business, raising billions to fund exploratory research. Besides Calico and Altos Labs (funded by Russian-born billionaire Yuri Milner and others), theres Life Biosciences, AgeX Therapeutics, Turn Biotechnologies, Unity Biotechnology, BioAge Labs, and many more, all founded in the last decade. While theres considerable hype for these experimental technologies, any actual products and services will have to be approved by regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, which did not exist when radium was being promoted as a cure-all in the US.

While were working on landing long-term moon shots like editing genomes with CRISPR and reprogramming epigenomes to halt or reverse aging, LeBrasseur sees near-term possibilities in repurposing existing drugs to prop up senescent cells. When a cell gets old and damaged, it has one of three choices: to succumb, in which case it gets flushed from the system; to repair itself because the damage is not so bad; or to stop replicating and hang around as a zombie cell. Not only do [zombie cells] not function properly, explains LeBrasseur, but they secrete a host of very toxic molecules known as senescence associated secretory phenotype, or SASP. Those toxic molecules trigger inflammation, the precursor to many diseases.

It turns out there are drugs, originally targeted at other diseases, that are already in anti-aging trials because theyve shown potential to impact cell biology at a fundamental level, effectively staving off senescence. Although rapamycin was originally designed to suppress the immune system in organ transplant patients, and metformin to assist diabetes patients, both have shown anti-aging promise. When you start looking at data from an epidemiological lens, you recognize that these individuals [like diabetes patients taking metformin] often have less cardiovascular disease, notes LeBrasseur. They also have lower incidence of cancer, and theres some evidence that they may even have lower incidence of Alzheimers disease. Even statins (for cardiovascular disease) and SGL2 inhibitors (another diabetes drug) are being explored for a possible role in anti-aging. Of course, senescence is not all bad. It plays an important role, for example, as a protective mechanism against the development of malignant tumorsso tampering with it could have its downsides. Biology is so smart that weve got to stay humble, right? says LeBrasseur.

Among other things, the Radium Girls taught us to avoid the hype and promise of new and unproven technologies before the pros and cons are well understood. Weve already waited millennia for a miracle elixir, making some horrific choices along the way, including drinking radioactive water as recently as a century ago. The 21st century offers its own share of anti-aging quackery, including unregulated cosmetics, questionable surgical procedures, and unproven dietary supplements. While we may be closer than weve ever been in human history to real solutions for the downsides of aging, there are still significant hurdles to overcome before we can reliably restore youth. It will take years or possibly decades of research, followed by extensive clinical trials, before todays anti-aging research pays dividendsand even then its not likely to come in the form of a cure-all cocktail capable of bestowing immortality. In the meantime, LeBrasseurs advice is simple for those who can afford it: You dont have to wait for a miracle cure. Lifestyle choices like physical activity, nutritional habits, and sleep play a powerful role on our trajectories of aging. You can be very proactive today about how well you age. Unfortunately, not everyone has the means to follow LeBrasseurs medical wisdom. But the wealthiest among usincluding those funding immortalitys questmost definitely do.

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Radium was once cast as an elixir of youth. Are todays ideas any better? - Popular Science

By Wesley M Jose

Brain tumour is a common term to describe all the cancers that can affect the brain. Brain can have primary tumours, which means the tumour begins in the brain, or secondary tumors (also known as metastatic) which have started elsewhere but have now migrated to the brain.

Conventionally, the term brain tumour is indicative of primary brain tumour. All brain tumours are not malignant. Some may be slow-growing and benign. But even the tumor that is slow growing may invade into other nearby structures and cause symptoms.

These tumours may arise from different parts of the brain for example, the tumour arising from meninges, which is the covering layer of the brain, is called meningioma; or gliomas, which arise from the supporting cells of the brain called glia. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies primary tumours into low grade (grade 1 and 2) and high grade (grade 3 and 4).

Brain tumours arise due to abnormal genes and chromosomes, which lead to uncontrolled growth and increase of a particular kind of cell in the brain. The affected genes are primarily related to control of cell growth, repair of the damaged cells and senescence (meaning cells getting old and dying). An intrinsic loss of control on cell multiplication, inability to repair the damaged non-functional cell and ability of the damaged cells to continue living instead of self-destructing (becoming immortal) is the primary reason for occurrence of these tumours.

Such gene abnormality may be genetically inherited from parents or may be acquired later in life. A well known acquired factor for brain tumors is exposure to radiation like in blood cancer treatment of children where radiation to the brain is a part of treatment. Such tumours arise 10-15 years after the radiation exposure.

Most people with brain tumours do not have any family history but in rare situations the tumours may be familial. If you have a close family member (related by blood) who has a diagnosis of neurofibromatosis, tuebrous sclerosis, von-hippel landau sybndrome, Li fraumeni, turcot syndrome, Lynch syndrome, then you too may be at risk.

Lately there have been debates about use of cellular phones causing brain tumours. The cell phones produce radiofrequency waves and not ionising radiation (which causes cancer). The available medical data from large studies does not support this association. However, if you are concerned, it would be prudent to avoid long use of cellular phones.

Similar to cell phones, living near high-tension power lines (producing string electromagnetic fields) has also been blamed but is yet unproven.

The other environmental factors that have been blamed for causing brain tumors are petroleum products, vinyl chloride which is used in plastic manufacture.

Using sugar substitute called aspartame, infection by certain viruseshave also been suggested as possible risk factors. But there is no foolproof evidence for the same.

Since there are no specific proven environmental factors that cause primary brain tumour, it may be difficult to make standard guidelines for prevention of brain tumour. This means the emphasis still remains in knowing whether you have a family history in which case you could do germline testing to identify whether you are at risk.

If you do not have a family history, it is best to approach a hospital if you have any unexplainable symptoms which you consider needs attention. The best person to approach for a brain-related issue may be a physician or neurologist who has reasonable means to evaluate you.

While symptoms may vary depending on the location of the tumour, these are some of the signs that should prompt you to see a doctor:

The author is Associate Professor (Lead Neuro-oncology Services), Medical Oncology, AIMS Kochi

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Icon of Jesus with the eucharist. Photograph by Henry Karlson of an icon he owns.

Christ, working with the Spirit, brings us all the sacraments. Christ and the Spirit always work together, not only in the way all the persons of the Trinity work together as one in their divine unity. but also in relation to the economy of salvation. This can be seen both in the way the Spirit dwells upon the incarnate God-man, and in the sending of the Spirit by God-man. Christ sends the Spirit into the world so that the Spirit can render all things holy, making them vessels of grace ( this is especially true in regards the sacraments). Christ and the Spirit truly work together in the establishment of sacraments, giving them what they need to be transformed from ordinary objects and rituals into offerings of special graces to those who partake of them. But as they come from the united work of Christ and the Spirit, the sacrament which best represents this is the eucharist, for in it, Christ and the Spirit work together to transform the gifts of bread and wine into Christ himself. With the eucharist, we partake of and commune with Christ, partaking of him in his whole reality (a reality which, of course, includes the Spirit). As we partake of Christ in his entirety, we partake of all that he has to offer. This is why St. Albert the Great could declare the eucharist to be the sacrament of sacraments containing within it all the graces found in all the other sacraments:

This is the sacrament of sacraments, the Eucharist, containing every grace, food giving growth for eternal life, viaticum strengthening us to complete the journey of our exile, and the pledge of eternal salvation, and the communication of all holiness.[1]

Thus, St. Albert concluded, whatever can be found in the other sacraments, can also be found in the eucharist: Whatever graces are scattered to be gathered in all the [other] sacraments and virtues, the whole is found here together in one grace.[2] We have within the eucharist, therefore, what is available in penance, that is, the forgiveness of sins, for atonement is established in and through it:

For this sacrament brings the grace of communion, and beyond this, the grace of atonement, and upon these two it piles the grace of redemption, and in addition to these three it piles upon the grace of vivification, and beyond these four, it gives the grace of spiritual refreshment, and beyond these five, it signifies to us the glory of eternal beatitude. [3]

This is because what is offered in the eucharist is the whole of Christ, including the body and blood of Christ; when we partake of the eucharist, we receive the victim who offered himself up as a loving sacrifice for us and our sins. And so, as Hugh of St. Victor indicated, the eucharist can be said to be the sacrament which brings about our salvation:

The sacrament of the body and blood of Christ is one of those upon which salvation principally depends and it is peculiar among all, since from it is all sanctification. For that victim who was offered once for the salvation of the world gave virtue to all the preceding and subsequent sacraments, so that from it they sanctify all who are to be freed through it.[4]

And so we can see given to us by the eucharist the grace given in penance, that is, the remission of sins:

So, as often as you receive, what does the Apostle say to you? As often as we receive, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If the death, we proclaim the remission of sins. If, as often as blood is shed, it is shed for the remission of sins, I ought to always to accept Him, that He may always dismiss my sins. I, who always sin, should always have a remedy.[5]

The eucharist is not only spiritual medicine, healing us from the wounds of our sins, but it also strengthens us, making us greater, more virtuous, more charitable, that is, move loving. And this sacrament was instituted for two causes: for the increase of virtue, namely of charity, and as medicine for our daily infirmity. [6] When we properly partake of it with the right faith and intention, it can and will work in us to transform us. Christ becomes a part of us even as we become a part of Christ:

It is Christs body and blood entering into the compassion of our soul and body without being consumed, without being corrupted, without passing into they privy God forbid! but into our substance for our sustenance, a bulwark against every sort of harm and a purifier from all uncleanliness as if He were to take adultered gold and purify it by the discerning fire, so that in the life to come we shall not be condemned with the world. [7]

The eucharist is a gift given to us, giving us the graces which we need for our spiritual healing as well as for our spiritual improvement, indeed, our spiritual transformation so that we can become deified. We become as it were, what we eat, and since what we receive is the God-man, we become to God:

The body of Christ is received presently under an appearance, that is, sacramentally, in order to signify that union by which we will be conformed to God. This will happen when we will see Him as He is. Nevertheless, those who receive [the Eucharist] worthily do not receive less than the reality itself. And it is not surprising that this receiving [of the body of Christ] is a sign of some union, considering that all things whatsoever that are in the Church on earth are signs of future realities. For in the future there will be no things that are signs of other things. And this is what it means to receive by the truth of the reality, that is, not figuratively. [8]

As what we receive is grace, we must stop thinking of it as something which we can merit. We cant. What it gives us transcends what we can ever do. No matter how many virtuous acts we have done, they will be nothing in comparison to the deifying grace offered to us in the eucharist. Likewise, no matter how many sins we have done, once again, as the eucharist is for our spiritual healing, we should not think our sins make us so unworthy that we cannot receive it, for then, if we think that, we will not receive the gift God wants us to have. So long as we remember the eucharist is a gift, we will be led to think rightly, but if we think of it along the terms of something some people merit, and so something others do not, we could be led to reject the very gift which we need. Thus, St. Albert said, not only is it grace and so a gift, all it is, is that grace, that gift:

And not only is it grace, but it can be nothing but grace, since it can be obtained by no merit or prayer or price. For who can obtain by worthy merits, or by a worthy price or prayer, what God has provided for his poor in his unique sweetness. [9]

No matter how wretched we think we are, the eucharist is offered to us, that is, for the forgiveness of our sins and for our spiritual transformation. Upon this fullness of communion in every grace, it piles the grace of atonement from all the crimes of sinners. For nothing is ever atoned by which the blood of Christ did not atone for and repair. [10]We must always keep in mind its reception is never based upon how worthy we are, for none of us are worthy of the transcendent grace. It is the eucharistic gift, the thanksgiving gift, which we are to receive properly, that is, with a spirit of love and thanksgiving:

And the wretched and destitute soul is delighted by the richness of the sweetness of God. And no one can merit this, nor buy it. And so it can be nothing but grace. For if what is held freely is called grace, this sacrament, in which God gives himself to us, can be nothing but grace. [11]

While it is a gift, and so not something we merit, we must appreciate the gift, and what is offered to us by it, so that we can properly engage it and allow it to work in our behalf. This is why it is said we must receive it in a worthily manner, not because it means we must merit it, but because we must come to it in the right spirit so that we can and will cooperate with the grace which is being given to us by it. This is true, not only for the eucharist, but with all sacraments; if we come to them in an unworthy manner, we can hinder the grace which is being offered by them. We can partake of the sacraments unworthily, not because we have to be sinless to partake them, but we have to come with the right intention and the right spirit to receive them, and if we do not, that will make us come unworthily. With the eucharist, we must open ourselves to it and its grace by coming to it in a spirit of love, one which is open to communion, not only with Christ, but with all those who partake of the eucharist with us. Thus, to partake of the eucharist worthily, we must come to it with the right spirit, respecting the sacrament, respecting Christ, respecting our neighbor, and of course, with a willingness to let the sacrament transform us, to let its grace make us better. If we take it with the wrong intention, just like if we go to confession never intending to repent and change our ways, then our intention, our ill-will, is what is unworthy, and we risk the consequences of that ill-will:

Hence, it is unto remission of sins and eternal life and unto a safeguard for body and soul and for such as partake worthily thereof and with faith. But for such as receive unworthily and without faith it is unto chastisement and punishment. It is just as the Lords death has become life and immortality for those who believe, whereas for those who do not and for who killed the Lord it is unto chastisement and eternal punishment.[12]

We must, therefore, not confuse worthiness to communion with merit, for in doing so we actually risk partaking of communion unworthily, with the wrong intention. We must be willing to be transformed by grace; we must seek it, as needed, as our spiritual medicine, finding it can heal us from our spiritual infirmity. But if we are to be healed, we must follow the spiritual prescription which is given with it. We must turn away from the path of sin and instead follow the path of love. Then we can truly find the eucharist transform us as intended, helping us to become what we eat, and so to be a part of the body of Christ, not just spiritually, but also in the world at large. And so, Bulgakov said, one way we to understand the eucharist as the sacrament of sacraments is to see how it makes us the body of Christ, that is, the church: Thus, originally, in the apostolic age, the Divine Eucharist as the basis of all the sacraments was exclusively that which it is as the realization of the body of the Church as the body of Christ. Its essential character was not hierarchical but koinonic. [13]

If we look to the world in bitterness and hate, under the mantle of sin, we take sin upon ourselves and risk the spiritual death which comes with it; of course, if we change, if we get out of the rut which hate wants to keep us in, if we open up to grace and seek to be transformed by it, even our previous unworthiness can be forgiven and we can receive the graces which we are meant to have when we partake of communion. Thus, we must remember, while all sacraments can find themselves subverted by our will, they are meant to offer us various graces to help us in our lives and our focus should be on the gift which is being offered. This is especially true with the eucharist, for it is the sacrament of sacraments, the sacrament of Christ, and through it we can receive all that is meant for us in all the sacraments, albeit in a special and unique way. For if Christ heals our infirmities in all the sacraments, nevertheless he does it most greatly in this sacrament, in which he is completely contained in his divinity and humanity and grace. [14]

[1] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord. Trans. Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, OP (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2017), 31.

[2] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 32.

[3] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 61.

[4] Hugh of Saint Victor, On the Sacraments. Trans. Roy J. Deferrari (Cambridge: Medieval Academy of America, 1951), 304.

[5] St. Ambrose, The Sacraments, in Theological and Dogmatic Works. trans. Roy J Deferrari, PhD (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1963), 306.

[6] Peter Lombard, The Sentences. Book 4: On the Doctrine of Signs. trans. Giulio Silano (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2010), 65 [ bk. iv., dist. xii, c. 6].

[7] St. John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith in Writings. Trans. Frederic H. Chase, Jr (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1958), 360.

[8] Robert of Melun, Questions on the Divine Page, in Interpretation of Scripture: Practice. Trans. Franklin T. Harkins. Ed. Frans van Leiere and Franklin T. Harkins (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2015), 302.

[9] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 32-3.

[10] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 62.

[11] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 33.

[12] St. John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, 358.

[13] Sergius Bulgakov, Bride of the Lamb. Trans. Boris Jakim (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002), 287.

[14] St. Albert the Great, On the Body of the Lord, 299.

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The Eucharist: The Sacrament Of Sacraments | Henry Karlson - Patheos