Category Archives: Immortality Medicine

What's the best Foo Fighterssong?Thats what we want to find out from you in this weeks Loudwire Nights Artist of the Week poll!

Each week, well be asking you to choose your favorite track from a list of 10 of the biggest songs from the next Artist of the Week'scatalog.

You'll have until Friday at 12N ET to cast your votes. Well then play the threetracks with the most votes during Loudwire Nights' Artist of the Week block to start the following Monday's show!

This week we're focusing on Foo Fighters, who went from a post-Nirvana project for Dave Grohl to one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

Grohl formed Foo Fighters following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, which inevitably led to the dissolution of Nirvana. The rocker sang and performed the majority of the instrumentation on the 1995Foo Fightersalbum, but he eventually recruitedPat Smear,Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith to join him on the road.

Since then, Foo Fighters have released nine other studio albums, fromTheColour and the Shapeto 2021'sMedicine at Midnight.They've won 11 total Grammy awards, and according to the organization's website, they hold the record for most wins in the Best Rock Album category.

There are a lot of great tracks to choose from within the Foo Fighters' discography, so head below to pick your favorite and tune into Loudwire Nights nextMonday at 7PM ET to find out which three tracks prevailed.

Tune in tonight to hear which three Aerosmithsongs you voted the best!

Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez airs nightly starting at 7PM ET. You can tune in anytime, from anywhere right hereor by downloadingthe Loudwire app.

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Poll: What's the Best Foo Fighters Song? - Vote Now - Loudwire

From drones to smartphones, artificial intelligence is helping to deliver medical technology to those who need it the most

BL PREMIUM

10 August 2021 - 20:31 Johan Steyn

I live near a large hospital and drive past it almost every day. I do not like hospitals. They are places of health care and healing, but also of death. A hospital is the last line of defence where we mortals try in desperation to end suffering and prevent death. But our science almost always leaves us behind in the dust.

The quest for immortality has obsessed humans for as long as we have walked the earth.Alchemists over many eras and civilisations tried to create the elixir of eternal life. The ancients in India, China and Mesopotamia pursued ways to avoid death. Some call it the philosophers stone, a potion believed to bring perpetual youth...

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JOHAN STEYN: The future of medicine: the robot will see you now - Business Day

Theyre tiny machines that work on the nanoscale, being up to 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. These machines, otherwise known as nanorobotics, are set to augment the human race in unforeseen ways.

However, this microscopic technology has remained in the prototype phase for the past two decades, failing to truly live up to its promise, and lagging due to difficult manufacturing processes, a lack of standardization, and scant reviews of the available literature.

Picture a scenario where youre ill and need to see your doctor. However, instead of giving you a pill or a shot, your doctor injects you with a swarm of tiny robots.

These nanomachines will then work together autonomously to scan their environment and detect your illness after which they travel to the relevant organ to deliver a payload of slow-release medication deep within the infected area to cure you.

Sounds pretty sci-fi, right? Well, it may not be that far off.

This science is based on nanotechnology, a field of innovation concerning the building of materials and devices at the atomic and nanoscale. To give you a sense of how minute this scale is, a nanometre is just one-billionth of a meter, also known as the billionth-scale.

Because of this small scale, many of the ordinary rules of physics and chemistry no longer apply here, proffering unforeseen and alienlike properties. An example of these quantum-based properties is matter constructed in thenanoscale known as metamaterials.

One such material composed of carbon atoms is 100 times stronger than steel but six times lighter. Other metamaterials, such as quantum dots, can produce far more power than conventional solar or electrical cells despite being zero-dimensional. Remarkably, these nanoscale substances are predicted to produce an abundance of innovative materials used in manufacturing the world over, helping to end poverty and hunger, and possibly ushering in a period of peace and prosperity.

But things havent developed as quickly as many hoped.

Most theoreticians credit the concept of nanotechnology to physicist Richard Feynman and his speech in 1959 entitled: Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. In the speech, Feynman predicted the development of machines that could be miniaturized and huge amounts of information being encoded in minuscule spaces. However, it was K. Eric Drexlers 1986 book, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which galvanized nanotechnological doctrine.

Drexler floated the idea of programmable, self-replicating nanodevices. In effect, these nanorobots would contain a blueprint to clone and build themselves, and any other device needed to fulfill their function. As this construction would take place on an atomic scale, these nanomachines would be able to pull apart any kind of material atom by atom and manufacture never-before-seen devices. Drexler conceived of a universe where nanorobots could perform tasks such as environmental cleaning and clear the human blood capillary system of toxins. The possibilities he theorized involving nanotechnology hinted at addressing contemporary global challenges and future dilemmas, with almost limitless potential once commercialized.

In a practical sense, nanorobotics refers to nanoscale robots, which can accurately build and manipulate objects on a molecular scale. A leading study on the subject in The Frontiers journal seriesuses the term micro/nanorobots to refer to all nano- to micron-size programmable devices capable of traveling in the nanoscale using a power source. The process they describe there is the actuation or propulsion of nanomachines which they file into three categories.

The first category encompasses biohybrid systems integrating synthetic materials with motile microorganisms acting as engines using their natural appendages. The next category involves chemically powered micro/nanorobots that are capable of converting chemical fuels into locomotion. And finally, the most populated category covers mechanically powered nanorobots that use external energy sources such as magnetic, ultrasound, or light fields to move.

The study also collates the percentage of nanobots within each category that have been trialed in living biological systems. They state that, as of 2018, 20% of biohybrid nanorobots, 30% are chemical nanomachines, and 50% of all mechanical systems in existence have been used inside living animals in trials.

Despite remarkable progress, many hurdles exist when manufacturing at the billionth scale, in a process known as nanomanipulation which is performed under electron or scanning probe microscopy using tools such as optical and magnetic tweezers or grippers. Here, nanodevices are being manipulated and welded or soldered together at the molecular scale making the process expensive and time-consuming, and commercialization unfeasible. As it stands, the whole field of nanotechnology, including nanorobotics, is heavily reliant on the development of nanomanipulation.

Nanorobotics falls into four broad groupings.

Mechanical nanobots consist of multiple materials and coatings. The coating or the body of the machine itself is designed to degrade in bodily fluids to propel the nanorobot in the case of chemical propulsion and/or release the salient therapeutic to treat the disease. Due to the ease of actuation, by far the most popular model in this classification is the magnetic-propelled nanobot where nanorobots integrating magnetic parts are moved using an innocuous external magnetic force. Due to the magnetic torque produced, blood clots are invariably targeted by thesenanomachines using a corkscrew motionto drive through the embolism. Likewise, these nanobots can also be coated with a substance to elicit an immune response to help break up the clots whilst boring through the thrombosis.

The desired function or shape of these machines is achieved by gluing the nucleic code at salient base-pair junctions to create various configurations. This is how appendages, cargo holds, and switches can be fashioned. Presently, scientists are using DNA origami technology to engineer DNA computers that can monitor and record their surroundings, carry out programs, and store information within its nucleic code. One such example comes from Caltech who designedself-assembling DNA computersthat can carry out reprogrammable computations, in effect creating a nanorobot or six-bit hardware that can run different software in this fast-moving field.

Properties of native cells can also be exploited in unnatural situations. An example of this is biohybrid nanobots or neutrobots developed by theHarbin Institute of Technology capable of traversing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by manipulating the immune system. The neutrobots do this via the E. coli bacterial membrane housing a core comprised of the Paclitaxel cancer drug mixed with a magnetic hydrogel. When the nanobots were injected into a mouse model of glioma and actuated towards the brain using an external magnetic field, they were engulfed by mouse neutrophils in vitro attracted by their bacterial membrane shell. Thus, they were then able to pass over the BBB in the bellies of the white blood cells to treat glioma tumors in the mouse brain.

Nevertheless, despite their improved biocompatibility, biohybrid microbots remain potentially harmful due to their extraneous components. Therefore, a completely natural and programmable alternative engineered from only biological tissues is highly desirable.

Just recently, the same teamupgraded their xenobotsto move faster, navigate different environments, and live longer than the first edition. Similarly, they can still work together in swarms and heal themselves if damaged. But now the upgraded astrobiologics can record memory and use that information to modify their actions and behavior. Their read/write capability can record one bit of information, using a fluorescent reporter protein. It is in this way the alien lifeforms can write their travel experience which could prove invaluable for in vivo applications.

Given their small size, nanobots are mainly tested in the health industry, although they are used in a vast array of industries such as climate control and the military. Regarding medical applications, functions such as healing wounds, atomic-scale surgical equipment, and traversing through the body to find and treat ailments are most commonly theorized. According to a study fromGuangdong Medical University, nanomedicines can reduce toxicity, prolong the controlled-release of drugs, and increase permeability.

To add to this, nanorobots are small enough to pass through the vascular endothelial cell gap of a tumor, causing what is known as the enhanced permeability and retention effect (EPR effect). This augmented action is expected to enable the detection of cancer on a single-cell level. Moreover, this deep penetration married with the ability to traverse many organ barriers and films within the body means increased drug efficacy for existing pharmaceuticals. Likewise, the aforementioned EPR function may prove invaluable for medical imaging with magnetic or contrast nanorobotics easily directed to the tissue or structure of choice to enhance pre-existing imaging technology.

Analogous to this, the potential capitalization of nanorobotics for health sensing technology in vivo is extensive and could even make the need for a biopsy defunct. To date, microbots the size of a human egg cell already in existence can store data, sense their environment, and carry out computational tasks. As seen in a study from theUniversity of Albertaconsisting of autonomous DNA nanomachines capable of performing biological functions in live cells and detecting a specific microRNA sequence found in breast cancer cells. As this nanobot can detect breast cancer cells in trace amounts, it is expected to detect target molecules missed by other techniques once in the clinic.

Not only are health sensors being planned but sensory perception involving our surroundings is also being trialed. This sensory perception is expected to unlock new augmented capabilities, with nanorobotics allowing us to sense and interact with our environment in ways never seen before. Indeed, eminent futurist Ray Kurzweil, predicted in 2005 that nanoscience will render humans immortal by 2040, gifting ussuperhuman abilities. In tantalizing statements, Kurzweil posits that nanobots could replace native blood cells to cure cancer and back up memories whilst replenishing aging cells, in effect ending dementia. And while this may sound exciting, one must ask when exactly does this augmentation become forced evolution? As scientists create new lifeforms and synthesize DNA, what exactly will be passed down genetically via augmented humans? Just how symbiotic will nanorobotics become? Certainly, there are many ethical questions to answer regarding long-term enhancement and health-sensing using nanotechnology.

Wound-healing, including regenerative medicine, is another popular premise in nanorobotics.To this end, researchers from DGIST have developed a scaffold-basedmicrobot with the ability to precisely deliver stem cells to target damaged tissue in a rats brain. The nickel and titanium coated microbot transplanted stem cells quickly and precisely where the stem cells in turn proliferated and differentiated into astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neurons successfully. To add to this, chemically-propelled calciumcarbonate-based microrobotshave also reportedly delivered thrombin to halt the bleeding of wounds in the vasculature of mouse and pig models.

It has also been suggested byKurzweilthat nanobots will allow us to connect our nervous systems to the cloudby 2030 with these neutrobots playing a major part in connecting our brains to neural interfaces via artificial intelligence. This will be done by developing nanodevices that can traverse the blood-brain barrier, bypassing the need for clumsy electrodes or invasive brain surgery. Once these nanobots reach the brain they would then begin to scan brainwaves to communicate with external hardware, such as bionic limbs. In an exciting development,DARPArecently announced their study to develop magnetoelectric nanoparticles that can permeate the blood-brain barrier and transmit individual neurons signals to a brain-computer interface for military applications.

Environmental cleaning has also gained a lot of traction with biohybrid nanorobots the preferred mode of device. Here, a rotifer bacterium was modified to build alive biohybrid microrobot. Rotifers are marine microorganisms possessing sensing ability and autonomy. They also provide large-scale fluid mixing capability making them excellent candidates for filtering polluted water. With this in mind, functionalized microbeads were attached within the rotifers mouth forcing efficient transport of the contaminated water over the active surfaces of the microbeads coated with decontaminant.

There is also much excitement surrounding the development of metamaterials engineered using nanomanipulation which possesses quantum-based physical properties. For instance, Swedish researchers have already constructed thestrongest biomaterial in existence, a nanocellulose which they have successfully transferred to the macro world. The biomaterial outperforms steel and dragline spider silk, the preceding strongest biomaterial on earth. These supra properties could also extend to new energy systems and hopefully end the rare mineral war which recently caused a new general election in Iceland. Logically, nanorobots are expected to be composed of these metamaterials, as well as fabricate them in situ.

It should be noted that the host of potential applications of nanorobotics are simply too extensive to list here with the whole spectrum of global industry and enterprise already heavily invested in this technology.

As we come to the end of our exploratory journey into quantum nanorobotics, there is no doubt we are entering the next phase of our evolutionary process. But is this is a good thing? Indeed, many ethical questions must be answered before we enter the next stage of our bio-transformation.

In summary, we know that nanorobotics comprised of nanoscale components are plausible because many examples exist in nature such as intracellular transport involving kinesin and dynein motor proteins. Be that as it may, nature is a highly evolved system developed over billions of years, making the synthesis of unnatural nanoscale devices painfully slow and difficult. Therefore, the development of nanomanipulation is crucial to the development of nanobots, and by extension, the furtherment of the human race. Remaining static over many decades, nanomanipulation is still in its infancy with quantum-physical and chemical phenomena at this scale not completely understood or explored. In short, the cheap, bulk manufacture of small-scale robots moving them toward commercial availability is highly desirable, whilst conjointly providing more studies and exploration into the quantum world.

On the practical side, micro/nanorobots have the potential to accomplish complex tasks within the human body, but there are also many challenges including robot localization in vivo. Issues such as communication, swarm behavior, ease of fabrication, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and difficulty in the control of nanorobots in deep tissues must be met head-on.To address all of these problems research efforts must become concerted to provide standardization of terms, techniques, models, and functions of the devices, as well as regular literature reviews.Multidisciplinary studies of this nature can help to point out trends in research and identify areas that may benefit from collaborative research aimed at overcoming the current challenges regarding the development of these devices.

To conclude, we need regular standardized reports covering trial design, device classification, and actuation, as well as results. Only then will we witness the successful translation of multidisciplinary research into workable nanorobotics and their associated manufacturing processes. The author sincerely hopes that this article plays a small part in this movement.

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Nanorobotics: what it is, what it can do, and how it can become reality - ZME Science

You forget at times that youre dealing with real characters, and the story itself is so crazy, he said. It reminded me in some ways of The Beach that sense of hopefulness and a bit of Lord of the Flies.

One of the Mothers and Sri Aurobindos beliefs was that human beings could evolve to have a heightened consciousness, enabling them to transcend physical constraints. There were whispers that the Mother, who had been working on her yoga for years, might achieve immortality.

That kind of thinking persisted after her death, with other members of the community, including Walker and Maes, developing an aversion to Western medicine in favor of yoga, Ayurvedic medicine and focus. Walker died of an illness that was never diagnosed, but those around him suspect it was a kidney infection or intestinal worms, both easily curable. Maes died from poison that she ingested, refusing treatment.

One of the core questions of the book is: At what point does faith tip over the edge into darkness? Kapur said. Utopia and dystopia are very linked.

After Grafts mother and stepfather died, Walkers sister brought her to New York, where she experienced the perks of modern civilization for the first time: running hot water, washing machines, refrigerators and cars. She also faced culture shock, since the lack of a formal, Western education in Auroville left her ill-prepared for New Yorks school system.

She remembers being mystified by a test question involving a touch-tone phone. It was a question that would be very obvious to many people, but I hadnt grown up with a telephone, Graft said. She adapted, eventually attending the University of Southern California and then graduate school at Columbia University.

Kapurs parents his Indian father attended classes at Sri Aurobindos ashram as a child and his American mother grew up on a farm in Minnesota held more moderate beliefs. At one point in Aurovilles history, the community went through its own version of an anti-establishment revolution in which zealousness was prized, books were burned and schools were closed. So Kapurs parents moved to nearby Pondicherry to ensure his education was never disrupted, he said, and at 16, he transferred to boarding school in the United States, then went to Harvard.

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Akash Kapur and Auralice Graft on 'Better to Have Gone' - The New York Times

When PM Bennett was still in the opposition, we needed to hear from him every day how PM Netanyahu was negligent in stopping the pandemic from killing us. He had wonderful plans, selflessly created for all of us. Why would the PM not take up his 15-point plan to save us all?

Now hes PM, hes preaching to the public, but again, we hear no preventative measures from our head of government.

Frankly, I dont care why he knew everything better when he was not in charge, and why he is dysfunctional now he is. I want him to act.

Measures to limit potential super spreader evens, to mandate mask wearing, to up the frequency of buses, to subsidize Plexiglas dividers, etc.

At least with Bibi, Mr. Capitalism, I had the feeling that he understood that prioritizing protecting our public health was the best support of our economy. Now, with this left-wing coalition, I get the feeling that protecting short-term profit for the rich became the highest priority.

In Israel, everything is always upside-down.

Who needs anarchists with a government like this?

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to two Dutch survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork, and holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam). He taught Re-evaluation Co-counseling, became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His most influential teachers (chronologically) are: his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim: Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. * Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he wrote hasbara for the Dutch public. His fields of attention now are varied: Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (statistics), Politics (Israel, the US and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight Truth), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), Ecology and Veganism. Sometimes he's misunderstood because he has such a wide vision that never fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what many love about him. Many of his posts relate to affairs from the news or the Torah Portion of the Week or are new insights that suddenly befell him. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, reassure the doubters but make the self-assured doubt more. He strives to bring a fresh perspective rather than bore you with the obvious. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds must be disputed. In short, his main political positions are: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, democracy, anti the fake peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, Science, Free Will, anti blaming-the-victim and for down-to-earth optimism. Read his blog how he attempts to bridge any discrepancies. He admits sometimes exaggerating to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. November 13, 2018, he published his 500th blog post with the ToI. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having a peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To find his earlier blog posts on a certain subject XXX, among his over 1200 ones, go to the right-top corner of the Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". His second daily active less tame blog, to which one may subscribe, one may find here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me.

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The new government must now issue strong measures against corona - The Times of Israel

As the Covid-19 vaccine rollout began to gain momentum in early 2021, so too did a handful of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including those originating in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. In addition to the sense of relief that came when the highly anticipated shots finally started making it into arms, it became increasingly difficult to ignore the looming threat of these emerging strains including the fact that they werent widely circulating when the vaccines were developed.

Viruses evolve constantly, but rarely in front of a captive and traumatized worldwide audience. Immediately, there were questions: Would the exceptionally high efficacy rates demonstrated during the clinical trials decrease dramatically once the new variants were factored in? Will the vaccines we are getting offer enough (or any) protection against these strains? If not, will we need a booster?

Fortunately, early data suggested that the Covid vaccines were effective against the first few widespread variants. But with each new dominant strain have come renewed fears that the vaccines we were counting on to end the pandemic may not be up to the job. This has happened most recently with the Delta variant, which is more highly contagious than the original version of the virus thanks, in part, to how quickly it grows inside a persons respiratory tract and is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the United States.

As our knowledge of the Delta variant increased, so did the number of questions about Covid vaccine boosters. The combination of curiosity, concern, and confusion over boosters reached fever pitch when, on July 8th, pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced plans to seek emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot in August 2021. A few hours later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA released a joint statement saying that fully vaccinated individuals dont need a booster at this time resulting in more confusion and questions.

While were far from having all the answers, having a better grasp on variants, boosters, and other variables can help us make sense of the latest headlines. Heres what we know so far.

After living through a global pandemic, the last thing you want to hear is that the virus behind it all has been evolving, and is now spreading in multiple iterations. But not only is it important to keep in mind that its incredibly common for viruses to mutate over time, but also that all variants arent equally dangerous. The threat of a particular strain comes down to a number of factors, including how similarly it acts to the original virus, and how quickly the evolution is taking place.

Take HIV, for example. It mutates at a much faster rate than other viruses, which is making it incredibly difficult for scientists to create a vaccine that would be able to trigger the necessary immune response while keeping up with its evolution. How fast are we talking? As Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and co-founder of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) told Rolling Stone in April, when it comes to mutations, what Covid does in two months, HIV does in one day. This is one of the reasons why it was possible to create multiple Covid-19 vaccines in less than a year, but an HIV vaccine does not yet exist after decades of research. Both viruses evolve, but at very different rates.

In fact, as far as variants go, Dr. Kirsten Lyke, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and researcher at their Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, says that weve been lucky with the ones that have emerged and spread so far. Thats because while the new strains may be more transmissible than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, there are still enough similarities that if someone had an adequate immune response to the Covid-19 vaccine, it appears that they are also protected against the recent variants of concerns, like Alpha, Beta, and Delta.

Of course, thats not to say that the current iterations of the Covid-19 vaccines will work against all of the future variants which is one of the reasons were talking about booster shots.

Before getting too deep into boosters, lets look at why we might need one in the first place. As the name suggests, booster shots are follow-up doses of a vaccine, given to bolster the immune system if the initial vaccination is no longer effective. Thats right: although much of the conversation surrounding Covid vaccine booster shots makes it seem as though theyre inevitable, its still unclear whether well need one at all. And based on the limited data that is currently available (more on that in a minute), at this point, there is no definitive evidence that a Covid booster is necessary.

So how would we know if that changes? According to Lyke who is currently co-principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) multicenter clinical trial looking into mixing different combinations of Covid-19 vaccines and boosters based on where we are right now in the pandemic, there are three scenarios that would require a booster shot.

The first, she explains, would be if we get to a point where the emerging variants are sufficiently able to escape the vaccine and our initial vaccinations no longer offer sufficient protection. Another possibility is that the current vaccines ability to trigger an immune response to the novel coronavirus wanes over time something Lyke says isnt uncommon. Finally, a booster may be necessary for people who didnt mount enough of an immune response after receiving their initial Covid-19 vaccination because of a compromised immune system or recent transplant.

Along the same lines, booster shots can take one of two formats: They can either be an additional dose of the original vaccine (to give the recipients immune system the opportunity to produce more antibodies), or an updated formulation designed to extend the vaccines protection to additional variants. Currently, Pfizer and Moderna each have clinical trials underway to evaluate both third doses of their initial vaccine, as well as new booster vaccines targeting the emerging strains. While Johnson & Johnson has not yet announced their own Covid vaccine booster studies, Lykes NIH-sponsored clinical trial includes people who received the J&J shot initially, and aims to identify the most effective booster option for them.

Though its still too soon to know whether well end up needing a Covid-19 vaccine booster (and if so, what kind), data demonstrating how the current vaccines protect against the new variants have started trickling in. At this point, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have each released findings from internal lab studies indicating that their respective vaccines provided sufficient protection against a number of variants, including Delta.

Some of the first real-world data came out of Israel on July 5th, when the countrys Ministry of Health announced the results of their own epidemiological analysis that found that the Pfizer vaccine is roughly 64 percent effective against preventing infection and symptomatic illness caused by the current SARS-CoV-2 variants. While that may sound like a substantial drop compared to the 95 percent efficacy rates reported after the vaccines initial clinical trials, the Israeli study found that the Pfizer vaccine was still around 93 percent effective in preventing cases involving serious illness and hospitalization.

There is also new insight into why the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines are able to offer protection against several variants, thanks to a study published in the journal Nature on June 28th. The findings of the research suggest that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may trigger an ongoing immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that could offer lasting protection including against some emerging variants.

Antibodies and, to a lesser extent, T-cells have gotten most of the attention when it comes to Covid and immunity, but that narrow focus overlooks the lesser-known-but-mighty B-cells, which are responsible for producing the antibodies. After vaccination, our immune system sets up training camps to perfect the immune cells responding to the vaccine, says Dr. Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and lead researcher on the study. These camps are called germinal center reactions, and they train vaccine-responding B cells.

According to Ellebedy, when a vaccine effectively prompts a persons body to establish these B-cell training camps, there are two main outcomes: Optimized antibodies that strongly bind to the vaccine (in this case, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein), and cells that have been granted immortality by being transformed into immune memory cells.

We were not surprised to see a robust germinal center reaction after Pfizers SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, given all the data that came out showing how strong the responses in blood are, Ellebedy says. What we found remarkable is that these germinal center reactions persisted for months after vaccination, indicating that a lot of perfected immune memory cells have been graduating. In other words, like the virus, our own B cells continuously evolve in order to tailor the antibodies they produce so that they have the potential not only to recognize the original strain, but the emerging variants as well.

But despite the vaccines durable immune response, booster shots arent off the table. Our findings tell us that if the virus had not evolved, we would not have been discussing the need for boosters at least for healthy people, Ellebedy explains. But now that multiple variants of concerns have emerged, the situation with the variant has become the main determinant of whether we will need a booster or not.

This brings us back to Pfizers recent announcement about the encouraging data seen in an ongoing booster clinical trial involving a third shot of their current Covid-19 vaccine, and their plans to share their findings with the FDA as soon as next month, and apply for emergency use authorization soon after. Immediately, some scientists were critical of the pharmaceutical companys move, noting that it was still unclear when or even if a booster will ever be required, and suggesting that Pfizers push for boosters was a way to guarantee continued demand for their vaccines.

Pfizer and BioNTech, of course, are industry, and theyre interested in advancing their products, says Dr. Wilbur Chen, the chief of the adult clinical studies section within the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. They certainly are aware that the booster dose variant discussion is important, are super excited that theyve got this positive data, and are broadcasting that theyre going to publish it soon.

And while theres nothing out-of-line about Pfizers research process and plans for the future, their announcement itself has been the source of some confusion. The lay person hears about all these different developments and thinks that when a company is going forward with an FDA application, that its almost like a shoo-in for [the vaccine] being used immediately, Chen tells Rolling Stone. After seeing how quickly Covid vaccine research and approval moved [in the second half of 2020], resulting in shots in arms, people are now accustomed to that process and timeline. But thats not the way that were going to do it with boosters, because yes, were going to have a booster dose ready on the shelf and authorized potentially, but were not going to implement it until the data shows that we need to use it.

Thats why the CDC and FDA stepped in to clear things up a few hours after Pfizers news release. In their joint statement, the CDC and the FDA are saying, OK, youre hearing about positive data, and that its going to be submitted to regulatory authorities, but that does not mean that the government is deciding to implement booster doses now, Chen explains. But the agencies also stipulate that theyre continuing to review new data as it comes in, and are prepared for booster doses if and when the science demonstrates that they are needed.

While the data currently available suggest that boosters are not needed at this time, we still have no idea whats next for the vaccines and the variants. COVID has been such a learning curve, Lyke tells Rolling Stone. Its almost impossible to make a prediction, and anyone that says that we absolutely will need boosters, just doesnt know.

For this reason, Lyke says that its important to conduct research on boosters now so that if the day comes when Covid vaccine boosters are needed, well have the necessary evidence at hand. It remains to be seen if a new variant comes down the pike that completely manages to evade the [current] vaccines coverage, she notes. That would be kind of a nightmare scenario, and we would have to really scramble, because everyone would have to be boosted.

The good news is that if or when we get to the point of having variants that require a more targeted booster, researchers wont be starting from scratch. Thats why as scientists, we like the mRNA approach, Chen explains, because as long as you have the sequence of the new variant virus, you can pop that in and make a new booster dose that reflects that variant pretty quickly.

But even if the process of creating a booster vaccine formulation is relatively straightforward, there is still a need for additional research before one is administered. For example, the NIH-funded clinical trial Lyke is overseeing aims to answer two key questions about potential boosters: Are they safe? And what kind of immune response will these boosters generate?

Essentially, we have questions on the need for boosters in the future, and the time to answer those is now, in the summer, when the COVID prevalence is pretty low, and people are pretty well-vaccinated, Lyke explains. That way well have all the data in hand, and can make the tough decision moving forward, because if were going to do another mass vaccination with boosters and everyone gets one injection of something, we really want to know what the best something is.

Why scientists are focusing on continued vaccination, in addition to studying the new variants.

The steady stream of news alerting us to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants each seemingly more dangerous than the last has left us in a perpetual cycle of pandemic panic, but Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the department of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says that this shouldnt cause us to lose focus on the continued rollout of the initial Covid vaccines.

From the perspective of pathogen evolution, I think that the questions focusing on one variant Delta, Lambda, probably with Gamma, Theta, [and] Zeta to come are missing the point, Fortune tells Rolling Stone. There is still a huge amount of virus in the world, and a huge number of non-immune people who can be easily infected. And unlike the approximately 24 percent of American adults who plan to opt out of getting the Covid vaccine, people in other parts of the world who havent yet been vaccinated arent necessarily in that category by choice. According to data from the University of Oxford, only one percent of those living in low-income countries have received at least one dose.

In addition to the human toll, the continued spread of Covid-19 is a threat to global health because as long as it circulates, the virus has the opportunity to further evolve spinning off more transmissible variants. There is not evolutionary pressure for the virus to cause severe disease per se, and so some of the variants might be more dangerous and some might be less dangerous, Fortune explains. But as a general principle, evolution favors transmission.

And while its too early to tell how the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is going to play out and consequently, what that means in terms of a potential booster shot Fortune stresses the importance of expanding the worldwide vaccine rollout. Right now, she says, the single most important thing that we can do is continue to rapidly push vaccine coverage to try to get the global reservoir of virus down so basically, the virus has fewer shots on goal.

Lyke agrees. If there are people out there that havent been vaccinated, she says, our first message is for goodness sake, go and get vaccinated whatever you can get access to because they all still have very good efficacy against severe Covid and hospitalization.

Read the original here:
Covid-19 Variants and the Vaccine Booster: What You Need to Know - Rolling Stone

Mythical food of the Greek gods

In the ancient Greek myths, ambrosia (, Ancient Greek: , "immortality") is the food or drink of the Greek gods,[1] often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it.[2] It was brought to the gods in Olympus by doves and served by either Hebe or Ganymede at the heavenly feast.[3][4]

Ambrosia is sometimes depicted in ancient art as distributed by a nymph labeled with that name and a nurse of Dionysus.[5] In the myth of Lycurgus, the king attacked Ambrosia and Dionysus' entourage, causing the god to drive Lycurgus insane.

Ambrosia is very closely related to the gods' other form of sustenance, nectar. The two terms may not have originally been distinguished;[6] though in Homer's poems nectar is usually the drink and ambrosia the food of the gods; it was with ambrosia Hera "cleansed all defilement from her lovely flesh",[7] and with ambrosia Athena prepared Penelope in her sleep,[8] so that when she appeared for the final time before her suitors, the effects of years had been stripped away, and they were inflamed with passion at the sight of her. On the other hand, in Alcman,[9] nectar is the food, and in Sappho[10] and Anaxandrides, ambrosia is the drink.[11] A character in Aristophanes' Knights says, "I dreamed the goddess poured ambrosia over your headout of a ladle." Both descriptions could be correct, as ambrosia could be a liquid considered a food (such as honey).

The consumption of ambrosia was typically reserved for divine beings. Upon his assumption into immortality on Olympus, Heracles is given ambrosia by Athena, while the hero Tydeus is denied the same thing when the goddess discovers him eating human brains. In one version of the myth of Tantalus, part of Tantalus' crime is that after tasting ambrosia himself, he attempts to steal some to give to other mortals.[12] Those who consume ambrosia typically have ichor, not blood, in their veins.[13]

Both nectar and ambrosia are fragrant, and may be used as perfume: in the Odyssey Menelaus and his men are disguised as seals in untanned seal skins, "...and the deadly smell of the seal skins vexed us sore; but the goddess saved us; she brought ambrosia and put it under our nostrils."[14] Homer speaks of ambrosial raiment, ambrosial locks of hair, even the gods' ambrosial sandals.

Among later writers, ambrosia has been so often used with generic meanings of "delightful liquid" that such late writers as Athenaeus, Paulus and Dioscurides employ it as a technical terms in contexts of cookery,[15] medicine,[16] and botany.[17] Pliny used the term in connection with different plants, as did early herbalists.[18]

Additionally, some modern ethnomycologists, such as Danny Staples, identify ambrosia with the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria: "...it was the food of the gods, their ambrosia, and nectar was the pressed sap of its juices", Staples asserts.[19]

W. H. Roscher thinks that both nectar and ambrosia were kinds of honey, in which case their power of conferring immortality would be due to the supposed healing and cleansing powers of honey,[1] and because fermented honey (mead) preceded wine as an entheogen in the Aegean world; on some Minoan seals, goddesses were represented with bee faces (compare Merope and Melissa).

The concept of an immortality drink is attested in at least two ancient Indo-European languages: Greek and Sanskrit. The Greek (ambrosia) is semantically linked to the Sanskrit (amta) as both words denote a drink or food that gods use to achieve immortality. The two words appear to be derived from the same Indo-European form *-m-ts, "un-dying"[20] (n-: negative prefix from which the prefix a- in both Greek and Sanskrit are derived; m: zero grade of *mer-, "to die"; and -to-: adjectival suffix). A semantically similar etymology exists for nectar, the beverage of the gods (Greek: nktar) presumed to be a compound of the PIE roots *nek-, "death", and -*tar, "overcoming".

Lycurgus, king of Thrace, forbade the cult of Dionysus, whom he drove from Thrace, and attacked the gods' entourage when they celebrated the god. Among them was Ambrosia, who turned herself into a grapevine to hide from his wrath. Dionysus, enraged by the king's actions, drove him mad. In his fit of insanity he killed his son, whom he mistook for a stock of ivy, and then himself.

Read the original here:
Ambrosia - Wikipedia

Its one thing to survive in harsh environments, but quite another to hit the reset button when faced with an imminent threat.

Only one animal is known to have this remarkable ability: a species of jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, first discovered in the 1880s in the Mediterranean Sea and highlighted as a uniquely enduring organism in the exhibition Life at the Limits: Stories of Amazing Species.

Turritopsis dohrnii, the so-called "immortal jellyfish," can hit the reset button and revert to an earlier developmental stage if it is injured or otherwise threatened. Takashi Murai/The New York Times Syndicate/Redux

Like all jellyfish,Turritopsis dohrniibegins life as a larva, called a planula, which develops from a fertilized egg. A planula swims at first, then settles on the sea floor and grows into a cylindrical colony of polyps. These ultimately spawn free-swimming, genetically identical medusaethe animals we recognize as jellyfishwhich grow to adulthood in a matter of weeks.

Fully grown, Turritopsis dohrnii is only about 4.5 mm (0.18 inches) across, smaller than a pinky nail. A bright-red stomach is visible in the middle of its transparent bell, and the edges are lined with up to 90 white tentacles. These tiny, transparent creatures have an extraordinary survival skill, though. In response to physical damage or even starvation, they take a leap back in their development process, transforming back into a polyp. In a process that looks remarkably like immortality, the born-again polyp colony eventually buds and releases medusae that are genetically identical to the injured adult. In fact, since this phenomenon was first observed in the 1990s, the species has come to be called the immortal jellyfish.

The cellular mechanism behind ita rare process known as transdifferentiationis of particular interest to scientists for its potential applications in medicine. By undergoing transdifferentiation, an adult cell, one that is specialized for a particular tissue, can become an entirely different type of specialized cell. Its an efficient way of cell recycling and an important area of study in stem cell research that could help scientists replace cells that have been damaged by disease.

As for Turritopsis dohrnii, this jelly is not only an extraordinary survivor. Its also an increasingly aggressive invader. Marine species have long been known to hitch rides around the world in the ballasts of ships. Researchers have recently identified the immortal jellyfish as an excellent hitchhiker, particularly well-suited to surviving long trips on cargo ships.

In the same study, researchers also documented essentially genetically identical Turritopsis dohrnii individuals distributed across the worlds oceans, raising an intriguing question about the nature of mortalityif all of an organisms cells are replaced, is it still the same individual? The genes are the same, of courseand in biology, that may be enough to declare a winner.

A version of this article originally appeared in our member magazine, Rotunda.

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The "Immortal" Jellyfish That Resets When Damaged | AMNH

Eleven-year-old Laurent Simons has become the second-youngest college graduate in history after obtaining a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Antwerp.

The gifted Belgian child, who finished high school at the age of eight and has an IQ of 145, completed the three-year course in only a year, topping his class with a pass mark of 85 per cent.

He had originally planned to graduate from Eindhoven University in the Netherlands at the age of nine in 2019, which would have made him the youngest graduate, but he left the course before graduating after college authorities said he could not get his degree before his 10th birthday as he had not taken sufficient exams.

In doing so, he may have lost his chance to become the world's youngest degree holder, but he at least achieved the record for being the youngest college dropout.

The current record for youngest graduate is held by American prodigy Michael Kearney, who enrolled at the University of South Alabama at the age of eight and emerged with a degree in anthropology in 1994, aged 10 years and four months.

Kearney went on to teach at Vanderbilt University while taking his second master's degree, all before he could legally drive, and later used his prodigious memory and intelligence to win over $1m on a TV game show.

Simons has more serious plans for his future.

"This is the first puzzle piece in my goal of replacing body parts with mechanical parts," he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, seemingly without any idea of the terror such talk can engender when it comes from the mouth of a child. He continued:

Did it just get colder in here?

Besides exercising his prodigious intellect by studying quantum physics, pondering immortality, planning to become some sort of Doctor Octopus cyborg creature, and generally coming across as the sort of frightening prospect who could do with a spell in the X-Men, Simons is also said to enjoy playing Fortnite. Because he's 11 and that's what 11-year-olds are supposed to do.

While studying for his bachelor's degree, he was also working on a master's degree at the same time. He had hoped to complete his master's at an Israeli university studying a combination of biotechnology, medicine, and bioprocess engineering, but the COVID pandemic thwarted his plans.

He is now looking forward to a specially tailored master's programme at the University of Antwerp, in collaboration with other colleges in Israel, the UK, and USA. According to German newspaper Die Welt, this is so he can learn how to create artificial organs. His grandparents, who mainly raised him, have cardiac issues and he reportedly wants to help them.

Youtube Video

We at The Register do not know if this is all supposed to be giving us the fear, but it's certainly coming across a bit like that. Perhaps Simons can assuage our concerns by explaining what he wants to do himself?

"Two things are important in such a study: acquiring knowledge and applying that knowledge," he told De Telegraaf. "To achieve the second, I want to work with the best professors in the world, look inside their brains and find out how they think."

He wants to look inside their brains. That did not help, Laurent. That did not help at all.

Michael Kearney is now reportedly an improv comedian, so there is hope for us all yet.

The rest is here:
11-year-old graduate announces plans to achieve immortality by 'replacing body parts with mechanical parts' - The Register

No matter what ails you, chances are theres an herbal remedy for it. However, what if one herb could treat nearly every condition?

Giloy might be one to consider. Its a climbing shrub and an essential herb in Ayurvedic medicine. People take it to support general wellness and treat a wide range of conditions, including fever, infections, and diabetes.

Heres a look at the research behind this herbal supplement and our recommendations about whether its worth taking.

Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) is a climbing shrub that grows on other trees, from the botanical family Menispermaceae. The plant is native to India but also found in China and tropical areas of Australia and Africa (1, 2, 3).

Its considered an essential herbal plant in Ayurvedic and folk medicine, where people use it as a treatment for a wide range of health conditions (1, 2).

All parts of the plant are used in Ayurvedic medicine. However, the stem is thought to have the most beneficial compounds. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India has approved the plants stem for use in medicine (1).

Giloy is also called giloe, guduchi, and amrita, among other names. The word giloe is a Hindu mythological term. It refers to a mythical heavenly elixir that keeps celestial beings eternally young (1).

In Sanskrit, guduchi means something that protects the whole body, and amrita means immortality (1).

Traditionally, giloy is used to treat (1, 3):

Giloy (T. cordifolia) is a climbing shrub and an essential herb in Ayurvedic medicine. All parts of this plant are thought to have health benefits. People have long used it to treat a wide range of issues, including fever, infections, diarrhea, and diabetes.

The wide range of uses and potential health benefits from giloy come from numerous beneficial plant compounds found throughout the plant.

Researchers have identified four major classes of compounds in giloy (3):

Terpenoids are one of the largest classes of active compounds found in plants. They often contribute to plants fragrance, taste, and color. Lab tests on terpenoid compounds show they have antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, and antidiabetic properties (4).

Alkaloids are compounds that give some plants their bitter taste. Plant alkaloids are used as a model to make many types of prescription medicines.

Theyre known to have therapeutic benefits for (5):

At the right doses, alkaloids are powerful chemicals. Interestingly, since ancient times, people have used plant alkaloids as remedies for illnesses and as poisons (5).

Lignans are compounds found mostly in fibrous plants. Theyre known to prevent the growth of viruses, fungi, and other microbes (6).

Research also suggests they have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which means they might protect cells from oxidative damage (6).

Lignans are especially interesting because research has found they can slow the growth of or even kill some types of cancer cells in lab tests (6).

Steroid compounds in plants may also have potential benefits for (7):

Some have a similar chemical structure to cholesterol. As such, they may compete with cholesterol for absorption in your intestine. This may help reduce cholesterol levels in your blood (8).

Giloy is a source of many important plant compounds, namely terpenoids, alkaloids, lignans, and steroids. Lab studies suggest these compounds have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antidiabetic properties, among other benefits.

Research on giloy suggests that it might have health benefits. However, its important to note that most research measured the effects of giloy in rats or cells in a lab. There are few human studies, so its not clear whether the benefits would apply to people (3).

Giloy might be helpful for those with diabetes or who are at risk of heart disease.

Several studies done on animals and on cells in the lab show that giloy reduces blood sugar by making cells less insulin resistant. It also may reduce cholesterol levels in lab animals (3, 9, 10, 11, 12).

However, its important to note that the animal study used a multi-herb formula that included seven other herbs in addition to giloy. Because of this, its unclear whether the potential benefits came from giloy or another herb.

One of the alkaloid compounds in giloy is berberine. Its a traditional herbal remedy that human studies have shown reduces blood sugar. Berberine works in a similar way to the diabetes medication metformin (13, 14).

Berberine may be as effective as some medications at helping reduce not only blood sugar but also LDL (bad) cholesterol and blood pressure (13).

Berberine and other alkaloids in giloy might account for some of the results seen in lab tests.

Lab studies on giloy show that it has antioxidant effects, which means that it can help protect cells from oxidative damage (11, 15).

When tested on breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer cells in the lab, certain compounds from giloy show anticancer potential (15).

Taking giloy might help boost your immune system against allergies, too. A study including 75 people with hay fever allergies found that giloy helped alleviate their symptoms, including runny and stuffy nose (16).

Notably, 83% of people said they experienced complete relief from sneezing after taking giloy (16).

Certain compounds in giloy can also stimulate your immune system and protect you from bacteria and other pathogens (15, 17, 18).

Its able to prevent the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli, Pseudomonas spp., and Proteus spp. (16).

It seems to kill larger pathogens, too. One study compared a T. cordifolia lotion with permethrin, a medication to treat scabies, which is an itchy rash caused by tiny mites that infest your skin. The study found that both treatments worked equally well to kill the scabies and clear the rash (18).

Studies show giloy can be helpful for seasonal allergies and to treat a skin rash called scabies. It might have benefits for diabetes and high cholesterol, but there arent any studies in humans that show if it works, or if so, how well.

There dont seem to be any risks associated with giloy in healthy people, as long as you take it at the dose recommended on the product label or by a health professional. However, it may not be a good choice for certain people.

Because it has the potential to lower blood sugar, you should be cautious with this herb if you take medications to lower your glucose. You might have a low blood sugar (hypoglycemic) reaction.

Giloy could also potentially cause problems if you have an autoimmune disease, like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or Crohns disease. This is because of its stimulating effects on the immune system (17).

With autoimmunity, your immune system is already overstimulated. That causes it to attack certain healthy cells instead of harmful pathogens.

Finally, giloy isnt recommended for pregnant or lactating people. This is because not enough is known about how it works in humans. Talk with a healthcare professional if youre considering taking it.

We always recommend being cautious with herbal remedies. Just because theyre natural doesnt always make them safe. Some can interact with certain medications or have unwanted side effects.

Before taking giloy or any other over-the-counter treatment, its best to check with a doctor.

Giloy isnt known to have any safety issues in healthy people, but be aware it might interact with some medications or certain health conditions, like autoimmune diseases. You should avoid giloy if youre pregnant or breastfeeding.

Stores sell giloy as a supplement in pill or capsule form. Because each manufacturers preparation can differ, you should take it according to the directions on the label.

You can also buy dried giloy powder as well as a tincture or juice made from the roots and stems. To use it, mix the recommended amount with water.

If your dermatologist has diagnosed you with a scabies rash and prescribed permethrin cream, you can ask about substituting this with a giloy or Tinospora cordifolia lotion, cream, or ointment.

Keep in mind that, as a supplement, giloy isnt regulated the same way as a medication, so theres no guarantee youre getting the amount of active ingredient you might need.

You can take giloy as a pill, capsule, powder, or tincture. For skin conditions like scabies, look for it in a cream or lotion. Because different brands can vary, take it according to the directions on the container.

People have used giloy for many years in traditional medicine, including Ayurvedic medicine in India. It might be helpful if you want to support your immune system, fight off hay fever symptoms, or maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Unfortunately, there arent many studies to show if or how well it works in people. Some small studies in humans have focused on treating allergy symptoms or an itchy scabies rash.

Its probably safe for most people to take giloy, as long as you follow the directions on the product label.

We dont recommend it for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Be aware that if you take medicine to lower your blood sugar or if you have an autoimmune disease, giloy might cause an unwanted reaction.

Its always a good idea to talk with a healthcare professional before taking any herbal supplements.

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What Is Giloy? Nutrients, Benefits, Downsides, and More - Healthline