Health & Wellness

Ignorance is not bliss: We need more empowered patients making informed health decisions

Aseem Malhotra and Sue Bailey
The Pharmaceutical Journal
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC

Shared decision-making should become a mandatory part of training for all healthcare professionals to improve collaboration with their patients, save the NHS billions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes, say Aseem Malhotra and Sue Bailey.

At 55 years old, patient X was very active but overweight with a body mass index of 28 and waist measurement of 38 inches. He had been a Virgin Atlantic international airline pilot for 14 years, but then he suffered a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction in December 2014.

Coronary angiography revealed a sub-totally occluded circumflex artery for which he underwent coronary stenting. He was prescribed the standard cocktail of medications following acute coronary syndrome - aspirin 75mg, clopidogrel 75mg (for one year post-stent insertion), bisoprolol 2.5mg, ramipril 2.5mg and atorvastatin 80mg - and discharged.

He was then contraindicated to fly as a commercial pilot and went back to regular activities, but approximately one year later he started to experience a number of disabling and persistent symptoms, namely extreme fatigue, muscle aches, memory disturbance and erectile dysfunction.

Comment: What a refreshing article to be coming from a mainstream source. For anyone to honestly pursue health in an age of disease, it is vitally important that one take up the rightful power of decision-making for their health, based on research and discussion with their doctor.

Universal HIV antibody discovered which provides "functional cure" (in mice)

Sputnik
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 00:15 UTC

A team of researchers in Hong Kong has announced an important milestone in their development of a "functional cure" for HIV, the virus that causes the deadly condition of AIDS.

A team led by professor Chen Zhiwei of Hong Kong University's AIDS Institute published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Reuters reported Friday. Their discovery, tested successfully in mice, points to a universal antibody that could control the virus and destroy infected cells.

Previous attempts at a cure or vaccine have been hampered by the many varieties of the virus, making wide-scale treatment difficult. But this antibody? "It works for all of them," Chen said.

Comment: There are still a great many questions surrounding our understanding of HIV and AIDS, see:

Also check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: What's the deal with AIDS?

Fasting versus Carb Restriction: Which Works Better for What Scenarios

Mark Sisson
Mark's Daily Apple
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 15:07 UTC

Both fasting and carb-restriction appear to operate along similar physiological pathways. Both lower carbs. Both increase fat-adaptation. Both have the potential to get you into ketosis. Both lower insulin and blood sugar.

But is one better than the other? Are there certain scenarios in which an intermittent fasting protocol works better than a low-carb diet, and vice versa?

Let's find out if the distinction matters.

And what scenarios are most impacted by any difference.

Comment: See also:

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children - why has the possible link between vaccination and pediatric cancer not been investigated?

Rishma Parpia
The Vaccine Reaction
Mon, 28 May 2018 15:57 UTC

According to the American Cancer Society, after accidents, cancer is the second leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and four. Although pediatrics cancers account for less than one percent of all cancers diagnosed each year, the number of children diagnosed with cancer has been rising steadily over the last few decades.¹

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimated that 10,270 new cases of pediatric cancers would be diagnosed in 2017 in children from birth to the age of 14. Approximately 1,190 of these children were expected to die as a result of cancer.²

Comment: Childhood cancer up 13% in the last 20 years:

Happy Feet: Improving foot core stability emerges as latest fitness target

Peta Bee
theaustralian.com.au
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 14:59 UTC

Researchers say they would like this to be ‘the decade of the foot’ in recognition of its importance to wellbeing.

For years, our core muscles have been the focus of workout attention. For those who have failed to find them, these are the muscles that wrap around our middles like a corset and, through workouts aimed at engaging even the most deeply embedded of them, we have been promised better posture, flatter stomachs and more supple movement.

Now there's a new core workout that promises all of these gains and more. And what's surprising is that the core muscles being targeted are not to be found in your trunk, but in your feet.

Improving foot core stability is the latest fitness target among those preoccupied with avoiding rounded shoulders and back pain. Last month, it was a focus of the podiatry and orthotics lectures at the Primary Care and Public Health conference in Britain.

Comment: The benefits of bare feet

Regenerative Agriculture: This Farm Is Medicine

Organic Consumer Association
Fri, 25 May 2018 19:46 UTC

Meet Murray Provine. He used to be a steak-and-potatoes type of guy living a no-exercise, traveling-executive lifestyle.

All that changed after Provine was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Luckily, radiation destroyed Provine's tumor. He got a second chance.

That's when Provine decided it was time for him to eat right and take control of his own health. He knew his body was full of toxins. It needed to heal itself. One way to do that, he decided, was to start growing his own food.

Under the tutelage of rancher and consultant Allen Williams, Provine converted his 110-acre horse property in Clarksville, Georgia, into an Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing farm.

Did the FDA just fast-track approve the HPV vaccine for adults?

Jeffery Jaxen
Greenmedinfo.com
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 19:31 UTC

As Merck's HPV vaccine receives FDA approval for use in women and men ages 27 to 45, a new study adds to the growing concern that the vaccine has significant safety issues that are being ignored and/or actively suppressed.

Merck has recently announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted their vaccine application seeking approval for an expanded age indication for GARDASIL 9 for use in women and men ages 27 to 45. The FDA has granted Priority Review to Merck's application and has set a target action date of October 6, 2018. A Priority Review designation means the FDA is fast-tracking the process by directing extra attention and resources to the application as opposed to a Standard Review process.

Probiotics: Will they ever live up to the hype?

Rachel Gutman
The Atlantic
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:11 UTC

Changing your microbiome takes more than just taking a pill full of bacteria.

"Altering someone's microbiome is as complicated as changing a rainforest or a coral reef," The Atlantic's Ed Yong told an audience at the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday. "It's not easy."

In conversation with Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, Yong discussed the future of microbial medicine. He argued that doctors should focus on an "ecological type of thinking" instead of the more simplistic approach behind "medically underwhelming" probiotic treatments. "It's not just thinking of microbes as a pill that you could give to someone to fix a lack of something," Yong said.

Comment: Learn more about the gut microbiome and probiotics. Listen to the SOTT Radio Health and Wellness Show - Gut Health

Also read: The benefits of probiotics

Everybody's talking about the benefits of probiotics. Probiotics are the "it" girl of the day. And like that supermodel who can be found on every magazine cover in the world--until she's replaced by the next "it" girl--it's hard to find any product that doesn't now have a probiotic enhanced version. There are probiotic: toothpastes¹,gum^2, flavored waters³, milk⁴^, cookies, candies, and ice creams⁵, soap⁶, shampoo⁷.

You name it and companies are now "probiotisizing" it. How useful any of these products are is open to question; and the FDA, of course, has not approved probiotics for the treatment of any disease or condition. So in fact, most claims for the benefits of "probiotisized" products fall outside the law.⁸ Then again, just because some claims fall outside the law, doesn't mean they're necessarily untrue. But really, for the most part, isn't that the entire basis of alternative health: factual claims that are ahead of the law? So, despite the lack of support from the FDA and the FTC, it is pretty much known that probiotics offer a number of demonstrable benefits.

Lab-Grown meat startups backed by Bill Gates & Tyson Foods face FDA oversight

Anna Edney
bloomberg.com
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 19:43 UTC

Lab-grown meat startups that rely on animal cells to produce beef, poultry and seafood products have caught the eye of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has begun the process of regulating the industry.

Cultured meat, considered an environmentally sound alternative to the real thing, is made by harvesting cells from animals and growing them to make food. Companies like Memphis Meats Inc. and Future Meat Technologies have piqued the interest of investors such as food giants Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc., as well as billionaires Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

Comment: More disturbing information on the future of 'lab-grown' meat:

Parkinson's disease may be triggered by virus that kills 'good bacteria' in the gut

Clare Wilson
New Scientist
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC

Parkinson’s disease Lactococcus gut bacteria

Parkinson's disease could be triggered by a virus that kills a "good" form of bacteria in the gut. This may lead to a chain reaction of damaged nerves leading from the digestive system up to the brain.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder of tremors, stiffness and difficulties in moving; it is known to involve the death of nerve cells in the brain, linked with misfolding of a protein found in nerve fibres called synuclein.

Although it has long been seen as a brain disorder, a recent theory is that the misfolding of synuclein starts in nerves of the gut, triggering a chain reaction of protein misfolding up the nerve fibres to the brain . But it's unclear what starts the changes to synuclein in the first place.

George Tetz of the Human Microbiology Institute in New York thinks gut microbes might be responsible. After analysing existing data on the gut microbes of 31 people with Parkinson's disease and 28 healthy people, his team found that the biggest differences were in the dairy bacteria such as Lactococcus species, and the viruses that prey on them.

Comment: Further reading:

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DeliciousTears

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Using technology to compress the atmosphere: [Link]

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"Changing Electrical Fields Across the Solar System Affecting You" - [Link]

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Health & Wellness

Ignorance is not bliss: We need more empowered patients making informed health decisions

Universal HIV antibody discovered which provides "functional cure" (in mice)

Fasting versus Carb Restriction: Which Works Better for What Scenarios

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children - why has the possible link between vaccination and pediatric cancer not been investigated?

Happy Feet: Improving foot core stability emerges as latest fitness target

Regenerative Agriculture: This Farm Is Medicine

Did the FDA just fast-track approve the HPV vaccine for adults?

Probiotics: Will they ever live up to the hype?

Lab-Grown meat startups backed by Bill Gates & Tyson Foods face FDA oversight

Parkinson's disease may be triggered by virus that kills 'good bacteria' in the gut

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