The Gary Null Show - 03.17.21

 
Blueberries protect against inflammation
Texas Women's University, March 14, 2021
 
In a recent study, researchers at Texas Woman’s University investigated the usefulness of polyphenols present in blueberries in controlling or reducing inflammation. Induced by oxidative stress, inflammation — especially if it becomes persistent — is closely linked to the development of many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The researchers discussed the anti-inflammatory activities of BBPs in an article published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.
Blueberry polyphenols can be used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
RA is an autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease that destroys joints and causes disability in older adults. The etiology of RA is poorly understood and there is no mainstream cure for this disease.
According to research, the accumulation and proliferation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes — non-immune cells that make up the membranous tissue that lines joint cavities — may be involved in the destruction of cartilage commonly observed in RA. On the other hand, in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that the anti-inflammatory properties of dietary polyphenols derived from fruits and vegetables could help prevent this destruction.
To examine the anti-inflammatory activities of blueberry polyphenols against RA, the researchers first stimulated rabbit synoviocytes with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), a cell signaling protein (cytokine) released by immune cells that plays a huge role in systemic inflammation. They then treated the synoviocytes with different doses of blueberry polyphenols.
The researchers found that the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-a, increased synoviocyte proliferation by around 19 percent, but treatment with blueberry polyphenols significantly decreased proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. The polyphenol-treated synoviocytes also showed decreased levels of interleukin (IL)-1B and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB).
IL-1B is a cytokine required for activating the innate immune response. Its role is to mediate the release of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, especially in the presence of an infection. NF-kB, on the other hand, is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes involved in inflammation. 
The researchers also reported that that the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3, a key enzyme involved in the pathogenesis of RA, increased fivefold in the control TNF-a-stimulated group but decreased by threefold in the blueberry polyphenol-treated group, clearly showing the anti-RA activities of blueberry’s active components.
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that blueberry polyphenols can reduce inflammation associated with RA by downregulating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the transcription factor, NF-kB.
 
 
Relationship between vitamin D deficiency and gestational and postpartum depression
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), March 16, 2021
According to news originating from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, research stated, “Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been associated with depressive symptoms in pregnancy and postpartum, which can result in increased adverse outcomes in the maternal-infant segment. A possible explanation in the literature is VDD relationship with genetic and neurological mechanisms.”
Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Federal University Rio de Janeiro, “to evaluate VDD relationship with gestational and postpartum depression. this review followed the recommendations proposed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Research was conducted in electronic databases, PubMed and LILACS, including studies of the analytical type (cross-sectional and longitudinal), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and controlled clinical trials carried out in humans; inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. in this systematic review, eight articles were analyzed comprising 8,583 women from seven different countries. Among the selected articles, six found an association between VDD and gestational and postpartum depression. Considering the data collection, it was possible to conclude that there is a probable relationship between VDD and a higher predisposition to gestational and postpartum depression.”
According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Also, we concluded that vitamin D supplementation has proven to be a promising strategy for reducing the risk of depressive symptoms.”
 
 
Lifestyle intervention is beneficial for most people with type 2 diabetes, but not all
Wake Forest Medical Center, March 11, 2021
For people who are overweight or obese and have type 2 diabetes, the first line of treatment is usually lifestyle intervention, including weight loss and increased physical activity. While this approach has cardiovascular benefit for many, it can be detrimental for people who have poor blood sugar control, according to a study conducted by researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine.
In the study, published in the current issue of the journal Diabetes Care, the researchers re-evaluated the National Institutes of Health Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study that found intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) neither helped nor hurt people with diabetes. 
"Contrary to the initial findings of Look AHEAD, our work found that lifestyle interventions reduced potential cardiovascular harm and optimized benefits for 85% of those in the trial," said the study's lead investigator, Michael P. Bancks, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Health.
"However, for those who had poor blood sugar control, lifestyle intervention increased the risk of major cardiovascular events. Based on our findings, doctors may want to consider alternative options, such as glucose-lowering drugs, before trying lifestyle modification for those people." 
Look AHEAD randomized 5145 participants with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who were overweight or obese to 10 years of ILI or a control group that received diabetes support and education. ILI focused on weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity. 
In the Wake Forest School of Medicine study, the researchers divided the study participants into four subgroups: diabetes onset at older age, poor glycemic control, severe obesity and younger age at onset. These subgroups were determined based on diabetes diagnosis, body mass index, waist circumference, measure of blood sugar value (glycemic control) and the age of diabetes onset. 
Bancks and his team examined each group's response to the intensive lifestyle intervention and its association with major cardiovascular events. In the subgroup with poor glycemic control, the intervention was associated with 85% higher risk of having a cardiovascular event as compared to the control group. Among the three other diabetes subgroups analyzed, ILI was not associated with an increased risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events.
"Although the interest in diabetes subgroups is growing, our study is one of the first to apply it to lifestyle intervention," Bancks said. "So for clinicians, determining which subgroup their patient most closely resembles should help them determine the best treatment option and reduce any potential harm for that individual." 
These results provide support for further investigation into whether these findings apply to other diabetes complications, including cognitive issues, and to assess what interventions would be beneficial for those individuals, Bancks said.
 
Depression doubles risk of death after heart attack, angina
Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, March 8, 2021 
 
Depression is the strongest predictor of death in the first decade following a diagnosis of coronary heart disease, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session. The study found people with coronary heart disease who are diagnosed with depression are about twice as likely to die compared with those who are not diagnosed with depression.
 
"This study shows that it doesn't matter if depression emerges in the short term or a few years down the road—it's a risk factor that continually needs to be assessed," said Heidi May, PhD, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City and the study's lead author. "I think the take-home message is that patients with coronary disease need to be continuously screened for depression, and if found to be depressed, they need to receive adequate treatment and continued follow-up."
 
The study focused on patients diagnosed with a heart attack, stable angina or unstable angina, all of which are caused by a reduced flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart, typically as a result of plaque buildup in the heart's arteries. These conditions fall under the umbrella term coronary heart disease, which is the most common form of heart disease in the United States .
 
Researchers have long understood heart disease and depression to have a two-way relationship, with depression increasing the likelihood of heart disease and vice versa. Whereas previous studies have investigated depression occurring within a few months of a coronary heart disease diagnosis, the new study is the first to shed light on the effects of depression over the long term.
 
The researchers analyzed health records from almost 25,000 Intermountain Health System patients tracked for an average of nearly 10 years following a diagnosis of coronary heart disease. About 15 percent of patients received a follow-up diagnosis of depression, a substantially larger proportion than the estimated rate of 7.5 to 10 percent in the general population.
 
Out of 3,646 people with a follow-up diagnosis of depression, half died during the study period, compared to 38 percent of the 20,491 people who did not have a depression diagnosis. This means people with depression were twice as likely to die compared to those without depression.
 
After adjusting for age, gender, risk factors, other diseases, heart attack or chest pain, medications and follow-up complications, the results showed depression was the strongest predictor of death in this patient group. These results were consistent regardless of age, gender, the timing of depression onset, past history of depression or whether or not the patient had a heart attack.
 
Given the significant impact of depression on long-term survival, the researchers said clinicians should seek ways to better identify depression in patients with coronary heart disease, either by using patient questionnaires designed to screen for depression or by actively watching for signs of depression during follow-up examinations.
 
"It can be devastating to be diagnosed with coronary artery disease," May said. "Clinicians need to pay attention to the things their patients are expressing, in terms of both physical symptoms as well as emotional and nonverbal factors."
 
Signs of depression include persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness or worthlessness; anxiety, irritability or restlessness; losing interest in hobbies and activities; fatigue or moving slowly; difficulty sleeping or concentrating; aches or pains without a clear physical cause; changes in appetite or weight; and thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is linked with behaviors that can be detrimental to cardiovascular health, such as reduced physical activity, poor diet, increased smoking or alcohol use and reduced compliance with medical treatment.
 
The study did not evaluate the impact of depression treatment on the risk of death.
 
 
Wild mint can prevent blood sugar spikes after meals, reports study
National Chemical Laboratory (India), March 12, 2021
Mentha arvensis, commonly known as wild mint, is a perennial flowering plant. 
Wild mint leaves and essential oil are also traditionally used as natural medicines. The former is said to be a great remedy for liver inflammation, peptic ulcer, diarrhea, bronchitis, jaundice and skin diseases, while the latter is often used as an antiseptic. Because of the reported antioxidant activity of wild mint, Indian researchers decided to investigate if it also has antidiabetic properties.
In a recent study, which appeared in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, the researchers looked at the potential of wild mint leaf extract to stop glycation. Glycation refers to the chemical reaction by which a sugar molecule attaches to a protein or lipid. This event is a consequence of hyperglycemia and is associated with the tissue damage often seen in diabetes. The researchers also explored the effect of wild mint extracts on the activity of two carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, as well as their influence on postprandial hyperglycemia.
Wild mint extract can prevent blood sugar spikes after meals
According to the researchers, interest in the use of alternative medicines to control diabetes, oxidative stress and related disorders has increased in recent years. This is due to the continuous rise in the number of people who develop diabetes around the world. In 2018, this number was estimated to be around 340 million, 70 million of which were from India.
Postprandial hyperglycemia, or the increase in blood glucose after eating, is strongly implicated in the development of Type 2 diabetes and diabetic complications. Researchers believe that reducing the postprandial release of glucose in the blood is a promising therapeutic approach to treat or prevent diabetes. To achieve this, two enzymes involved in the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugar are considered as good antidiabetic targets.
a-Amylase is a digestive enzyme that converts complex carbs like starch to simple sugars. Similarly, a-glucosidase hastens the digestion of oligosaccharides — three to 10 simple sugars linked together — and disaccharides (e.g., sucrose, maltose, lactose) into glucose molecules. Because of their functions, compounds that can inhibit a-amylase and a-glucosidase activity are used to reduce blood sugar levels in diabetics. 
Wild mint is a medicinal herb with a long history of use in traditional medicine. Ancient healers considered it a promising natural remedy for diabetes. To investigate its ability to inhibit postprandial hyperglycemia, the researchers first derived wild mint extract from its leaves using methanol as solvent. They then tested the extract on male rats and performed various in vitro experiments to evaluate the extract’s antidiabetic activity.
The researchers reported that the wild mint extract showed a remarkable ability to scavenge free radicals, as well as great potential to inhibit glycation. They noted that it successfully inhibited more than 90 percent of advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation. The wild mint extract also showed high inhibitory activity against a-amylase and ?-glucosidase and significantly inhibited postprandial hyperglycemia in rats with starch-induced diabetes.
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that wild mint has noninsulin-dependent antidiabetic activity and can be used to treat or prevent postprandial hyperglycemia.
 
Exercise during pregnancy may save kids from health problems as adults
University of Virginia, March 15, 2021
Exercise during pregnancy may let mothers significantly reduce their children's chances of developing diabetes and other metabolic diseases later in life, new research suggests.
A study in lab mice has found that maternal exercise during pregnancy prevented the transmission of metabolic diseases from an obese parent - either mother or father - to child. If the finding holds true in humans, it will have "huge implications" for helping pregnant women ensure their children live the healthiest lives possible, the researchers report in a new scientific paper.
This means that one day soon, a woman's first trip to the doctor after conceiving might include a prescription for an exercise program.
"Most of the chronic diseases that we talk about today are known to have a fetal origin. This is to say that the parents' poor health conditions prior to and during pregnancy have negative consequences to the child, potentially through chemical modification of the genes," said researcher Zhen Yan, PhD, a top exercise expert at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. "We were inspired by our previous mouse research implicating that regular aerobic exercise for an obese mother before and during pregnancy can protect the child from early onset of diabetes. In this study, we asked the questions, what if an obese mother exercises only during pregnancy, and what if the father is obese?"
Exercise and Pregnancy
Scientists have known that exercise during pregnancy helps lead to healthy babies, reducing the risk of pregnancy complications and premature delivery. But Yan, the director of the Center for Skeletal Muscle Research at UVA's Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, wanted to see if the benefits continued throughout the children's lives. And his work, both previous and new, suggests it does.
To determine that, Yan and his collaborators studied lab mice and their offspring. Some of the adult mice were fed typical mouse chow before and during pregnancy, while other were fed a high-fat, high-calorie diet to simulate obesity. Some receiving the high-fat diet before mating had access to a voluntary running wheel only during pregnancy, where they could run all they liked, while others did not, meaning they remained sedentary. 
The results were striking: Both mothers and fathers in the high-fat group could predispose their offspring to metabolic disorders. In particular, male offspring of the sedentary mothers on high-fat diets were much more likely to develop high blood sugar and other metabolic problems in adulthood.
To better understand what was happening, the researchers looked at the adult offspring's metabolism and chemical (epigenetic) modification of DNA. They found there were significant differences in metabolic health and how active certain genes were among the different groups of offspring, suggesting that the negative effects of parental obesity, although different between the father and the mother, last throughout the life of the offspring.
The good news is that maternal exercise only during pregnancy prevented a host of "epigenetic" changes that affect the workings of the offspring's genes, the researchers found. Maternal exercise, they determined, completely blocked the negative effects of either mother's or father's obesity on the offspring.
The results, they say, provide the first evidence that maternal exercise only during pregnancy can prevent the transmission of metabolic diseases from parent to child.
"The take-home message is that it is not too late to start to exercise if a mother finds herself pregnant. Regular exercise will not only benefit the pregnancy and labor but also the health of the baby for the long run," Yan said. "This is more exciting evidence that regular exercise is probably the most promising intervention that will help us deter the pandemic of chronic diseases in the aging world, as it can disrupt the vicious cycle of parents-to-child transmission of diseases."
 
Some veggies each day keeps the stress blues away
University of Sydney, March 15, 2021
 
Published in the British Medical Journal Open, the longitudinal study of more than 60,000 Australians aged 45 years and above measured participants fruit and vegetable consumption, lifestyle factors and psychological distress at two time points
.
Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, a 10-item questionnaire measuring general anxiety and depression. Usual fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed using short validated questions.
Key findings
 
People who ate 3-4 daily serves of vegetables had a 12 per cent lower risk of stress than those who ate 0-1 serves daily.
People who ate 5-7 daily serves of fruit and vegetables had a 14 per cent lower risk of stress than those who ate 0-4 serves daily.
Women who ate 3-4 daily serves of vegetables had an 18 per cent lower risk of stress than women who ate 0-1 serves daily.
Women who ate 2 daily serves of fruit had a 16 per cent lower risk of stress than women who ate 0-1 serves daily.
Women who ate 5-7 daily serves of fruit and vegetables had a 23 per cent lower risk of stress than women who ate 0-1 serves daily.
 
At the start of the study, characteristics associated with higher stress included: being female, younger, having lower education and income, being overweight/obese, a current smoker and being physically inactive.
 
Fruit consumption alone had no significant association with a lower incidence of stress. There was no significant association between higher levels of fruit and vegetable intake (greater than 7 daily serves) and a lower incidence of stress.
 
"This study shows that moderate daily fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with lower rates of psychological stress," said Dr Melody Ding of the University of Sydney's School of Public Health. "It also reveals that moderate daily vegetable intake alone is linked to a lower incidence of psychological stress. Moderate fruit intake alone appears to confer no significant benefit on people's psychological stress."
 
These new findings are consistent with numerous cross sectional and longitudinal studies showing that fruit and vegetables, together and separately, are linked with a lower risk of depression and higher levels of well-being assessed by several measures of mental health.
 
"We found that fruit and vegetables were more protective for women than men, suggesting that women may benefit more from fruit and vegetables," said first author and University of Sydney PhD student, Binh Nguyen.
 
The investigators say further studies should investigate the possibility of a 'threshold' between medium and higher levels of fruit and vegetable intake and psychological stress.

The Gary Null Show - 03.16.21

Ginger compound shows bone-protective properties
Mie University (Japan), March 15, 2021
According to news originating from Tsu, Japan, research stated, “Osteoporosis is the most common aging-associated bone disease and is caused by hyperactivation of osteoclastic activity. We previously reported that the hexane extract of ginger rhizome [ginger hexane extract (GHE)] could suppress receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells.”
Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Mie University: “However, the anti-osteoclastic components in GHE have not yet been identified. In this study, we separated GHE into several fractions using silica gel column chromatography and evaluated their effects on osteoclastogenesis using a RAW264.7 cell osteoclast differentiation assay (in vitro) and the zebrafish scale model of osteoporosis (in vivo). We identified that the fractions containing 10-gingerol suppressed osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells detected by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining. In zebrafish, GHE and 10-gingerol suppressed osteoclastogenesis in prednisolone-induced osteoporosis regenerated scales to promote normal regeneration. Gene expression analysis revealed that 10-gingerol suppressed osteoclast markers in RAW264.7 cells [osteoclast-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor, dendrocyte-expressed seven transmembrane protein, and matrix metallopeptidase-9 (Mmp9)] and zebrafish scales [osteoclast-specific cathepsin K (CTSK), mmp2, and mmp9]. Interestingly, nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic 1, a master transcription regulator of osteoclast differentiation upstream of the osteoclastic activators, was downregulated in zebrafish scales but showed no alteration in RAW264.7 cells.”
According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “In addition, 10-gingerol inhibited CTSK activity under cell-free conditions. This is the first study, to our knowledge, that has found that 10-gingerol in GHE could suppress osteoclastic activity in both in vitro and in vivo conditions.”
 
 
Mindfulness meditation improves quality of life in heart attack survivors
Hacettepe University (Turkey), March 10, 2021
An eight-week programme of mindfulness meditation improves quality of life and reduces fear of activity in heart attack patients, according to research presented today at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1
"A heart attack is a serious life-threatening event and survivors can suffer from low quality of life," said study author Dr. Canan Karadas of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. "One reason is a fear of movement, called kinesiophobia, which limits daily activity due to concerns of another heart attack."
"Mindfulness refers to the mental state achieved by focusing awareness on the present moment, including thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations," continued Dr. Karadas. "It has drawn increasing attention for treating chronic conditions such as high blood pressure. Our study examined its effect on fatigue, kinesiophobia, and quality of life after an acute myocardial infarction."
The study included 56 patients who had experienced a heart attack. The average age at enrolment was 55 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness or control group for eight weeks. Patients in the control group attended one 15-minute individual education session on the structure and function of the heart, the coronary arteries, and diseases of the heart. 
Patients assigned to the mindfulness intervention attended an individual session which included a 15-minute description of the technique. This was followed by 15 minutes of supervised practice: patients were asked to sit comfortably on a chair with their backs straight and eyes closed. They were then instructed to breathe deeply - inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth using the diaphragm - and focus on their breathing and the present moment. Participants received a recording of the instructions via WhatsApp and were asked to repeat the 15-minute session every day at home in a quiet room. Daily reminders (text messages or phone calls) were used to motivate patients to practice the meditation and to evaluate their compliance with the study protocol.
Fatigue, kinesiophobia, and quality of life were assessed at baseline and weeks four, eight and 12 using the Piper Fatigue Scale, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia Heart questionnaire, and MacNew Heart Disease Health-Related Quality of Life questionnaire which examines patients' feelings about how their heart condition affects daily function overall and in three areas (physically, emotionally, and socially).
At baseline, there were no differences in the three variables between the intervention and control groups. By week four, patients in the mindfulness group had less fear of movement compared to the control group - a benefit that was sustained at weeks eight and 12. Patients in the mindfulness group had better quality of life overall and in all three areas than those in the control group at week eight, while at week 12 they continued to report better emotional function. Measurements of fatigue did not vary between the two groups at any time point.
Dr. Karadas noted that participants only reported mild fatigue at the beginning of the study which may explain why meditation did not have any impact.
She said: "Our study shows that mindfulness can reduce fear of movement and improve quality of life in heart attack survivors, with effects extending beyond the completion of the intervention. One explanation may be that meditation replaces catastrophic thinking with positive thoughts, making patients feel less emotionally and physically vulnerable. The findings suggest that mindfulness may be considered in the rehabilitation of patients after a heart attack. These results are very encouraging but more studies are needed to confirm our findings."
 
 
This TCM formula alters brain pathways to alleviate anxiety-like behavior
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, March 11, 2021
In a recent study, researchers at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine found that a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula known as xiao yao san (XYS) can alleviate anxiety-like behaviors in rats. They reported that XYS exerts its effects by altering the expression of genes involved in the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway. This pathway plays a role in the induction of chronic stress.
The researchers reported their findings in an article published in the journal Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin.
XYS is an effective treatment for anxiety
Xiao yao san means happy, carefree powder in TCM. Its most well-known use is as a treatment for menopausal anxiety and depression. Some reports also suggest that when combined with acupuncture and moxibustion, XYS relieves anxiety and depressionfollowing procedures such as placenta transplantation and test tube fertilization.
According to TCM records, XYS is composed of eight different medicinal herbs, namely, Bupleurum chinense (Chinese thorow wax, chai hu), Angelica sinensis (female ginseng, dang gui), Paeonia lactiflora (white peony, bai shao), Atractylodes macrocephala (white atractylodes, bai zhu), Poria cocos (poria mushroom, fu ling), Zingiber officinale (ginger, sheng jiang), Mentha piperita (Chinese peppermint, bo he) and Glycyrrhiza uralensis(licorice, gan cao). Several clinical trials have found that the combination of these TCM herbs is more powerful than modern antidepressants.
In their previous study, the researchers reported that XYS exerts anxiolytic effects in ratssubjected to two weeks of chronic immobilization stress (CIS). They hypothesized that these effects may be attributed to the influence of XYS on JNK, a stress-activated enzyme. Different types of stressors are known to activate the JNK signaling pathway, which can ultimately lead to cell damage and apoptosis.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers employed 40 rats and divided them into five groups: the control group, which received deionized water; the model group, which also received deionized water; the SP600125 group, which underwent surgery; the per se group, which also underwent surgery; and the XYS group, which received 3.9 g/kg XYS daily.
The researchers injected 1 percent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) citrate buffer solution and SP600125 separately and bilaterally into the rats (via the brain’s ventricular system) in the two surgery groups. They then subjected all the groups except for the control to 14 days of CIS. 
On Day 15, the researchers measured the bodyweight of the rats and subjected the animals to the elevated plus maze (EPM) and novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) tests. They then examined JNK signaling pathway indices, including phosphorylated JNK (P-JNK), JNK, phosphorylated c-Jun (P-c-Jun) and cytochrome C (cyt-C). The release of cyt-C into the cytosol of cells is said to trigger programmed cell death, or apoptosis.
Based on body weight and behavioral analyses of the model rats, the researchers confirmed the successful induction of anxiety-like behaviors in the animals. They reported that CIS altered the expression of P-JNK, JNK and P-c-Jun in the hippocampus of the model rats. However, treatment with XYS and SP600125, a known JNK inhibitor, for 14 days changed rat body weight and behaviors, along with P-JNK, JNK and P-c-Jun expression levels, for the better. Both XYS and SP600125 had no effect on cyt-C.
These results suggest that XYS reduces anxiety-like behaviors induced by CIS by inhibiting JNK signaling in the hippocampus.
 
 
Electricity could help speed wound healing, new study shows
Electrical impulses may help vessels more quickly get healing agents to injuries
Ohio State University, March 11, 2021
Electric stimulation may be able to help blood vessels carry white blood cells and oxygen to wounds, speeding healing, a new study suggests.
The study, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip, found that steady electrical stimulation generates increased permeability across blood vessels, providing new insight into the ways new blood vessels might grow. 
The electrical stimulation provided a constant voltage with an accompanying electric current in the presence of fluid flow. The findings indicate that stimulation increases permeability of the blood vessel - an important characteristic that can help wound-healing substances in the blood reach injuries more efficiently.
"There was this speculation that blood vessels could grow better if you stimulated them electrically," said Shaurya Prakash, senior author of the study and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at The Ohio State University. "And we found that the response of the cells in our blood vessel models shows significant promise towards changing the permeability of the vessels that can have positive outcomes for our ongoing work in wound healing." 
Blood vessels are crucial for wound healing: They thread throughout your body, carrying nutrients, cells and chemicals that can help control inflammation caused by an injury. Oxygen and white blood cells - which protect the body from foreign invaders - are two key components delivered by blood vessels.
But when there is an injury - for example, a cut on your finger - the architecture of the blood vessels at the wound site are disrupted. That also interrupts the vessels' ability to help the wound heal. Blood vessels regrow on their own, almost like the branches of trees, without external sources of electricity, as part of the healing process.
"And as the blood vessels begin to grow, they replenish the skin and cells and establish a healing barrier again," Prakash said. "But our question was: How do you make this process better and faster, and is there any benefit to doing that?"
What they found, in laboratory tests performed using human cells, is that stimulating blood vessels with electricity showed a marked increase in blood vessel permeability, which is a physical marker suggestive of possible new vessel growth. 
"These initial findings are exciting, and the next phase of the work will require us to study if and how we can actually grow new vessels," Prakash said.
Jon Song, co-author of the paper and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State, said the results imply that one of the primary ways blood vessels work to heal injuries is by allowing molecules and cells to move across the vessels' walls.
"And now we have better understanding for how electric stimulation can change the permeability across the vessel walls," Song said. "Let's say you have a cutaneous wound, like a paper cut, and your blood vessels are severed and that's why you have blood leaking out. What you need is a bunch of bloodborne cells to come to that place and exit out the blood vessel to initiate the wound repair."
The study suggested that changes in blood vessel permeability could get those bloodborne cells to a wound site more quickly, though it did not explain the reasons why that happened. The study seemed to indicate that electricity affected the proteins that hold blood vessel cells together, but those results were not conclusive.
The study is an extension of work by a broader team, led by Prakash, that previously showed electric bandages could help stimulate healing in wounded dogs. That work indicated that electrical stimulation might also help manage infections at wound sites - a phenomenon the researchers also hope to research further.
 
 
Lower risk of brain injury for at-risk infants whose mothers consumed pomegranate juice
Preliminary findings from a randomized controlled trial suggest pomegranate juice may provide neuroprotection in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction
Brigham and Women's Hospital, March 11, 2021
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is common and concerning, but few therapeutic options exist for pregnant mothers who receive this diagnosis. IUGR is a condition in which a baby in the womb is measuring small for its gestational age, often because of issues with the placenta, resulting in compromised or insufficient transfer of oxygen and nutrients to the growing fetus. The developing fetal brain is particularly vulnerable to these effects. One out of every 10 babies is diagnosed with IUGR, and infants with IUGR are at increased risk of death and neurodevelopmental impairment. Recent research on polyphenol-rich pomegranate juice has suggested that it may help protect the brain from injury. In an exploratory, randomized, controlled clinical trial, supported by philanthropic funding and a gift from POM Wonderful, the largest grower and producer of fresh pomegranates and pomegranate juice in the United States, investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital enrolled pregnant mothers whose infants were diagnosed with IUGR. The team found evidence that drinking pomegranate juice daily may reduce risk of brain injury in IUGR infants, especially during the third trimester when the infant brain may be particularly vulnerable. Findings are published in Scientific Reports.
"There are dietary factors that may influence neuroprotection, especially in high-risk settings such as during labor and delivery," said co-author Terrie Inder, MBCHB, chair of the Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine at the Brigham. "We were intrigued by findings from preclinical research suggesting that polyphenols, which are found at high concentrations in pomegranate juice, might be highly protective. Our clinical trial provides the most promising evidence to date that polyphenols may provide protection from risk of brain injury in IUGR infants."
"While exploratory, our results are promising and suggest that being able to intervene before birth may aid in protecting the newborn brain from the devastating effects of brain injury," said corresponding author Lillian G. Matthews, PhD, a neuroscientist at Monash Biomedical Imaging and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health in Australia. Prior to joining Monash, Matthews was at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham in the Department of Pediatric and Newborn Medicine, where she maintains a current affiliation.
Polyphenols are part of a class of antioxidants found in certain foods and beverages, including almonds, berries, red wine and teas. Pomegranate juice is a particularly rich source of these molecules. Polyphenols are known to cross the blood-brain barrier, and studies in animal models have demonstrated protective effects against neurodegenerative diseases.
For their clinical trial, Inder and colleagues recruited 99 pregnant mothers at the Brigham. The participants were randomly assigned to consume either 8 ounces of pomegranate juice or a polyphenol-free beverage matched for color, taste and calorie-count. Participants drank the juice daily from the time of enrollment until delivery. 
The team performed fetal MRI measurements on approximately half of the participants prior to mothers starting the juice regimen and found no evidence of fetal brain injury at that time. After delivery, neonatal MRI measurements showed that infants whose mothers consumed pomegranate juice were less likely to have brain injury compared to those randomized to placebo. Infants had lower risk of cortical grey matter injury and white matter injury. The team also found no evidence of ductal constriction, a potential safety concern. 
Given the exploratory nature of the study and its limited size, the authors caution that larger controlled trials are needed. The team also plans to continue studying infants enrolled in their study over the next 2-3 years to assess the infants' neurodevelopmental outcome. 
"Our neurodevelopmental follow-up studies are ongoing, and we encourage other investigators studying high-risk infant populations to consider the influence of polyphenols for neuroprotection," said Inder. "My dream is that we will one day be able to offer women a way to help shield their infant's brain from potential injury. In the meantime, we'll continue to follow participants to provide further insight into the potential clinical implications of prenatal pomegranate juice."
 
Topical curcumin gel effective in treating burns and scalds
David Geffen School of Medicine, March 14, 2021
 
What is the effect of Topical Curcumin Gel for treating burns and scalds? In a recent research paper, published in the open access journal BioDiscovery, Dr. Madalene Heng, Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, stresses that use of topical curcumin gel for treating skin problems, like burns and scalds, is very different, and appears to work more effectively, when compared to taking curcumin tablets by mouth for other conditions.
 
"Curcumin gel appears to work much better when used on the skin because the gel preparation allows curcumin to penetrate the skin, inhibit phosphorylase kinase and reduce inflammation," explains Dr Heng.
 
In this report, use of curcumin after burns and scalds were found to reduce the severity of the injury, lessen pain and inflammation, and improve healing with less than expected scarring, or even no scarring, of the affected skin. Dr. Heng reports her experience using curcumin gel on such injuries using three examples of patients treated after burns and scalds, and provides a detailed explanation why topical curcumin may work on such injuries.
 
Curcumin is an ingredient found in the common spice turmeric. Turmeric has been used as a spice for centuries in many Eastern countries and gives well known dishes, such as curry, their typical yellow-gold color. The spice has also been used for cosmetic and medical purposes for just as long in these countries.
 
In recent years, the medicinal value of curcumin has been the subject of intense scientific studies, with publication numbering in the thousands, looking into the possible beneficial effects of this natural product on many kinds of affliction in humans.
 
This study published reports that topical curcumin gel applied soon after mild to moderate burns and scalds appears to be remarkably effective in relieving symptoms and improved healing of the affected skin.
 
"When taken by mouth, curcumin is very poorly absorbed into the body, and may not work as well," notes Dr. Heng. "Nonetheless, our tests have shown that when the substance is used in a topical gel, the effect is notable."
 
The author of the study believes that the effectiveness of curcumin gel on the skin - or topical curcumin - is related to its potent anti-inflammatory activity. Based on studies that she has done both in the laboratory and in patients over 25 years, the key to curcumin's effectiveness on burns and scalds is that it is a natural inhibitor of an enzyme called phosphorylase kinase.
 
This enzyme in humans has many important functions, including its involvement in wound healing. Wound healing is the vital process that enables healing of tissues after injury. The process goes through a sequence of acute and chronic inflammatory events, during which there is redness, swelling, pain and then healing, often with scarring in the case of burns and scalds of the skin. The sequence is started by the release of phosphorylase kinase about 5 mins after injury, which activates over 200 genes that are involved in wound healing.
 
Dr. Heng uses curcumin gel for burns, scalds and other skin conditions as complementary treatment, in addition to standard treatment usually recommended for such conditions.
 
 
Psychedelic science holds promise for mainstream medicine
University of Nevada, March 10, 2021
Psychedelic healing may sound like a fad from the Woodstock era, but it's a field of study that's gaining traction in the medical community as an effective treatment option for a growing number of mental health conditions.
While the study of psychedelics as medicine is inching toward the mainstream, it still remains somewhat controversial. Psychedelics have struggled to shake a 'counterculture' perception that was born in the 1960s, a view that had stymied scientific study of them for more than 50 years. 
But that perception is slowly changing.
Mounting research suggests that controlled treatment with psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA—better known as ecstasy—may be effective options for people suffering from PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently granted 'breakthrough therapy' status to study the medical benefits of psychedelics. And two years ago this month, the FDA approved a psychedelic drug—esketamine—to treat depression. 
An increasing number of states and municipalities are also grappling with calls to decriminalize psychedelic drugs, a move that UNLV neuroscientist Dustin Hines says could further the recent renaissance in psychedelic science. 
"The resurgence in interest in psychedelic medicine is likely related to multiple factors, including decreasing societal stigma regarding drugs like hallucinogens and cannabis, increasing awareness of the potential therapeutic compounds found naturally occurring in plants and fungi, and the growing mental health crisis our nation faces," says Hines. "Because of the intersection between the great need for innovation and wider social acceptance, researchers have started to explore psychedelics as novel treatments for depressive disorders, including work with compounds that have been used for millennia." 
In the Hines lab at UNLV, husband and wife researchers Dustin and Rochelle Hines are uncovering how psychedelics affect brain activity. Their work, published recently in Nature: Scientific Reports, shows a strong connection in rodent models between brain activity and behaviors resulting from psychedelic treatment, a step forward in the quest to better understand their potential therapeutic effects. 
We caught up with the Hineses to learn more about the evolution of psychedelic science—which actually dates back thousands of years—their research (which doesn't date back as long), misconceptions about this emerging field of study, and what to expect next.
The scientific study of psychedelics holds great promise for people suffering with mental illness. Where do we stand?
Dustin Hines: It's estimated that 1 in 5 American adults suffer from some type of mental illness. And while not all require pharmacological treatment, unfortunately there's been limited progress in advancing novel therapies for depressive disorders in 50 or more years. 
Rochelle Hines: It's also worth noting that available therapies for major depression are only effective in specific segments of the depressed population. That's what makes the study of psychedelic compounds so fascinating. Recent clinical studies have empirically demonstrated that these compounds can exert rapid antidepressant effects—essentially bringing into the clinic a practice that Mesoamerican and other cultures have used for thousands of years. But there are still quite a few regulatory barriers that limit even research use of psychedelics. We're hopeful that as the public view of psychedelic compounds changes, so too will the federal regulations that currently govern their study.
Current therapies for mental health disorders can take weeks to become effective. Recent research, including your own, shows the potential for psychedelic compounds to work much more quickly. What do we know about how this happens?
Rochelle: Clinical research on the use of psychedelics as therapeutics suggests that they work by altering the connectivity, or communication, between brain regions. Multiple studies suggest that the connectivity of cortical sensory regions and other brain areas is strengthened. Studies have also reported alterations in the patterns of brain activity during psychedelic treatment in patients with depression. 
Dustin: Our recent studies support the evidence for changes in patterns of brain activity, and provide additional detail into specific patterns of brain activity that are generated during psychedelic treatment. The brain activity patterns that we've characterized are related to specific behaviors known to occur following treatment with psychedelic hallucinogens. These findings support the idea that generation of specific brain activity patterns may be a key aspect of the beneficial effects that psychedelic compounds exert.
In your research, you discuss the long history of hallucinogens for ritualistic practices. What did these cultures know that we don't, and how does your work draw upon this ancient evidence?
Rochelle: Modern medicine—which includes our research team—is reinvestigating psychedelic practices with a 5,000-plus year history. Mesoamerican practitioners are known to engage in specific processes that were honed over millennia of skilled use, often including the addition of nicotine to their ritualistic and therapeutic practices with psychedelics. At present, very little research has investigated the synergistic effects of psychedelics and nicotine. 
Dustin: Despite this long history and recent clinical promise, we still really don't know just how these drugs actually work on the brain to influence mood. This knowledge is essential to optimize their therapeutic potential. In our study of brain activity in a rodent model, we found that nicotine enhanced both the brain's slow waveform as well as behavioral arrest, both hallmark aspects of the response to psychedelic hallucinogens. We're now working on studies examining the synergy between psychedelics and nicotine, and whether nicotine enhances the anti-depressant effects of psychedelics. 
Rochelle: We're also investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the specific changes in brain activity following treatment with psychedelics. With this understanding, we may be able to further refine the clinical utility, applicability, and efficacy of psychedelic hallucinogens as medicines.
As researchers who study the possible therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, what are some of the biggest misconceptions you've encountered? How can further scientific study combat them? 
Dustin: Microdosing of psychedelics—where users gain benefit, though not the prototypical "high" from small amounts the drugs is a practice that's been in the news a lot lately. While there are some data suggesting that low doses can exert beneficial effects, the idea that a person can purchase controlled substances without clarity on the content of psychoactive ingredients and regulate their own dosing with precision is in my opinion misguided. By conducting research to examine both purified and synthetic compounds, we can more accurately establish dosing. 
Rochelle: There's a long-standing belief that these drugs are addictive. However, much of the research suggests that these drugs don't result in maladaptive patterns of substance use behavior. To the contrary, some research actually suggests that these compounds may be effective in treating substance use disorders. More research on the effects of these compounds in models may provide better clarity on not only the acute effects, but the effects of repeated dosing. 
Dustin: An important point to drive home with all of this is that psychedelics are powerful psychoactive drugs, and they should not be used for therapeutic purposes without an experienced practitioner. 
The context surrounding the use of psychedelics as a therapy is emerging, but further research into the clinical use of psychedelics is needed to establish procedures and protocols that we hope will ultimately support positive outcomes for patients.

The Gary Null Show - 03.15.21

Study reveals vitamin C is key to preventing stroke and promoting heart health
University of Rennes (France), March 12, 2021
 
Vitamin C is an essential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in regulating immune function and supporting overall immune health. But recent studies suggest that it may also hold the key to stroke prevention and better heart health in the long run.
In one such study, scientists from the Rennes University Hospital in France compared the vitamin C levels of 65 hemorrhagic stroke patients to those of healthy participants. They found that vitamin C levels were greatly lower in stroke patients. They also identified high blood pressure as a leading risk factor for stroke.
Lead researcher and neurologist Stephane Vannier said that the link between vitamin C depletion and a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke could be associated with the role of vitamin C in blood pressure regulation.
In the future, these findings could aid scientists when studying the effects of vitamin C supplementation on the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, added Vannier. The study appeared online in the journal Neurology.
Low vitamin C levels linked to increased stroke risk
Vannier and his colleagues studied the vitamin C levels of 65 participants who had experienced a spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) or hemorrhagic stroke. This life-threatening type of stroke occurs when there is bleeding within the brain tissue itself. High blood pressure and head trauma are common causes of ICH.
The study also included 65 healthy controls. When the researchers studied both groups’ vitamin C levels, they found that only 41 percent had a normal vitamin C status of more than 38 micromoles per liter (umol/L).
On the other hand, 45 percent of all participants had depleted vitamin C levels (11–38 umol/L), while another 14 percent were deficient in the nutrient (less than 11 umol/L).
The researchers identified high blood pressure, alcohol consumption and being overweight as some of the top risk factors for ICH. Interestingly, participants who had high blood pressure had depleted vitamin C levels.
Furthermore, the researchers discovered that stroke patients with normal vitamin C status spent significantly less time (9.8 days) in the neurology care unit than stroke patients with depleted vitamin C levels (18.2 days).
Vannier suggested that the longer hospital stay could be the consequence of complication-related infections or delayed healing due to vitamin C deficiency. However, further studies are needed to confirm this theory.
Overall, the findings expose a link between vitamin C depletion and increased stroke risk. To maintain healthy vitamin C levels, Vannier recommends taking 120 milligrams (mg) of the vitamin daily. Vitamin C itself can be found in several plant-based foods, including citrus fruits, black currants and parsley. Simply eating vitamin C-rich foods as part of a balanced diet should keep one’s vitamin C levels within the normal range.
 
 
Red meat consumption linked to earlier onset of girls' menstrual cycles
University of Michigan, March 10, 2021 
Girls who eat red meat often start their periods on average five months earlier than those who don't.
Conversely, girls who consume fatty fish like tuna and sardines more than once a week have their first menstrual cycle, or menarche, significantly later than those who eat it once a month or less, according to research by the University of Michigan.
The investigators from the U-M School of Public Health measured the usual diet of 456 girls 5-to-12 years old in Bogota, Colombia, before they had started menstruating. The girls were then followed for just under six years. During this time, they were asked whether they had had their first period. The girls were part of the Bogota School Children Cohort, a longitudinal research project that has examined many issues of nutrition and health.
Red meat consumed by the girls ranged from less than four times a week to twice a day. The girls who ate the most red meat started their periods at a median age of 12 years 3 months, whereas those who ate it less frequently started at 12 years 8 months. Those who ate fatty fish most frequently began at 12 years 6 months.
Five months may not sound like a lot but it is a significant number when talking about a population study, the researchers said.
"It is an important difference because it is associated with the risk of disease later in life," said first author Erica Jansen, a doctoral candidate in the U-M School of Public Health. "It is significant because few dietary factors are known to affect the timing of puberty. This finding may also contribute to explain why red meat intake early in life is related to increased risk of breast cancer later in life."
In addition to breast cancer, early onset of puberty has been associated with heart disease, obesity and type II diabetes.
"We cannot conclude that there is necessarily a causal role of red meat on onset of puberty from this study. However, there is a mounting body of evidence suggesting that excessive intake of red meat at different stages of life is related to a number of adverse health outcomes, especially to getting some types of cancer," said senior author Dr. Eduardo Villamor, professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health.
Villamor noted that earlier puberty also often results in other public health concerns such as earlier sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and alcohol and tobacco use.
Other studies have shown a link between consuming animal protein and advanced puberty, and examined the role of red meat on disease, but this is the first to specifically look at red meat intake in childhood and early menarche.
"Although animal protein intake during childhood is important for growth and development, some sources of animal protein may be healthier than others," Villamor said.
"We don't know what specific components of red meat could cause early menarche. It could be the protein or some micronutrients naturally present in red meat, byproducts that are created during manufacturing or packaging of cured meats or during cooking, or substances that are fed to cattle."
 
Mindfulness program in campus dorms, groups improved students' mental health
University of Washington, March 11, 2021
As experts nationwide point to a mental health crisis among teens and young adults, a pilot program teaching mindfulness and coping techniques to students at the University of Washington has helped lower stress and improve emotional well-being.
New studies by the psychology researchers who created the program find that the strategies, offered first in residence halls and later through classes and other organized campus groups, have provided participants with successful methods for coping with stress, managing their emotions and learning self-compassion.
Researchers say the results show the potential for preventive mental health services offered in an accessible, peer-group environment.
"This program is not a substitute for campus mental health services for students. But with a preventive program, our goal is to reduce general distress in college students and hopefully prevent need for increased or more intensive services," said Liliana Lengua, psychology professor and director of the Center for Child and Family Well-Being at the UW.
Recent studies of the program's rollout point to its success. Results from the program's first year, when it was offered in 2017-2018 in residence halls on the UW's Seattle campus, were published March 10 in Anxiety, Stress & Coping. Results of its second year, provided during the 2019-2020 academic year by trained university staff in campus settings such as classes and student organizations, were published Feb. 12 in Frontiers in Psychiatry. Student participants reported significant improvements in their psychological well-being that lasted three months after the sessions ended.
During the pandemic -- with millions of young people studying remotely -- the importance of teen and college student mental health has grown. According to the CDC, 1 in 4 young adultsbetween the ages of 18 and 24 has considered suicide in the past year, while separate studies of college students in recent months have found more than 70% report serious distress.
But even before the pandemic, campuses nationwide were reporting high levels of student stress and anxiety, with college mental health directors noting need for services that far outpaced availability. Academic demands, financial pressures, social tumult and, especially among first-year students, the transition to campus life all affect student mental health.
Against this backdrop, the authors decided to come up with a short intervention at the UW that would provide real-world coping strategies in an environment that students could access easily -- without an appointment or any fee, in the casual atmosphere of a group, and where they already live, study or socialize. The program, called Be REAL, or Resilient Attitudes and Living, combined traditional cognitive behavioral coping strategies -- such as planning, positive reframing and acceptance -- with mindfulness practices focused on regulating breathing, meditation and accessing feelings of compassion, tolerance and gratitude toward oneself and others. By having staff who are already working with student in various settings offer the program, it can potentially reach more students.
"The idea behind Be REAL was to have a new model to promote student well-being and mental health. Traditional counseling systems are unlikely to keep pace with demand, so we wanted to think of a program that could be delivered more broadly by nonclinical staff members," said Robyn Long, director of community programs and training for the Center for Child and Family Well-Being.
The first year, 208 students signed up for the program across three academic quarters. Facilitators trained in mindfulness techniques led six evening sessions at four residence halls. Among the more than 80% of students who attended the majority of the sessions, results from pre- and post-surveys showed significant improvements in mindfulness and self-compassion, greater resilience and lower stress. These findings held steady in a three-month follow-up survey of participants.
Those results led to the expansion of the program to other campus settings, with associated university staff -- from the recreation department, for example, as well as those connected to student organizations -- voluntarily trained in the Be REAL program. This approach aimed to reach additional students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in spaces they already frequent. Of the 271 students who enrolled in Be REAL programming, 116 agreed to participate in the study; more than half were students of color.
Researchers found results that were similar to the residence hall study, especially regarding stress and emotional regulation. In their comments on post-study surveys, students reported using meditation and breathing techniques to help focus or calm down, and developing habits to handle stress.
The results raised other issues that researchers are exploring further, such as whether providing the lessons in a class that students take for credit creates more of a perceived burden -- and thus, leaves less of an impact -- than sessions in which students simply choose to participate.
A new, ongoing study is examining how about 100 university staff from all three UW campuses, trained in offering the program remotely, along with still more students, respond to the techniques for improving mental health. Those results may suggest opportunities for students and staff alike to benefit from the strategies in a range of environments, on any college campus, and to possibly change a campus culture around supporting student well-being. The Center for Child and Family Well-Being is collaborating with the UW Resilience Lab to expand the program and facilitator training to staff.
"Expanding Be REAL to promote staff well-being and training is important because their work, especially with the pandemic, can be stressful," Long said. "They've even shared how the practices are shifting their interactions with children and loved ones at home. Our expansion of the program goes beyond individual well-being -- it's also about strengthening our community on campus."
 
Vitamin B12 reduces amyloid beta proteotoxicity
University of Delaware, March 11, 2021
 
According to news reporting based on a preprint abstract, our journalists obtained the following quote sourced from biorxiv.org:
“Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder with no effective treatment. Diet, as a modifiable risk factor for AD, could potentially be targeted to slow disease onset and progression.
“However, complexity of the human diet and indirect effects of the microbiome make it challenging to identify protective nutrients. Multiple factors contribute to AD pathogenesis including amyloid beta (A{beta}) deposition, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress.
“Here we used Caenorhabditis elegans to define the impact of diet on A{beta} proteotoxicity.
“We discovered that dietary vitamin B12 alleviated mitochondrial fragmentation, bioenergetic defects, and oxidative stress, delaying A{beta}-induced paralysis without affecting A{beta} accumulation. Vitamin B12 had this protective effect by acting as a cofactor for methionine synthase rather than as an antioxidant. Vitamin supplementation of B12 deficient adult A{beta} animals was beneficial, demonstrating potential for vitamin B12 as a therapy to target pathogenic features of AD triggered by both aging and proteotoxic stress.”
This preprint has not been peer-reviewed.
 
 
Study shows that inhaling a common manufacturing material – carbon nanotubules -- could inadvertently injure the brain
 
Virginia Commonwealth University, March 8, 2021 
 
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers in a multi-institutional collaboration are uncovering the degree to which inhalation of carbon nanotubes—a novel manufacturing material used to make anything from tennis rackets to spacecraft parts—could unintentionally cause neurological disease.
 
Carbon nanotubes are smaller than a human hair, but they are stronger than steel and are shown to effectively conduct electricity and heat. While these fibers have many practical applications, they should be handled with care by workers in the manufacturing sector, according to recent findings by Andrew Ottens, Ph.D., an associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology in the VCU School of Medicine; the Ottens Group research lab; investigators from the University of New Mexico; and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
 
With assistance from a $1.9 million four-year grant from NIOSH divided between VCU and UNM, researchers from both institutions have found that inhalation of carbon nanotubes causes inflammation in the brain. Previous research has shown that chronic neuroinflammation is linked to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia and hemorrhagic strokes.
 
"Inhalation-induced neuroinflammation is presently a hot area of study as a causal factor in the development of neurodegenerative disease, leaving open the possibility that working with these compounds and inhaling them may contribute to later neurological ailment," Ottens said.
 
The study's most recent findings were published in a paper this winter by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 
The neuroinflammatory effects of inhaled carbon nanotubes show close links between the respiratory and vascular systems, and the brain. Ottens and his partners concluded carbon nanotubes indirectly cause neuroinflammation by negatively impacting the lungs and blood. When carbon nanotubes enter the lung, the smallest fibers bury deep into the tissue. Researchers saw that similar to other irritants, the embedded fibers cause lung inflammation. What is novel about the study is that it expands knowledge of how lung inflammation caused by small particulates leads to neuroinflammation.
 
"There are many studies out there that conclude that you can get lung inflammation from breathing in particulate. It could be from the smoke of burning wood or consuming cigarette smoke," Ottens said. "The mystery was how this affects other organ systems such as the brain. That's what wasn't clear."
 
Ottens said other researchers proposed the particulate escapes from the inflamed lungs into the blood. It was thought this would damage blood vessels, leading to a break in the blood-brain barrier (a blood vessel lining that protects the brain from outside substances), allowing particulates into the brain. But this isn't completely the case.
 
Ottens and his partners demonstrated the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in animal test cases, but it wasn't caused by the particulate directly invading the brain. The researchers found the lung inflammation triggered a biochemical change in the blood, which caused the blood-brain barrier to open.
 
"The lung serves as a barrier, with our NIOSH colleagues showing that only 0.001 percent of inhaled nanotubes make it to the brain." Ottens said. "This raised the hypothesis that inflammation in the lung alternatively causes the release of bioactive factors into the blood, which then impact the blood-brain barrier."
 
Normally, very few substances apart from sugar and oxygen permeate the blood-brain barrier. When the barrier broke during the test cases, substances inherent in blood leaked into the brain, such as albumin—the most common protein found in blood. With the barrier disrupted, the brain's immune responses kicked into overdrive. Glial cells, which make up the brain's primary defense against biological threats, gathered around the leaky blood vessels to neutralize the threat.
 
While clean-up by immune cells is necessary, the associated neuroinflammation may become detrimental, Ottens said. Investigators have shown that such inflammation can prime the brain's immune cells to be more easily activated in the future, possibly leading to chronic neurodegeneration. It is this substantial inflammation that has researchers questioning the degree to which exposure to carbon nanotubes may lead to neurological disease.
 
To get a better idea about how carbon nanotubes impact workers, investigators are working to determine airborne levels of the particulate in manufacturing facilities. The team is also developing blood-based biomarkers that would gauge the biological response that an individual may have after inhaling the particulate matter.
 
"We hope that this study can contribute to thresholds and guidelines for the safe use of carbon nanotubes in the industry, and provide diagnostics to assess worker's health, for example, in case of an accident," Ottens said. "As a neuroscientist whose particular interest is toxicity pathways, it is very exciting to see the potential impact in terms of the safe commercialization of these materials and understanding the risk factors associated with different levels of exposure."
 
 
Diet high in healthful plant-based food may reduce risk of stroke by 10%
Harvard School of Public Health, March 11, 2021
Eating a healthy, plant-based diet that includes foods like vegetables, whole grains and beans, and decreasing intakes of less healthy foods like refined grains or added sugars may reduce your risk of having a stroke by up to 10%, according to a study published in the March 10, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found a diet high in quality plant-based foods may reduce your risk of having an ischemic stroke.
An ischemic stroke is associated with a blockage of blood flow to the brain and is the most common type of stroke. The study found no link between the diet and hemorrhagic stroke, which happens when an artery in the brain leaks blood or ruptures. 
"Many studies already show that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk of all kinds of diseases, from heart disease to diabetes," said study author Megu Baden, M.D., Ph.D., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, Mass. "We wanted to find out if there is an association between this kind of healthy diet and stroke risk."
The study involved 209,508 people who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. Researchers followed the participants for more than 25 years. Every two to four years, participants completed a questionnaire that asked how often, on average, they ate more than 110 foods over the previous year.
Researchers divided the participants into five groups based on the quality of their diet, specifically, higher amounts of plant-based foods, without excluding all animal foods. 
For example, people with the highest healthy plant-based diets had, on average, 12 servings of healthy plant-based foods like leafy greens, fruits, whole grains, beans and vegetable oils per day, compared to those with the lowest quality diets, who averaged seven and a half servings per day. When it came to less healthy plant-based foods, such as refined grains and vegetables with high glycemic indexes like corn and potatoes, the people with the healthiest diet had, on average, three servings per day compared to six and a half servings for those with the lowest quality diets. As for meat and dairy, the group with the healthiest diet averaged three and a half servings per day, compared to six servings per day for those with the lowest quality diets.
During the study, 6,241 people had strokes, including 3,015 who had ischemic strokes and 853 who had hemorrhagic strokes. The type of stroke was not known for the rest of the people.
Compared to people who ate the fewest healthful plant-based foods, people who ate the most had a 10% lower risk of having a stroke.
When looking at type of stroke, compared to people who ate the fewest healthful plant-based foods, people in the group who ate the most showed about an 8% lower risk for ischemic stroke.
Researchers found no difference in risk for hemorrhagic stroke.
Also of note, researchers found no association between a vegetarian diet and risk of stroke, although the number of cases was small.
"We believe those differences may be because of the differences in the quality of plant-based foods that people consumed," Baden said. "A vegetarian diet high in less healthy plant-based foods, such as refined grains, added sugars and fats, is one example of how the quality of some so-called 'healthy' diets differ. Our findings have important public health implications as future nutrition policies to lower stroke risk should take the quality of food into consideration."
A limitation of the study is that all the participants were health professionals and were predominantly white people, which means the results may not apply to the general population.
"Although the stroke type was not known in more than a third of the people with stroke, the consistency of the findings for lower risk of ischemic stroke and the lower risk of total stroke in those eating a plant-based diet--and since previous research shows that ischemic stroke accounts for about 85% of all strokes--these results are reassuring," Baden said.
 
 
Invasive weed may help treat some human diseases, researchers find
Hiroshima University (Japan), March 8, 2021
Native to the southeastern United States, a weedy grass has spread northward to Canada and also made its way to Australia and Japan. Andropogon virginicus grows densely packed and up to seven feet tall, disrupting growth patterns of other plants and competing for resources. When burned, it grows back stronger. There is no way to effectively remove the weed once it has invaded. But there might be a way to use it to human advantage. 
An international team of researchers has found that A. virginicus extracts appear to be effective against several human diseases, including diabetes and cancer. The results were published on Dec. 31, 2020, in a special issue of Plants, titled "Biological Activities of Plant Extracts." 
"A. virginicus is an invasive weed that seriously threatens agricultural production and economics worldwide," said paper author Tran Dang Xuan, associate professor in the Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering Program in the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Hiroshima University. "However, no solution efficiently utilizing and tackling this plant has been found yet. In this paper, we highlight the potential application of A. virginicus extracts in future medicinal production and therapeutics of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and blood cancer, which can deal with both crop protection and human health concerns."
Researchers found high levels of flavonoids in the samples they extracted from the weed. These plant chemicals have significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, according to Xuan. When tested against a variety of cell lines, the extracted plant chemicals bonded to free radicals, preventing damage to the cells. At skin level, this helps prevent age spots by inhibiting a protein called tyrosinase. Among other, deeper healthful actions, this bonding also helps prevent knock-on cellular actions that can lead to type 2 diabetes. 
The team also specifically applied the extracted chemicals to a line of chronic myelogenous leukemia, a rare blood cancer. The extract appeared to kill off the cancer cells. 
Xuan said the researchers plan to establish a comprehensive process to isolate and purify the compounds responsible for known biological properties, as well as work to identify new uses. They will further test the therapeutical effects of the compounds, with the eventual goal of preparing functional pharmaceuticals for human use. 
"Although A. virginicus has been considered a harmful invasive species without economic value, its extracts are promising sources of antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-tyrosinase, and antitumor agents," Xuan said.

The Gary Null Show - 03.12.21

Urgent Open Letter from Doctors and Scientists to the European Medicines Agency regarding COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Concerns
 
Dear Sirs/Mesdames,
FOR THE URGENT PERSONAL ATTENTION OF: EMER COOKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE EUROPEAN MEDICINES AGENCY
As physicians and scientists, we are supportive in principle of the use of new medical interventions which are appropriately developed and deployed, having obtained informed consent from the patient. This stance encompasses vaccines in the same way as therapeutics.
We note that a wide range of side effects is being reported following vaccination of previously healthy younger individuals with the gene-based COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, there have been numerous media reports from around the world of care homes being struck by COVID-19 within days of vaccination of residents. While we recognise that these occurrences might, every one of them, have been unfortunate coincidences, we are concerned that there has been and there continues to be inadequate scrutiny of the possible causes of illness or death under these circumstances, and especially so in the absence of post-mortems examinations.
In particular, we question whether cardinal issues regarding the safety of the vaccines were adequately addressed prior to their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
As a matter of great urgency, we herewith request that the EMA provide us with responses to the following issues:
1. Following intramuscular injection, it must be expected that the gene-based vaccines will reach the bloodstream and disseminate throughout the body [1]. We request evidence that this possibility was excluded in pre-clinical animal models with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
2. If such evidence is not available, it must be expected that the vaccines will remain entrapped in the circulation and be taken up by endothelial cells. There is reason to assume that this will happen particularly at sites of slow blood flow, i.e. in small vessels and capillaries [2]. We request evidence that this probability was excluded in pre-clinical animal models with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
3. If such evidence is not available, it must be expected that during expression of the vaccines’ nucleic acids, peptides derived from the spike protein will be presented via the MHC I — pathway at the luminal surface of the cells. Many healthy individuals have CD8-lymphocytes that recognize such peptides, which may be due to prior COVID infection, but also to cross-reactions with other types of Coronavirus [3; 4] [5]. We must assume that these lymphocytes will mount an attack on the respective cells. We request evidence that this probability was excluded in pre-clinical animal models with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
4. If such evidence is not available, it must be expected that endothelial damage with subsequent triggering of blood coagulation via platelet activation will ensue at countless sites throughout the body. We request evidence that this probability was excluded in pre-clinical animal models with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
5. If such evidence is not available, it must be expected that this will lead to a drop in platelet counts, appearance of D-dimers in the blood, and to myriad ischaemic lesions throughout the body including in the brain, spinal cord and heart. Bleeding disorders might occur in the wake of this novel type of DIC-syndrome including, amongst other possibilities, profuse bleedings and haemorrhagic stroke. We request evidence that all these possibilities were excluded in pre-clinical animal models with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
6. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds to the ACE2 receptor on platelets, which results in their activation [6]. Thrombocytopenia has been reported in severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection [7]. Thrombocytopenia has also been reported in vaccinated individuals [8]. We request evidence that the potential danger of platelet activation that would also lead to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was excluded with all three vaccines prior to their approval for use in humans by the EMA.
7. The sweeping across the globe of SARS-CoV-2 created a pandemic of illness associated with many deaths. However, by the time of consideration for approval of the vaccines, the health systems of most countries were no longer under imminent threat of being overwhelmed because a growing proportion of the world had already been infected and the worst of the pandemic had already abated. Consequently, we demand conclusive evidence that an actual emergency existed at the time of the EMA granting Conditional Marketing Authorisation to the manufacturers of all three vaccines, to justify their approval for use in humans by the EMA, purportedly because of such an emergency.
Doctors and Scientists Write to European Medicines Agency (EMA) Warning of COVID-19 Vaccine Dangers
Should all such evidence not be available, we demand that approval for use of the gene-based vaccines be withdrawn until all the above issues have been properly addressed by the exercise of due diligence by the EMA.
There are serious concerns, including but not confined to those outlined above, that the approval of the COVID-19 vaccines by the EMA was premature and reckless, and that the administration of the vaccines constituted and still does constitute “human experimentation”, which was and still is in violation of the Nuremberg Code.
In view of the urgency of the situation, we request that you reply to this email within seven days and address all our concerns substantively. Should you choose not to comply with this reasonable request, we will make this letter public.
This email is copied to:
Charles Michel, President of the Council of Europe
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Doctors and scientists can sign the open letter by emailing their name, qualifications, areas of expertise, country and any affiliations they would like to cite, to Doctors4CovidEthics@protonmail.com
Yours faithfully,
Professsor Sucharit Bhakdi MD, Professor Emeritus of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Former Chair, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Medical Doctor and Scientist) (Germany and Thailand)
Dr Marco Chiesa MD FRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist and Visiting Professor, University College London (Medical Doctor) (United Kingdom and Italy)
Dr C Stephen Frost BSc MBChB Specialist in Diagnostic Radiology, Stockholm, Sweden (Medical Doctor) (United Kingdom and Sweden)
Dr Margareta Griesz-Brisson MD PhD, Consultant Neurologist and Neurophysiologist (studied Medicine in Freiburg, Germany, speciality training for Neurology at New York University, Fellowship in Neurophysiology at Mount Sinai Medical Centre, New York City; PhD in Pharmacology with special interest in chronic low level neurotoxicology and effects of environmental factors on brain health), Medical Director, The London Neurology and Pain Clinic (Medical Doctor and Scientist) (Germany and United Kingdom)
Professor Martin Haditsch MD PhD, Specialist (Austria) in Hygiene and Microbiology, Specialist (Germany) in Microbiology, Virology, Epidemiology/Infectious Diseases, Specialist (Austria) in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Director, TravelMedCenter, Leonding, Austria, Medical Director, Labor Hannover MVZ GmbH (Medical Doctor and Scientist) (Austria and Germany)
Professor Stefan Hockertz, Professor of Toxicology and Pharmacologym, European registered Toxicologist, Specialist in Immunology and Immunotoxicology, CEO tpi consult GmbH. (Scientist) (Germany)
Dr Lissa Johnson, BSc BA(Media) MPsych(Clin) PhD, Clinical Psychologist and Behavioural Psychologist, Expertise in the social psychology of torture, atrocity, collective violence and fear propaganda, Former member Australian Psychological Society Public Interest Advisory Group (Clinical Psychologist and Behavioural Scientist) (Australia)
Professor Ulrike Kämmerer PhD, Associate Professor of Experimental Reproductive Immunology and Tumor Biology at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of Würzburg, Germany, Trained molecular virologist (Diploma, PhD-Thesis) and Immunologist (Habilitation), Remains engaged in active laboratory research (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology (Scientist) (Germany)
Associate Professor Michael Palmer MD, Department of Chemistry (studied Medicine and Medical Microbiology in Germany, has taught Biochemistry since 2001 in present university in Canada; focus on Pharmacology, metabolism, biological membranes, computer programming; experimental research focus on bacterial toxins and antibiotics (Daptomycin); has written a textbook on Biochemical Pharmacology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (Medical Doctor and Scientist) (Canada and Germany)
Professor Karina Reiss PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, Expertise in Cell Biology, Biochemistry (Scientist) (Germany)
Professor Andreas Sönnichsen MD, Professor of General Practice and Family Medicine, Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, Center of Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna (Medical Doctor) (Austria)
Dr Michael Yeadon BSc (Joint Honours in Biochemistry and Toxicology) PhD (Pharmacology), Formerly Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer Allergy & Respiratory, Pfizer Global R&D; Co-founder & CEO, Ziarco Pharma Ltd.; Independent Consultant (Scientist) (United Kingdom)
References
[1] Hassett, K. J.; Benenato, K. E.; Jacquinet, E.; Lee, A.; Woods, A.; Yuzhakov, O.; Himansu, S.; Deterling, J.; Geilich, B. M.; Ketova, T.; Mihai, C.; Lynn, A.; McFadyen, I.; Moore, M. J.; Senn, J. J.; Stanton, M. G.; Almarsson, Ö.; Ciaramella, G. and Brito, L. A.(2019).Optimization of Lipid Nanoparticles for Intramuscular Administration of mRNA Vaccines, Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids 15 : 1–11.
[2] Chen, Y. Y.; Syed, A. M.; MacMillan, P.; Rocheleau, J. V. and Chan, W. C. W.(2020). Flow Rate Affects Nanoparticle Uptake into Endothelial Cells, Advanced materials 32 : 1906274.
[3] Grifoni, A.; Weiskopf, D.; Ramirez, S. I.; Mateus, J.; Dan, J. M.; Moderbacher, C. R.; Rawlings, S. A.; Sutherland, A.; Premkumar, L.; Jadi, R. S. and et al.(2020). Targets of T Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus in Humans with COVID-19 Disease and Unexposed Individuals, Cell 181 : 1489–1501.e15.
[4] Nelde, A.; Bilich, T.; Heitmann, J. S.; Maringer, Y.; Salih, H. R.; Roerden, M.; Lübke, M.; Bauer, J.; Rieth, J.; Wacker, M.; Peter, A.; Hörber, S.; Traenkle, B.; Kaiser, P. D.; Rothbauer, U.; Becker, M.; Junker, D.; Krause, G.; Strengert, M.; Schneiderhan-Marra, N.; Templin, M. F.; Joos, T. O.; Kowalewski, D. J.; Stos-Zweifel, V.; Fehr, M.; Rabsteyn, A.; Mirakaj, V.; Karbach, J.; Jäger, E.; Graf, M.; Gruber, L.-C.; Rachfalski, D.; Preuß, B.; Hagelstein, I.; Märklin, M.; Bakchoul, T.; Gouttefangeas, C.; Kohlbacher, O.; Klein, R.; Stevanović, S.; Rammensee, H.-G. and Walz, J. S.(2020). SARS-CoV-2-derived peptides define heterologous and COVID-19-induced T cell recognition, Nature immunology.
[5] Sekine, T.; Perez-Potti, A.; Rivera-Ballesteros, O.; Strålin, K.; Gorin, J.-B.; Olsson, A.; Llewellyn-Lacey, S.; Kamal, H.; Bogdanovic, G.; Muschiol, S. and et al.(2020). Robust T Cell Immunity in Convalescent Individuals with Asymptomatic or Mild COVID-19, Cell 183 : 158–168.e14.
[6] Zhang, S.; Liu, Y.; Wang, X.; Yang, L.; Li, H.; Wang, Y.; Liu, M.; Zhao, X.; Xie, Y.; Yang, Y.; Zhang, S.; Fan, Z.; Dong, J.; Yuan, Z.; Ding, Z.; Zhang, Y. and Hu, L.(2020). SARS-CoV-2 binds platelet ACE2 to enhance thrombosis in COVID-19, Journal of hematology & oncology 13 : 120.
[7] Lippi, G.; Plebani, M. and Henry, B. M.(2020).Thrombocytopenia is associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections: A meta-analysis, Clin. Chim. Acta 506 : 145–148.
[8] Grady, D. (2021). A Few Covid Vaccine Recipients Developed a Rare Blood Disorder, The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2021.

The Gary Null Show - 03.11.21

The benefits of the Mediterranean diet pass on to the families of patients who follow it
Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (Italy), March 9, 2021
People living with a patient undergoing an intensive weight loss treatment also benefit from this therapy. This has been demonstrated by a team of researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM-Hospital del Mar) along with doctors from Hospital del Mar and the CIBER on the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), in collaboration with IDIAPJGol, the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), IDIBELL, IDIBAPS and the Sant Joan de Reus University Hospital. The study has been published in the journal International Journal of Obesity.
The study analysed data from 148 family members of patients included in the weight loss and lifestyle programme PREDIMED-Plus (PREVencióDIetaMEDiterranea Plus) over a two-year period. The researchers analysed whether these people also indirectly benefited from the programme, as they were not enrolled in the study and did not receive any direct treatment. PREDIMED-Plus is a multicentre study in which a group of patients follow an intensive weight reduction programme based on the Mediterranean diet and a plan promoting physical activity.
Weight loss despite not being included in the programme
The relatives (three out of four were the patient's partner and the rest were children, parents, siblings or had some other degree of kinship), lost an average of 1.25 kg of weight during the first year of the programme, compared to the relatives of the patients in the control group (those who did not follow the intensive treatment proposed by PREDIMED-Plus). This rose to almost 4 kg in the second year. These figures were better in cases where the family member ate with the patient and, above all, when it was the patient themselves who cooked.
The treatment, aimed at achieving weight loss in people with obesity and high cardiovascular risk by following the Mediterranean diet, "Achieved effects beyond just weight loss in the patient, and this extended to their family environment", explains Dr. Albert Goday, the principal investigator on the project, head of section in the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition at Hospital del Mar, researcher in the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar and a CIBERobn researcher. "The effect was contagious, in this context it was, fortunately, a beneficial 'contagion', resulting in weight loss and improved dietary habits." Dr. Goday points out that "among the many possible dietary approaches to weight loss, the one based on the Mediterranean diet is the most easilt shared within a family environment."
According to Dr. Olga Castañer, the final author of the study and a researcher in the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar and CIBERobn, the good results can be explained "By an improved diet, since the same contagious effect was not observed in terms of physical activity among the patients and their relatives."
Family members also showed increased commitment to the Mediterranean diet, according to a questionnaire assessing adherence to the dietary patterns of this regimen. But the same was not true in terms of physical activity. As Dr Castañer points out, "In addition to weight loss, there was greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet, which has intrinsic health benefits, such as protection against cardiovascular and neurodegenerative risks."
The results of the study "Demonstrate the contagion effect, the halo effect, of a treatment programme in the relatives of participants involved in an intensive weight loss procedure, as well as increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet", stresses Dr. Albert Goday. "The beneficial effect of the programme on one member of the family unit can be extended to its other members, which is extremely significant in terms of reducing the burden of obesity on the public health system", he explains. The family members not only lost weight but also improved the quality of their diet.
Effect of the programme on patients
The study also analysed the results of the PREDIMED-Plus programme in 117 patients. Compared to participants in the control group, they lost 5.10 kg in the first year of intervention rising to 6.79 kg in the second year. They also significantly increased their physical activity levels, as well as their adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
 
 
CBD reduces plaque, improves cognition in model of familial Alzheimer's
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, March 9, 2021
A two-week course of high doses of CBD helps restore the function of two proteins key to reducing the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and improves cognition in an experimental model of early onset familial Alzheimer's, investigators report. 
The proteins TREM2 and IL-33 are important to the ability of the brain's immune cells to literally consume dead cells and other debris like the beta-amyloid plaque that piles up in patients' brains, and levels of both are decreased in Alzheimer's. 
The investigators report for the first time that CBD normalizes levels and function, improving cognition as it also reduces levels of the immune protein IL-6, which is associated with the high inflammation levels found in Alzheimer's, says Dr. Babak Baban, immunologist and associate dean for research in the Dental College of Georgia and the study's corresponding author. 
There is a dire need for novel therapies to improve outcomes for patients with this condition, which is considered one of the fastest-growing health threats in the United States, DCG and Medical College of Georgia investigators write in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 
"Right now we have two classes of drugs to treat Alzheimer's," says Dr. John Morgan, neurologist and director of the Movement and Memory Disorder Programs in the MCG Department of Neurology. One class increases levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which also are decreased in Alzheimer's, and another works through the NMDA receptors involved in communication between neurons and important to memory. "But we have nothing that gets to the pathophysiology of the disease," says Morgan, a study coauthor. 
The DCG and MCG investigators decided to look at CBD's ability to address some of the key brain systems that go awry in Alzheimer's. 
They found CBD appears to normalize levels of IL-33, a protein whose highest expression in humans is normally in the brain, where it helps sound the alarm that there is an invader like the beta-amyloid accumulation. There is emerging evidence of its role as a regulatory protein as well, whose function of either turning up or down the immune response depends on the environment, Baban says. In Alzheimer's, that includes turning down inflammation and trying to restore balance to the immune system, he says.
That up and down expression in health and disease could make IL-33 both a good biomarker and treatment target for disease, the investigators say. 
CBD also improved expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, or TREM2, which is found on the cell surface where it combines with another protein to transmit signals that activate cells, including immune cells. In the brain, its expression is on the microglial cells, a special population of immune cells found only in the brain where they are key to eliminating invaders like a virus and irrevocably damaged neurons.
Low levels of TREM2 and rare variations in TREM2 are associated with Alzheimer's, and in their mouse model TREM2 and IL-33 were both low. 
Both are essential to a natural, ongoing housekeeping process in the brain called phagocytosis, in which microglial cells regularly consume beta amyloid, which is regularly produced in the brain, the result of the breakdown of amyloid-beta precursor protein, which is important to the synapses, or connection points, between neurons, and which the plaque interrupts. 
They found CBD treatment increased levels of IL-33 and TREM2 -- sevenfold and tenfold respectively. 
CBD's impact on brain function in the mouse model of early onset Alzheimer's was assessed by methods like the ability to differentiate between a familiar item and a new one, as well as observing the rodents' movement. 
People with Alzheimer's may experience movement problems like stiffness and an impaired gait, says Dr. Hesam Khodadadi, a graduate student working in Baban's lab. Mice with the disease run in an endless tight circle, behavior which stopped with CBD treatment, says Khodadadi, the study's first author. 
Next steps include determining optimal doses and giving CBD earlier in the disease process. The compound was given in the late stages for the published study, and now the investigators are using it at the first signs of cognitive decline, Khodadadi says. They also are exploring delivery systems including the use of an inhaler that should help deliver the CBD more directly to the brain. For the published studies, CBD was put into the belly of the mice every other day for two weeks.
A company has developed both animal and human inhalers for the investigators who also have been exploring CBD's effect on adult respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, a buildup of fluid in the lungs that is a major and deadly complication of COVID-19, as well as other serious illnesses like sepsis and major trauma. The CBD doses used for the Alzheimer's study were the same the investigators successfully used to reduce the "cytokine storm" of ARDS, which can irrevocably damage the lungs. 
Familial disease is an inherited version of Alzheimer's in which symptoms typically surface in the 30s and 40s and occurs in about 10-15% of patients. 
CBD should be at least equally effective in the more common, nonfamilial type Alzheimer's, which likely have more targets for CBD, Baban notes. They already are looking at its potential in a model of this more common type and moving forward to establish a clinical trial. 
Plaques as well as neurofibrillary tangles, a collection of the protein tau inside neurons, are the main components of Alzheimer's, Morgan says. Beta-amyloid generally appears in the brain 15-20 years or more before dementia, he says, and the appearance of tau tangles, which can occur up to 10 years afterward, correlates with the onset of dementia. There is some interplay between beta amyloid and tau that decrease the dysfunction of each, Morgan notes. 
The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to make a ruling by early June on a new drug aducanumab, which would be the first to attack and help clear beta amyloid, Morgan says.
 
 
1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D supports bone marrow stem cell proliferation
Cang-zhou Central Hospital (China), March 1, 2021
According to news originating from Hebei, People’s Republic of China, research stated, “Osteoporosis (OP) is a common clinical geriatric disease. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are widely applied in bone engineering. 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH) 2D) deficiency involves in geriatric disease.”
Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Cangzhou Central Hospital, “However, its effects on BMSCs differentiation and osteoporosis have not yet been elucidated. An OVX-induced OP rat model was constructed and treated with 10 mu M 1,25-(OH) 2D followed by analysis of bone mineral density and ALP activity. Rat BMSCs were isolated and divided into control group, OP group, OP rat BMSCs, and VD group (OP rats were injected with 1 mu M 1,25-(OH) 2D) followed by analysis of cell survival by MTT assay, Caspase 3 activity, type I collagen and Osterix expression by Real time PCR, Wnt5 expression by Western blot and TGF-beta secretion by ELISA. The bone density and ALP activity was significantly decreased in OP rats (P < 0.05). 1,25 (OH) 20 injected into OP rats significantly increased bone density and ALP activity (P < 0.05). The survival rate of BMSCs in OP group was significantly decreased and Caspase 3 activity was increased along with downregulated type I collagen and Osterix, TGF-beta secretion and Wnt5 expression (P < 0.05).”
According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Adding 1,25-(OH) 2D to BMSCs cells in OP group could significantly reverse the above changes (P < 0.05). 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D promotes BMSCs proliferation by regulating Wnt5/TGF-beta signaling, promotes differentiation into osteogenesis, increases bone density, and then improves osteoporosis.”
This research has been peer-reviewed.
 
 
High-fat diets can cause normal liver tissue to behave like tumor tissue
Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (Belgium), March 10, 2021
Normal, non-cancerous liver tissue can act like tumor tissue when exposed to a diet high in fat, linking diet and obesity to the development of liver cancer. The Laboratory of Cellular Metabolism and Metabolic Regulation headed by Prof. Sarah-Maria Fendt (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology), shows how the livers of mice on a high-fat diet used glucose in a way similar to aggressive cancer cells. This suggests that when the liver is exposed to excess fat, normal tissue could be primed to become cancerous. The study appeared in the journal Cancer Research.
Cancer and obesity
With global rates of obesity and liver cancerincreasing each year, understanding how excess fat availability can drive liver cancerdevelopment is important to understand how the disease starts and how it can be treated. To explore this, Prof. Fendt and her team tested the metabolic changes in liver tissue from mice fed a high-fat diet at an early time point when no tumors were present, and late time point when tumors had formed. They found that before there were any clues that cancer was developing, the liver tissue used glucose the same way that tumors would. This high use of glucose is one of the well-known hallmarks of cancer and is known as the Warburg effect.
After finding these early changes to liver tissue, they investigated what happens when tumors have fully formed. One way they measured this was to test sensitivity to glucose, which is usually cleared away quickly by the body but is impaired in obesity-induced diabetic animals.
Prof. Fendt describes what they found: "Strikingly, mice fed a high-fat diet who had a large tumor burden could remove glucose from their blood as easily as healthy mice despite being diabetic. Using state-of-the-art 13C6-glucose tracing technology, we could observe how glucose molecules are used in cells and tissues, and we found that that tumor tissue breaks down glucose in a consistent way, regardless of whether the mice were fed high-fat or normal diets."
Alternative pathways
These findings suggest that when cancer cells develop from normal liver cells, their metabolism consistently increases glucose use. Since a high-fat diet causes these changes before cancer is present, this may mean that—in a high-fat diet—non-cancer liver tissue could be more likely to become cancerous.
The team also looked into deeper mechanisms for this effect.
Dr. Lindsay Broadfield, one of the lead authors of the study, says: "We discovered that, before any cancer development, liver tissue exposed to high fat seemed to use an alternative pathway for fat breakdown in a cellular compartment called the peroxisome. Using cancer liver cells, we then confirmed that peroxisome metabolism increased cellular stress and glucose uptake."
Fat can be used by cells in several ways—for energy, to stimulate growth pathways, or to be stored for later use. The scientists used the Lipometrix lipidomics platform at KU Leuven to see if there was anything unique about the fate of fat in tumor cells and found that the fat species and content in tumor cells were indeed different from non-cancerous liver tissue close to the tumors.
 
 
For teens, outdoor recreation during the pandemic linked to improved well-being
North Carolina State University, March 9, 2021
A study from North Carolina State University found outdoor play and nature-based activities helped buffer some of the negative mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for adolescents. 
Researchers said the findings, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, point to outdoor play and nature-based activities as a tool to help teenagers cope with major stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future natural disasters and other global stressors. Researchers also underscore the mental health implications of restricting outdoor recreation opportunities for adolescents, and the need to increase access to the outdoors.
"Families should be encouraged that building patterns in outdoor recreation can give kids tools to weather the storms to come," said Kathryn Stevenson, a study co-author and assistant professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State. "Things happen in life, and getting kids outside regularly is an easy way to build some mental resilience."
In the survey, conducted from April 30 to June 15, 2020, researchers asked 624 adolescents between the ages of 10 to 18 years to report their participation in outdoor recreation both before the pandemic and after social distancing measures were in effect across the United States. They also asked adolescents about their subjective well-being, a measure of happiness, and mental health.
The findings revealed the pandemic had an impact on the well-being of many teens in the survey, with nearly 52 percent of adolescents reporting declines in subjective well-being. They also saw declines in teens' ability to get outside, with 64 percent of adolescents reporting their outdoor activity participation fell during the early months of the pandemic. Despite these declines in outdoor activity participation, nearly 77 percent of teens surveyed believed that spending time outside helped them deal with stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know that a lot of outdoor activities that kids engage in happen during school, in youth sports leagues or clubs, and those things got put on hold during the pandemic," said the study's lead author Brent Jackson, a graduate student in the Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program at NC State. "Based on our study, they were getting outside less - we think not being in school and having those activities really contributed to that."
When they broke down recreation by type, they saw participation in outdoor play activities such as sports, biking, going for walks, runs or skating declined by 41.6 percent, nature-based activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and paddling dropped by 39.7 percent, and outdoor family activities declined by 28.6 percent. In those early months of the pandemic, about 60 percent of teens said they were able to get outside once a week or less.
"We saw declines in all three types of outdoor recreation participation," Jackson said. "Nature-based activities had the lowest participation before and during the pandemic, which may point to the need for more access to natural spaces in general."
Results showed that well-being and outdoor recreation trends were linked, and the negative trends they saw during the pandemic for well-being and participation in outdoor recreation were seen regardless of teens' race, gender, age, income community type or geographic region. Kids who did not get outside as much saw declines in well-being, but those who got outside both before and during the pandemic were able to maintain higher levels of well-being. 
"This tells us that outdoor recreation can promote well-being for kids when it happens, and can potentially take away from well-being when it doesn't," Stevenson said.
Teens who had high rates of outdoor play before the pandemic were more resistant to negative changes in social well-being. Those who got outside frequently before the pandemic were more likely to experience a lesser decline in well-being, regardless of participation during the pandemic. And, for teens who were able to play outside or get involved in nature-based activities during the pandemic, their well-being was on par with pre-pandemic levels.
"Kids who were able to continue participating in outdoor play and nature-based activities had subjective well-being levels that were similar to what they were before the pandemic, but kids who weren't able to participate saw much greater declines," Jackson said.
The study's findings also point to strategies to help kids navigate future global stressor events, as well as the importance of ensuring access to outdoor recreation. They help define the risks associated with policies that reduce kids' ability get outside.
"Going outside and participating in activities that provide exposure to nature, physical activity and safe social interaction during the pandemic were really powerful in terms of improving kids' resilience," Jackson said.
 
 
Study finds two servings of fish per week can help prevent recurrent heart disease
McMaster University (Ontario), March 8, 2021
An analysis of several large studies involving participants from more than 60 countries, spearheaded by researchers from McMaster University, has found that eating oily fish regularly can help prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in high-risk individuals, such as those who already have heart disease or stroke.
The critical ingredient is omega-3 fatty acids, which researchers found was associated with a lower risk of major CVD events such as heart attacks and strokes by about a sixth in high-risk people who ate two servings of fish rich in omega-3 each week.
"There is a significant protective benefit of fish consumption in people with cardiovascular disease," said lead co-author Andrew Mente, associate professor of research methods, evidence, and impact at McMaster and a principal investigator at the Population Health Research Institute. 
No benefit was observed with consumption of fish in those without heart disease or stroke.
"This study has important implications for guidelines on fish intake globally. It indicates that increasing fish consumption and particularly oily fish in vascular patients may produce a modest cardiovascular benefit." 
Mente said people at low risk for cardiovascular disease can still enjoy modest protection from CVD by eating fish rich in omega-3, but the health benefits were less pronounced than those high-risk individuals. 
The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 8. 
The findings were based on data from nearly 192,000 people in four studies, including about 52,000 with CVD, and is the only study conducted on all five continents. Previous studies focused mainly on North America, Europe, China and Japan, with little information from other regions.
"This is by far the most diverse study of fish intake and health outcomes in the world and the only one with sufficient numbers with representation from high, middle and low income countries from all inhabited continents of the world," said study co-lead Dr. Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and executive director of the PHRI. 
This analysis is based in data from several studies conducted by the PHRI over the last 25 years. These studies were funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, several different pharmaceutical companies, charities, the Population Health Research Institute and the Hamilton Health Sciences Research Institute.
 
 
COVID-19 or something else?
Learn how COVID-19 symptoms compare to other illnesses, and when you should call the doctor.
Harvard University, March 10, 2021
 
Before 2020, you might not have worried much about a tickle in your throat or a little tightness in your chest. But that's changed.
Now even slight signs of a respiratory bug might make you wonder if it's the start of COVID-19, the illness that has become a pandemic.
How do you distinguish one illness from another? It's complicated.
"Many of the symptoms overlap. For example, it's very hard for me clinically, as a physician, to be able to look at someone and say it's COVID-19 or it's influenza," says Dr. Ashish Jha, former director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and now dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
Don't jump to conclusions if you start to feel sick. Learn the hallmarks of common illnesses and how they differ from COVID-19, so you can take the appropriate action.
COVID-19
COVID-19 is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by a type of virus (a coronavirus) called SARS-CoV-2. It's a cousin of the common cold, but its potential consequences are far more serious: hospitalization, lasting complications, and death.
Hallmarks: Loss of taste and smell (in the absence of nasal congestion), fever, cough, shortness of breath, and muscle aches.
Other potential symptoms: Sore throat, diarrhea, congestion, runny nose, chills, shivering, headache, fatigue, and loss of appetite.
Note: Some infected people don't have any symptoms of COVID-19, but they're still contagious.
Influenza
Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the influenza A, B, or C virus. The U.S. flu season typically lasts from October to March, but flu is present year-round.
Hallmarks: Fever, muscle aches, and cough.
Other potential symptoms: Sore throat, diarrhea, congestion, runny nose, chills, shivering, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite.
Different from COVID-19: Flu usually does not cause shortness of breath.
Common cold
The common cold (viral rhinitis) is an upper respiratory infection that can be caused by any of hundreds of different viruses (including coronaviruses or rhinoviruses). It's usually mild and resolves within a week.
Hallmarks: Congestion, runny nose, cough, and sore throat.
Other potential symptoms: Fever, muscle aches, and fatigue.
Different from COVID-19: A cold does not cause shortness of breath, body aches, chills, or loss of appetite, and it usually doesn't cause fever.
Seasonal allergies
A seasonal allergy isn't a virus; it's caused when the immune system responds to a harmless non-human substance, like tree pollen, as if it were a dangerous threat. Allergies are typically seasonal, lasting for weeks or months, depending on the allergen in the air (mold is the common allergen in the fall and winter).
Hallmarks: Runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, congestion.
Other potential symptoms: Loss of smell from congestion.
Different from COVID-19: Allergies do not cause fevers, coughing, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sore throat, diarrhea, chills, headaches, fatigue, or loss of appetite.
Asthma
Asthma is a chronic lung condition caused by inflammation in the air passages. Airways narrow and make it harder to breathe, which can cause concern that it might be COVID-19. "Asthma can be triggered by a cold or influenza, but it's a separate condition," Dr. Jha says.
Hallmarks: Wheezing (a whistling sound as air is forcibly expelled), difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and a persistent cough.
Other potential symptoms: A severe asthma attack can cause sudden, extreme shortness of breath; chest tightness; a rapid pulse; sweating; and bluish discoloration of the lips and fingernails.
Different from COVID-19: Asthma does not cause a fever, muscle aches, sore throat, diarrhea, congestion, loss of taste or smell, runny nose, chills, shivering, headache, fatigue, or loss of appetite.

The Gary Null Show - 03.10.21

Pfizer's History of Crimes and Misdemeanors
 
Richard Gale and Gary Null
Progressive Radio Network, March 10, 2021
 
 
Whenever it is necessary to make an evaluation of the efficacy and safety of conventional drug-based medicine, it is imperative to include the rising rate of iatraogenic injuries and deaths – medical errors – that has become the third leading cause of death in the US after cardiovascular disease and cancer. The majority of these deaths are caused by FDA approved drugs' adverse effects and when patients are prescribed multiple medications in the absence of thorough clinical research to determine the safety of their synergistic effects.  Consequently our health agencies' oversight and monitoring of drugs on the market is dismal and deadly. 
 
Among the top pharmaceutical companies whose drugs and products have most contributed to the nation’s iatrogenic epidemic is the $51 billion multinational behemoth Pfizer Inc, the world’s third most profitable drug maker. Pfizer is one of America’s oldest pharma firms, founded by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in a Brooklyn red brick building in 1849. The chemical company began to boom in the 1880s after becoming the leading manufacturer of the chelating, flavoring and preservative agent citric acid. With its expertise in fermentation chemistry, Pfizer later became a leader in the production of penicillin and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Today its 300-plus drugs are commonplace in American doctors’ tool kits: Zoloft, Zantac, Viagra, Enbrel, Flagyl, Lipitor, and several antibiotics. It is also a major player in the generic drug market and is rapidly becoming a leading vaccine maker with its pneumococcus vaccine (Prevnar) and more recently with its controversial mRNA vaccine against the SARS-CoV2 virus. In the irrational panic to quickly get a vaccine against the SARS virus to market, its Covid-19 vaccine was the first to receive emergency use authorization
 
Pfizer's legacy of lawsuits goes back to the late 1950s. According to the Corporate Research Project, it “has been at the center of controversies over its drug pricing for more than 50 years.” Back in 1958 it was charged by the Federal Trade Commission for price fixing and making false statements to dubiously acquire a patent for tetracycline. Two years later the Justice Department filed criminal antitrust charges against Pfizer’s board chairman and president John McKeen on the matter. Again in 1996, the drug company paid out $408 million to settle another lawsuit for price fixing and gouging pharmacies. In 2002, Pfizer was caught defrauding the federal Medicaid program for over-charging its flagship cholesterol drug Lipitor. Other similar charges include a $784 million settlement for underpaid rebates to Medicaid and $107 million fine for overcharging its epilepsy drug phenytoin sodium.
 
The company has even stooped so low as to engage in bogus advertising. Shortly after the Second World War, Pfizer created snazzy ads for the Journal of the American Medical Association for its antibiotic line. The ads included named physicians endorsing its drugs. However, according to a Saturday Review investigation, the doctors turned out to be completely fictitious.
 
As the company is positioned to earn $19 billon from its Covid-19 vaccine, at the same time it is legally battling against hundreds of lawsuits due to its popular heartburn drug, Zantac, being contaminated with the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), an “extremely hazardous” toxin used in rocket fuel and industrial lubricants. Although the FDA erroneously claims that Zantac’s NDMA levels are low, they have still been measured to be between 3,000 and 26,000 times higher than the FDA’s safety cut-off point. Another adverse effect of NDMA is hepatotoxicity leading to liver fibrosis and scarring.
 
According to the law firm Matthews and Associates, since “the history of Pfizer is rife with so much subterfuge and under-the-table dealing that the company will need all the help it can get to promote confidence in its hastily assembled Covid vaccine.” If the mainstream media were to honestly cover the NDMA trial underway and other Pfizer confrontations with the law, perhaps its vaccine would not be receiving such uncritical fanfare. There would be more scrutiny and warranted suspicion to question how Pfizer could have developed a truly safe and effective vaccine in such a short period of time.
 
In our earlier reviews of the criminal records of Merck and Johnson and Johnson, we did not find evidence of the depths of demented ethical behavior solely to manipulate its market control as we do with Pfizer. In fact, Pfizer seemingly is in competition to outdo notorious hedge fund vulture capitalist and underworld strategies to bully governments in return for securing supplies of its Covid-19 vaccine. For example, Pfizer demanded that Argentina pay the company compensation for any civil lawsuits filed against it. The government compromised and ruled that Pfizer would only pay fines for any negligence on the company’s behalf with respect to supply and distribution. But that was not agreeable to the vaccine maker. Instead it then demanded that Argentina provide its sovereign assets –bank reserves, military bases and embassy buildings – as collateral to secure vaccine supplies. 
 
In Brazil, Pfizer’s aggressive and malignant efforts failed. It demanded that the Brazilian government turn over a guaranteed fund deposited in a foreign bank account and that the government would waive its sovereign assets abroad. Pfizer also demanded that it not be held legally liable for any injuries or deaths due to its vaccine. Correctly, President Bolsonaro called Pfizer’s demands “abuse” and rejected the deal. 
 
If this gives the impression that Pfizer is a serial predator on poorer foreign nations, Argentina and Brazil are only the most recent examples. In 1996, the company conducted illegal experimental trials with an unapproved experimental antibiotic, Trovan, on Nigerian children without parental knowledge or consent. The case was not raised in a US federal court until 2001 after thirty Nigerian families sued. After 100 children were given the drug as guinea pigs, “eleven children in the trial died, others suffered brain damage, were partly paralyzed or became deaf.”  Nigerian medical experts ruled that Pfizer violated international law and the US federal case was eventually settled a decade later for an undisclosed amount. 
 
Pfizer’s dirty politics and mafia-like activity in the Nigeria scandal, reminding us of Monsanto’s sleazy schemes, goes beyond the dangers of an experimental antibiotic. Wikileaks made available State Department cables showing that Pfizer had hired spies to dig up dirt to frame a former Nigerian attorney general in order to get the lawsuit dropped. It also tried to shift the blame of the scandal on Doctors Without Borders by making a false claim that the non-profit charitable group was responsible for dispensing the antibiotic. 
 
Already in the US, thanks to Reagan’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Act, vaccine makers are off the hook for being held legally accountable for vaccine adverse effects. Now the company is demanding that other nations change their laws solely for Pfizer to secure maximum profits from its Covid vaccine. Pfizer’s actions are utterly parasitical. Nor should we forget that the development of its vaccine has largely been publicly funded. Its Covid vaccine partner Biontech received $445 million from the German government, and Pfizer has received almost $2 billion from US taxpayers as pre-payment for a vaccine. 
 
Pfizer’s leech-like behavior goes back even further. In 2003, after it appeared that Congress might pass a bill to permit cheaper prescription drugs in Canada for sale in the US, Pfizer attempted to change the rules of the game and demand Canadian pharmacies to order directly from Pfizer rather than wholesalers in order to dominate the market and interrupt the supply chain. 
 
Pfizer’s track record for fines and lawsuits for violation of its drug safety profiles and ethical marketing are equally damning. In 2009, it was fined $2.3 billion for what was then the largest healthcare felony settlement in US pharmaceutical history for illegally promoting its drugs, including its painkiller Bextra. $1.2 billion was just for the criminal fine; at the time, this was the largest ever imposed in the US for any issue. In 2011, it was found guilty of racketeering charges for illegally marketing its anticonvulsant drug Neurontin and paid $142 million. Three years later Pfizer was fined $430 million to settle criminal charges for bribing doctors to promote and prescribe the same drug.  
 
Nor should we ignore Pfizer’s dreadful environmental record:
1971 - Long time illegal dumping of a million gallons of industrial waste annually from its Groton plant into the Long Island Sound; 
1991 - A $3.1 million fine for refusing to install pollution control equipment in its Delaware River plant
1994 – A $1.5 million fine for illegal dumping at a toxic waste site in Rhode Island
2003 – Paid a $700 million settlement for dumping PCBs in Anniston, Alabama.
 
Now, we are facing the widespread distribution of Pfizer’s experimental mRNA Covid-19 vaccine wherein the trials to determine its level of safety and efficacy are still underway. It is still too early to make any determination of Pfizer having been engaged in any nefarious activities to get its vaccine rushed to the public. Impropriety and medical negligence so far lies on our government’s shoulders and our bought-off corporate media. Federal health agencies simply ignored their regulatory obligations and gave the vaccine a green light prematurely. Nevertheless, reports of injuries and deaths continue to mount and we will not have any sense of the full cost to human life and suffering from vaccine injuries for a while. In the meantime, China has suspended the mRNA vaccine after a flurry of deaths among Norwegian elderly. The Gibraltar Chronicle reported the deaths of 13 people within two days of receiving Pfizer’s vaccine and that number has risen to over 50 on the tiny island. Hundreds of vaccinated Israelis are still coming down with SARS-CoV2 infections after vaccination. The highly prestigious journal Science reported the growing concerns over the Pfizer vaccine’s polyethylene glycol nanoparticle and its relationship to the growing number of rare but serious allergic reactions and cases of anaphylaxis. And in a briefing document released by the CDC’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee gave warning that the Pfizer vaccine trials give indication of unusual and unexpected antibody responses, cytokine storms and pathogenic priming that give rise to critical illness and death. 
 
Therefore there is no evidence whatsoever that Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine can scientifically and consensually be ruled as safe. But as we have observed from Pfizer’s litany of criminal activities above, safety and effectiveness of a drug or product has never been a priority in the company’s executive office. 
 
All told, these examples of Pfizer's culture of greed, deception, political maneuvering and mafia-like tactics has collectively injured countless people. Pfizer is a global corporation. Its drugs, and now its Covid-19 vaccine are marketed globally. To better understand Pfizer, the company should be perceived foremost as a cash cow for Wall Street. Its prime directive is selling drugs; its history of misdemeanors and crimes should indicate the company holds no integrity or medical ethics with a sincere commitment to prevent and treat disease. For firms such as Pfizer, injuries and deaths are the necessary collateral damage of getting poorly tested products on the market and as fast as possible. In our opinion, a black box warning should be slapped on the Pfizer logo. And should we trust such a company with the potential to vaccinate an enormous percent of the world population with an experimental vaccine?
 

The Gary Null Show - 03.09.21

All Of Humanity’s Problems Are Caused By A Lack Of Awareness
Caitlin Johnstone
 
 
I write about humanity’s problems as a species in all sorts of ways in this space, but really if you want to get straightforward about things all we’re ever actually talking about here is a lack of awareness of what’s true and the need to eliminate that lack.
A lack of awareness is the source of all our major problems, whether we’re talking about war, poverty, ecocide, corruption, exploitation, authoritarianism, prejudice, or even much smaller-scale problems like abusive family dynamics or the psychological suffering of the individual.
If there were sufficiently widespread and penetrating awareness of the contributing factors in any of these problems, these problems would cease to exist. All you’d have left would be the odd natural disaster and the inevitability of sickness and death, which would also become far less problematic with the introduction of more awareness.
Yes, from a certain point of view it is true and accurate to say that many of our large-scale problems are due to the fact that humans whose brains lack functioning empathy centers are most well-equipped to manipulate their way into positions of power and influence, and that the amoral nature of capitalism ensures that it will be dominated by those willing to do whatever it takes to climb to the top. From a certain point of view it is true and accurate to say that our problems are caused by the fact that things like war, oppression, ecocide and exploitation will necessarily continue as long as our world is dominated by a system where those things are profitable and human behavior is driven by profit.
But it is also true that underlying every single part of the dynamics I just listed is a fundamental lack of human awareness.
Why are psychopaths allowed to manipulate their way into power and influence? Because people aren’t sufficiently aware that it is happening. Manipulation only works if its target isn’t aware that they’re being manipulated, whether you’re talking about individual manipulation or collective manipulation via propaganda. If people were able to clearly perceive abusive power dynamics, their awareness of what’s going on would render manipulation ineffective, and they would use the power of their numbers to dissolve those abusive power dynamics.
If people were sufficiently aware of what their government is doing, what oligarchs are doing, what banks are doing, what the military is doing, those power structures would be unable to operate in the way that they do, because a sufficient number of people would rise up collectively to stop them. This is why so much energy goes into protecting government secrecy, circulating mass media propaganda, promoting internet censorship and jailing journalists who reveal too much: they are preventing awareness of the truth from spreading so that they can continue operating in the darkness.
If people were sufficiently aware of the horrors of imperialist aggression and of how much military expansionism is costing them personally, they would never stand for it, and they would force it to end.
If people were sufficiently aware of the insanity of stockpiling armageddon weapons on our planet, nuclear weapons would be eliminated everywhere.
If people were sufficiently aware of how aggressively and unjustly they are being robbed by the ruling class, they would use the power of their numbers to take back what was stolen from them and create a more equitable system.
If people were sufficiently aware of what we are doing to our environment and what will happen to us in the near term if we don’t stop, ecocide for profit would cease to be an option.
If people were sufficiently aware of how much wealth, information and freedom is being taken from them every day for no other reason than to benefit the powerful, existing power structures would not be permitted to exist any longer.
If people were sufficiently aware of the way mass-scale narrative control is being used to manipulate the thoughts they think about their nation and their world, those narratives would no longer be imbued with the power of belief.
If people were sufficiently aware of how completely artificial our system of money and economics actually is, they would change it to a system that doesn’t let human beings starve and die for not having enough imaginary numbers in their bank account.
If people were sufficiently aware of the injustices caused by racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice, and sufficiently aware of the humanity possessed by those who are different from them, all the injustices and inequalities caused by those prejudices would dissipate.
If people were sufficiently aware of the cruelty and unsustainability of factory farming, new food systems would quickly replace it.
If people were sufficiently aware of the abusive power dynamics in their nation, in their community, in their family, in their interpersonal relationships, those abusive power dynamics would not be permitted to continue.
If people were sufficiently aware of their early childhood trauma and the inner conditioning patterns which were set in place within them to cope with it, they would heal that trauma and begin moving harmoniously in the world.
If people were sufficiently aware of the way their personal suffering is caused by harmful mental habits arising from false identity constructs, their personal suffering would cease.
All our major problems are caused by a lack of awareness and can be solved by an increase in awareness. This is why fighting propaganda, opposing censorship, protecting press freedoms and exposing the truth of what’s really going on in our world is so important. It’s also why inner work on bringing consciousness to our inner processes is so important. Expanding awareness, both inwardly and outwardly, is the most important thing that a human being can do in this life.
If we had such awareness collectively, our few remaining problems would be easy to address. Without a system where all the resources are sucked away from the most needful for the benefit of the most powerful, the sick could be far more effectively cared for, and natural disasters far more efficaciously responded to.
If we had sufficient awareness of what’s true, in ourselves and in our world, we would have paradise on earth. Psychopathic manipulators would be no more capable of operating in such a world than a predator covered in glowing neon signs and clanging bells would be capable of hunting. All dysfunction would be seen as clearly as a black smudge on a white tile, and addressed just as easily. From there, our potential as a species would be limitless.

The Gary Null Show - 2021International Women's Day

Gary takes on the real issues that the mainstream media is afraid to tackle. Tune in to find out the latest about health news, healing, politics, and the economy. Today is a special report on how the future is female. 

The Gary Null Show - Why Should We Trust a Vaccine from a Condom Maker?

Why Should We Trust a Vaccine from a Condom Maker?
 
Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD
Progressive Radio Network, March 5, 2021
 
 
For decades, according to a Guardian article, “consumers worldwide have named the $347 billion pharmaceutical behemoth Johnson and Johnson (J&J) as one of its most trusted brands.” From its humble beginnings in the 1880s, making cotton gauze dressings and eventually band aids, baby powder and shampoo, J&J  has expanded into one of the most powerful multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the world.  In 1959, it entered the world of Big Pharma as a leading player after succeeding in getting Tylenol approved as an over-the-counter drug.  Shortly thereafter J&J commenced with a flurry of acquisitions to increase its product line, which included Neutrogena, Cordis, DePuy, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Centocor.  Today, in most American home medicine cabinets one will find a popular J&J product:  Listerine, Tylenol and Benadryl, Neutrogena skin cream, Rogaine, Neosporin antibacterial ointment, or Destin to treat diaper rashes.
 
Now, people are eager for J&J’s “one shot and you’re done” Covid-19 vaccine despite health officials’ fears it may be less effective than Moderna’s and Pfizer’s mRNA competitors. Nevertheless, vaccination centers and pharmacies are racing to get their hands on the new adenovirus-based vaccine.  And as we will further note below, this is from a company that has absolutely no past experience in vaccine development and manufacturing. 
 
However, we need to seriously challenge J&J’s reputation. A 2019 report by the British intelligence firm Alva has noted that J&J’s reputation has sunk dramatically during the past years, from 9th place among 58 major pharmaceutical firms to 57th. Certainly, this is not a company with a clean ethical record.
 
A review of J&J’s rap sheet over the past three decades presents a dire and contrary image that should lead us to question the company’s claims about its Covid-19 vaccine given the lucrative market the pandemic has created for the most aggressive medical corporations. 
 
Similar to its equally over-sized competitors Glaxo, Merck and Pfizer, J&J too has had to pay out billions of dollars over the decades for civil settlements and criminal activities.  As the pharmaceutical giant receives applause across the mainstream media for the release and FDA emergency approval for its Covid-19 vaccine, Brazil’s Public Prosecution Service started an investigation into J&J’s antitrust activities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for “possible improper payments in its medical device industry.” This was part of an FBI bribery scheme investigation that included Seimens, General Electric and Philips acting as a larger cartel to illegally payoff government officials in return for securing contracts with Brail’s national health programs.  The charges also include price gouging, inflating prices up to 800 percent the market price to cover bribes. 
 
This is not the first time J&J has violated FCPA laws. In 2011, J&J was charged by the Department of Justice with conspiracy for paying off Greek doctors to advance its product sales.  The SEC also charged civil complaints. The company had to pay out a $70 million penalty for buying off officials in Greece, Poland and Romania. In 2010, an executive for J&J’s subsidiary DePuy was sentenced to a year in prison for corrupt payments to physicians within the Greek national healthcare system.  
 
As one of the world’s leading medical device companies, J&J has had its share of recalls for faulty products including contact lenses and hip implants  In 2013, it paid nearly $2.5 billion to compensate 8,000 recipients for its flawed hip implants  Again in 2016, another $1 billion was awarded to plaintiffs injured from this device.
 
One particular dubious activity the company became involved with in 2008 was to launch a “phantom recall.” When its Motrin IB caplets were discovered to not properly dissolve, it hired outside contractors to buy up store supplies in order to avoid making public declaration. No one would have known of this activity and it would have gotten past the eyes of FDA inspectors had the deception not been exposed during a Congressional investigation.
 
Other major J&J lawsuits and recalls for faulty products include:
 
1995 - $7.5 million fine for destroying documents to cover up an investigation into wrongful marketing of its Retin-A acne cream to remove wrinkles
 
1996 – An undisclosed settlement on false claims over condom protection claims to protect against HIV and other STDs.
 
2000 – J&J’s subsidiary LifeScan was found guilty for selling defective blood glucose monitors and failed to inform the FDA.  All total, $105 million was paid out. 
 
2001 – Paid out $860 million in a class action lawsuit for misleading customers about prematurely discarding its 1-Day Acuvue soft contact lens.  J&J recommended they should only be worn once although it was discovered the lenses were no different than the regular Acuvue lens that would last for two weeks
 
2010 - $81 million settlement for misbranding its anti-epileptic drug Topamax to treat psychiatric disorders and hiring outside physicians to join its sales force to promote the drug for unapproved conditions.  The following year, J&J paid $85 million for similar charges against its heart drug Natrecor
 
2011 – Several of its baby products were discovered to contain carcinogenic ingredients
 
2013 – The US Justice Department charged the company $2.2 billion in criminal fines for marking its autism and anti-psychotic drug Risperdal for unapproved uses. Forty-five states had filed civil lawsuits against J&J in the scandal
 
Risperdal is  horrendous drug that contributes to rapid weight gain and a condition known as gynescomastia, irregular enlarged breasts in men. Semmelweis reports that J&J’s subsidiary Janssen also had an aggressive campaign to market its use in children with behavioral challenges.  Other serious adverse effects from Risperdal reported by the FDA include diabetes mellitus, hyperprolactinaemia, somnolence, depression, anxiety, psychotic behavior, suicide and death. 
 
The company’s legal problems over Risperdal do not appear to have ended. In October 2019, a Philadelphia jury awarded a man $8 billion in punitive damages for failing to warn that the drug could cause young men to grow breasts. Other recent suits include litigation over its blood thinner Xarelto risks of internal bleeding, and a $775 million settlement to 25,000 plaintiffs. 
 
2016 -  Two women were awarded $127 million in damages for the talc in its J&J Baby Powder causing ovarian cancer.  Later, over 1,000 similar cases came forward. During the trial it was discovered that J&J suspected a link between talcum and ovarian cancer back in the 1970s.  A Missouri verdict fined the company over $4 billion but it was later reduced to $2.1 billion.  A New York Times investigation into internal J&J memos uncovered evidence that the talcum powder may have contained asbestos. These cases continue. In July 2019, J&J made efforts to dismiss 14,000 lawsuits over the talcum-cancer risk.
 
More recently, J&J has been in the spotlight for its role in contributing to the deadly opioid crisis.  The company holds the patent for a unique strain of opium poppy commonly named Norman. It is the leading provider of the opioid for Purdue Pharma’s painkiller OxyContin. An Oklahoma court ordered a $465 million fine. This opened the door for other states to follow suit.  To fully realize how insane the system is, the half a billion dollar civil fine was good news on Wall Street, which anticipated the verdict would be in the billions of dollars. Consequently, J&J’s stock rose 2 percent after the judge’s ruling.  And despite J&J being Purdue’s major supplier, and a major contributor in the US’s opioid epidemic, the latter was forced to file for bankruptcy due to mounting lawsuits for overdose deaths.
 
Finally, we might ask why a 140 year old company, with no history whatsoever in vaccine development, has now become among the heroes in the immunological war against Covid-19?  J&J is not a household name in the vaccine industry. It is utterly absent, let alone ranks among the world’s 20 major vaccine makers. Among the 53 vaccines for other infections approved and licensed by the CDC, not one is manufactured by the nation’s leader in mouthwash and baby powder.  It is therefore no surprise that the company had to partner with Merck to manufacture its Covid vaccine to meet demand. It has no history or expertise in this medical field. 
 
However, the Covid pandemic is a cash cow for the drug industry’s taking. Bernstein market analyst Ronny Gal predicts Covid-19 vaccine sales will reach $40 billion this year.  A more realistic figure is likely higher since together Moderna and Pfizer project their revenues at $32 billion. Then there are the other major vaccines by AstraZeneca, J&J and Novavax entering the competition.  According to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s vaccine research tracker, over 200 vaccines against Covid-19 are in development worldwide. It is an enormous pumpkin pie and everyone in the medical universe wants a slice from it.  So why shouldn’t we expect a non-vaccine player such as J&J to be eager to leap into the frenzy?  
 
Finally, there is a disturbing question that we have no certain answer for.  How is it that a drug and household health product company, with no prior history in vaccine development, can develop and rush to market its first vaccine against a viral strain that was only identified 14 months ago?  Developing a vaccine requires many years and necessitates the establishment of an R&D infrastructure vastly different than conventional drug development.  The other major companies developing Covid-19 vaccines have been in the business for decades. But not J&J. There is something more to this story that demands investigation.  And if the company’s long rap sheet offers any warning, it is that we must be wary of any claims J&J publicly states about the efficacy and safety of its products.  Especially when the pandemic promise to increase the profits of numerous shareholders. 

The Gary Null Show - 03.04.21

A new effect of red ginseng: suppression of lung cancer metastasis
KIST Gangneung Institute (South Korea), March 3, 2021
Red ginseng, which has long been used as an ingredient in traditional Korean medicine, has recently drawn increased attention as a functional material for its health-promoting effects. The composition and activities of red ginseng vary depending on the processing method, and this has become an active area of research. Recently, a research team in Korea has entered the spotlight as they discovered that red ginseng has inhibitory effects against lung cancer metastasis.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) reported that a joint study conducted by Dr. Jungyeob Ham from the Natural Product Research Center at the KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products and Dr. Hyeonseok Ko of Seoul Asan Medical Center revealed that two components of red ginseng, Rk1 and Rg5, can significantly suppress lung cancer metastasis.
Dr. Ham of KIST developed a new microwave processing method for red ginseng that is based on the same principle as a microwave oven, which when compared to existing processing methods, such as repetitive steaming and drying, increases the concentration of the three main active components, Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5, more than 20 times. The research team previously demonstrated that red ginseng produced by this microwave processing method, which they have called KMxG, is effective against prostate, cervical, and skin cancers, and has protective effects against by drug-induced kidney damage. This technology was transferred to Ponin Bio Co., Ltd. in 2020 for a technology fee of KRW 800 million and is currently being developed for commercialization.
Unlike normal cells, which die when separated from their original tissue, cancer cells can spread to other tissues where they invade and grow, in a process called metastasis. TGF-β1, a cytokine protein that functions as a signaling substance in the body, induces lung cancer metastasis and promotes the development of stem cell-like properties in cancer cells. The KIST research team treated lung cancer cells with Rk1 and Rg5, the main components of KMxG red ginseng and showed that both components effectively inhibited various processes related to cancer metastasis induced by TGF-β1.
"Although components of red ginseng previously have been shown to kill cancer cells, this study proved that these components of red ginseng have other anti-cancer effects and can inhibit lung cancer metastasis. This provides scientific evidence that may lead to the future development of anti-cancer drugs derived from natural products," remarked Dr. Ham. He added, "Because we can control the active ingredient contents of red ginseng by using microwave processing methods like the one that produced KMxG, it may be possible to develop customized functional materials for various diseases."
 
Intermittent fasting promotes anti-anxiety effects
Federal University of Porto Alegre (Brazil), February 28, 2021
According to news reporting originating from Porto Alegre, Brazil, research stated, “Anxiety disorders are linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and decreased neurotrophic support. Since anxiolytic drugs target mitochondria, non-pharmacological approaches to improve mitochondrial metabolism such as intermittent fasting (IF) may cause parallel behavioral benefits against anxiety disorders.”
Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Federal University, “Here, we investigated whether a chronic IF regimen could induce anxiolytic-like effects concomitantly to modulation in mitochondrial bioenergetics and trophic signaling in mice brain. A total of 44 Male C57BL/6 J mice (180 days old) were assigned to two dietary regimens: a normal, ad libitum diet (AL group) and an alternate-day fasting (IF group), where animals underwent 10 cycles of 24 h food restriction followed by 24 h ad libitum access. Animals underwent the open field test, dark/light box and elevated plus maze tasks. Isolated nerve terminals were obtained from mice brain and used for mitochondrial respirometry, hydrogen peroxide production and assessment of membrane potential dynamics, calcium handling and western blotting. We showed that IF significantly alters total daily food intake and food consumption patterns but not body weight. There were no differences in the exploratory and locomotory parameters. Remarkably, animals from IF showed decreased anxiety-like behavior. Mitochondrial metabolic responses in different coupling states and parameters linked with HO production, Ca buffering and electric gradient were not different between groups. Finally, no alterations in molecular indicators of apoptotic death (Bax/Bcl-2 ratio) and neuroplasticity (proBDNF/BDNF and synaptophysin were observed).”
According to the news editors, the research concluded: “IF exerts anxiolytic-like effect not associated with modulation in synaptic neuronergetics or expression of neurotrophic proteins. These results highlight a potential benefit of intermittent fasting as a nutritional intervention in anxiety-related disorders.”
This research has been peer-reviewed.
 
 
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and less sitting reduce the risk of diabetes in older adults
University of Oulu (Finland), February 26, 2021
According to a recent study, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and less sedentary time improve glucose metabolism and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults. Based on the results, it is important to encourage older adults to avoid sedentary time and increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to improve their glucose metabolism.
The study is part of the population-based Oulu1945 survey conducted in 2013–2015 by the University of Oulu and Oulu Deaconess Institute's Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Finland. The survey involved a total of 660 Oulu residents born in 1945 and between the ages of 67 and 69, at that time. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured with a wrist-worn accelerometer for a period of two weeks, and the glucose metabolism was examined using an oral glucose tolerance test. The subjects were divided into the following four profiles based on the amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary time: "couch potatoes," "light movers," "sedentary actives" and "actives."
"Active" older adults had a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes than older adults in the 'couch potatoes' profile, one in two of whom were found to have a glucose metabolism disorder. The blood glucose and insulin concentrations in the 'active' profile were lower throughout the glucose tolerance test compared to those in the less physically active groups. Older adults in the 'active' profile had a better glucose tolerance and muscle insulin sensitivity than those in the 'couch potatoes' profile, both clear signs of a reduced risk of diabetes.
"Previous surveys have suggested a link between older adults' physical activity and glucose metabolism, but the use of the accelerometer in studies involving older adults has been negligible. In this study, we were able to make a distinction between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary time through accelerometry and to then profile the subjects on that basis in different activity profiles. We analyzed the association between the physical activity profile and glucose metabolism, which is a new perspective. By the activity profiles, we can see that, from the point of view of glucose metabolism, physical activity alone is not enough: you should be active and potter about throughout the day," says researcher Miia Länsitie.
The risk of glucose metabolism disorders increases significantly in older age, making it essential to find ways to prevent diabetes in older adults. Based on this study, an active lifestyle, including moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and limited sedentary time, also promotes older adults' glucose metabolism and can play a significant role in preventing diabetes in older people.
"Older adults with long-term illnesses or functional limitations, who may find it impossible to achieve the recommended level of physical activity, should spend less time sitting down and more pottering about every day to enhance their glucose metabolism," Länsitie says.
 
The right '5-a-day' mix is 2 fruit and 3 vegetable servings for longer life
Harvard Medical School, March 1, 2021
 Studies representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide show that eating about five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in which 2 are fruits and 3 are vegetables, is likely the optimal amount for a longer life, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.
Diets rich in fruits and vegetables help reduce risk for numerous chronic health conditions that are leading causes of death, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Yet, only about one in 10 adults eat enough fruits or vegetables, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“While groups like the American Heart Association recommend four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables daily, consumers likely get inconsistent messages about what defines optimal daily intake of fruits and vegetables such as the recommended amount, and which foods to include and avoid,” said lead study author Dong D. Wang, M.D., Sc.D., an epidemiologist, nutritionist and a member of the medical faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Wang and colleagues analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, two studies including more than 100,000 adults who were followed for up to 30 years. Both datasets included detailed dietary information repeatedly collected every two to four years. For this analysis, researchers also pooled data on fruit and vegetable intake and death from 26 studies that included about 1.9 million participants from 29 countries and territories in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Analysis of all studies, with a composite of more than 2 million participants, revealed:
Intake of about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily was associated with the lowest risk of death. Eating more than five servings was not associated with additional benefit. 
Eating about two servings daily of fruits and three servings daily of vegetables was associated with the greatest longevity.
Compared to those who consumed two servings of fruit and vegetables per day, participants who consumed five servings a day of fruits and vegetable had a 13% lower risk of death from all causes; a 12% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke; a 10% lower risk of death from cancer; and a 35% lower risk of death from respiratory disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Not all foods that one might consider to be fruits and vegetables offered the same benefits. For example: Starchy vegetables, such as peas and corn, fruit juices and potatoes were not associated with reduced risk of death from all causes or specific chronic diseases.
On the other hand, green leafy vegetables, including spinach, lettuce and kale, and fruit and vegetables rich in beta carotene and vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, berries and carrots, showed benefits.
“Our analysis in the two cohorts of U.S. men and women yielded results similar to those from 26 cohorts around the world, which supports the biological plausibility of our findings and suggests these findings can be applied to broader populations,” Wang said.
Wang said this study identifies an optimal intake level of fruits and vegetables and supports the evidence-based, succinct public health message of ‘5-a-day,’ meaning people should ideally consume five servings of fruit and vegetable each day. “This amount likely offers the most benefit in terms of prevention of major chronic disease and is a relatively achievable intake for the general public,” he said. “We also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same degree of benefit, even though current dietary recommendations generally treat all types of fruits and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices and potatoes, the same.”
A limitation of the research is that it is observational, showing an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of death; it does not confer a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
“The American Heart Association recommends filling at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables at each meal,” said Anne Thorndike, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “This research provides strong evidence for the lifelong benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and suggests a goal amount to consume daily for ideal health. Fruits and vegetables are naturally packaged sources of nutrients that can be included in most meals and snacks, and they are essential for keeping our hearts and bodies healthy.”
 
Mechanisms through which melatonin prevents osteoporosis explore
Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (China), February 26, 2021
According to news reporting from Liaoning, People’s Republic of China, research stated, “Melatonin, secreted in a typical diurnal rhythm pattern, has been reported to prevent osteoporosis; however, its role in osteoclastogenesis remains unclear. In the present study, the ability of melatonin to inhibit receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis and the associated mechanism were investigated.”
The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from China Medical University, “Raw264.7 cells were cultured with RANKL (100 ng/ml) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF; 30 ng/ml) for 7 days, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining was used to detect osteoclastogenesis following treatment with melatonin. In addition, the effect of melatonin on cathepsin K and microRNA (miR)-882 expression was investigated via western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Melatonin significantly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in Raw264.7 cells. From bioinformatics analysis, it was inferred that nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group D member 1 (NR1D1/Rev-erb alpha) may be a target of miR-882. In vitro, melatonin upregulated Rev-erb alpha expression and downregulated miR-882 expression in the osteoclastogenesis model. Rev-erb alpha overexpression boosted the anti-osteoclastogenesis effects of melatonin, whereas miR-882 partially diminished these effects.”
According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The present results indicated that the miR-882/Rev-erb alpha axis may serve a vital role in inhibiting osteoclastogenesis following RANKL and M-CSF treatment, indicating that Rev-erb alpha agonism or miR-882 inhibition may represent mechanisms through which melatonin prevents osteoporosis.”
This research has been peer-reviewed.
 
 
Rhythm Of Breathing Key To Controlling Fear And Emotional Behavior
Northwestern University, March 2, 2021 
 
We live in a fearful world with exposure to a deluge of stressors every day. As much as fear is a result of reacting to the actual or perceived events in our lives, it is also a biological function of the human body, and when equipped with an understanding of how the body manages the emotional system, we can easily outsmart it, tricking ourselves into emotional balance.
This perspective is scientifically validated by new research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago Illinois, which discovered how the various rhythmic patterns of breath profoundly impact memory recall and the emotional body, specifically the fear response.
 
The brain creates electrical impulses which link physical functions to emotional reactions, and the electrical activity of the brain is deeply affected by our breathing patterns. The outcome of this balance is determined by whether or not we are inhaling or exhaling, as well as if we are  breathing through the nose or the mouth, as each variable creates a different electrical response within the brain.
 
In the Northwestern study, participants were shown images of human expressions, some frightful, while engaging in various patterns of breathing. Researchers observed that people more easily process fear, and more readily recall images, while inhaling through the nose.
 
One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation. When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system. ~Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study
 
The amygdala is decisively liked to the processing of emotions, especially those related to fear, while the hippocampus is strongly linked to memory recall, and the breath, which originates with the diaphragm, plays the critical role of regulating their function.
 
Breathing is modulated at the diaphragm, and it is also the location where many physical symptoms associated with fear and anxiety manifest. ~Brett Wilbanks
The differences in brain activity which occur during unique breathing rhythms were recognized by looking at brain activity during the introduction of fearful or surprising human faces, finding distinctively heightened activity during inhaling. Knowing this can be highly advantageous when you realize that your fear reaction is working overtime.
 
 
We can potentially use this fact to our advantage. For example if you’re in a dangerous environment with fearful stimuli, our date indicate that you can respond more quickly if you are inhaling through your nose. ~Christina Zelano
 
Furthermore, this further validates the importance of meditation, which commonly centers of developing control of the breath in order to quiet the mind and normalize physiological function in the body. The long-term results of a dedicated meditation practice include more stable and optimal emotional reactions to the world around us, indicating again that breathing is a critical component of living a fearless life.
 
 
 
Study: Diet high in poor quality carbohydrates increases heart disease and death
McMaster University (Ontario), February 28, 2021
A global study of people living on five continents has found a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates leads to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death.
The higher risks of a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates, called a high glycemic diet, were similar whether people had previous cardiovascular disease or not.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine today, is the largest of a geographically and dietary diverse population on this issue, as previous studies have chiefly focused on high income Western countries.
A total of 137,851 people aged 35 to 70 years old were followed for a median of 9.5 years through the Population Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study run by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.
The research team used food questionnaires to measure long term dietary intake of participants and estimate the glycemic index (the ranking of food based on their effect on blood-sugar levels) and glycemic load (the amount of carbohydrates in a food times its glycemic index) of diets. There were 8,780 deaths and 8,252 major cardiovascular events recorded among the participants during the follow-up period.
The investigators categorized dietary intake of carbohydrates depending on whether specific types of carbohydrates increased blood sugars more than others (high glycemic index) and compared this index to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease or death.
Those people consuming a diet in the highest 20 percent of glycemic index were 50 percent more likely to have a cardiovascular attack, stroke, or death if they had a pre-existing heart condition, or 20 percent more likely to have an event if they did not have a pre-existing condition.
These risks were also higher among those people who were obese.
"I have been studying the impact of high glycemic diets for many decades, and this study ratifies that the consumption of high amounts of poor quality carbohydrates is an issue worldwide," said first author David Jenkins, professor of nutritional sciences and medicine at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, who is also a scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.
"PURE study papers have already indicated that not all carbohydrates foods are the same. Diets high in poor quality carbohydrates are associated with reduced longevity, while diets rich in high quality carbohydrates such as fruit, vegetables and legumes have beneficial effects," he said.
PHRI research investigator Mahshid Dehghan added: "This study also makes it clear that among a diverse population, a diet low in both its glycemic index and load has a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death."
Most fruits, vegetables, beans, and intact whole grains have a low glycemic index, while white bread, rice, and potatoes have a high glycemic index.
"The present data, along with prior publications from the PURE and several other studies, emphasize that consumption of poor quality of carbohydrates are likely to be more adverse than the consumption of most fats in the diet," said Salim Yusuf, senior author of the study.
"This calls for a fundamental shift in our thinking of what types of diet are likely to be harmful and what types neutral or beneficial."
Yusuf is also the principal investigator of the PURE study, executive director of the PHRI, and a professor of medicine at McMaster.