The researchers dissolved polymers and nanoparticles in water, and comingled them at room temperature to solidify a Jello-like substance that - unlike its kitchen counterpart -- did not liquify at higher heat, such as in the body. The technique kept in balance two thermodynamic concepts- enthalpy, which measures energy added to or subtracted from a material, and entropy, which describes how energy changes make a material more or less orderly at the molecular level.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39NBL3a
New tools and methods have been described by researchers to study an unusual protein modification and gain fresh insights into its roles in human health and disease. The study - about how certain sugars modify proteins -- lays a foundation for better understanding diseases like muscular dystrophy and cancer.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39QHyFc
Ultrasound is not only used as an imaging technique but targeted pulses of ultrasound can be used as a highly accurate treatment for a range of brain diseases. A review shows that the new treatments are already on the brink of broad clinical application.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2MrtfOH
Researchers conducted a first-of-its-kind meta-analysis of time management literature. Their study pored over data from 158 separate studies spanning four decades, six continents and involving more than 53,000 respondents. Their conclusion? Yes, time management does work. Though maybe not as one might initially think.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3pP4UR6
Competition among sperm cells is fierce - they all want to reach the egg cell first to fertilize it. A research team now shows in mice that the ability of sperm to move progressively depends on the protein RAC1. Optimal amounts of active protein improve the competitiveness of individual sperm, whereas aberrant activity can cause male infertility.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39OYfkn
Researchers have identified a potential way to eradicate the latent HIV infection that lies dormant inside infected immune cells. Studying human immune cells, the researchers showed that such cells have a natural alarm system that detects the activity of a specific HIV protein. Rather than attack the virus based on its appearance, this strategy is to attack the virus based on what it is doing -- vital activities that are required for the virus to exist.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3tvJfj2
The speed of light has come to 3D printing. Engineers have developed a new method that uses light to improve 3D printing speed and precision while also, in combination with a high-precision robot arm, providing the freedom to move, rotate or dilate each layer as the structure is being built. The method introduces the 'on-the-fly' ability to manipulate the original design layer by layer and pivot the printing direction without recreating the model.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3cGzJ6K
Social interaction may help reverse food and cigarette cravings triggered by being in social isolation, a study in rats has found. The study used an animal model of drug addiction to show that a return to social interaction gives the same result as living in a rich, stimulating environment in reducing cravings for both sugar and nicotine rewards.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3jpOY5t
For patients with cancers that do not respond to immunotherapy drugs, adjusting the composition of microorganisms in the intestines -- known as the gut microbiome -- through the use of stool, or fecal, transplants may help some of these individuals respond to the immunotherapy drugs, a new study suggests.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3aygvxz
Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) may not be at a higher risk of pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, emergency cesarean section or stillbirth than women who do not have the disease, according to a new study.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39OYb49
Scientists are hoping advances in cancer research could lead to a day when a patient's own immune system could be used to fight and destroy a wide range of tumors. Cancer immunotherapy has some remarkable successes, but its effectiveness has been limited to a relatively small handful of cancers. Researchers describe how advances in engineering models of tumors can greatly expand cancer immunotherapy's effectiveness to a wider range of cancers.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2NXQiRk
Muscle wasting, or the loss of muscle tissue, is a common problem for people with cancer, but the precise mechanisms have long eluded doctors and scientists. Now, a new study gives new clues to how muscle wasting happens on a cellular level.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39NHeaf
A phase 1 clinical trial testing a novel vaccine approach to prevent HIV has produced promising results, researchers announced today. The vaccine showed success in stimulating production of rare immune cells needed to start the process of generating antibodies against the fast-mutating virus; the targeted response was detected in 97 percent of participants who received the vaccine.
from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3rqHmlR
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be so mentally exhausting that 1 in 6 Americans started therapy for the first time during 2020, joining the 31% of Americans who already received therapy, or returned to it, that year.1 The findings come from a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, commissioned by Vida Health, which shines a spotlight on the mental health toll taken by the pandemic.
Nearly half (45%) of the survey respondents confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic was the driving reason that triggered them to seek a therapist’s help, with only 15% saying the pandemic did not damage the state of their mental health.2 One respondent even stated, “My 'depression' is a direct result of the pandemic, not an ongoing condition.”
What’s more, 15% began taking medication for mental health issues for the first time in 2020, while another 15% changed or increased their prescription medication dosages.
Many of those entering therapy (47%) said they believed doing so was a sign of weakness, but seeking help for overwhelming stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health challenges is actually a sign of strength — and a necessity for many during COVID-19 lockdowns. Vida Health’s chief clinical officer Chris Mosunic, Ph.D., said in a statement:3
“Americans often place other priorities above their own mental health needs, not just because of stigma but because of time. They often see work, home and social responsibilities as being more important than their personal health and well-being. But just as they tell you on airplanes when the oxygen masks come down, we can’t help others if we don’t take care ourselves first.”
COVID-19, Winter Collide to Worsen Mental Health
The winter months are proving to be especially difficult for many — but not because of a concurrent epidemic of flu cases. The loss of daylight hours that occur during winter trigger “winter blues” or the more significant seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in a sizeable portion of the population.
What differentiates SAD from regular depression is that a full remission occurs in the spring and summer months. Common SAD symptoms include oversleeping, intense carbohydrate cravings, overeating and weight gain. Some people also have trouble concentrating and withdraw socially, preferring to "hibernate" indoors instead of engaging in their typical daily activities.4
This, coupled with COVID-19-imposed quarantines, social distancing and lockdowns, is creating a winter unlike any other in recent memory, making the dark days even darker from a mental health perspective. According to the survey, 62% agreed that they feel more depressed during the winter, and 32% said winter is the worst season for their mental health.5
If this sounds familiar, light therapy (including blue light exposure in the morning, but not later in the day) can be helpful in giving your mood a boost, as can optimizing your vitamin D levels, which is useful not only for treating SAD6 but also for warding off infectious disease.
88% Have Symptoms of Mental Health Trauma
The survey also revealed that 88% of respondents reported at least one symptom that’s indicative of mental health trauma, including:7
Little interest or pleasure in doing things (52%)
Having trouble falling or staying asleep (52%)
Feeling down, depressed or hopeless (51%)
Among U.S. young adults aged 18 to 30 years, high levels of depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms were also reported from April 13 to May 19, 2020,8 which is about one month after a state of emergency was declared in the U.S. due to COVID-19 and when heavy restrictions were in place in most areas. Another team of researchers looking into the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 similarly reported:9
“Disease itself multiplied by forced quarantine to combat COVID-19 applied by nationwide lockdowns can produce acute panic, anxiety, obsessive behaviors, hoarding, paranoia, and depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the long run.”
Experts also agree that the disruptions to traditional grief rituals, including the ability to say goodbye and viewing and burial of the body, are likely to increase symptoms of prolonged grief disorder (PGD).10 Being forced to go through the loss and grieving process in social isolation and without the comfort of long-held bereavement rituals is a “recipe for a psychiatric pandemic,” according to researchers from the Iran University of Medical Sciences.11
They’re among many sounding an alarm that COVID-19 social distancing and quarantine polices are increasing the likelihood of PGD, making an already difficult life event even harder to process. They stated:12
“Millions of people around the world have experienced the loss of a loved one due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the restrictive lockdown regulations and stay-at-home orders, most of these individuals did not get a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones, properly to have a funeral/ceremony for their loss or to bury them.
As a result, millions of individuals have not experienced a regular grief cycle that enables individuals to rapidly adjust to the situation and recover themselves.”
These profound disruptions are expected to compound mental health challenges, leading to a wave of unresolved bereavement, depression and PTSD as humans are robbed of their ability to participate in age-old bereavement rituals.13
68% of Americans Feel Defeated
Many Americans feel they’re battling their own personal crisis as a result of the pandemic, with 68% of Americans surveyed saying they feel defeated going into 2021. Of them, 63% said the COVID-19 pandemic is what took the wind out of their sails. Other deflating experiences over the past year include:14
Not being able to enjoy pre-COVID activities (45%)
The presidential election (45%)
The spread of misinformation (35%)
The 24/7 news cycle (30%)
The drastic changes that took place in 2020 have also left many Americans neglecting their personal health, with more than half saying they feel too overwhelmed to make their health a priority, and 56% saying they’re struggling to find an effective wellness routine.15
The American Psychological Association’s Stress in America 2020 survey, released in May 2020 and conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, reveals more of the same.
High stress levels related to coronavirus are described as “the new normal” for parents, while people of color were also more likely than white adults to report that the pandemic was causing significant stressors in their life, particularly related to fears of getting COVID-19 and having access to basic needs and health care services.16
A report by the Well Being Trust and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care also estimated that up to 75,000 people may die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. These “deaths of despair” are expected to be exacerbated by three factors already at play:17
Unprecedented economic failure paired with massive unemployment
Mandated social isolation for months and possible residual isolation for years
Uncertainty caused by the sudden emergence of a novel, previously unknown microbe
COVID Has Tripled Depression Symptoms
The full mental health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be clear for years, but already researchers revealed that the prevalence of depression symptoms increased by more than threefold — from 8.5% before COVID-19 to 27.8% during the pandemic.18
Exposure to a greater number of stressors was associated with a higher risk of depression during COVID-19, as was lower income and having less than $5,000 in savings. The latter was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in the risk of depression symptoms, which represents a 50% greater risk.
The loneliness and isolation that many people are experiencing as a result of prolonged social distancing and isolation are only exacerbating the problem. Social isolation increases the likelihood of mortality by 29%, while loneliness increases it by 26%.19
A rapid review of the evidence, published in The Lancet in March 2020 also looked into the psychological impact of quarantine, finding — not surprisingly — “Most reviewed studies reported negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion and anger.”20
Out of 2,760 quarantined people, 34% experienced high levels of psychological distress, which could include anxiety or depression.21 A number of stressors during quarantine were also noted, including:
Longer quarantine duration
Infection fears
Frustration
Boredom
Inadequate supplies
Inadequate information
Financial loss
Stigma
Tending to Your Mental Health Is More Important Than Ever
If you’re struggling mentally or emotionally, seeing a therapist can help. Cognitive behavioral therapy works as well as antidepressants and may reduce your risk of relapse even after it’s stopped.22 However, not everyone chooses to go this route, often either believing their problems aren’t “big enough” to necessitate a therapist or thinking that they can “handle their own problems.”23
It’s important not to ignore your mental health, however, and maintaining positive habits is essential. Exercise is a natural antidepressant and there are many workouts available online that you can do at home, even during self-quarantine. Getting outdoors for a walk in nature is also mentally soothing and something that many people can do daily.
If you’re feeling socially isolated, reach out to friends and family, connecting online or in person as you feel comfortable. For feelings of stress and anxiety directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing negative emotions is recommended.
In the video above, Julie Schiffman, an Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) practitioner, shows how to use EFT to feel safe in the world post-lockdown. One of the best things about EFT is that once you learn the technique, you can do it anywhere and it only takes a few minutes. If you’re facing PTSD or another serious mental health challenge, it’s recommended that you recruit the help of a professional EFT practitioner.
However, for general anxiety and uneasiness related to the post-quarantine world, I invite you to use the following resources to learn the mechanics of EFT, as well to help you gain an appreciation for its wide-ranging application for better mental health:
As censorship and cancel culture gets revved up another notch, it was perhaps inevitable that I would get targeted yet again, this time by The Washington Post, The New York Times and Forbes magazine. January 18, 2021, our media department received an email from Joe Walsh, a Forbes reporter, stating:1
“I understand that … your organization received PPP funds last year, along with several other organizations that have offered skepticism about vaccines, and I’d like to include your response.
What is your position on Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, and on vaccination as a public health strategy, more generally? Some have characterized your organization as anti-vaccine — what is your response to that characterization?
How do you respond to insinuations from critics that your organization should not have received federal assistance, given your views on vaccines? My deadline is in an hour — thanks in advance.”
First of all, we won’t drop everything to address questions in under an hour. Secondly, what does our stance on vaccine safety have to do with our legal right to conduct business? Nowhere on the paycheck protection program (PPP) loan application must you profess your undying loyalty and adherence to vaccine propaganda.
The argument that we should not receive federal assistance “given our views on vaccines” is as authoritarian as it gets, which is perhaps what one should expect, given that Forbes is owned by a Chinese company.
Thirdly, Forbes received a PPP loan in the amount of $8.03 million in April 2020,2 which raises a far more obvious and reasonable question: Why are Americans subsidizing a Chinese-owned media company — especially during a time when China is under suspicion by U.S. government officials of being involved in the creation and release of SARS-CoV-2?3
Forbes — A Communist Propaganda Outlet?
In 2014, the Chinese company Integrated Whale Media Investments bought 95% controlling interest in Forbes.4,5 Basically, with just 5% worth of shares in American hands, I think it’s safe to say Forbes is a Chinese-controlled company.
That the proverbial choke collar is getting yanked by its communist masters seems evident in the magazine’s rather sudden embrace of radical censorship of political opponents and views. As reported by Newsmax:6
“Communist China owned Integrated Whale Media Investments start their purge. Media and the Left aren’t satisfied with merely controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress … They want revenge. They also want to punish anyone who worked in the Trump administration, and to a lesser extent, the 45th president’s supporters.”
Good luck, Forbes. Threatening to cut down the voices of half the American population is unlikely to end well. It’s really a sad end to what has long been an American media icon. It was predictable, however, and questions about the editorial independence of Forbes were raised from the get-go in 2014. As reported by Isaac Stone Fish in a Washington Post op-ed in December 2017:7
“When a Chinese company buys a major American magazine, does the publication censor its coverage of China? There is only one example so far, and the results are discouraging. In 2014, a Hong Kong-based investment group called Integrated Whale Media purchased a majority stake in Forbes Media …
[S]ince that purchase, there have been several instances of editorial meddling on stories involving China that raise questions about Forbes magazine’s commitment to editorial independence.”
Forbes’ Actions Prove It Has Lost Editorial Independence
One example given in Fish’s article was the sudden ousting of longtime China commentator and Communist Party critic Gordon Chang in October 2017. In an email, Forbes opinion editor Avik S.A. Roy told Chang that “due to a wide-ranging reorganization of Forbes’ content,” the magazine was ending their relationship.
Forbes also permanently erased all of Chang’s articles from its website — an unusual move that typically doesn’t happen “unless there were credible allegations of editorial misconduct, which seems unlikely in this case,” Fish writes.
According to Chang, his relationship with Forbes, which had been very good, dramatically changed in 2014 after Integrated Whale Media took majority ownership. Whereas they’d previously promoted Chang’s articles, they stopped doing so in 2014.
“Consider also what happened to Forbes in February 2016, after then-contributor Anders Corr wrote an article comparing China to North Korea,” Fish writes.8
“Corr provided me with an email that he says came from a Forbes editor. ‘Your last post has some language the editors here feel is problematic,’ the editor wrote, adding that it was ‘not accurate to say China impoverishes its people or to label Xi Jinping a dictator’ …
An editor using the term ‘problematic’ to describe an opinion writer’s opinions, seemingly with the intent of discouraging him from writing about controversial subjects, is, well, problematic.”
Forbes’ sudden enthusiastic support of authoritarian “cancel” tactics against Conservatives is all the more head-scratching considering chairman and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes has actually been an ardent supporter of President Trump, endorsing him during both of his campaigns.9
This in and of itself is a clue that Forbes has become a secret propaganda arm of Communist China and is trying to normalize the immoral “extermination” of political opponents and people whose views don’t align with authoritarian ideals. So, again, should American taxpayers really be paying more than $8 million in PPP loans to keep Chinese controlled media in business?
The Hit Piece That Wasn’t
Other prominent proponents of vaccine safety also received PPP loans in 2020, including the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), the Children’s Health Defense and the Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center.
Among the five of us, we received some $850,000 in federal assistance, about one-tenth of what communist-backed Forbes received all by itself. In the video above, ICANs Del Bigtree reviews how this non-story was twisted into a supposed “scandal” by yet another propaganda machine: the U.K.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), headed up by Imran Ahmed.
The CCDH recently defamed me and other leading vaccine safety advocates by insinuating we are “prone to violent extremism” and therefore pose a threat to national security in the U.K.
In its report, “The Anti-Vaxx Playbook,”10 CCDH identified six leading online “anti-vaxxers”: Barbara Loe Fisher, Joseph Mercola, Del Bigtree, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sherri Tenpenny and Andrew Wakefield. Aside from Wakefield, who does not have a business, the other five are the same organizations now smeared by the CCDH for having legally received PPP loans.
By the way, in its “Anti-Vaxx Playbook” report, the CCDH details the messages shared by me and others during the Fifth International Public Conference on Vaccination, held online October 16 through 18, 2020, such as:
Deaths being falsely attributed to COVID-19, thereby artificially inflating mortality statistics
The fact that COVID-19 has a 99+% survival rate unless you’re very old and have underlying comorbidities
The fact that there are now several effective therapeutics for COVID-19, making a vaccine less relevant
The CCDH report presents these messages without any counterarguments. It does not negate or even debate the accuracy of any of them. It just brushes them aside as “misinformation” and “lies” without providing any proof whatsoever, and in doing so, it actually ends up strengthening our messaging. In fact, the report summarizes our concerns so well that I’d encourage everyone to read it.
The Imminent Threat of Technocratic Technofascism
Considering the CCDH is pushing for deplatforming anyone who questions vaccines,11 it seems obvious that this PPP story is meant to drum up some sort of public outrage to strengthen the call for our elimination from the net.
It’s important to note, here, that Ahmed is also a member of the Steering Committee on Countering Extremism Pilot Task Force under the British government’s Commission for Countering Extremism. In other words, the U.K. government is behind these smear campaigns and efforts to manipulate public opinion on vaccines.
What’s more, as detailed in “Spy Agencies Threaten to Take Out Mercola,” British and American intelligence agencies are collaborating to eliminate “anti-vaccine propaganda” from public discussion using sophisticated cyberwarfare tools.
When government lumps enemies of private companies into the same category as enemies of the state, you know totalitarianism has one foot firmly inside the front door. Essentially, they’re saying that if you criticize or impede the profitability of certain private companies, you’re a national security threat.
The right and freedom to critique government and private companies alike is a hallmark of democracy, so this state-sponsored war against opposing views is a radical detour from democratic rule in the direction of fascism, which is defined, in part, as “a governmental system led by a dictator … forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry [and] commerce.”12
Sadly, many are still unaware of this term, and what the technocratic system of governance really entails. Once you do, you’d become reluctant, to say the least, to believe anything a Chinese-owned publication such as Forbes has to say, considering China has been selected by the technocratic elite to be the preeminent power of this New World Order, having already implemented many of the “technofascist” systems they want to implement across the rest of the world.
