Health & WellnessS


Brain

Chronic pain can be objectively measured using brain signals - new research

Prasad Shirvalkar
The Conversation
Mon, 22 May 2023 11:12 UTC
brainhammer
© Victor Habbick Visions/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
The big idea

Using a brain implant that can record neural signals over many months, my research team and I have discovered objective biomarkers of chronic pain severity in four patients with chronic pain as they went about their daily lives.

Pain is one of the most important and basic subjective experiences a person can have. While there is plenty of evidence that perception of pain takes place in the brain, there is also a major knowledge gap regarding where and how pain signals are processed in the brain. Even though pain is universal, there has not been a way to objectively measure its intensity.

Most prior studies on the brain signals responsible for pain have relied on laboratory experiments in artificial environments. Until now, most research on chronic pain has used indirect measures of brain activity such as functional magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography. Furthermore, although doctors widely recognize that chronic pain is not just an extension of acute pain - like stubbing your toe - it remains unknown how the brain circuits behind acute and chronic pain relate to each other.

Our study was part of a larger clinical trial aimed at developing a new brain stimulation therapy to treat severe chronic pain. My team surgically implanted electrodes in the brains of four patients with post-stroke pain and phantom limb pain to record neural signals in their orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with planning and expectation, and cingulate cortex, an area associated with emotion.

Comment: Note: Research currently incomplete.

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Cheeseburger

A surprising reason why you may need more carbs in your diet

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Mercola.com
Sun, 21 May 2023 06:09 UTC
Family meal
In this interview, Georgi Dinkov and I continue our discussion about diet, diving into some of the finer details that can make or break your health. Dinkov is a student of Ray Peat, who passed away around Thanksgiving 2022, leaving behind a legacy of iconoclastic wisdom on how to optimize biological health.

For example, a ketogenic diet can be very useful initially when transitioning people who are metabolically inflexible, which is about 95% of the population of the United States. So, in the short term, the vast majority of people can benefit from going keto. However, if you continue in ketosis long term, you're going to run into problems.

Elevated Cortisol Leads to Central Obesity

As just one example, while weight loss is a typical response when going on a ketogenic diet, months later, maintaining that weight loss often becomes a struggle again. Dinkov experienced this firsthand. Once he started following Ray Peat's recommendations, he lost the weight again and kept it off.
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Biohazard

First US cases of severe drug-resistant ringworm identified - CDC

Mike McRae
Science Alert
Mon, 15 May 2023 12:00 UTC
Trichophyton mentagrophytes
© Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesArtist's impression of Trichophyton mentagrophytes under the microscope.
Two severe cases of ringworm identified at a clinic in the US city of New York have reportedly failed to respond to a common antifungal treatment, according to a case study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's unlikely the two cases are directly linked - with one patient developing the infection in the US in the summer of 2021 and the other in Bangladesh in the summer of 2022 - raising concerns over a potentially hidden outbreak of drug-resistant dermatitis.

Ringworm is caused by any one of several dozen species of fungus, and is not - as its name suggests - a worm. Also known as tinea or dermatophytosis, it threads its way through the skin or under the nails, irritating the tissues into producing red, itchy rashes.

Comment: People's immune systems are compromised more than ever thanks to lockdowns, the experimental coronavirus jabs, soaring food prices and rising shortages; in addition to the fact our planetary environment is clearly in flux, and so it's likely that people will be increasingly susceptible to 'inconvenient' infections such as these:

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Attention

How long have you been consuming gene-therapied pork?

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Global Research
Wed, 12 Apr 2023 02:00 UTC
Pork
© CC BY-SA 3.0Pork
For the last couple of years, I've recommended not eating pork due to its high linoleic acid (LA) content, but there's an even bigger reason to avoid it now. Since 2018, pork producers have been using customizable mRNA-based "vaccines" on their herds.

The very first RNA-based livestock vaccine, a swine influenza (H3N2) RNA shot licensed in 2012, was developed by Harrisvaccines. The company followed up with an avian influenza mRNA shot in 2015. Harrisvaccines was acquired by Merck Animal Health later that year.

CureVac developed an mRNA-based rabies shot for pigs in 2016

The swine vaccine platform Sequivity, introduced in 2018, was developed by Merck in partnership with Moderna. Sequivity can produce endlessly customized "vaccines," none of which undergo safety testing.

Americans have been eating pork treated with gene therapy for nearly five years already, and even more of our meat supply is about to get the same treatment: mRNA-lipid nanoparticle shots for avian influenza are in the works, as are mRNA shots for cows. Lobbyists for the Cattlemen's Association recently confirmed they intend to use mRNA "vaccines" in cattle, which might affect both dairy and beef.

Missouri House bill 1169 would require labeling of products that can alter your genes. It would also require companies to share information about the potential transmissibility of gene-altering interventions, and asserts that fully informed consent must be given for all vaccines, gene therapies and medical interventions.

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Hearts

'Astonishing' rise in Britons with an irregular heartbeat - these are the main warning signs

Daniel Binns
Sky News
Fri, 19 May 2023 02:41 UTC
heart rate monitor
The number of people in the UK diagnosed with a heart rhythm condition that puts them at increased risk of having a stroke has topped 1.5 million for the first time.

The British Heart Foundation said its analysis of NHS data on atrial fibrillation - which causes an irregular heartbeat - showed there had been an "astonishing" 50% rise in cases from a total of one million in 2013.

The latest figure means one in 45 people in the UK are now confirmed to have the condition - but the charity fears a further 270,000 people remain undiagnosed and unaware.

Comment: The elephant in the room, of course unmentioned in the above article, is what role Covid vaccines play in this current sharp rise in atrial fibrillation. Whenever a sharp increase in a condition is noticed, the authorities try to say it's because of changes in diagnostic procedures (see autism) as a means of trying to brush it under the rug. Until the mainstream medical establishment can be honest about the negative side-effects of Covid vaccines, these conditions will remain a "mystery" to all but those with their eyes open.

See also:

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X

Don't let them rewrite history: Ventilators KILLED people...and it was no accident

Kit Knightly
OffGuardian
Sat, 20 May 2023 05:06 UTC
intensive care unit icu
A new study from Northwestern University has concluded that the majority of "Covid19" patients put on ventilators were actually killed by bacterial pneumonia, not the alleged virus.

You can read that paper here.

This should not comes as a shock to any regular OffG reader - or indeed anyone who tried to keep themselves informed during the "pandemic". Mechanical ventilation is not a treatment for respiratory infection, and quite often makes the situation worse.

Deliberate, institutional misuse of mechanical ventilation probably killed huge numbers of patients during the so-called "first wave". We cover this in great detail in our "40 Facts" covid cribsheet.

Predictably enough, though, mainstream talking heads are not ready to admit this, and the Northwestern paper has produced a wave of somewhat fevered revisionism among the dwindling covidiot class.

See, for example, this tweet from "Dr Craig Spencer":
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Syringe

WHO warns of 'unusual' surge in severe myocarditis in babies

Owen Evans
The Epoch Times
Thu, 18 May 2023 00:00 UTC
Stock photo of the feet of a new-born.
© Fred Dufour /AFP via Getty Images
UK authorities are investigating an "unusual" surge in severe myocarditis which has hit 15 babies in Wales and England and has killed at least one, the World Health Organisation has announced.

On Tuesday, the WHO issued an alert that there had been a rise in "severe myocarditis" in newborns and infants between June 2022 and March 2023 in Wales and England.

It said that this was associated with the enterovirus infection, which rarely affects the heart.
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Syringe

UN says confidence in childhood vaccines down 44 percent worldwide

Carolyn Hendler, JD
The Vaccine Reaction
Mon, 15 May 2023 00:01 UTC
baby vaccine refusal
A new report conducted by the Vaccine Confidence Project published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) concluded that confidence in childhood vaccines has dropped by 44 percent in 52 countries in recent years. The report surveyed 55 countries and all but three countries — China, India and Mexico — showed a steep decline in vaccine confidence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korea and Papua New Guinea saw a 44 percent decline and Ghana, Senegal and Japan saw more than a one-third decrease in belief in the importance of childhood vaccines following the pandemic. In the United States there was a decline of 13.6 percent in the belief that vaccines are important for children.1 2 3

The report said that an estimated 67 million children did not receive vaccinations who otherwise would have before the pandemic was declared, with an estimated 48 million children not receiving any routine childhood vaccinations at all. Overall, vaccination levels fell in 112 countries during the COVID pandemic.4

Comment: After seeing the utter catastrophe that was the Covid vaccine debacle, is it any wonder people are starting to question all vaccines? When you've seen how shady Big Pharma and the government are, you can't unsee it.

See also:

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Star

How low can you go? Forgotten benefits of deep squats

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Mercola.com
Fri, 19 May 2023 00:00 UTC
deep squat
© hingehealth.com
Exercise is a powerful health-building tool that greatly influences the development of chronic disease and your ability to live independently as you age. Squatting, when it's incorporated into a strength training regimen, is one of the best functional exercises. It requires no equipment, is relatively simple to perform and can be done just about anywhere.

Although they're often regarded as leg exercises, squats benefit your entire body, including your core. But what about when you incorporate squatting into your everyday routine?

In many developing nations, children and adults use the squatting position to rest or to work. Paradoxically, in Western nations, people equate sitting with resting. But, while squatting takes your hips and knees through a full range of motion, sitting for long periods can cause your hip flexors to shorten and become tight. This often leads to lower back pain and problems with posture.
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Magnify

'Pandemic stress' has reshaped the placenta of expectant moms - study

Children's National Hospital
Phys.org
Wed, 10 May 2023 12:00 UTC
placenta lockdown covid
© Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33343-4Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33343-4"> Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33343-4"> Image segmentation of a representative placenta. (a) T2-weighted placenta image; (b) Manual segmentation of the placenta.
Elevated maternal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic changed the structure, texture and other qualities of the placenta in pregnant mothers — a critical connection between mothers and their unborn babies — according to new research from the Developing Brain Institute at Children's National Hospital.

Published in Scientific Reports, the findings spotlight the underappreciated link between the mental health of pregnant mothers and the health of the placenta — a critical organ that develops during pregnancy to nourish and protect babies. The long-term neurodevelopmental impact on their children is under investigation.

"During the pandemic, mothers were exposed to a litany of negative stressors including social distancing, fear of dying, financial insecurity and more," said Catherine Limperopoulos, Ph.D., chief and director of the Developing Brain Institute, which led the research.


Comment: Many were also unable to receive health and social care assistance because institutions had diverted all their resources to deal with a relatively harmless virus.


"We now know that this vital organ was changed for many mothers, and it's essential that we continue to investigate the impact this may have had on children who were born during this global public health crisis."

Comment: See also:

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