Health & Fitness

06/27/20

Promising treatment to slow kidney disease doesn't prove out in clinical trial

Progression of kidney disease in type 1 diabetes is correlated with increased amounts of uric acid. A drug that reduces uric acid levels was tested in a multi-institution randomized clinical trial. Though the study did not show the desired clinical benefit, it did provide a very clear answer to an important scientific question.

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Repeated head impacts associated with later-life depression symptoms, worse cognitive function

New study examines recursive thinking

Researchers destroy cancer cells with ultrasound treatment

Designer peptides show potential for blocking viruses, encourage future study

Chemically engineered peptides could prove valuable in the battle against some of the most persistent human health challenges. New findings demonstrate how researchers can engineer peptides capable of selectively and specifically binding to polysialic acid (PSA) -- a carbohydrate that is present in many human cells and plays a key role in various physiological and pathological processes, including neurological development and disease progression.

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New protein complex gets chromosomes sorted

Researchers have identified a novel protein complex that regulates Aurora B localization to ensure that chromosomes are correctly separated during cell division. The complex, NWC, is made up of three proteins: NOL11, WDR43, and Cirhin. In the absence of NWC, Aurora B did not accumulate at centromeres, and chromosome movement and alignment were impaired. Together, these results show that NWC is required for faithful chromosome segregation.

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Computational model decodes speech by predicting it

UNIGE scientists developed a neuro-computer model which helps explain how the brain identifies syllables in natural speech. The model uses the equivalent of neuronal oscillations produced by brain activity to process the continuous sound flow of connected speech. The model functions according to a theory known as predictive coding, whereby the brain optimizes perception by constantly trying to predict the sensory signals based on candidate hypotheses (syllables in this model).

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From the lab, the first cartilage-mimicking gel that's strong enough for knees

The thin, slippery layer of cartilage between the bones in the knee is magical stuff: strong enough to withstand a person's weight, but soft and supple enough to cushion the joint against impact, over decades of repeat use. That combination of soft-yet-strong has been hard to reproduce in the lab. But now, researchers say they've created an experimental gel that's the first to match the strength and durability of the real thing.

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Marine training may take more mental than physical grit

Comparing 13 different CRISPR-Cas9 DNA scissors

Scientists have achieved the most extensive high-throughput analysis of CRISPR-Cas9 activities. The team developed deep-learning-based computational models that predict the activities of SpCas9 variants for different DNA sequences. This study represents a useful guide for selecting the most appropriate SpCas9 variant.

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Long-term use of muscle relaxants has skyrocketed since 2005

Critical new allergy pathway

Microbiome of anticancer compound-producing marine invertebrate

Could the cure for melanoma - the most dangerous type of skin cancer -- be a compound derived from a marine invertebrate that lives at the bottom of the ocean? A group of scientists think so, and are looking to the microbiome of an Antarctic ascidian called Synoicum adareanum to better understand the possibilities for development of a melanoma-specific drug.

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Scientists devise new 'bar code' method to identify critical cell types in the brain

Nurse on the Frontlines of COVID-19 Shares Her Experience

The heavily censored video above, "Perspectives on the Pandemic: Episode Nine," features an interview with retired Army Sergeant Erin Olszewski, a nurse turned private citizen journalist who for the past few months has cared for COVID-19 patients in Florida and New York. In this must-see interview, she shares her experiences at the two facilities.

Elmhurst Hospital Center, a public hospital in Queens, New York, has been "the epicenter of the epicenter" of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Few areas have been as hard hit as central Queens. The question is why?

Initially, a shortage of ventilators was blamed for the exaggerated death toll. But it didn't take long before doctors recognized that mechanical ventilation did more harm than good in a majority of cases.

Olszewski addresses a number of problems at Elmhurst, including the disproportionate mortality rate among people of color, the controversial rule surrounding Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, lax personal protective equipment (PPE) standards, and the failure to segregate COVID-positive and COVID-negative patients, thereby ensuring maximum spread of the disease among noninfected patients coming in with other health problems.

Olszewski accepted a temporary transfer from Florida to New York and spent nearly four weeks at Elmhurst. What she witnessed spurred her to become an undercover reporter and whistleblower. She secretly recorded happenings in the hospital and posted warnings on social media. The standard of care at Elmhurst is so poor, Olszewski compares it to "a third-world country hospital."

COVID-Negative Patients Placed on Ventilation

The first topic Olszewski approaches is Elmhurst's case numbers. Patients who repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19 were still listed as confirmed positive and placed on mechanical ventilation, thus artificially inflating the numbers while more or less condemning the patient to death from lung injury.

According to Olszewski, most patients who had difficulty breathing were immediately placed on mechanical ventilation. Many of these cases were likely nothing more than anxiety, she says. But why?

Financial incentives appear to be at play. Elmhurst, a public hospital, is able to charge Medicaid and Medicare a lot more for COVID-19 patients than for other diagnoses. According to Olszewski, the hospital receives $29,000 extra for a COVID-19 patient receiving ventilation, over and above other treatments.

Making matters worse, many of the doctors treating these patients are not trained in critical care. One of the "doctors" on the COVID floor is a dentist. Residents (medical students) are also relied on, "and they have no idea what they're doing," Olszewski says.

Not only are they not properly trained in how to safely ventilate, residents are also unfamiliar with the drugs being used and are making errors — none of which are being investigated simply because we're in a pandemic.

One resident instructed Olszewski to administer a dangerous drug at four times the safe speed — an error that would have killed the patient, had she followed the resident's instructions. According to Olszewski, residents are essentially using these patients for practice purposes, in many cases performing invasive procedures that are not necessary and will harm the patient.

Interestingly, while the elderly are the most at-risk for COVID-19 worldwide, a majority of COVID-19 patients in Elmhurst hospital are in their 40s and 50s — very few are over 80 — and Olszewski guesses that only about half of those being treated for COVID-19 have actually tested positive.

Elmhurst Purposely Allows COVID-19 Transmission

What's worse, Elmhurst is mixing these patients together, meaning patients who have actually tested positive for COVID-19 are interspersed among patients with negative test results.

"They're banking on the fact that they'll get it," Olszewski says, "because they're already immunocompromised." This despite the fact that they now have enough rooms in the hospital to separate these patients.

In her undercover video, Olszewski talks about how a stroke patient ended up contracting the disease due to being placed in the same room as a COVID-positive patient. He ended up on mechanical ventilation, drastically increasing his chances of dying due to lung damage.

Improper use of PPE further facilitates the spread of the virus. Elmhurst is also not using the rapid test, which gives you your test results in 45 minutes. It's more expensive, so they're not using it. Instead, they use a test that has a four- to five-day turnaround.

In the meantime, infected and noninfected patients are being comingled, as patients suspected of having COVID-19 are admitted straight into the COVID unit.

Elmhurst Patients Are Denied CPR

She also discusses and plays recordings of arguments between nurses and a cardiac fellow (a fellow is a medical student who is one year away from practicing without direct supervision) in which the nurses are told to not resuscitate a 37-year-old patient in respiratory distress (who did not have COVID-19 yet was treated for it), even though he did not have a DNR order in place.

The question is why? No answer was given, other than these orders were coming "from the top." "It's murder," Olszewski says. "It's setting these people up for failure — based on money." She's convinced that the 37-year-old man died as a direct result of being vented, and on top of it he was denied CPR.

Part of why mechanical ventilation is so dangerous is because you are given sedatives and paralytics. You're essentially asleep for the duration, which could be up to a month.

"There's no way you can recover from something like that," Olszewski says. What's worse, many patients are not even told that they're going to be sedated. In a chilling conversation, a physician states that not a single patient has been successfully extubated and released since the pandemic began.

All patients who are put on ventilation die, and that's a majority of patients at Elmhurst, regardless of their actual infection status. Is it any wonder, then, that this Queens hospital is the "epicenter of the epicenter" of the pandemic? It's not due to rampant COVID-19 though.

Stark Contrast — Private Hospital in Florida

Olszewski's experience in a private hospital in her home state of Florida is in stark contrast to that of Elmhurst. In Florida, they would treat each patient as needed, rather than driving them toward ventilation as quickly as possible. They also did not treat uninfected patients as if they had COVID-19.

One of the treatment protocols used on COVID-19 patients in Florida was hydroxychloroquine and zinc. Not one patient died. When asked why she thinks hydroxychloroquine has been demonized in the media, she says, "Because it works and then people won't need vents." Meanwhile, New York Gov. Cuomo restricted the dispensing of hydroxychloroquine. In New York, the drug can only be dispensed:¹

• When written as prescribed for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved indication; or

◦ As part of a state approved clinical trial related to COVID-19 for a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19

◦ As part of a state approved clinical trial related to COVID-19 for a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19. (Positive COVID-19 test result must be documented as part of the prescription.)

Cuomo has prohibited the use of hydroxychloroquine for experimental prophylactic use, which is what President Trump was using it for. Cuomo "wants to be right," Olszewski says. "They got all these [ventilators]; they want to use them." Cuomo has also granted New York hospitals immunity from malpractice lawsuits during the pandemic.

All of this is now moot, however, as the FDA revoked emergency approval of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 on June 16, 2020.² Could it be that a course of treatment is about $100 with hydroxychloroquine while that of its popular antiviral competitor, Remdesivir, is around $4,000?

The Hydroxychloroquine Cover-Up Blows Up

The video includes statements from doctors who vouch for the safety and effectiveness of the hydroxychloroquine regimen against COVID-19, and discusses the fraudulent study in the Lancet, used by detractors to drive the narrative that hydroxychloroquine doesn't work and can be dangerous.

It even stopped hydroxychloroquine trials from proceeding around the world, and the World Health Organization and governments altered their COVID-19 policies based on this fraudulent paper.

Once experts blew the whistle, demanding the paper's authors provide evidence that the data were reliable, the paper was withdrawn. The New England Journal of Medicine retracted another hydroxychloroquine paper for the same reason, as the data came from the same suspect organization: Surgisphere. As reported by STAT news June 2, 2020:³

"'This is not for the faint of heart,' said Harlan Krumholz, director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale New Haven Hospital. 'This is not just a matter of dial-a-study when you get access to data.

Well-done studies are based on understanding the provenance of the data and making sure what you are doing is reasonable. There is good science to be done with big databases, but there are also major mistakes to be made. The question is: What happened here?'

Both studies in question used data from Surgisphere, a little-known company based in Chicago that claimed in the Lancet study to have data from 671 hospitals on six continents.

The Lancet paper⁴ found that the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which had been explored as potential therapies for Covid-19, did not correspond with improved outcomes for patients, and were also associated with higher mortality.

The paper⁵ in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that blood pressure medications were not associated with worse outcomes in patients with Covid-19. The studies share some of the same authors, including Sapan Desai, who runs Surgisphere."

Surgisphere Fraud Runs Deep

Since then, investigations into Surgisphere and its chief executive Desai has revealed the deception runs far deeper than those two studies. According to The Guardian:⁶

"Further inquiries by the Guardian into Surgisphere and its founder and chief executive, Dr. Sapan Desai, have confirmed that:

Major institutions including Stanford University, which were described as research partners on the Surgisphere website, said they were not aware of any formal relationship with the company.
A study that formed the basis of Desai's Ph.D. may contain doctored images, according to expert claims, and the global medical publishing company Elsevier is conducting a review of his papers published in its journals.
Claims made by Desai about his qualifications gained since his medical degree have been called into doubt, including his claims to hold two Ph.D.'s, a master's, and affiliations with major universities and colleges. Some of these affiliations have now been removed from his website and online profiles."

Other Surgisphere employees include a science fiction editor, a fantasy artist and an adult content model. The company's Twitter handle has fewer than 170 followers and up until recently, its website contact link redirected visitors to a WordPress template for a cryptocurrency site.⁷ Just how did a paper originating from this obvious sham of a company end up carrying so much weight within the WHO?

Government Should Not Dictate Medical Treatment

Olszewski brings up an important point, which is that government should never have gotten involved in issuing COVID-19 treatment directives. The treatment should be personalized to the patient, based on the symptoms they're presenting, and politicians should have no say in what treatment is chosen. "It's none of their business," she says.

Aside from hydroxychloroquine and zinc, which needs to be administered in the early stages of the disease, Olszewski talks about how she inquired about the use of high-dose vitamin C, which Asian studies have shown to be effective in cases of severe COVID-19.

A secret tape recording reveals the mindset of an Elmhurst physician, who roundly dismisses any and all treatments aside from ventilation as useless, since he expects 90% of his patients to die anyway. It's a chilling conversation.

There is much to learn from this pandemic. One take-home is that top-down pandemic treatment directives are ill advised. The WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have turned out to be less than reliable and trustworthy in this regard, and the decisions by some political heads of state have been disastrous.

Why have governors not relied on the input of medical professionals who are actually working with patients and reporting excellent results? Why have so many doctors and scientists been suppressed and censored rather than listened to? Why are inexpensive and readily available remedies that are proving effective being dismissed and ridiculed?

The ineptitude and callousness demonstrated by top level leadership during this pandemic has been staggering, and future pandemic planning clearly needs to rely less on big pharma pushers like Bill Gates and WHO, and more on local critical care teams.

Unfortunately, we're now on a speeding train toward totalitarianism ushered in under the guise of a pandemic response, and the question is, can we stop it? I believe we must try. If we don't, things will only get worse from here.

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Can Your Blood Type Predict Your Risk of Virus Infection?

Not soon after China revealed the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 in their country, scientists around the world began acting. This was a different type of coronavirus than had been studied since at least 1980.¹

One difference is the gain of function potential capabilities the virus is believed to have² that have been used in lab settings to alter the function of cells "as powerful tools to understand basic bacterial and viral biology and pathogen-host interactions."³ The U.S. had banned this research in 2014, but in 2017 it was quietly lifted and⁴

"… the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that they would resume funding gain-of-function experiments involving influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus [SARS]."

The novel coronavirus appeared to trigger a wide range of symptoms in people. Some had only a mild affliction; others were sick for weeks and still others suffered such serious respiratory debilitation that they required the assistance of a ventilator.⁵

Your Blood Type May Reveal Risk Profile

After the SARS outbreak of 2003, researchers found that one specific blood type, Type O, had a potential protective effect against that strain of the coronavirus.⁶ Scientists have also been looking at what genetic factors may impact infection and its severity for people exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

The home-based genetic testing company 23andMe released preliminary results from a study they conducted using the information of more than 750,000 people.⁷ Their early results suggest that a person's blood type has an influence on their susceptibility to the virus.

In addition to the information they used from among the millions who have sent their DNA to the company,⁸ they want to add data from 10,000 hospitalized patients who are not already part of their database.⁹

The company reported that the percentage who tested positive for COVID-19 by blood type was 4.1% for blood group AB.¹⁰ The differences reported in the study showed that those with type O had a 9% or 18% lower potential for testing positive for the virus when compared to those with blood types A, B or AB.¹¹

In a separate study, researchers found that individuals with blood type O Rh positive had the best protection.¹² 23andMe did not find any differences between the two RH factors, positive or negative.¹³ It's important to note that data were collected from self-reported information, which may reduce the validity of this study.¹⁴

In an investigation from China, researchers compared the blood types of 2,173 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.¹⁵ The results demonstrated that those with blood type O had a lower risk of infection and those with blood type A had a higher risk. The results of this study are early, and the researchers warn they should be used only as a guide.

A different group of researchers evaluated the health information of people who had respiratory failure; in addition to reviewing the data from a control group, they studied individuals who were patients at seven hospitals in Italy and Spain.¹⁶ In the final analysis, 835 people from Italy and 775 people from Spain who tested positive for the virus were included.

The researchers analyzed 8.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which are genetic variations.¹⁷ They found statistically significant genetic differences in blood groups. They also found a higher risk for individuals who have A-positive blood and a lower risk for those with blood type O.

It's important to remember that the results do not demonstrate there is absolute protection or risk with blood type, only that those with blood type O may have a lower risk and those with blood type A may have a slightly higher risk. The results from Italy and Spain add to a growing body of evidence indicating that blood type has some impact on a person's susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 infection.¹⁸

Laura Cooling from the University of Michigan said that the current data don't match the epidemiology of the disease pattern in the U.S.¹⁹ She pointed out that blood type O is more prevalent in the population of African-Americans, who are experiencing a disproportionately higher number of infections.

This suggests that blood type may be less of a risk factor compared to others, such as comorbidities known to increase the risk of severe conditions and disease such as vitamin D deficiency, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.²⁰

What's Important About Blood Type?

Blood type has an impact on emergency care and transfusion; a successful transfusion requires that the person receiving the blood gets the same type from a donor.

Your blood type is determined by the presence or absence of antigens on the surface of every red blood cell. These give your blood specific characteristics, including blood type. The four major types that are determined by two specific antigens, A and B, include A, B, AB and O. Another factor, Rh, may also be present.

The most common blood types are O-positive and A-positive. The approximate distribution of blood types ranges from type O-positive at 38% of the population to type AB-negative at 1% of the population.²¹

At this time, it's not understood how blood type may play a role in susceptibility to COVID-19. Professor Andre Franke from the University of Kiel is an author of the study from Italy and Spain.²² He found the gene to type blood is near a gene that controls a protein for a strong immune response.

The overreaction of the immune system, called a cytokine storm, is primarily what causes a massive inflammatory response and lung damage with COVID-19. Theoretically, this genetic variation may have an influence over the immune system and explain the link to blood type.

Consider These Risks Before Taking a Home DNA Test

The number of people using at-home DNA tests to track their ancestry, confirm their heritage or get information on blood type grew through 2019, as demonstrated by the large population that 23andMe used in their study.^23,²⁴

Although 23andMe.com saw recent growth, that company, along with Ancestry.com, which also collects your DNA, began losing sales in 2019. However, these tests are not risk-free. They still hold the data on everyone who's sent them information, however.²⁵ The potential use for DNA ranges from mapping your family tree and helping find genetic indicators to identifying health conditions and solving crimes.

The last two are usually done in highly regulated labs, while DNA to identify your family tree is not. The at-home test kit allows you to check your results online.²⁶ In so doing, you have to give the company permission to store your information in their database. This is the same database 23andMe used to perform the recent comparison of blood type and COVID-19 infection.

Information may also be used in other ways, depending on the rules of the company. With some, your use of their services allows them to sell your genetic data to third parties without your consent and without profit sharing. Pharmaceutical companies, as an example, need large DNA data sets to develop new drugs.

These data are typically sold for millions of dollars, but those who provide the data realize none of the profits.²⁷ That irony is compounded by the fact that consumers have to pay about $99 to get their DNA tested, which then becomes freely available for corporate use and profiteering, among other things, over which the donors have no control.

Your DNA is your most personal set of information, which can be used and manipulated in several ways. In an era when companies have difficulty keeping your usernames and passwords safe, it isn't unrealistic to think your DNA data may also be at risk.

In 2013 researchers published a paper demonstrating that it was possible to identify people participating in genetic research studies by cross-referencing their data with information freely available on the internet.^28,²⁹ Scientists are excited about the potential information that may be gleaned from large DNA databases, but it poses a problem for your privacy.

Direct-to-consumer DNA testing companies are not bound by HIPAA regulations, which means your personal health information is not protected.³⁰ Even if there is no leak, your genetic information may be used by employers, life insurance organizations and health insurance companies. In fact, in 2013, 23andMe admitted that the goal of their company was to collect massive amounts of DNA data to use without donors' consent.³¹

Steps to Optimize Your Health and Support Your Immune System

It is helpful to know your blood type, but that is likely not a strong factor in your ability to withstand a viral infection. The number of people who are dying from COVID-19 lies somewhere between the World Health Organization's estimate of 3.4%³² and a study in Nature Medicine indicating 1.4%.³³

With many cases going unreported or untested, many of the mild and asymptomatic cases are likely not included in the figures. This means the death rate would be lower. In a study from Italy's national health authority, 99% of the deaths in Italy were in people who had underlying medical conditions.³⁴

Of those reported, 48.5% had 3 or more comorbidities.³⁵ This points to the importance of addressing any underlying conditions you may have. It's important that you work to optimize your health in ways that don't also result in unwanted side effects or conditions related to taking a drug.

Comorbid conditions with higher rates of death and severity are cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer.³⁶ Of the five conditions in this list, four are significantly affected by metabolic dysfunction. The common denominator is insulin resistance, which is triggered by a diet of high amounts of carbohydrates and processed foods.

When your body is insulin resistant it is also not metabolically flexible. As Dr. Sandra Weber, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, noted:³⁷

"We know that if you do not have good glucose control, you're at high risk for infection, including viruses and presumably this one [COVID-19] as well … [improving glucose control] would put you in a situation where you would have better immune function."

What and when you eat has a strong influence on your ability to beat insulin resistance. Intermittent fasting promotes insulin sensitivity and improves blood sugar management. This strategy helps to resolve Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and other conditions affected by metabolic dysfunction. To read more about how intermittent fasting affects insulin sensitivity, see "Intermittent Fasting Instead of Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes."

Researchers have also found compelling evidence that maintaining optimal levels of vitamin D helps to lower your risk of severe disease. Since scientists anticipate a second wave of illness in the fall, you have a known "deadline" to raise your vitamin D level to at least 60 ng/mL and up to 80 ng/mL by that time.

Importantly, research published April 28, 2020 showed vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe cases of COVID-19.³⁸ They also found 100% of people under age 75 admitted to the intensive care unit had vitamin D insufficiency. For a more in depth discussion of how your vitamin D level will impact your risk and how to optimize your levels see "Your Vitamin D Level Must Reach 60ng/mL Before the Second Wave."

So, how do you go about optimizing your vitamin D level? First, you need to find out what your base level is, which is done using a simple blood test. An easy and cost-effective way of doing this is to order GrassrootsHealth's vitamin D testing kit.

Once you know what your blood level is, you can assess the dose needed to maintain or improve your level. Again, the ideal level you're looking for is above 40 ng/mL, and ideally between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL (European measurement: 100 nmol/L or, ideally, 150 nmol/L to 200 nmol/L).

Next, you can fine-tune your dosage further by taking into account your baseline vitamin D level. To do that, you can either use the chart below, or use GrassrootsHealth's Vitamin D*calculator. To convert ng/mL into the European measurement (nmol/L), simply multiply the ng/mL measurement by 2.5.

Along with intermittent fasting and optimizing your vitamin D levels, you'll find a list of more strategies you can simply incorporate into your daily routine at "Want to Defeat Coronavirus? Address Diabetes and Hypertension."

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