The Gary Null Show - 09.30.21

German Neurologist On Face Masks: ‘Oxygen Deprivation Causes Permanent Neurological Damage’

VIDEOS 

The Gary Null Show - 09.29.21

Dane Wigington is a geoengineering scientist with a background in solar energy who is highly regarded as one of the foremost experts and commentators on stratospheric aerosol geoengineering and solar radiation management.   Dane is a former employee at Bechtel Power Corporation and worked on the first commercial solar plants in the United States.  As a climate researcher, he has been studying anthropocentric climate change, geoengineering technology and operations for 15 years.  He has appeared  in many documentary films and public appearances educating the public about the adverse effects of weather modification. Earlier this year, Dane released his groundbreaking documentary "The Dimming" -- which  exposes global weather intervention and engineering operations and their observable consequences. Dane hosts the weekly radio broadcast Global Alert News every Wednesday at 2 pm Eastern Time on the Progressive Radio Network and directs the website GeoEngineeringWatch. org for the latest updates and commentaries on geoengineering science and its adverse effects.

The Gary Null Show - 09.28.21

Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish -- and how current education culture works against them. In a funny, stirring talk he tells us how to get out of the educational "death valley" we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

The Gary Null Show - 09.27.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.24.21

Mass Incarceration:  The civil rights issue of our time

Chris Hedges is one of our nation’s most insightful cultural critics, social and political activists and investigative journalists. He is also Presbyterian minister and a visiting university lecturer. For two decades Chris was a foreign correspondent in war zones and conflicts in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans, having reported for The New York Times and other news outlets from over 50 countries.  While at the Times, he received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on global terrorism. That same year he received Amnesty International’s Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.   Chris has authored many bestselling books. His most recent  book will be released shortly -- “Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison” --  a heart-rendering account of Chris' eight years as a humanities teacher in the East Jersey State Prison in Rahway and the stories and insights about the internal transformation of his student inmates who had spent years in maximum security prisons for severe crimes, including murder. Chris hosts the weekly TV program “On Contact,” with interviews prominent dissidents ignored by the media. It  airs every Saturday on Russian TV at RT.com   And his website is ChrisLHedges.com

The Gary Null Show - 09.23.21

Todays Videos 

The Gary Null Show - 09.22.21

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The Gary Null Show - 09.21.21

The Gary Null Show Notes – 09.21.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.20.21

LISTEN LIVE NUMBER: 1-717-734-6955

The Gary Null Show - 09.17.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.16.21

Virologists reveal how poor man’s amino acid cure for COVID-19 would abolish need for vaccines

Bio-Virus Research Inc (Nevada), September 15, 2021

A natural cure for COVID-19 that is widely available and affordable for even the poorest of people on the planet has been confirmed by a team of virologists who have spent a lifetime studying the underlying causes of viral infections.

Backed by decades of research and safety data for herpes-family viruses, U.S.-based researchers at Bio-Virus Research Inc, Reno, Nevada, report on the successful treatment of the first 30 frontline doctors and nurses and a thousand-plus patients given the amino acid lysine to prevent and even abolish COVID-19 coronavirus infections at a clinic in the Dominican Republic.  Astonishingly, symptoms of COVID-19 are reported to have dissipated within hours of this natural treatment.

The medical staff at a clinic in the Dominican Republic was coming down with two cases of coronavirus per month before lysine therapy was instituted.

The virologists, Drs. Christopher Kagan, Bo Karlicki and Alexander Chaihorsky, strongly suggested the front-line healthcare workers embark on a daily regimen of lysine therapy due to daily exposure to the virus.  Their ground-breaking report is published online at ResearchGate.net.

Arginine/lysine balance

Lysine therapy interrupts the replication of viruses, including COVID-19 coronavirus, by countering arginine, an amino acid that fosters the eruption of dormant viruses.  Lysine has been safely used for decades to quell herpes virus outbreaks that cause cold sores on the lips (herpes labialis), a treatment pioneered by one of the Bio-Virus Research team members in 1974.

Lysine is available in foods and in concentrated form in inexpensive dietary supplements (250 500-milligram lysine tablets can be purchased for under $5 US or 2-cents per tablet), making affordable lysine therapy possible.

Lysine/arginine imbalance would explain why patients who have been infected with COVID-19 have recurrent infections, even after vaccination.

Lysine Rx in Dominican Republic

The daily therapeutic supplement regimen for the medical staff in the Dominican Republic consisted of 2000 milligrams of lysine capsules along with restricted dietary consumption of arginine-rich foods such as nuts, chocolate, orange juice, pumpkin, sesame seeds, wheat germ.

The Bio-Virus Research team found doses of supplemental lysine up to 4000 milligrams to be safe and effective.

Foods that have a high ratio of lysine over arginine such as eggs, tofu, fish (not raw), sardines, cheese, meats such as pork, poultry and red meat, and yogurt) provide a high ratio of lysine over arginine, thus blocking replication of all coronaviruses including COVID-19.

According to the virologists who were interviewed by this reporter, over 1000 patients have now been successfully treated with surprisingly rapid dissolution of symptoms and return to health.  Even severely infected COVID-19 patients have been able to come off the ventilator with lysine therapy, say doctors.

Third-party validation for lysine therapy

Writing in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases another research team based in New York and Texas reports that arginine depletion is a strategy to quell both coronaviruses and other herpes family viruses.

In 2016 researchers documented that lysine impairs the growth of coronaviruses in a lab dish.

The Bio-Virus Research team are not loners nor out on a scientific limb.  A report, published in the Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals, is what prompted to the current discovery that was put into clinical practice in the Dominican Republic.  The science was in place prior to the announcement a mutated coronavirus was sweeping the globe which no one had immunity towards.

Dietary intake

The Recommended Daily dietary intake of lysine is 2660 milligrams for a 154-lb (70 kilogram) adult; 3640 milligrams during pregnancy.

Dietary intake of lysine in western populations ranges from 40-180 milligrams per day per kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of body weight, or 2800-12,600 milligrams for a 154 lb. (70 kilogram) adult.

It is the balance of arginine to lysine that controls the eruption of dormant viruses in the body.  The average intake of arginine is estimated to be 4000-6000 milligrams per day.

Other health benefits

Supplemental lysine also has other health benefits.  Lysine increases absorption of calcium, relieves bouts of anxiety, promotes wound healing, and is helpful for other conditions.  Cholesterol is deposited in binding sites within coronary arteries.  When lysine (and vitamin C) occupy those binding sites, cholesterol is not deposited in arteries.

Prevalence of herpes viral infections

Worldwide many billions of people harbor dormant herpes viruses that erupt into disease from time to time.  In 2016 an estimated 3.7 billion people had herpes simplex virus infection– around 66.6% of the world’s population aged 0 to 49.

Availability of lysine

Lysine is largely produced by the tons for animal feedstuffs.  Roughly 2,200,000 tons of lysine are produced annually.  There is no shortage.

Billions may benefit

The most frequent medical application of lysine therapy has been the quelling of active herpes infections (on skin, lips, etc.), and eradication of Epstein-Barr infection, Bell’s palsy, etc.

Researchers bemoan the fact that lysine therapy hasn’t become a mainstay in the treatment of herpes infections that affect ~80% of the world’s population over expensive and problematic anti-viral drugs because it doesn’t generate sufficient profit to attract funding for human clinical trials.  Lysine is superior to various anti-viral drugs.

If lysine lives up to its promise as a universal COVID-19 antidote for therapeutic and preventive use, unless billionaire Bill Gates buys up and mothballs all the lysine production plants in the world like he has bought off agricultural land, and bought off news media, vaccine makers and politicians, the need for vaccines will become a moot and meaningless practice for COVID-19.

Because of the long-term safety record of this dietary amino acid, the public can take lysine as a non-prescription preventive “medicine.”

Epidemiologists baffled by low rate of coronavirus infections in India

Despite its large population and poor sanitation, disease trackers are baffled by India’s low rate of coronavirus infections.  Maybe it is India’s lysine-rich diet of yogurt, lamb, chicken, fish curry that protects its population from viral disease.  The striking difference in the country-to-country prevalence of Herpes Simplex-2 infections (only 9.6% in South East Asian countries and 10.7% in Europe vs. 24.0% in the Americas and 43.9% in Africa) could be explained by the lysine/arginine ratio in native diets.

Treat the severely ill; skip the problematic vaccines

Vaccination is not fool proof.  Vaccinated patients are testing positive for COVID-19.  Doctors can choose to treat the 3 in 10,000 COVID-19 severely infected patients who are at risk for a mortal outcome with lysine rather than needlessly vaccinate billions of people.  Mass vaccination would not be needed, nor would lockdowns, quarantines and questionable mass face mask use be required.  The pandemic would be rapidly extinguished by a public information campaign regarding lysine-rich foods and dietary supplements.  The public can take action on its own today without adverse consequences.  Literally, trillions of dollars would be saved worldwide.  If not for COVID-19, at least for herpes infections.

The shame is on the World Health Organization with a budget of $8.482 billion or the Centers For Disease Control with a budget of $7.875 billion that overlook safe and economical cures like lysine.  This report serves as evidence the world is being gamed to plunder the masses of their health and wealth.  The people of the world need to stop heeding advice from public health officials and practice preventive medicine on their own volition.

There is additional evidence that lysine also halts the growth of influenza and coxsackie viruses.

Further research

Researchers at Bio-Virus Research Inc. are searching for research funds to further document the benefits of lysine therapy. 

Omega-3 and Omega-6 supplement improves reading for children

University of Gothenburg, Sweden - September 14, 2021 

Supplement of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may improve reading skills of mainstream schoolchildren, according to a new study from Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Children with attention problems, in particular, may be helped in their reading with the addition of these fatty acids.

The study included 154 schoolchildren from western Sweden in grade 3, between nine and ten years old. The children took a computer-based test (known as the Logos test) that measured their reading skills in a variety of ways, including reading speed, ability to read nonsense words and vocabulary.

The children were randomly assigned to receive either capsules with omega-3 and omega-6, or identical capsules that contained a placebo (palm oil) for 3 months. The children, parents and researchers did not learn until the study was completed which children had received fatty acids and which had received the placebo. After three months, all children received real omega-3/6 capsules for the final three months of the study.

"Even after three months, we could see that the children's reading skills improved with the addition of fatty acids, compared with those who received the placebo. This was particularly evident in the ability to read a nonsense word aloud and pronounce it correctly (phonologic decoding), and the ability to read a series of letters quickly (visual analysis time)," says Mats Johnson, who is chief physician and researcher at the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

No children diagnosed with ADHD were included in the study, but with the help of the children's parents, the researchers could identify children who had milder attention problems. These children attained even greater improvements in several tests, including faster reading already after three months of receiving fatty acid supplements.

Polyunsaturated fats and their role in children's learning and behavior is a growing research area.

"Our modern diet contains relatively little omega-3, which it is believed to have a negative effect on our children when it comes to learning, literacy and attention," says Mats Johnson. "The cell membranes in the brain are largely made up of polyunsaturated fats, and there are studies that indicate that fatty acids are important for signal transmission between nerve cells and the regulation of signaling systems in the brain."

Previous studies in which researchers examined the effect of omega-3 as a supplement for mainstream schoolchildren have not shown positive results, something Mats Johnson believes may depend on how these studies were organized and what combination and doses of fatty acids were used. This is the first double-blind, placebo-controlled study showing that omega-3/6 improves reading among mainstream schoolchildren.

"Our study suggests that children could benefit from a dietary supplement with a special formula. To be more certain about the results, they should also be replicated in other studies," says Mats Johnson.

The article Omega 3/6 fatty acids for reading in children: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 9-year-old mainstream schoolchildren in Sweden was published by The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 

Elevated stress hormones linked to higher risk of high blood pressure and heart events

Kyoto University (Japan) & University of California at Los Angeles, Sept. 13, 2021 

Adults with normal blood pressure and high levels of stress hormones were more likely to develop high blood pressure and experience cardiovascular events compared to those who had lower stress hormone levels, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

Studies have shown that cumulative exposure to daily stressors and exposure to traumatic stress can increase cardiovascular disease risk. A growing body of research refers to the mind-heart-body connection, which suggests a person’s mind can positively or negatively affect cardiovascular health, cardiovascular risk factors and risk for cardiovascular disease events, as well as cardiovascular prognosis over time.

“The stress hormones norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and cortisol can increase with stress from life events, work, relationships, finances and more. And we confirmed that stress is a key factor contributing to the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular events,” said study author Kosuke Inoue, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of social epidemiology at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. Inoue also is affiliated with the department of epidemiology at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Previous research focused on the relationship between stress hormone levels and hypertension or cardiovascular events in patients with existing hypertension. However, studies looking at adults without hypertension were lacking,” Inoue said. “It is important to examine the impact of stress on adults in the general population because it provides new information about whether routine measurement of stress hormones needs to be considered to prevent hypertension and CVD events.”

Study subjects were part of the MESA Stress 1 study, a substudy of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a large study of atherosclerosis risk factors among more than 6,000 men and women from six U.S. communities. As part of MESA exams 3 and 4 (conducted between July 2004 and October 2006), white, Black and Hispanic participants with normal blood pressure from the New York and Los Angeles sites were invited to participate in the substudy MESA Stress 1. In this substudy, researchers analyzed levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and cortisol – hormones that respond to stress levels. Hormone levels were measured in a 12-hour overnight urine test. The substudy included 412 adults ages 48 to 87 years. About half were female, 54% were Hispanic, 22% were Black and 24% were white.

Participants were followed for three more visits (between September 2005 and June 2018) for development of hypertension and cardiovascular events such as chest pain, the need for an artery-opening procedure, or having a heart attack or stroke.

Norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine are molecules known as catecholamines that maintain stability throughout the autonomic nervous system—the system that regulates involuntary body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Cortisol is a steroid hormone released when one experiences stress and is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which modulates stress response. 

“Although all of these hormones are produced in the adrenal gland, they have different roles and mechanisms to influence the cardiovascular system, so it is important to study their relationship with hypertension and cardiovascular events, individually,” Inoue said. 

Their analysis of the relationship between stress hormones and development of atherosclerosis found:

• Over a median of 6.5-year follow-up period, every time the levels of the four stress hormones doubled was associated with a 21-31% increase in the risk of developing hypertension.
• During a median of 11.2-years of follow-up, there was a 90% increased risk of cardiovascular events with each doubling of cortisol levels. There was no association between cardiovascular events and catecholamines.

“It is challenging to study psychosocial stress since it is personal, and its impact varies for each individual. In this research, we used a noninvasive measure — a single urine test — to determine whether such stress might help identify people in need of additional screening to prevent hypertension and possibly cardiovascular events,” Inoue said.

"The next key research question is whether and in which populations increased testing of stress hormones could be helpful. Currently, these hormones are measured only when hypertension with an underlying cause or other related diseases are suspected. However, if additional screening could help prevent hypertension and cardiovascular events, we may want to measure these hormone levels more frequently.”

A limitation of the study is that it did not include people who had hypertension at the study’s start, which would have resulted in a larger study population. Another limitation is that researchers measured stress hormones via a urine test only, and no other tests for stress hormone measurement were used.

Spirulina alleviates high fat diet-induced cognitive impairment via the gut-brain axis

Weifang People’s Hospital (China), September 9, 2021

Increasing evidence suggested that the gut microbiome-brain axis plays a critical role in regulating cognitive functions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dietary treatment effect of Spirulina platensis on learning deficits in high fat diet (HFD) fed mice and clarify the potential mechanisms via investigating the gut microbiome-brain axis. Dietary administration of 1% and 2% Spirulina platensis for 16 weeks significantly improved the spatial learning and memory performance of the HFD-fed mice in both Barnes Maze test and Morris water maze test. The Aβ accumulation, tau-hyperphosphorylation, and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus were significantly inhibited by Spirulina platensis. Spirulina platensis also abrogated HFD induced gut microbial dysbiosis and unbalance of gut microbial metabolites indicating its modulating effect on the gut-brain axis. This study provides further evidence for the application of Spirulina platensis as functional supplement for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Spirulina platensis was frequently used as both a food ingredient and a medical supplement to counteract various metabolic disorders worldwide. In the present study, we found that Spirulina platensis dietary supplementation significantly prevented the cognitive deficits induced by HFD- feeding in mice. For the first time, we identified the inhibition effect of Spirulina platensis on β-amyloid generation, tau-hyperphosphorylation, neuroinflammation, and the gut microbiota dysbiosis.

In conclusion, the present study proved the beneficial effect of Spirulina platensis on cognitive impairment in HDF-fed AD mice and cleared Aβ, inhibited tau-hyperphosphorylation, and ameliorated neuroinflammation in the brain. Spirulina platensis also abrogated HFD induced gut microbial dysbiosis and unbalance of gut microbial metabolites indicating that Spirulina platensis might ameliorated cognitive deficits through regulating the gut-brain axis (Fig. 6). This study provides potent evidence for the application of Spirulina platensis as functional supplement for treatment of AD.

Regular exercise may lower risk of developing anxiety by almost 60%

University of Lund (Sweden), September 13, 2021

A quick online search for ways to improve our mental health will often come up with a myriad of different results. However, one of the most common suggestions put forward as a step to achieving wellness—and preventing future issues—is doing some physical exercise, whether it be a walk or playing a team sport.

Anxiety disorders—which typically develop early in a person's life—are estimated to affect approximately 10% of the world's population and has been found to be twice as common in women compared to men. And while exercise is put forward as a promising strategy for the treatment of anxiety, little is known about the impact of exercise dose, intensity or physical fitness level on the risk of developing anxiety disorders.

To help answer this question, researchers in Sweden have published a study in Frontiers in Psychiatry to show that those who took part in the world's largest long-distance cross-country ski race (Vasaloppet) between 1989 and 2010 had a "significantly lower risk" of developing anxiety compared to non-skiers during the same period.

The study is based on data from almost 400,000 people in one of the largest ever population-wide epidemiology studies across both sexes.

Surprising finding among female skiers

"We found that the group with a more physically active lifestyle had an almost 60% lower risk of developing anxiety disorders over a follow-up period of up to 21 years," said first author of the paper, Martine Svensson, and her colleague and principal investigator, Tomas Deierborg, of the Department of Experimental Medical Science at Lund University, Sweden.

"This association between a physically active lifestyle and a lower risk of anxiety was seen in both men and women."

However, the authors found a noticeable difference in exercise performance level and the risk of developing anxiety between male and female skiers.

While a male skier's physical performance did not appear to affect the risk of developing anxiety, the highest performing group of female skiers had almost the double risk of developing anxiety disorders compared to the group which was physically active at a lower performance level.

"Importantly," they said, "the total risk of getting anxiety among high-performing women was still lower compared to the more physically inactive women in the general population".

These findings cover relatively uncharted territory for scientific research, according to the researchers, as most previous studies focused on depression or mental illness as opposed to specifically diagnosed anxiety disorders. Furthermore, some of the largest studies looking at this topic only included men, were much smaller in sample size, and had either limited or no follow-up data to track the long-term effects of physical activity on mental health.

Next steps for research

The surprising discovery of an association between physical performance and the risk for anxiety disorders in women also emphasized the scientific importance of these findings for follow-up research.

"Our results suggest that the relation between symptoms of anxiety and exercise behavior may not be linear," Svensson said.

"Exercise behaviors and anxiety symptoms are likely to be affected by genetics, psychological factors, and personality traits, confounders that were not possible to investigate in our cohort. Studies investigating the driving factors behind these differences between men and women when it comes to extreme exercise behaviors and how it affects the development of anxiety are needed."

They added that randomized intervention trials, as well as long-term objective measurements of physical activity in prospective studies, are also needed to assess the validity and causality of the association they reported. But does this mean that skiing in particular can play an important role in keeping anxiety at bay, as opposed to any other form of exercise? Not so, Svensson and Deierborg said, given that previous studies have also shown the benefits of keeping fit on our mental health.

"We think this cohort of cross-country skiers is a good proxy for an active lifestyle, but there could also be a component of being more outdoors among skiers," they said.

"Studies focusing on specific sports may find slightly different results and magnitudes of the associations, but this is most likely due to other important factors that affect mental health and which you cannot easily control in research analysis.

Gut microbes are key to health benefit delivered by hops compound

Oregon State University, September 13, 2021

The health-enhancing performance of a compound found in hops is dependent upon its interactions with intestinal microorganisms, new research by Oregon State University shows.

Understanding how xanthohumol, often abbreviated as XN, works is important for unlocking its potential to counter diet-induced obesity and the health risksassociated with a global obesity epidemic, including type 2 diabetes and liver and heart disease, researcher Adrian Gombart says.

"We showed that the gut microbiota are necessary for the beneficial effects of XN on glucose metabolism," said Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the OSU College of Science and a principal investigator at the university's Linus Pauling Institute. "There is an important interaction between the compound and the microbes in the gut that provides the benefits we see in our studies with mice."

Gombart led a team of 20 scientists from three Oregon State colleges in research that compared the glucose metabolism effects of xanthohumol on two sets of mice: "conventional" ones with gut microbiota, and those engineered to be "germ free," i.e. have no gut microbes.

Glucose metabolism, the body's ability to convert the sugar into fuel, generally suffers impairment as someone becomes obese, which in turn can lead to the person becoming more overweight. Faulty glucose metabolism also negatively affects brain physiology and is at the root of multiple medical conditions including diabetes and heart disease.

In previous studies involving mice, Gombart and colleagues found that XN improved the animals' health and changed the composition of their microbiome, the latter leading them to suspect that the mix of microbes played a role in XN's healthful effects.

"In this study, we fed mice either a diet low in calories, high in calories, or high in calories but supplemented with XN for 10 weeks," he said. "We found that only the conventional mice with XN supplementation showed improved glucose metabolism and that XN increased the relative abundance of three bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila, Parabacteroides goldsteinii and Alistipes finegoldii."

Gombart added that the study yielded some evidence that those three microbes are at least partially responsible for the health benefits associated with XN, but the entire microbial community may be playing a role as well.

"We can't rule that out," he said. "We know that XN needs the intestinal microbiota to deliver its benefits, and there are complex diet-host-microbiota interactions that bring changes in both microbial composition and functional capacity. Diet is recognized as a major force in shaping gut microbe composition, and future studies will look for insights into the various interactions at play."

Earlier mouse model studies by co-author Fred Stevens, professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the OSU College of Pharmacy and also a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute , have shown that XN, a polyphenol found in hops' cones, has a number of anti-obesity properties. It improves cognitive function and it suppresses weight gain associated with a high-fat diet, fat accumulation in adipose tissue and insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is when cells don't respond well to the hormone that allows for the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream. It causes the pancreas to make more and more insulin to keep blood glucose levels within a non-harmful range and is a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Antioxidant protects neurons

University of Edinburgh   September 12 2021 

Research involving a potent antioxidant, described in Scientific Reports, suggests that the compound could help protect cells in several conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosisand cell transplants.

In their report, a team from the University of Edinburgh observe that the flavonoids quercetin and myricetin are among the most potent dietary antioxidants. Structural modification of myricetin has resulted in the development a new compound known as Proxison. In the current research, Proxison demonstrated 10 times the ability to protect against oxidative stress induced by the compound tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) in neuroblastoma cells compared to quercetin, while several other antioxidants showed no effects. Proxison, as well as a high concentration of quercetin, also provided significant protection against cell death in tBHP-treated cells. Similar results were obtained in another neural cell line.

An investigation of the antioxidants’ ability to be taken up by the cells showed significant intracellular levels of quercetin and Proxison, and evidence for some localization of Proxison in the cells’ mitochondria.

In zebrafish embryos, Proxison helped protect against neuronal cell loss induced by a neurotoxic compound. Quercetin was also protective, but was less potent than Proxison. Neither therapy affected normal embryonic development.

“This novel antioxidant can be applied to investigate oxidative stress in disease models, like alpha-synucleinopathies and other neurodegeneration models,” Nicola J. Drummond and colleagues conclude. “In addition, Proxison could have applications for regenerative medicine where oxidative stress has been implicated in poor cell survival of transplanted cells, with the advantage that the molecule can be pre-loaded into cells prior to transplantation. Proxison could also have applications for conditions, such as stroke or cardiac infarction, in which a temporary, but acute, exposure to oxidative stress is experienced, as well as diseases in which oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are core features.”

The Gary Null Show - 09.15.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.14.21

Kim Iversen analyzes Dr. Fauci's past support of AZT to treat HIV/AIDS and his current support of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19.

The Gary Null Show - 09.13.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.10.21

The Gray Null Show Notes -09.10.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.09.21

Eating a plant rich diet reduces risk of developing COVID-19

King's College London, September 8, 2021

A recent study, published in Gut, by researchers from King's and Harvard Medical School, examines data from nearly 600,000 ZOE COVID Study app contributors. Participants completed a survey about the food they ate during Feb 2020 (pre-pandemic), making it the largest study in this space. 19% of these contributors contracted COVID-19.

People with the highest quality diet were around 10% less likely to develop COVID-19 than those with the lowest quality diet, and 40% less likely to fall severely ill.

This is the first longitudinal study of diet and COVID-19 and the first to show that a healthy diet cuts the chances of developing the disease in the first place.

Rather than looking at specific foods or nutrients, the survey was designed to look at broader dietary patterns which are reflective of how people actually eat. The survey produced a 'diet quality score' that reflected the overall merit of each person's diet. Diets with high quality scores were found to contain plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as oily fish, less processed foods and refined carbohydrates. A low diet quality score is associated with diets high in ultra processed foods and low amounts of plant based foods.

The researchers found that people who ate the highest quality diet were around 10% less likely to develop COVID-19 than those with the least nutritious diet and 40% less likely to become severely ill if they developed COVID-19.

The relationship between diet quality and COVID-19 risk still remained after accounting for all potential confounding factors. Factors included age, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, smoking, physical activity and underlying health conditions. Mask-wearing habits and population density were also considered.

The impact of diet was amplified by individual life situations, with people living in low-income neighborhoods and having the lowest quality diet being around 25% more at risk from COVID-19 than people in more affluent communities who were eating in the same way.

Based on these results, the researchers estimate that nearly a quarter of COVID-19 cases could have been prevented if these differences in diet quality and socioeconomic status had not existed.

This further highlights that improved access to nutritious, healthier food could be substantive for bettering public health, especially among the underprivileged members of the community.

Professor Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at the School of Life Course Sciences, says that "these findings chime with recent results from our landmark PREDICT study, showing that people who eat higher quality diets (with low levels of ultra-processed foods) have a healthier collection of microbes in their guts, which is linked to better health. You don't have to go vegan, but getting more diverse plants on your plate is a great way to boost the health of your gut microbiome, improve your immunity and overall health, and potentially reduce your risk from COVID-19."

Targeting the gut to relieve rheumatoid arthritis

University College London, September 6, 2021

UCL researchers have shown that damage to the lining of the gut plays an important role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis, paving the way for a new approach to treating the disease.

In the pre-clinical study, which used mouse models and patient samples, the research team propose that restoration of the gut-barrier could offer a new therapeutic approach to reducing the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes joint pain, swelling, and inflammation. Despite understanding of some of the genetic and environmental factors that might be involved in the development of arthritis, scientists still do not completely understand what initiates disease and how it accelerates. Recent research in this area is exploring how the bacteria in the gut might be involved in the development of arthritis, with researchers suggesting that growth of 'bad' bacteria in the gut might play a part in initiating the disease.

Co-lead author, Professor Claudia Mauri (UCL Division of Infection & Immunity), said: "We wanted to know what was happening in the gut and whether changes to the intestinal lining—which usually acts as a barrier to protect the body from bacteria—are a feature of the disease and contribute to its development."

Using pre-clinical mouse models and patient samples, the team found that blood markers of gut damage were raised compared to healthy people even at the earliest stages of arthritis, and that these markers of damage got higher the more the disease progressed; and, unexpectedly, there were distinct signs of inflammation, as might be seen in inflammatory bowel disease. The team also showed that the lining of the gut became 'leaky,' potentially allowing the passage of bacteria to cross the gut lining into the body, enhancing inflammation both in the gut and potentially in the joints.

"Our findings suggest that the intestinal lining is a therapeutic target. Importantly, we found that using existing drugs that restore the gut-barrier integrity i.e., prevent the gut from becoming leaky or inhibit inflammatory cells from moving to and from to the gut, could reduce the severity of arthritis in pre-clinical models," says Professor Mauri.

"Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis don't appear to correct the problems in the gut and so may leave the patient susceptible to reactivation of disease from the continuing inflammation in that area. Going forward, we need to evaluate the therapeutic impact of treating the intestinal lining of rheumatoid arthritis patients in addition to their joints. Maintaining gut health both through diet and pharmacological intervention may be a valuable new strategy."

Body fat mass percentage reduced among trial participants who received melatonin supplements

Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (Iran), September 3, 2021

According to news reporting originating from the Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dieteticsby research stated, “Obesity, as the most common metabolic disorder in the world, is characterized by excess body fat. This study is aimed at determining the effects of melatonin supplementation on body weight, nody mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and body fat mass percentage (BFMP) in people with overweight or obesity.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics: “Thirty eight overweight or class-I obese adult individuals were recruited in the study (8 men and 30 women). Participants prescribed a weight-loss diet and then randomly were allocated to melatonin or placebo groups. Participants received either a 3-milligram melatonin or placebo tablet per day for 12 weeks. In order to assess differences at the significance level of 0.05, repeated measure ANOVA and paired t-test were used. According to the results, a significant reduction was found in participants’ body weight, WC, and BMI in both groups (p=0.001). However, for the last six weeks, significant reductions of these parameters were observed only in the melatonin group (p=0.01).”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The BFMP of participants in the melatonin group showed a significant reduction at the end of the study compared to the initial measurements (p=0.008). Nevertheless, the results of the present study alone are not sufficient to conclude on the effects of melatonin consumption on anthropometric indices, and it seems that further studies are required in this regard.”

Boom in social stress may contribute to population decline

UMass Amherst scientist has new hypothesis for changes in reproductive behavior and physiology

University of Massachusetts, September 7, 2021

A University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental health scientist has developed an “overlooked hypothesis” to help explain the projected global population decline beginning in 2064: social stress.

Stress from social media and other largely empty or overwhelming social interactions may be leading or contributing to changes in reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology, suggests Alexander Suvorov, associate professor in the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. 

In a review article, published in the journal Endocrinology, he examines various theories surrounding previous human population decline as models predict a “remarkable” decrease from 9.7 billion people in 2064 to 8.8 billion by 2100. Some countries’ populations already have peaked and are projected to decline by 50% by the end of the century.

“A unique feature of the upcoming population drop is that it is almost exclusively caused by decreased reproduction, rather than factors that increase rates of mortality (wars, epidemics, starvation, severe weather conditions, predators, and catastrophic events),” he writes.

Suvorov outlines a hypothesis that connects reproductive trends with population densities, proposing that density reflects the quality and frequency of social interactions. 

“Rising population numbers contribute to less meaningful social interactions, social withdrawal and chronic stress, which subsequently suppresses reproduction,” the manuscript states.

Over the past 50 years, a 50% decrease in sperm counts has occurred. Stress is known to suppress sperm count, ovulation and sexual activity, Suvorov notes. While changes in reproductive physiology are usually attributed to the effects of endocrine-disrupting pollutants, Suvorov believes it is not the only factor.

“Numerous wildlife and laboratory studies demonstrated that population peaks are always followed by increased stress and suppressed reproduction,” Suvorov says. “When a high population density is reached, something is happening in the neuroendocrine system that is suppressing reproduction. The same mechanisms happening in wildlife species may be at work in humans as well.”

Suvorov points to several changes in reproductive behavior that contribute to the population drop, including people having fewer children and waiting longer to start families or choosing to be child-free. But he says biological changes are likely happening as well. More research is needed, he says, such as studies to determine cortisol levels in human blood, an important measure of stress. 

“A better understanding of the causal chain involved in reproduction suppression by population density-related factors may help develop interventions to treat infertility and other reproductive conditions,” Suvorov writes. 

He hopes his hypothesis offers up an enticing area of research that scientists from different fields will be interested in exploring.

“The goal of this paper is to attract attention to a completely overlooked hypothesis – and this hypothesis is raising more questions than it is giving answers,” Suvorov says. “I hope it will trigger interest of people from very different domains and that after additional studies we will have a much better picture of to what extent population density is connected with social stress and how social stress is connected to reproduction, and what we can do about it.”

A common-sense place to start, he suggests: “Back off social media.”

Vitamin D cuts asthma exacerbation by 74% in children: Review

Anhui Medical University (China), August 30 2021

Vitamin D supplementation may cut the risk of asthma exacerbation in children but it does not impact respiratory infections in healthy children, a review has found.

The review of seven randomised controlled clinical trials weighed up "inconsistent" findings on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the prevention of childhood acute respiratory infections (ARI). 

Published in the British Journal of Nutrition, it found overall there was not a statistically significant reduction in the risk of ARI, all-cause mortality or the rate of hospital admission due to respiratory infection in healthy children.

However, in children previously diagnosed with asthma, vitamin D supplementation resulted in a 74% reduction in the risk of asthma exacerbation.

"Our findings indicate a lack of evidence supporting the routine use of vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of ARI in healthy children; however, they suggest that such supplementation may benefit children previously diagnosed with asthma."

Potential impact 

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) about 235 million people suffer from asthma, which is particularly common in children. It cited asthma as one of the major non-communicable diseases facing the world today.

The condition means air passages of the lungs become inflamed and narrowed.  

The causes of asthma are not completely understood but it is thought to be a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to irritants like allergens, tobacco smoke and air pollution.

ARI refers to the infection of the sinuses, throat, airways or lungs usually caused by viruses or bacteria. They can be particularly dangerous for people with asthma. According to a 2013 paper , an estimated 11.9 million episodes of severe ARI and three million episodes of very severe ARI in young children resulted in hospital admissions in 2010 globally.

Meanwhile a separate paper from the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF  found almost two-thirds of the 7.6 million children worldwide who died within the first five years of life died of infectious diseases. Within these two-thirds, pneumonia was the leading cause for a total of 1.396 million deaths. 

WHO has said in the past that further research on vitamin D supplementation and the possible decrease in frequency and severity of respiratory infections in children was needed before specific recommendations could be made.

The Chinese researchers wrote in their review: "Although vitamin D is widely recognised for its importance in calcium metabolism and bone health, researchers have spent several years focusing on its growing number of possible non-calcaemic health effects.

"One of the more promising areas of study is the relationship between vitamin D status and respiratory infection. Recent research has indicated that vitamin D may play a role in protecting against ARI by increasing the body’s production of naturally acting antibiotics."

The review was conducted by researchers at the Anhui Medical University, Shaoxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Huzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Anhui Institute of Schistosomiasis Control and the Anhui Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology in China.

It included trials in Japan, Afghanistan, India, Poland and Mongolia that compared vitamin D supplementation with either placebo or no intervention in children younger than 18 years of age. 

Source: British Journal of Nutrition

CoQ10 may improve facial wrinkles: RCT

Institute of Cosmetics ( Slovenia), September 9, 2021

High dose co-enzyme Q10 supplementation may improve wrinkles around the eyes and other parts of the face, says a new study.

Scientists from the Institute of Cosmetics in Ljubljana, Slovenia report that 150 mg per day of CoQ10 (Q10Vital) for 12 weeks were associated with reduced wrinkles around the eyes, and around the mouth and lips, compared with placebo.

On the other hand, no photoprotection or effects on skin hydration or thickness were observed, according to findings published in Biofactors .

“In the present study, the administration of a dietary supplement containing CoQ10 over a 12-week period showed several anti-ageing effects as it reduced wrinkles, improved skin smoothness and microrelief as well as skin firmness. It also helped the skin combat seasonal changes since it prevented negative viscoelasticity seasonal changes during winter,” they wrote.

CoQ10, a substance similar to a vitamin, is found in every cell in the body and is a key part of cells’ energy production machinery.  Levels of CoQ10 have been shown to decline with age and in particular with statin use, which can account for some of the muscular pain and weakness that some users experience as a side effect of the drugs.  CoQ10 also functions as an antioxidant, and while it is used in many dietary supplement, functional food ans cosmetic products, evidence to support its benefits for the skin is “scarce”, said the Slovenian researchers.

To test this, they recruited 32 healthy people with an average age of 53 to participate in their randomized, placebo-controlled intervention study. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Placebo, low dose CoQ10 (50 mg per day), or high dose CoQ10 (150 mg per day), for 12 weeks.

Results showed that, while the anti-wrinkle benefits around the eyes were observed for both CoQ10 groups, the high dose produced additional reductions in wrinkles around the mouth, nose and lips (nasolabial folds, corner of the mouth lines and upper radial lip lines).

“It should be noted that some baseline skin parameters are quite variable and it would therefore be beneficial to perform a study on a higher number of subjects to allow clearer conclusions regarding some parameters,” wrote the researchers. “For example, the study was under-powered for dermis parameters (intensity, thickness). Supplementation over a longer period and several seasons would also be worth testing as this study was conducted during winter, and also, 12 weeks is quite a short time to detect nutritional effects on skin, considering the length of the skin regeneration cycle.

“Considering this, a longer study period would also provide valuable insights into dose-response relationships. While we were unable to show such a relationship in our study, such an effect might (or might not) be observed if supplementation were to be done over more skin cycles.”

The Gary Null Show - 09.08.21

The Gary Null Show - 09.07.21

Pomegranate peel has protective effects against enteropathogenic bacteria

US Department of Agriculture, August 31, 2021

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that pomegranate peel extract contains bioactive compounds that have potential antibacterial activity. The study’s findings were published in the journal Nutrition Research.

• Pomegranate fruit peel is considered an agricultural waste product. However, it is a rich source of polyphenols like punicalins, punicalagins and ellagic acids.
• Earlier studies have shown that products derived from pomegranates have health benefits, including antibacterial activity, in vitro.
• There is limited evidence, however, of their antibacterial activity in vivo.
• For this study, researchers sought to determine the antibacterial properties of pomegranate peel extract in vivo. In particular, they focused on the punicalin, punicalagin and ellagic acid present in the peel extract.
• The researchers infected C3H/He mice with the bacterial pathogen Citrobacter rodentium, a bacterium that mimics the enteropathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli. Prior to infection, the mice were orally treated with water or pomegranate peel extract.
• Twelve days after infection, the researchers examined C. rodentium colonization of the colon and spleen, as well as changes in tissue and gene expression. Fecal excretions were also analyzed for C. rodentium.
• The results revealed that the pomegranate peel extract reduced weight loss and mortality induced by C. rodentium infection.
• The extract also reduced C. rodentium colonization of the spleen.
• Additionally, pomegranate peel extract decreased the extent of damage in the colon caused by C. rodentium infection.

In sum, pomegranate fruit peel extract contains bioactive compounds that can help reduce the severity of C. rodentium infection in vivo.

Vitamin D may protect against young-onset colorectal cancer

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard  School of Public Health, September 1, 2021

Consuming higher amounts of Vitamin D - mainly from dietary sources - may help protect against developing young-onset colorectal cancer or precancerous colon polyps, according to the first study to show such an association.

The study, recently published online in the journal Gastroenterology, by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other institutions, could potentially lead to recommendations for higher vitamin D intake as an inexpensive complement to screening tests as a colorectal cancer prevention strategy for adults younger than age 50.

While the overall incidence of colorectal cancer has been declining, cases have been increasing in younger adults - a worrisome trend that has yet to be explained. The authors of the study, including senior co-authors Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, and Edward Giovannucci, MD, DSc., of the T.H. Chan School, noted that vitamin D intake from food sources such as fish, mushrooms, eggs, and milk has decreased in the past several decades. There is growing evidence of an association between vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer mortality. However, prior to the current study, no research has examined whether total vitamin D intake is associated with the risk of young-onset colorectal cancer.

“Vitamin D has known activity against colorectal cancer in laboratory studies. Because vitamin D deficiency has been steadily increasing over the past few years, we wondered whether this could be contributing to the rising rates of colorectal cancer in young individuals,” said Ng, director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber. “We found that total vitamin D intake of 300 IU per day or more - roughly equivalent to three 8-oz. glasses of milk - was associated with an approximately 50% lower risk of developing young-onset colorectal cancer.”

The results of the study were obtained by calculating the total vitamin D intake - both from dietary sources and supplements - of 94,205 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II). This study is a prospective cohort study of nurses aged 25 to 42 years that began in 1989. The women are followed every two years by questionnaires on demographics, diet and lifestyle factors, and medical and other health-related information. The researchers focused on a primary endpoint - young-onset colorectal cancer, diagnosed before 50 years of age. They also asked on a follow-up questionnaire whether they had had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy where colorectal polyps (which may be precursors to colorectal cancer) were found.

During the period from 1991 to 2015 the researchers documented 111 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer and 3,317 colorectal polyps. Analysis showed that higher total vitamin D intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. The same link was found between higher vitamin D intake and risk of colon polyps detected before age 50.

The association was stronger for dietary vitamin D - principally from dairy products - than from vitamin D supplements. The study authors said that finding could be due to chance or to unknown factors that are not yet understood.

Interestingly, the researchers didn’t find a significant association between total vitamin D intake and risk of colorectal cancer diagnosed after age 50. The findings were not able to explain this inconsistency, and the scientists said further research in a larger sample is necessary to determine if the protective effect of vitamin D is actually stronger in young-onset colorectal cancer.

In any case, the investigators concluded that higher total vitamin D intake is associated with decreased risks of young-onset colorectal cancer and precursors (polyps). “Our results further support that vitamin D may be important in younger adults for health and possibly colorectal cancer prevention,” said Ng. “It is critical to understand the risk factors that are associated with young-onset colorectal cancer so that we can make informed recommendations about diet and lifestyle, as well as identify high risk individuals to target for earlier screening.”

Choosing personal exercise goals, then tackling them immediately is key to sustaining change

University of Pennsylvania, September 1, 2021

When people set their own exercise goals – and then pursue them immediately – it’s more likely to result in lasting positive changes, according to a new study at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of this research are especially important because they were found among an underserved population that is at particularly high risk of having or developing heart conditions. The study was published in JAMA Cardiology.

“Most behavior change programs involve goal-setting, but the best way to design that process is unknown,” said lead author Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, an associate professor of Medicine at Penn and vice president for Clinical Transformation at Ascension. “Our clinical trial demonstrated that physical activity increased the most when patients chose their goals rather than being assigned them, and when the goals started immediately rather than starting lower and gradually increasing over time. These findings are particularly important because the patients were from lower-income neighborhoods and may face a number of challenges in achieving health goals.”

This study consisted of 500 patients from low-income neighborhoods, mainly in West Philadelphia but also elsewhere in and outside of the city. Participants either had a cardiovascular disease or were assessed to have a near-10 percent risk of developing one within a decade. These high-risk patients stood to greatly gain from increased physical activity.

Patel’s previous work at the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit often focused on the use of gamification, a concept used to create behavioral change by turning it into a game. The work usually tested whether playing a game attached to physical activity goals could make significant increases against not playing a game, or between different versions of a game.

As with past studies, every participant was given a wearable step tracker that recorded their daily step counts through Penn’s Way to Health platform. But what set this study apart from many of its predecessors was that the main outcomes of the research were less about participation in the games themselves and more about how goals were established, as well as when participants were encouraged to pursue them.

Once every participant got their wearable step counter, they were given a week or two to get used to it. This time period also functioned as a baseline-setting period for everyone’s pre-intervention daily step count. After that, participants were randomly assigned to the control group, which didn’t have step goals or games attached, or one of the gaming groups with goals.

Those in the gamified group also went through two other sets of random assignments. One determined whether they’d have input on their step goal, or whether they’d just be assigned a standard one. The second decided whether each participant would immediately start working toward their goals (for the entire 16-week intervention), or whether they’d ramp up to it, with minor increases in goals, until the full goals kicked in at week nine.

After analyzing the results, the researchers saw that the only group of participants who achieved significant increases in activity were those who chose their own goals and started immediately. They had the highest average increase in their steps compared to the group with no goals, roughly 1,384 steps per day. And, in addition to raw step counts, the study also measured periods of sustained, high activity, amounting to an average increase of 4.1 minutes daily.

Comparatively, those who were assigned their goals or had full goals delayed for half the intervention only increased their daily steps above the control group’s average by between 500 and 600 steps.

“Individuals who select their own goals are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to follow through on them,” said Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. “They feel like the goal is theirs and this likely enables greater engagement.”

The study didn’t end when the researchers turned the games off. Participants kept their activity trackers, and in the eight weeks following the intervention, the group that chose their goals and started immediately kept up their progress. In fact, they achieved almost the exact same average in steps – just three less than during the active games.

“It is exciting to see that the group that increased their activity levels by the most steps maintained those levels during follow-up,” Patel said. “This indicates that gamification with self-chosen and immediate goals helped these patients form a new habit.”

Many programs, whether offered through work or by health insurance companies, offer incentives for boosts in physical activity. But these goals are often fairly static and assigned based on round numbers. Patel, Volpp, and colleagues believe this research suggests that adjusting goal setting in these programs can have a significant impact. And if these adjustments lead to gains among people with lower incomes, whom cardiovascular disease kill at 76 percent higher rates, that could be particularly important.          

“Goal-setting is a fundamental element of almost every physical activity program, whether through a smartphone app or in a workplace wellness program,” Volpp said. “Our findings reveal a simple approach that could be used to improve the impact of these programs and the health of their patients.”

Comparing seniors who relocate long-distance shows that where you live affects your longevity

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 1, 2021

Would you like to live longer? It turns out that where you live, not just how you live, can make a big difference.

That's the finding of an innovative study co-authored by an MIT economist, which examines senior citizens across the U.S. and concludes that some locations enhance longevity more than others, potentially for multiple reasons.

The results show that when a 65-year-old moves from a metro area in the 10th percentile, in terms of how much those areas enhance longevity, to a metro area the 90th percentile, it increases that person's life expectancy by 1.1 years. That is a notable boost, given that mean life expectancy for 65-year-olds in the U.S. is 83.3 years.

"There's a substantively important causal effect of where you live as an elderly adult on mortality and life expectancy across the United States," says Amy Finkelstein, a professor in MIT's Department of Economics and co-author of a newly published paper detailing the findings.

Researchers have long observed significant regional variation in life expectancy in the U.S., and often attributed it to "health capital"—tendencies toward obesity, smoking, and related behavioral factors in the regional populations. But by analyzing the impact of moving, the current study can isolate and quantify the effect that the location itself has on residents.

As such, the research delivers important new information about large-scale drivers of U.S. health outcomes—and raises the question of what it is about different places that affects the elderly's life expectancy. One clear possibility is the nature of available medical care. Other possible drivers of longevity include climate, pollution, crime, traffic safety, and more.

"We wanted to separate out the role of people's prior experiences and behaviors—or health capital—from the role of place or environment," Finkelstein says.

The paper, "Place-Based Drivers of Mortality: Evidence of Migration," is published in the August issue of the American Economic Review. The co-authors are Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT, and Matthew Gentzkow and Heidi Williams, who are both professors of economics at Stanford University.

To conduct the study, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams analyzed Medicare records from 1999 to 2014, focusing on U.S. residents between the ages of 65 and 99. Ultimately the research team studied 6.3 million Medicare beneficiaries. About 2 million of those moved from one U.S. "commuting zone" to another, and the rest were a random 10 percent sample of people who had not moved over the 15-year study period. (The U.S. Census Bureau defines about 700 commuting zones nationally.)

A central element of the study involves seeing how different people who were originally from the same locations fared when moving to different destinations. In effect, says Finkelstein, "The idea is to take two elderly people from a given origin, say, Boston. One moves to low-mortality Minneapolis, one moves to high-mortality Houston. We then compare thow long each lives after they move."

Different people have different health profiles before they move, of course. But Medicare records include detailed claims data, so the researchers applied records of 27 different illnesses and conditions—ranging from lung cancer and diabetes to depression—to a standard mortality risk model, to categorize the overall health of seniors when they move. Using these "very, very rich pre-move measures of their health," Finkelstein notes, the researchers tried to account for pre-existing health levels of seniors from the same location who moved to different places.

Still, even assessing people by 27 measures does not completely describe their health, so Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams also estimated what fraction of people's health conditions they had not observed—essentially by calibrating the observed health of seniors against health capital levels in places they were moving from. They then consider how observed health varies across individuals from the same location moving to different destinations and, assuming that differences in unobserved health—such as physical mobility—vary in the same way as observed differences in health, they adjust their estimates accordingly.

All told, the study found that many urban areas on the East and West Coasts—including New York City, San Francisco, and Miami—have positive effects on longevity for seniors moving there. Some Midwestern metro areas, including Chicago, also score well.

By contrast, a large swath of the deep South has negative effects on longevity for seniors moving there, including much of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and northern Florida. Much of the Southwest, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, fares similarly poorly.

The scholars also estimate that health capital accounts for about 70 percent of the difference in longevity across areas of the U.S., and that location effects account for about 15 percent of the variation.

"Yes, health capital is important, but yes, place effects also matter," Finkelstein says.

Other leading experts in health economics say they are impressed by the study. Jonathan Skinner, the James O. Freeman Presidential Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Dartmouth College, says the scholars "have provided a critical insight" into the question of place effects "by considering older people who move from one place to another, thus allowing the researchers to cleanly identify the pure effect of the new location on individual health—an effect that is often different from the health of long-term residents. This is an important study that will surely be cited and will influence health policy in coming years."

The Charlotte Effect: What makes a difference?

Indeed, the significance of place effects on life expectancy is also evident in another pattern the study found. Some locations—such as Charlotte, North Carolina—have a positive effect on longevity but still have low overall life expectancy, while other places—such as Santa Fe New Mexico—have high overall life expectancy, but a below-average effect on the longevity of seniors who move there.

Again, the life expectancy of an area's population is not the same thing as that location's effect on longevity. In places where, say, smoking is highly prevalent, population-wide longevity might be subpar, but other factors might make it a place where people of average health will live longer. The question is why.

"Our [hard] evidence is about the role of place," Finkelstein says, while noting that the next logical step in this vein of research is to look for the specific factors at work. "We know something about Charlotte, North Carolina, makes a difference, but we don't yet know what."

With that in mind, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams, along with other colleagues, are working on a pair of new studies about health care practices to see what impact place-based differences may have; one study focuses on doctors, and the other looks at the prescription opioid epidemic.

In the background of this research is a high-profile academic and policy discussion about the impact of health care utilization. One perspective, associated with the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care project, suggests that the large regional differences in health care use it has documented have little impact on mortality. But the current study, by quantifying the variable impact of place, suggest there may be, in turn, a bigger differential impact in health care utilization yet to be identified.

For her part, Finkelstein says she would welcome further studies digging into health care use or any other factor that might explain why different places have different effects on life expectancy; the key is uncovering more hard evidence, wherever it leads.

"Differences in health care across places are large and potentially important," Finkelstein says. "But there are also differences in pollution, weather, [and] other aspects. … What we need to do now is get inside the black box of 'the place' and figure out what it is about them that matters for longevity."

Gut bacteria influence brain development

Researchers discover biomarkers that indicate early brain injury in extreme premature infants

University of Vienna (Austria), September 3, 2021

The early development of the gut, the brain and the immune system are closely interrelated. Researchers refer to this as the gut-immune-brain axis. Bacteria in the gut cooperate with the immune system, which in turn monitors gut microbes and develops appropriate responses to them. In addition, the gut is in contact with the brain via the vagus nerve as well as via the immune system. "We investigated the role this axis plays in the brain development of extreme preterm infants," says the first author of the study, David Seki. "The microorganisms of the gut microbiome - which is a vital collection of hundreds of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes - are in equilibrium in healthy people. However, especially in premature babies, whose immune system and microbiome have not been able to develop fully, shifts are quite likely to occur. These shifts may result in negative effects on the brain," explains the microbiologist and immunologist.

Patterns in the microbiome provide clues to brain damage
"In fact, we have been able to identify certain patterns in the microbiome and immune response that are clearly linked to the progression and severity of brain injury," adds David Berry, microbiologist and head of the research group at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna as well as Operational Director of the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna. "Crucially, such patterns often show up prior to changes in the brain. This suggests a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided."

Comprehensive study of the development of extremely premature infants
Starting points for the development of appropriate therapies are provided by the biomarkers that the interdisciplinary team was able to identify. "Our data show that excessive growth of the bacterium Klebsiella and the associated elevated γδ-T-cell levels can apparently exacerbate brain damage," explains Lukas Wisgrill, Neonatologist from the Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine and Neuropediatrics at the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. "We were able to track down these patterns because, for a very specific group of newborns, for the first time we explored in detail how the gut microbiome, the immune system and the brain develop and how they interact in this process," he adds. The study monitored a total of 60 premature infants, born before 28 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1 kilogram, for several weeks or even months. Using state-of-the-art methods - the team examined the microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, among other methods - the researchers analysed blood and stool samples, brain wave recordings (e.g. aEEG) and MRI images of the infants' brains.

Research continues with two studies
The study, which is an inter-university clusterproject under the joint leadership by Angelika Berger (Medical University of Vienna) and David Berry (University of Vienna), is the starting point for a research project that will investigate the microbiome and its significance for the neurological development of prematurely born children even more thoroughly. In addition, the researchers will continue to follow the children of the initial study. "How the children's motoric and cognitive skills develop only becomes apparent over several years," explains Angelika Berger. "We aim to understand how this very early development of the gut-immune-brain axis plays out in the long term. " The most important cooperation partners for the project are already on board: "The children's parents have supported us in the study with great interest and openness," says David Seki. "Ultimately, this is the only reason we were able to gain these important insights. We are very grateful for that."

Amino acid supplements may boost vascular endothelial function in older adults: Study

University of Alabama, August 28, 2021

A combination of HMB (a metabolite of leucine), glutamine and arginine may improve vascular function and blood flow in older people, says a new study.

Scientists from the University of Alabama report that a supplement containing HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate), glutamine and arginine (Juven by Abbott Nutrition) increased flow-mediated dilation (FMD - a measure of blood flow and vascular health) by 27%, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group.

However, the researchers did not observe any changes to markers of inflammation, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)

“Our results indicate that 6 months of dietary supplementation with HMB, glutamine and arginine had a positive impact on vascular endothelial function in older adults,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr Amy Ellis in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition . “These results are clinically relevant because reduced endothelial-dependent vasodilation is a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

“Further investigation is warranted to elucidate mechanisms and confirm benefits of foods rich in these amino acids on cardiovascular outcomes.”

The study supported financially by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Study details

Dr Ellis and her co-workers recrtuited 31 community-dwelling men and women aged between 65 and 87 to participate in their randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first group received the active supplements providing 3 g HMB, 14 g glutamine and 14 g arginine per day; while the second group received a placebo.

After six months of intervention, the researchers found that FMD increased in the HMB + glutamine + arginine group, but no such increases were observed in the placebo group.

While no changes in CRP or TNF-alpha levels were observed in the active supplement group, a trend towards an increase in CRP levels was observed in the placebo group, but this did not reach statistical significance, they noted.

“Although no previous studies have examined this combination of amino acids on vascular function, we hypothesized that the active ingredients of the supplement would act synergistically to improve endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation,” wrote the researchers. “However, although we observed a trend for increasing hsCRP among the placebo group (P=0.059), no significant changes in hsCRP or TNF-alpha were observed for either group.

“Possibly, the effects of the supplement on reducing oxidative stress and inflammation were subclinical, or the high variability in these biomarkers, particularly hsCRP, among our small sample could have precluded visible differences.”

The researchers also noted that an alternate mechanism may also be responsible, adding that arginine is a precursor of the potent vasodilator nitric oxide

“Although investigation of this mechanism was beyond the scope of this study, it is feasible that the arginine in the supplement improved endothelial-dependent vasodilation by providing additional substrate for nitric oxide synthesis,” they added.

Moderate coffee drinking associated with lower risk of mortality during 11-year median follow-up

Semmelweis University (Bulgaria), September 1 2021. 

Research presented at ESC (European Society of Cardiology) Congress 2021 revealed a lower risk of dying from any cause during an 11-year median period among light to moderate coffee drinkers in comparison with men and women who had no intake.

The study included 468,629 UK Biobank participants of an average age of 56.2 years who had no indications of heart disease upon enrollment. Coffee intake was classified as none, light to moderate at 0.5 to 3 cups per day or high at over 3 cups per day. A subgroup of participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart to assess cardiac structure and function. 

Light to moderate coffee intake during the follow-up period was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of dying from any cause, a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and a 21% reduction in the incidence of stroke in comparison with the risks associated with not drinking coffee. 

“The imaging analysis indicated that, compared with participants who did not drink coffee regularly, daily consumers had healthier sized and better functioning hearts,” reported study author Judit Simon, of Semmelweis University in Budapest. “This was consistent with reversing the detrimental effects of aging on the heart.”

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study to systematically assess the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease,” she announced. “Our results suggest that regular coffee consumption is safe, as even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality after a follow-up of 10 to 15 years. Moreover, 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee per day was independently associated with lower risks of stroke, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from any cause.”

The Gary Null Show - 09.06.21

The Covid Vaccines and Pathological Evidence of Harm

The Gary Null Show - 09.03.21

Both sucrose and high fructose corn syrup linked to increased health risks

University of California at Davis, August 31, 2021

Consuming sucrose, the more "natural form of sugar," may be as bad for your health as consuming high fructose corn syrup, according to a University of California, Davis, study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

"This is the first dietary intervention study to show that consumption of both sucrose- and high fructose corn-sweetened beverages increase liver fat and decrease insulin sensitivity," said Kimber Stanhope, a research nutrition biologist with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "People often have a skewed perspective of aspartame and give sucrose a pass, but this study suggests that consumers should be equally concerned about both major added sugars in our food supply."

Participants (18 to 40 years old) were assigned to beverage groups matched for sex, body mass index, fasting triglyceride, lipoprotein and insulin concentrations. They drank three servings a day of either a sucrose-sweetened beverage, a high fructose corn-sweetened beverage, or an aspartame-sweetened beverage for 16 days.

The double-blind study was unique in that the 187 subjects lived in a clinical unit for 3.5 days before beverage consumption and during the final days of beverage consumption. Thus, their diet and activity levels were controlled prior to the assessments of risk factors that occurred before and after beverage consumption. This control helped the researchers document how quickly the study subjects, even those who were very lean or normal weight, showed changes in liver fat, insulin sensitivity, and circulating lipids, lipoproteins and uric acid when they drank the added sugars. There were no significant differences between the effects of sucrose and those of high fructose corn syrup, and both the sugar-sweetened beverages increased risk factors compared with aspartame-sweetened beverages.

"Within the span of two weeks, we observed a significant change in liver fat and insulin sensitivity in the two groups consuming sucrose- or high fructose corn syrup-sweetened beverages," Stanhope said. "That's concerning because the prevalence of fatty liver [nonalcoholic fatty liver disease] and Type 2 diabetes continues to increase globally."

Decreased insulin sensitivity is an important risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, and seeing a clinically significant change within two weeks highlights the need for consumers to read labels carefully and be aware of the source of added sugars, she said. Sucrose may be labeled as sugar, cane sugar or evaporated cane juice among other names, but they're all sugar.

Consumer misconception

Stanhope said the study is important because many consumers consider high fructose corn syrup to be more detrimental to health than sucrose. Many consumers also believe consuming sucrose is safer than consuming aspartame.

Previous human and animal studies have shown that sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with increased fat in the liver. This study further substantiates that those beverages can promote fat accumulation in the liver and lead to metabolic syndrome.

"It's all physiologically connected, although we're not sure [in what] direction it goes," Stanhope said. "It's very likely that the mechanism by which we develop metabolic syndrome goes through liver fat and insulin resistance. An increase in liver fat can be benign for a certain amount of time and for certain people. But it can also progress to associated inflammation in liver cells that causes fibrosis and negatively impacts liver function, which can make an individual more prone to liver cancer."

Consuming a Mediterranean diet associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac death during 9.8-year period

University of Alabama, August 31, 2021

The July issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association reported the finding of a trend toward a lower risk of sudden cardiac death in association with greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet during an average of 9.8 years of follow-up.* The study also uncovered a trend toward a higher risk of sudden cardiac death associated with greater intake of a Southern dietary pattern.

Sudden cardiac death, as defined by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-sponsored expert panel is “an unexpected death without obvious extracardiac cause, occurring with a rapid witnessed collapse, or if unwitnessed, occurring within one hour after the onset of symptoms.”

The current investigation included 21,069 participants in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, which included men and women aged 45 years and older, among whom 42% were black. A high proportion of study participants resided in a region of the U.S. often referred to as the “stroke belt”. In previous research, five dietary patterns were derived from responses to dietary questionnaires administered upon enrollment in REGARDS. These included a pattern observed in the Southeastern United States that is characterized by added fats, fried food, eggs, organ meat, processed meat and sugar‐sweetened beverages. All subjects’ diets were subsequently scored for adherence to a Mediterranean diet, which included a high intake of vegetables, fruit, legumes, cereals and fish; a lower intake of meat and dairy products; a high ratio of monounsaturated fat to saturated fat consumption, and moderate alcohol intake. In-home examinations obtained physical measurements, information concerning medication use, a physical health summary, electrocardiographic evaluation, and blood and urine sample collection. Cardiovascular events and deaths were tracked via twice-yearly calls to participants or next of kin, and other methods. 

During follow-up, 401 sudden cardiac deaths occurred. After adjustment for a number of factors, subjects whose Mediterranean diet scores placed them among the top one-third of participants had a risk of sudden cardiac death that was 26% lower than subjects whose scores were among the lowest third. The protective effect of the diet was limited to participants with no history of coronary heart disease at the beginning of the study.

Among men and women whose adherence to the Southern dietary pattern was among the top quarter of participants, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 46% higher than those among the lowest quarter.

“We know of no published studies investigating the possible associations of dietary patterns with risk of sudden cardiac death,” wrote authors James M. Shikany, DrPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues. However, they remarked that protective effects against the condition have been revealed in association with nuts and fish, which are Mediterranean diet components. They added that the omega 3 fatty acids in fatty fish have been proposed as responsible for the benefit observed in association with greater fish intake and may help protect against sudden cardiac death via their effects on resting heart rate, blood pressure, vascular endothelial function, triglyceride concentrations, inflammatory pathways and other factors. Furthermore, laboratory studies have revealed antiarrhythmic effects for omega 3s. 

“Although observational in nature, these data suggest that diet may be a modifiable risk factor for sudden cardiac death and should be discussed with patients,” they wrote.  

Aging-US: Dietary supplementation with green tea catechins and cocoa flavanols

Cocoa, but not GTE, reduced aging-associated microgliosis and increased the proportion of neuroprotective microglial phenotypes

Universitat de Lleida and Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida (Spain), September 1, 2021

Aging-US published "Beneficial effects of dietary supplementation with green tea catechins and cocoa flavanols on aging-related regressive changes in the mouse neuromuscular system" which reported that green tea extract (GTE) and cocoa-supplemented diets significantly improved survival rate of mice. GTE increased density of VAChT and VGluT2 afferent synapses on neuromuscular junctions.

Cocoa, but not GTE, reduced aging-associated microgliosis and increased the proportion of neuroprotective microglial phenotypes.

Dr. Jordi Calderó from IRBLleida said, "Sarcopenia, the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with age, is considered the main causative factor of the physical performance decline in the elderly."

Sarcopenia, the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with age, is considered the main causative factor of the physical performance decline in the elderly. The compromised muscular function associated to sarcopenia has a negative impact on the life quality of older adults and increases the risk for disability, fall-associated injuries, morbidity, and mortality. The authors have recently reported a marked increase in the microglial and astroglial pro-inflammatory phenotypes (M1 and A1, respectively) in the spinal cord of aged mice. This may be due to the presence of anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective (M2 and A2) glial subpopulations. Caloric restriction, based on a diet low in calories, has been shown to attenuate aging sarcopenia in various species by acting at different levels of the skeletal muscle.

Caloric restriction has also been reported to ameliorate age-related changes in rodent NMJs and to prevent MN and motor axon degeneration found to occur with aging [11, 21]. In a similar way, some dietary supplements have been shown to counteract age related changes that contribute to neuromuscular dysfunction (reviewed by [12) Plant flavonoids have gained particular attention as dietary compounds for keeping good health and preventing a number of diseases, particularly cardiac disorders and cancer.

The Calderó Research Team concluded in their Aging-US Research Output that, green tea and cocoa flavonoids from GTE and cocoa significantly increased survival rate of aged mice. Both diets preserved NMJ innervation and maturity, delayed the senescence process of the skeletal muscle, and enhanced its regenerative capacity. Future research is needed to investigate whether higher doses of flavonoid are needed and/or longer-term interventions can help restore proper motor function.

How the mind sharpens the senses

Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), August 27, 2021

A study conducted with experienced scholars of Zen-Meditation shows that mental focussing can induce learning mechanisms, similar to physical training. Researchers at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University München discovered this phenomenon during a scientifically monitored meditation retreat. The journal Scientific Reports, from the makers of Nature, has now published their new findings on the plasticity of the brain.

Participants of the study use a special meditation technique

The participants were all Zen-scholars with many years of meditation practice. They were scientifically escorted during a four-day Zen-retreat in the spiritual center "Benediktushof", Germany. The retreat was held in complete silence, with at least eight hours of meditation per day. All participants practiced their familiar meditation, which is characterized by a non-specific monitoring of thoughts and surroundings. Additionally, some participants applied a special finger-meditation for two hours per day, during which they were asked to specifically focus on their right index finger and become aware of spontaneously arising sensory percepts in this finger. Subsequent assessment of the group that practiced finger-meditation showed a significant improvement in the tactile acuity of the right index and middle finger. A control group that had maintained their familiar meditation practice for the whole time, showed no changes in tactile acuity.

Data show significant improvement of the sense of touch

In order to assess the sense of touch quantitatively, researchers measured the so-called "two-point discrimination threshold". This marker indicates how far apart two stimuli need to be, in order to be discriminated as two separate sensations. After the finger meditation, the performance improved on average by 17 percent. By comparison, tactile acuity of the visually impaired is 15 to 25 percent above that of typical sighted individuals, because their sense of touch is used so intensively to make up for the reduced visual information. Hence, the changes induced by meditation are comparable to those achieved by intense long-term training.

Meditation induces plasticity and learning processes as active training or physical stimulation

It is known for long that extensive training induces neuroplasticity, which denotes the ability of the brain to adapt and restructure itself, thereby improving perception and behavior. Recently, the group of neuroscientists of the Neural Plasticity Lab headed by Hubert Dinse has shown that these processes can be initiated even without training by mere exposure to passive stimulation, which was translated only recently into a stimulating glove, which is used as therapeutical intervention in stroke patients. The fact that merely mental states without any physical stimulation can improve perception has now been shown for the first time. "The results of our study challenge what we know about learning mechanisms in the brain. Our concept of neuroplasticity must be extended, because mental activity seems to induce learning effects similar to active stimulation and physical training," Dinse suggests.

Antibiotics increase the risk of colon cancer

Umea University (Sweden), September 1, 2021

There is a clear link between taking antibiotics and an increased risk of developing colon cancer within the next five to ten years. This has been confirmed by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, after a study of 40,000 cancer cases. The impact of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiome is thought to lie behind the increased risk of cancer.

“The results underline the fact that there are many reasons to be restrictive with antibiotics. While in many cases antibiotic therapy is necessary and saves lives, in the event of less serious ailments that can be expected to heal anyway, caution should be exercised. Above all to prevent bacteria from developing resistance but, as this study shows, also because antibiotics may increase the risk of future colon cancer,” explains Sophia Harlid, cancer researcher at Umeå University.

Researchers found that both women and men who took antibiotics for over six months ran a 17 per cent greater risk of developing cancer in the ascending colon, the first part of the colon to be reached by food after the small intestine, than those who were not prescribed any antibiotics. However, no increased risk was found for cancer in the descending colon. Nor was there an increased risk of rectal cancer in men taking antibiotics, while women taking antibiotics had a slightly reduced incidence of rectal cancer.

The increased risk of colon cancer was visible already five to ten years after taking antibiotics. Although the increase in risk was greatest for those taking most antibiotics, it was also possible to observe an admittedly small, but statistically significant, increase in the risk of cancer after a single course of antibiotics.

The present study uses data on 40,000 patients from the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry from the period 2010–2016. These have been compared to a matched control group of 200,000 cancer-free individuals drawn from the Swedish population at large. Data on the individuals’ antibiotic use was collected from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register for the period 2005–2016. The Swedish study broadly confirms the results of an earlier, somewhat smaller British study.

In order to understand how antibiotics increase the risk, the researchers also studied a non-antibiotic bactericidal drug used against urinary infections that does not affect the microbiome. There was no difference in the frequency of colon cancer in those who used this drug, suggesting that it is the impact of antibiotics on the microbiome that increases the risk of cancer. While the study only covers orally administered antibiotics, even intravenous antibiotics may affect the gut microbiota in the intestinal system.

“There is absolutely no cause for alarm simply because you have taken antibiotics. The increase in risk is moderate and the affect on the absolute risk to the individual is fairly small. Sweden is also in the process of introducing routine screening for colorectal cancer. Like any other screening programme, it is important to take part so that any cancer can be detected early or even prevented, as cancer precursors can sometimes be removed,” says Sophia Harlid. 

High dose vitamin C may stop the progression of leukemia, study reveals

Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University August 28, 2021

Exciting new research shows that a six-month regimen of high-dose intravenous vitamin C slowed the progression of leukemia by stopping leukemic cells from multiplying.

The study builds upon other research that demonstrates vitamin C’s potential to inhibit and even kill cancer cells – without harming healthy tissue. Let’s take a closer look at how vitamin C is demonstrating its amazing potential to fight cancer.

Vitamin C stimulates a vital cancer-fighting enzyme

In leukemia, white blood cells fail to mature, so they regenerate themselves and multiply uncontrollably – a process that stops the body from producing the mature white blood cells needed by the immune system to fight infections. Researchers have discovered that a gene mutation plays a major role in the development of many cases of leukemia.

50 percent of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, 30 percent of patients with pre-leukemia and 10 percent of acute myeloid leukemia patients have a genetic disorder that decreases amounts of TET2 – a vital enzyme that helps undifferentiated cells mature into normal blood cells. This TET2 gene mutation accounts for 42,500 cancers yearly in the United States.

The new study, conducted at Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health and published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell, examined vitamin C’s potential to stimulate TET2 – and the results were encouraging.

Genetically restoring TET2 blocks replication of cancer cells and safely kills them

The researchers found that intravenous high-dose vitamin C helps restore TET2 function, causing “faulty” stem cells in bone marrow to die off.

Vitamin C produced results when it was used on human leukemia cells carrying the TET2 mutation – and it also stopped the growth of transplanted leukemia cancer stem cells in mice that had been genetically engineered to lack TET2.

The vitamin achieved this effect by promoting DNA demethylation in the cancerous cells. Researchers also found that combining vitamin C with PARP inhibitors – drugs which cause cancer cell death – improved its effectiveness even more. In fact, vitamin C seemed to have a potentiating effect, making the leukemic cells more vulnerable to the PARP inhibitors.

Study author Benjamin Neel, Ph.D., noted that the team was excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a “safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies.” Neel called for preclinical and clinical trials to test high-dose intravenous vitamin C in human patients – and for further research to identify other substances that might help to potentiate the vitamin C treatment.

Researchers are particularly hopeful that using vitamin C with cancer drugs could provide an alternative to toxic chemotherapy – which can be dangerous and even fatal to patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Note: The researchers used extremely high dosages of intravenous vitamin C in the study – amounts that would be impossible to obtain by oral ingestion alone.

Amazing NEWS: Vitamin C has outperformed approved clinical and experimental drugs

Other recent, peer-reviewed research is blazing exciting new inroads into the area of potential uses of this powerful vitamin to stop cancer.

In a study newly published in Oncotarget, researcher found that high-dose vitamin C stopped tumors cold by impairing cancer stem cell metabolism and interfering with their ability to grow and spread.

Researchers noted that the nutrient worked as a pro-oxidant in cancer cells – stripping them of the antioxidant glutathione and producing oxidative stress and apoptosis, or cell death. In addition, vitamin C interfered with glycolysis, the process that creates energy in cell mitochondria.

And, while lethal to cancer cells, it left healthy cells unaffected.

The researchers concluded that vitamin C was a “promising new agent,” and called for more study to explore its use in preventing and slowing tumors.

The team also reported that vitamin C outperformed seven different substances, including stiripinol – an FDA-approved clinical drug – and various experimental medications. Researchers noted that vitamin C was 1,000 times – that’s right, 1,000 times – more effective in combating cancer stem cells than 2-DG, an experimental pharmaceutical drug.

(It is hard to understand why these eye-opening results have received so little attention from mainstream medicine. Especially in light of the fact that – unlike toxic chemotherapy drugs – this essential vitamin has caused few side effects in clinical studies.)

But, I think we can quickly see how this news might be threatening to the profits of the pharmaceutical industry.

The fact is: conventional medicine has long downplayed or ignored promising vitamin C research. But, as forward-thinking, innovative researchers continue to examine vitamin C’s many benefits, its potential to combat cancer may yet be recognized.

The Gary Null Show - 09.02.21

Remarkable Mind

What has the Democratic Party really become in renewing the nation

Dr. Michael Hudson is one of our nation’s finest and most important economists and Wall Street financial analysts. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has called Michael “the world’s best economist.” He is the President of The Institution for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, and a distinguished research professor of economics at the University of Missouri. He was the Chief Economic Policy Advisor for the Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s 2008 presidential campaign and has served as an adviser to the White House, State and Defense departments and served as an economic advisor to other governments including Iceland, Latvia and China.  Michael has written many books and important papers and articles, including "Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year" which is about debt forgiveness, and “Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy” that addresses the cause and effect behind the polarization of the 1% versus 99% emerged. His website is Michael-Hudson.com

The Gary Null Show - 09.01.21

The Government Assault Against Ivermectin and other Effective SARS-2 Treatments 

Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD

Progressive Radio Network, September 1, 2021

Had the FDA and Anthony Fauci’s National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease (NIAID) started approving existing clinically-proven and inexpensive drugs for treating malaria, parasites and other pathogens at the start of the pandemic, millions of people would have been saved from experiencing serious infections or dying from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Why federal health officials never followed this strategy is a question the mainstream media refuses to ask. 

Another question that the medical establishment, let alone our compliant media, is why have they failed to ask whether there are reliable studies in the peer-reviewed literature and testimonies from thousands of day-to-day clinical physicians worldwide who treat Covid-19 patients with these drugs, in particular hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Ivermectin. We may also point out the many different natural remedies, such as nigella sativa, curcumin, vitamin D, melatonin, etc, which have been shown to be effective against SARS-2 infections. In most nations, there has been enormous success in treating Covid patients at the early and moderate stages of infection. However, in the US, Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, the FDA and our federal medical officials have categorically denied their use.  In fact during the past couple weeks, there has been an aggressive and concerted effort to erect obstacles to prevent the employment of these more effective drugs. More recently a widespread campaign is underway to denigrate them altogether.

For example, the TOGETHER trial is now touted by the mainstream media as a flagship study showing that ivermectin is ineffective and even dangerous to prescribe. The study was conducted by professor Edward Mills at McMaster University in Ontario. If we are to believe the New York Times, the trial, which enrolled 1,300 patients, was discontinued because Mills claimed the drug was no better than a placebo. However, there is strong reason to believe this entire trial was nothing less than a staged theatrical performance. When asked, Mills denied having any conflict of interests.  However, Mills happens to be employed as a clinical trial advisor for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The Gates Foundation was also the trial’s principal funder.  It may be noted that various organizations and agencies in other nations, such as the Health Products Regulatory Authority in South Africa, which have banned ivermectin, are often funded by Gates. It is naïve to believe that Gates has any philanthropic intentions whatsoever to see a highly effective treatment for SARS-2 infections reach worldwide approval. These drugs are in direct competition to his enormous investments and unwavering commitment to the Covid-19 vaccines.

In the meantime, Americans only have monoclonal antibody therapy and the controversial and ineffective drug Remdesivir at their disposal. Remdesivir’s average effectiveness for late stage treatment is only 22 percent.  A Chinese study published in The Lancet found no statistically significant benefit in the drug and 12 percent of participants taking the drug had to discontinue treatment due to serious adverse effects, especially liver and kidney damage. 

When questions are posited as a general argument for advocating expedient measures to protect public health during this pandemic, would it not have been wise to have prioritized for emergency use HCQ, Ivermectin, and other remedies with a record of curtailing Covid, such as the antibiotic azithromycin, zinc, selenium, Vitamins C and D, and melatonin as a first line of defense?  There was absolutely no need to have waited for experimental vaccines or experimental drugs such as Remdesivir before the pandemic became uncontrollable.  But this is what Fauci and Trump, and now Biden, permitted to happen.

If this strategy of medical intervention had been followed, would it have been successful?  The answer is likely an unequivocal “yes”.  Both HCQ and, even better, Ivermectin have been prophylactically prescribed by physicians working on pandemic’s front lines with enormous success.  Yet those American physicians struggling to get this urgent message out to federal health officials are being marginalized and ridiculed en masse. Only in the US, the UK, France, South Africa and several other developed nations has there been a stubborn hubris to deny their effectiveness. The World Health Organization recommends Ivermectin for Covid-19 so why not the US and these other nations? Under oath, multiple physicians and professors at American medical schools have testified before Congress to present the scientific evidence supporting HCQ and Ivermectin.  These are otherwise medical professionals at the very heart of treating Covid-19 patients. 

Today, American journalism is in shambles. In fact, it is a disgrace.  The American public is losing trust in the media. Whether it is CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the liberal tabloid Daily Beast, NPR or PBS, each has unlimited resources to properly investigate the federal and institutional machinery behind the government health policies being thrust upon us.  Yet no mainstream journalist has found the moral compass to bring this truth to the public. 

In the meantime, we are allowing millions to die, and countless others to be seriously affected from a severe infection because of professional medical neglect and a healthcare system favoring the pharmaceutical industry’s frantic rush to develop expensive novel drugs and experimental vaccines. The incentive by the drug makers is to take every advantage available within the FDA’s emergency use loopholes to get their products approved as quickly as possible.  The primary advantage is that these novel drugs and vaccines can then leap over regulatory hurdles, which otherwise would require them to conduct lengthy and thorough clinical trials to prove their efficacy and safety. The consequence is that none of the new pharmaceutical Covid-19 interventions have been adequately reviewed.

On the other hand, HCQ and Ivermectin have an established legacy of prior research and have been on the market for decades. Worldwide, it is not unreasonable to claim that billions of people have been treated with these drugs.  

Below is a breakdown of the studies conducted so far for HCQ, Ivermectin and Vitamin D specifically for combatting the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Hydroxychloroquine

344 studies, 250 peer-reviewed have been conducted specifically for Covid-19

281 have been clinical trials that involved 4,583 scientists and over 407,627 patients

64% improvement in 31 early treatment trials

75% improvement in 13 early stage infection treatment mortality results

21% improvement in 190 late stage infection treatment trials (patients in serious condition)

23% improvement in 44 randomized controlled trials

Full list of HCQ studies and details:  https://c19hcq.com

Ivermectin 

131 studies, 52 peer-reviewed have been conducted specifically for Covid-19

63 have been clinical trials that involved 613 scientists and over 26,398 patients

58% improvement in 31 randomized controlled trials 

86% improvement in 14 prophylaxis trials

72% improvement in 27 early stage infection treatment trials

40% improvement in 22 late stage infection treatment trials

58% improvement in 25 mortality results

Full list of Ivermectin studies and details:  https://c19ivermectin.com

Other inexpensive repurposed drugs for treating SARS-2

Fluvoxamine

88% improvement in early treatment

29% improvement in late stage treatment

63% improvement in all 7 peer-reviewed studies

Vitamin D

101 studies conducted by over 875 scientists

63 sufficiency studies with 34,863 patients

33 treatment trials with 46,860 patients

42% improvement in 33 treatment trials

56% improvement in 68 sufficiency studies

55% improvement in 19 treatment mortality results

Full list of Vitamin D studies and details:  https://c19vitamind.com

In contrast there have been 21 studies enrolling 35,744 patients in Remdesivir trials showing only a 22% improvement in all studies combined. This rate is below that of simply taking probiotics (5 studies at 24% improvement), melatonin (7 studies at 62% improvement), curcumin (4 studies at 71% improvement), nigella sativa (3 studies at 84% improvement), quercetin (4 studies at 76% improvement), and aspirin (7 studies at 37% improvement).  Despite the small number of trials and low numbers of enrolled participants, early results indicate that greater attention and funding needs to be allocated for more rigorous research if there is to be any success in curbing SARS-2 infections’ severity.

Please share this information. The inept policies and measures being taken by our federal health officials and by both the former Trump and present Biden administrations are unparalleled in American healthcare history. And never before has the media been so willing to self-censor and been so grossly irresponsible to hide the published science and the truth.