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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Ambulance

Cholera cases in Yemen pass the 300,000 mark

Yemini infant suspected of cholera infection
© Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images
A Yemeni infant suspected of being infected with cholera receives treatment in Sanaa, in June.
A 10-week cholera epidemic has now infected more than 300,000 people in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday, a health disaster on top of war, economic collapse and near-famine in the impoverished country.

"Disturbing. We're at 300k+ suspected cases with ~7k new cases/day," ICRC regional director Robert Mardini said in a tweet.

The World Health Organization has said there were 297,438 suspected cases and 1,706 deaths by July 7, but it did not publish a daily update on Sunday, when the 300,000 mark looked set to be reached. A WHO spokesman said the figures were still being analyzed by Yemen's health ministry.

Although the daily growth rate in the overall number of cases has halved to just over 2 per cent in recent weeks and the spread of the disease has slowed in the worst-hit regions, outbreaks in other areas have grown rapidly.

Health

Mouth microbiome altered by diabetes fosters periodontitis

oral microbiome diabetes
© University of Pennsylvania
Researchers found that diabetes (panel on right) shifts the oral microbiome, transforming it into a more inflammatory environment and promoting bone loss, characteristics of the gum disease periodontitis.
The past several years has provided groundbreaking awareness of the role that microbial species on and within our bodies play in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the onset of disease. Now, a team of investigators led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has recently found that the oral microbiome is affected by diabetes, causing a shift to increase its pathogenicity. Findings from the new study—published recently in Cell Host & Microbe in an article entitled "Diabetes Enhances IL-17 Expression and Alters the Oral Microbiome to Increase Its Pathogenicity"—not only show that the oral microbiome of mice with diabetes shifted, but that the change was associated with increased inflammation and bone loss.

"Up until now, there had been no concrete evidence that diabetes affects the oral microbiome," noted senior study investigator Dana Graves, D.D.S., D.M.Sc., interim chair and professor at Penn's School of Dental Medicine. "But the studies that had been done were not rigorous."

Comment: Your oral microbiome has a significant impact on your overall health


Life Preserver

Newly published research suggests that a 'fasting mimicking diet' may cure Type 1 diabetes

diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the loss of insulin-producing 𝛽 cells in the pancreas and has largely been thought to be irreversible—until now. Newly published research suggests that there might be a cure for type 1 diabetes after all. Read on to get all the details.

While type 2 diabetes is known to be reversible with diet and lifestyle changes, type 1 diabetes has long been thought to be a permanent condition that requires lifelong insulin dependence. Excitingly, a new study published just last month (1) suggests that a "fasting mimicking diet" could effectively reverse the pathology of type 1 diabetes in mice. While the potential for translating these findings to humans is still unclear, this is such a pivotal study that I wanted to take the time to unpack it piece by piece. First though, a bit of background to set the stage.

What is a fasting mimicking diet, anyway?

We know that water-only fasting provides many health benefits, including reduced blood glucose, regeneration of the immune system, and cellular maintenance (2). But prolonged fasting is difficult for most people and can cause adverse effects on physical and mental health due to its extreme nature. Researchers have therefore been attempting to design diets that mimic the physiological benefits of prolonged fasting without the burden of complete food restriction.

Comment: See also:


SOTT Logo Radio

The Health & Wellness Show: Hazed and confused: The psychology of hazing

hazing
Hazing is defined as any activity required implicitly or explicitly as a condition of initiation or continued membership in an organization whether it be a college fraternity, sports team, military unit or social club. Hazing negatively impacts the physical and psychological well being of initiates and is said to create bonds between members, but is that really the case? Does shared PTSD make people closer? Is hazing really effective in making people want to join a group and even like the group they are joining? Some researchers believe that hazing produces cognitive dissonance and wears down an individuals sense of identity. Undergraduates prone to hazing are reported to have lower self esteem, relying too much on peers and suffering from a dislike of solitude.

Today on the Heath and Wellness show we will discuss the psychology of hazing. At least one hazing death a year has occurred on a college campus every year since 1969 - and many years, multiple deaths have transpired. Is hazing part of evolutionary psychology as some suggest or is it just bullies out of control? Join us as we discuss hazing stories that have captured headlines and what is being done to address the issue.

Running Time: 01:11:52

Download: MP3


Newspaper

Mice shed weight when they can't smell—but not because they stop eating

Weight loss
© Unknown
When you have a stuffy nose, a slice of freshly baked apple pie tastes like mush. But not being able to smell your food could have a surprising effect on your metabolism, potentially helping you remain thin even when you eat fatty foods, a new study in mice suggests.

"This is a very exciting study, and the outcome is quite compelling," says neuroendocrinologist Tamas Horvath of Yale School of Medicine, who wasn't connected to the research.

To conduct the study, molecular biologist Andrew Dillin of the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues turned to a variety of genetically altered mice. The scientists gave them regular doses of the diphtheria toxin—which causes a temporary loss of odor-sensing neurons—to suppress their sense of smell. They then fed the rodents either a normal diet or fatty foods—the mouse equivalent of cheesecake and pizza—that usually induce obesity.

Comment: There are other natural ways humans can reduce their weight instead of depending on the pharmaceutical drugs or sprays.


X

Is an annual pelvic exam really necessary?

pelvic_exam
© Bigstock
Once a young lady has her first menstrual cycle, the ObGyn expects to see her and if not then, certainly by the time she is 18 years old. And thus begins the annual "lady days ritual," as I call it.

For those of you who don't know what happens, we take off our clothes, put on a backless medical gown, hop up on the examination table and put our feet into a pair of stirrups- but only after we've slid down almost to the point of falling off the table.


At that point, the doctor looks at our genitals and inserts a plastic disposable or cold metal speculum into the vagina. It's cranked open and a swab is taken. Then, the doctor inserts a finger or two and pokes around to feel our internal organs.

Super.
"In 2010, doctors performed 62.8 million of these routine pelvic examinations on women across America. In total, gynecological screenings cost the U.S. $2.6 billion every year. And yet, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicinereports that there is no established medical justification for the annual procedure. After scouring nearly 70 years of pelvic exam studies, conducted from 1946 to 2014, the researchers found no evidence that they lead to any reduction in "morbidity or mortality of any condition" among women. In light of the study, the American College of Physicians, a national organization of internists, has crafted a new set of guidelines warning doctors that exams conducted on otherwise symptomless women can 'subject patients to unnecessary worry and follow-up' and can 'cause anxiety, discomfort, pain, and embarrassment, especially in women who have a history of sexual abuse.

Ambulance

FDA approves leukemia treatment using disabled HIV to reprogram the immune system

lab worker
© Joel Page / Reuters
A Food and Drug Administration panel has approved the first-ever gene therapy to treat Leukemia. The immunotherapy works by genetically alters a patient's own cells to fight cancer and bolsters the immune system to shut down the disease.

A panel of cancer experts unanimously endorsed the leukemia treatment on Wednesday in a 10-0 vote, according to AP. The FDA is not required to follow the panel's recommendation, but often does.

"This is a major advance," said panel member Dr. Malcolm A. Smith of the National Cancer Institute. He added that the treatment is "ushering in a new era."

Called CART-T, and devised by the University of Pennsylvania and Novartis Corp, it works by creating a separate treatment for each patient.

Millions T-cells (a type of immune cell) are from removed the patient's blood. The technique employs a disabled form of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to carry new genetic material into the T-cells to reprogram them. The process turbocharges the T-cells to attack B-cells, a normal part of the immune system that turn malignant in leukemia. The T-cells hone in on a protein called CD-19 that is found on the surface of most B-cells.

Health

Saturated Fats and CVD: AHA Convicts, We Say Acquit

eggs and bacon
"Coconut oil is bad for health!" announced headlines recently when the American Heart Association (AHA) issued a new Presidential Advisory[1] on saturated fats, stating that these fats really do most definitely cause heart disease. As a writer who's spent more than a decade researching the science, and as a cardiologist whose practice is based on the most updated findings, we can say that the AHA paper is an outlier, with at least nine other expert reviews finding weak to nonexistent evidence for this link. Who's right?

The official notion that saturated fats cause heart disease goes back to 1961, when the AHA published[2] the world's first recommendations to avoid these fats, along with dietary cholesterol, in order to prevent a heart attack. This "diet-heart hypothesis" appeared as a windfall for a panicked public grappling with a disease that had risen quickly from the 1920s on to become the nation's leading cause of death. Yet the diet-heart hypothesis had never been tested in a clinical trial—the only kind of science that can establish cause and effect—meaning that the AHA advice, despite being adopted by most leading experts, lacked a firm scientific foundation.

Comment: See also Saturated Fat: Health Food or Health Hindrance?


TV

HBO's John Oliver exposed

John Oliver and Del Bigtree
© Oblio
The manipulation of corporate media by the monied influence of multinational pharmaceutical companies is a fact. For anyone watching news cycles come and go a narrative begins to emerge. Unfavorable news and reporting which casts vaccines and the agencies responsible for their oversight and policy-making in a poor light is prohibited. Historically, the general public has endured growing amounts of vaccine-injury and forced vaccine mandates. Many have patiently stood by in vain only to witness their government agencies and oversight committees fail them at every opportunity. And at every turn American media can be found running cover for Big Pharma's vaccine corruption now hitting breakaway speeds.

Yet underneath it all a revolution has been slowly simmering for decades. Millions of parents, bonded by the pain and suffering caused by witnessing their child's severe vaccine injury, have undergone the metamorphosis into warriors. The public revelations put forth by Dr. William Thompson - the CDC whistleblower - signaled a quickening only to be amplified by both the documentary film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe and a full-court press of forced vaccination laws being attempted throughout the country. It was in this atmosphere that HBO's John Oliver, host of "Last Week Tonight," foolishly decided to kick the hornet's nest of medically abused families and downtrodden warrior-parents.

Comment: Another season of John Oliver: Shameless pro-establishment shill


Red Flag

Italians protest against mandatory vaccination

Italian protest
California's compulsory vaccination law, passed with the help of corrupt Big Pharma interests, left a wake of US states vulnerable to similar legislation which would strip parents of the right to decide if their children should be vaccinated.


The people of Italy, however, aren't taking similar legislation proposed by the Italian Parliament with the same complacency most Americans have when faced with losing their medical freedom. Protests have swelled across the country for over a month now, likely influencing the Senate to ease its controversial mandatory-vaccine stance.

The new legislation being proposed since protests reached a more fevered pitch includes fewer mandatory vaccines and reduced penalties for those who won't comply should the legislation pass, but many are still unnerved by any legislation which would force vaccines on their children to any degree.

The protests have been extremely large, and in every major Italian city, millions have gathered in the streets - but of course you likely haven't seen this reported on the WSJ or NBC.