Health & WellnessS


Health

We may be taking blood pressure readings all wrong

Beth Mole
Ars Technica
Sat, 25 Jan 2025 17:25 UTC
Blood pressure readings while lying down beat seated readings at predicting heart risks.

Blood Pressure
© Getty | PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini
Last year, a study highlighted that your doctor's office might be taking your blood pressure wrong. The current best practice is to take seated blood pressure readings with a detailed protocol: Patients must not eat, drink, or exercise for 30 minutes prior; they must have an empty bladder and sit calmly for five minutes prior to the first reading; they must sit with their feet uncrossed and flat on the floor; their back should be supported; and — a big one that's often overlooked — they must keep the arm to be measured resting on a flat surface at the height of their heart, not higher or lower.

While the setup is often different from what happens in a bustling medical office, a new study blows away quibbles over protocol and suggests that even when done perfectly, the method is second-rate. We shouldn't be sitting at all when we take our blood pressure — we should be lying down.

According to the study, published in JAMA Cardiology and led by researchers at Harvard, blood pressure readings measured while lying down were significantly better at indicating risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure, and death than were seated blood pressure readings alone.

For instance, people who had high blood pressure readings while lying down but not while seated had an estimated 53 percent higher relative risk of coronary heart disease than people with normal blood pressure. They had a 51 percent higher risk of heart failure, a 62 percent higher risk of stroke, a 78 percent higher risk of fatal coronary heart disease, and a 34 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality.
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Biohazard

Larry Ellison sells Stargate AI-driven personalized mRNA cancer vaccines developed in 48 Hours

Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Courageous Discourse
Thu, 23 Jan 2025 00:00 UTC
stargate ai project
Current Reality is Moderna mRNA-4157 (V940) Combination Chemotherapy Trial with Keytruda in Metastatic Melanoma

The medical world was stunned by the bold announcement of Project Stargate, a $500B investment in artificial intelligence promising >100,000 American jobs. The capper was Oracle CEO Larry Ellison painting a vision of using the technology to characterize a cancer and come up with an mRNA vaccine within 48 hours.

Project Stargate

Comment:



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Brain

Smartphone use leads to hallucinations, detachment from reality, aggression in teens as young as 13: Study

Rikki Schlott
NY Post
Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:25 UTC
teen cellphone
© Brian – stock.adobe.com
Smartphones are making teenagers more aggressive, detached from reality and causing them to hallucinate, according to new research.

Scientists concluded the younger a person starts using a phone, the more likely they would be crippled by a whole host of psychological ills after surveying 10,500 teens between 13 and 17 from both the US and India for the study, by Sapien Labs.

"People don't fully appreciate that hyper-real and hyper-immersive screen experiences can blur reality at key stages of development," addiction psychologist Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, who was not part of the team who did the study, told The Post.

"Their digital world can compromise their ability to distinguish between what's real and what's not. A hallucination by any other name.

"Screen time essentially acts as a toxin that stunts both brain development and social development," Kardaras explained. "The younger a kid is when given a device, the higher the likelihood of mental health issues later on."
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Health

Americans - Medical Tourism in China

Larry Romanoff
Blue Moon of Shanghai.com
Wed, 22 Jan 2025 22:35 UTC
Boao Lecheng
© Blue Moon of Shanghai.comBoao Lecheng pilot zone of international medical tourism. Source
This is important for Americans. I would say that I am not in favor of what we call "medical tourism", but the Chinese government doesn't appear to frown on it, so I am not in position to complain. I suppose the government sees it as a social contribution to the world.

I have seen many Internet posts and articles on the US healthcare system, which appears inhuman and almost savage on occasion. The US medical system is operated on a for-profit basis, and seems driven almost entirely by greed. Many Americans cannot afford health insurance, and the greatest cause by far of personal bankruptcies in the US is astronomical medical bills.
Brian Thompson
© Blue Moon of Shanghai.comBrian Thompson (July 10, 1974 – December 4, 2024), was the CEO of the American health insurance company UnitedHealthcare; who was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on December 4, 2024. On social media, reactions to the killing largely included contempt and mockery toward Thompson and UnitedHealth Group, sympathy and praise for Mangione, and criticism of the American healthcare system and health insurance industry – primarily regarding claim denial practices. Source
All health care insurance companies have huge departments the only purpose of which is to find any justification to deny paying a claim. Very recently, the CEO of United Health Care in the US was shot and killed, with the sympathy almost unanimously for the young man who shot him. United Health Care is unquestionably one of the most inhuman corporations in the world, apparently rejecting nearly 40% of all health claims submitted. All US health insurance companies are similar, leaving American individuals with often hundreds of thousands and even more than one million dollars in debt, and having no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

Patients sometimes try to challenge the outrageous hospital and medical bills in the courts, but they seldom have the financial resources to do this effectively. Even worse, one American nurse made a video where she outlined that, in her hospital and many others, the staff were taught and trained to create medical records that painted patients in the worst possible light, because this would help them to win lawsuits initiated by patients.
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Caduceus

J&J's ketamine-derived nasal spray approved by FDA to treat depression

Daniella Genovese
NY Post
Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:22 UTC
johnson and johnson
© Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Johnson & Johnson's ketamine-derived nasal spray to help millions of U.S. patients suffering from severe depression.

Spravato, approved as a standalone treatment, is "the first and only monotherapy for adults living with major depressive disorder who have had an inadequate response to at least two oral antidepressants," the pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday.

An estimated 21 million adults in the U.S. are living with major depressive disorder, one of the most common psychiatric disorders, but one-third of them will not respond to oral antidepressants alone, hindering their quality of life, according to Johnson & Johnson.

"Treatment-resistant depression can be very complicated, especially for patients who do not respond to oral antidepressants or cannot tolerate them. For too long, healthcare providers have had few options to offer patients much-needed symptom improvement," Bill Martin, global therapeutic area head of Neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, said in a statement.

Comment: Previously:

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Syringe

New research paper contains evidence the mRNA Covid Vaccines damage human heart cells

Dr David Livermore
The Daily Sceptic
Sun, 19 Jan 2025 19:44 UTC
Heart Attack
© freepik @actiongp
Sometimes a paper on a new method delivers a side punch to current understanding. Nothing in the title hints at this, and the authors deliver the critical blow en passant.

Over a 40-year career in microbiology I've met several cases. For example, the scientist who found a problematic type of antibiotic resistance to be extremely prevalent in Pakistan. This exercised him not one jot, despite obvious implications for treatment and for import into the U.K. What motivated Joe, whose name I've changed, was perfecting a test to detect bacteria with this resistance. One of his collaborators (a former colleague, I think) just happened to be in Pakistan, which proved - owing to the high prevalence of the resistance - to be the ideal testing ground.

Some scientists don't want the trouble that comes from a disturbing result, especially when they have a new method to publicise. They fear the opprobrium reserved for heretics and disruptors. At best, controversial observations delay your paper's publication. At worst, they lead to it being rejected. Why court trouble, especially if you have patents or intellectual property claims? More simply, some, like Joe, just have a 'techno' mindset. If they discovered a Roman mosaic whilst digging the garden they'd fixate on how it'd affect the roses.

Comment: And the evidence keeps piling up There are protective measures the vaccinated can take:

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Cow

The RFK effect: Steak 'n Shake to cook fries in beef tallow: 'Authentic way'

Christine Rousselle
Fox News
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:27 UTC
Steak 'n Shake beef tallow healthy fats
© iStockFast-food chain Steak 'n Shake, headquartered in Indiana, announced that it would be cooking its fries in beef tallow by the end of February, 2025.
Move comes amid the push to do away with seed oils

Fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake announced on Thursday that it will be cooking its shoestring fries in 100% beef tallow by the end of Feb. 2025.

"Our fries will now be cooked in an authentic way, 100% beef tallow, in order to achieve the highest quality and best taste," Chris Ward, chief supply chain officer for Steak 'n Shake, said in a statement.

By the end of February, all Steak 'n Shake restaurants will have shifted from frying in vegetable oil to frying in "100% all-natural beef tallow."

Comment:

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Caduceus

Irony: Millionaire who wants to live forever stops taking longevity drug over concerns it sped up aging

Rob Thubron
TechSpot
Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:21 UTC
brian johnson anti aging tech guru
© Bryan Johnson /YoutubeMultimillionaire Bryan Johnson is on a mission to achieve eternal youth
And caused skin infections

WTF?! Bryan Johnson, the tech millionaire famed for his many attempts to reverse aging and extend his life, including injecting himself with plasma from his teenage son, has run into an issue with one of the 54 different supplements he takes every day: it was making him older, not younger.

Johnson, who earned over $300 million when his mobile and web payment company Braintree was acquired by PayPal in 2013, has gained plenty of attention in recent times for his Project Blueprint anti-aging quest. He also sells his own (very expensive) supplement stacks and individualized health regimens under the Blueprint name.

Comment: Vegan diet? Avoiding the sun? He might as well start planning his funeral now.

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Candy Heart

FDA bans Red No. 3, artificial coloring used in beverages, candy and other foods

Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Elizabeth Chuck
NBC News
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 11:40 UTC
red beverage, soda
© Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it's banning the use of Red No. 3, a synthetic dye that gives food and drinks their bright red cherry color but has been linked to cancer in animals.

The dye is still used in thousands of foods, including candy, cereals, cherries in fruit cocktails and strawberry-flavored milkshakes, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety advocacy group that petitioned the agency in 2022 to end its use. More than 9,200 food items contain the dye, including hundreds of products made by large food companies, CSPI said, citing Agriculture Department data. The FDA is not prohibiting other artificial dyes, including Red No. 40, which has been linked to behavioral issues in children.

The FDA's decision is a victory for consumer advocacy groups and some U.S. lawmakers who have long urged it to revoke Red No. 3's approval, citing ample evidence that its use in beverages, dietary supplements, cereals and candies may cause cancer as well as affect children's behavior.
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Water

Over 97 million US residents exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water, analysis reveals

Silent Spring Institute
Phys,Org
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00 UTC
drinking water
© Unsplash/CC0/Public DomainWhat's in Your faucet?
Nearly a third of people in the U.S. have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water that could impact their health, according to a new analysis by scientists at Silent Spring Institute. What's more, Hispanic and Black residents are more likely than other groups to have unsafe levels of contaminants in their drinking water and are more likely to live near pollution sources.

The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, add to growing concern about the quality of drinking water in the United States and the disproportionate impact of contamination on communities of color.

Close to 100 contaminants are currently regulated under the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act. This means public water utilities must test for these contaminants and take steps to ensure levels don't exceed certain limits by installing new treatment systems and taking other measures.
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