StemCell Therapy

Shutterstock

The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccination (PREVAC) recently launched a new project called PREVAC-UP, which will evaluate three Ebola vaccine regimens for five years after vaccination.

The study will assess several factors within these treatments: their long-term safety, the durability of immune responses to them, and the effect of other infections on the immune response to vaccination. Vaccines will be evaluated by integrative statistical analysis of the immune response.

This program is expected to significantly impact Ebola prevention and control in adults and children in Africa, Dr. Yazdan Yazdanpanah, PREVAC Principal Investigator, said. The study will also strengthen the capacity for science relevant to the development and evaluation of new vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa.

Such work has been emphasized for PREVAC with the onset of the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history in just the past decade. There is an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has killed 2,200 people and infected more than 3,300, and the West African outbreak of 2014-2016, which ended with 28,600 cases and 11,325 people who died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latter prompted drug trials which should see results from PREVAC later this year, focused on a World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified drug developed by Merck, Sharp & Dohme, Corp. and a two-dose vaccine regimen created by Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V. and Bavarian Nordic. Those studies tracked safety and immunogenicity over 12 months, using three different vaccination strategies built on the vaccines. In all, 2,802 participants were enrolled in the main phase.

PREVAC-UP is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership, under the European Union, but is working together with host countries Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Mali. It has also received funding from Inserm, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone.

More here:
PREVAC-UP to evaluate safety of three Ebola vaccines five years post-vaccination - Homeland Preparedness News

"Pseudoscience is popular because it confirms what we believe; science is unpopular because it makes us question what we believe. Good science, like good art, often upsets our established ways of seeing the world." Carol Tavris, social psychologist

With Gwyneth Paltrows new Netflix docuseries, The Goop Lab, set to launch on January 24, 2020, the quasi-healthcare approach known as alternative medicine is similarly set to bask in the mainstream television streaming limelight. Topics for the six-episode show include energy healing, the use of psychedelic drugs, exorcisms, cold therapy, anti-aging, and female sexuality. More generally, Goop the brand has promoted other similar alternative medicine topics, such as past life regression therapyan unethical treatment in the case of mental health disordersand has provided a platform for the Medical Medium, a brand that promotes potentially dangerous treatments, such as celery juice for addiction.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health defines alternative and complementary medicine (CAM) as health care approaches that are typically not part of conventional medical care. The term "alternative medicine"is preferred when a non-mainstream practice is used in lieu of conventional medicine, whereas the term "complementary medicine"is preferred when a non-mainstream practice is used together with conventional medicine.

While it has been argued that alternative medicine practices can berife with ethical difficulties and that proponents often promote a philosophy that is predicated on logical fallacies, it is important to develop an understanding of exactly what it is that compels many to seek these kinds of treatments.

One obvious and important driver towards CAM is the unfortunate reality that current conventional medicine treatments do not work for everyone. Indeed, conventional medicine operates using the scientific method as a mechanism of knowledge acquisition and there is simply more knowledge to be acquired. There is currently a range of treatments that boast varyinglevelsof both evidence and theoretical supportthat are classifiedunder the CAM umbrella.This means that some, but not all,current treatments that areunderstudied and considered to be CAM (e.g., some psychedelic-based treatments for some mental health disorders) might one day reach the somewhat arbitrary threshold where they can be considered to fall under the purview of evidence-based medicine. But not everyone who has failed to benefit from conventional medicine uses, finds benefits from, and ultimately believes in CAM. What other factors might be at play?

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences has offered an initial empirical glimpse into the psychology and attractiveness of CAM approaches.

This particular study administered self-report questionnaires to a sample of over 3,000 people (mostly university students) to assess attitudes towards CAM approaches, individual differences in thinking styles (intuitive versus rational), paranormal beliefs, magical beliefs about food and health, and values. The researchers discovered two main findings:

These results are interesting. First, they suggest that CAM believers differ from non-believers in terms of how they process information. Whereas CAM believers are more likely to rely on a style of intuitive thinkinga kind of unconscious, fast, and effortless style of thinking that makes use of personal experiences, feelings, and concrete images and narrativesCAM non-believers are more likely to rely on a style of rational thinking that employs conscious reasoning and mental effort, using objective information and a willingness to adjust conclusions in light of new facts.

Second, the results suggest that those who believe in CAM are also more likely to hold paranormal beliefs that would violate the laws of nature (e.g., clairvoyance, telepathy, and astrology), as well as magical food and health-related beliefs (e.g., that a persons health can be influenced from sources such as a stone or a hand via a kind of enigmatic essence such as an energy or vibration).

How Might These Findings Be Useful?

Thefindings suggest that there are particular psychological variables that can predict belief and possible utilization of CAM practices. Further, the researchers note a very astute point: that CAM practices are often promoted and marketed in a manner that is appealing to a non-rational, intuitive style of thinking, using oversimplified explanations of problems and solutions, familiar and concrete concepts, and with reference to personal experience, anecdotal evidence, and testimonials.

The findings from this study are synergistic with the work of Timothy Caulfield, Professor of Health Law and Science Policy, and author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?Professor Caulfield recently called for the encouragement of critical thinking and the utilization of the power of story in order to win the fight against health-related misinformation. This is important given that manyCAM practices are underpinned by potentially harmful pseudoscientific ideasit is therefore in the service of health care promotion to correct CAM-related misinformation by appealing to both our rational and intuitive tendencies.

Visit link:
The Psychology of Alternative Medicine - Psychology Today

Khiron Life Sciences Corp. announced the opening of Zerenia, a fully integrated medical care clinic designed to meet patient health and well-being.

Highlights:

Khiron Life Sciences Corp. (Khiron or the Company) (TSXV:KHRN, OTCQB:KHRNF, Frankfurt:A2JMZC), a vertically integrated cannabis leader with core operations in Latin America, today announced the opening of Zerenia, a fully integrated medical care clinic designed to meet patient health and well-being. Operating in a 15,000 sq. ft facility in Bogotas prime medical services district, the clinic increases Khirons clinical capacity by 75% and forms part of the Companys patient acquisition strategy as it prepares for the issue of cannabis prescription in Colombia.

Zerenia Integrated Medical Clinic

Health professionals at Khirons newly opened Zerenia integrated medical clinic

Zerenia offers a person-centered integrated care model, with the concept of integrative medicine combining traditional and complementary medicine, and with evidence-based treatments and high professional practices. Services are delivered across multiple clinical units include: Pain management, mental health, surgical, neurology and dentistry, supported by rehabilitation, complementary medicine and diagnostic technology, involving programs for managing multiple symptoms in different pathologies. Prominently located inBogotascity centre, Zerenia builds on the integration and growth of the Companys wholly-owned Ilans neurological clinics and its over 60 physicians, and is staffed by a team of health professionals and clinical leaders representing different specialties.

Phase one of the 15,000 sq. ft clinic is open for treatments and phase two will be ready to receive patients inMarch 2020.

We are excited to be opening Zerenia inBogota, a busy city of more than 10 million people and a population increasingly demanding convenient, one-stop access to medical care of the highest professional standards. In a state of the art clinic, our physicians and health care professionals will consult with patients and offer appropriate treatment therapies. Comments Martha Edith Oyuela, Khiron Health Vice President. For the first time patients will have access to an array of integrated professional, patient-centred options.

Our strategy in launching Zerenia is to meet a very clear market need to treat the whole patient in one professional environment. With the success of our Ilans clinics, and the growing movement towards integrated medical care, we are leading the market in bringing this concept toColombia. This strategy further expands our reach to bring patients into the Khiron network, including those that are well suited for cannabis therapies. Adds Khiron CEO and DirectorAlvaro Torres.

About Khiron Life Sciences Corp.Khiron Life Sciences Corp. is positioned to be the dominant integrated cannabis company inLatin America. Khiron has core operations inLatin Americaand is fully licensed inColombiafor the cultivation, production, domestic distribution, and international export of both tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) medical cannabis. The company delivers best in class regulatory compliance, has the first approved set of CBD cosmetic products on shelf inColombia, and is currently facilitating testing to meet and surpass all license requirements for commercial cannabis derived products.

With a focused regionalstrategy and patient oriented approach, the Company combines global scientific expertise, agricultural advantages, branded product market entrance experienceand education to drive prescription and brand loyalty to address priority medical conditions such aschronic pain,epilepsy, depression and anxiety in the Latin American market of over 620 million people. The Company is led by Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer,Alvaro Torres, together with anexperienced executive team, and a knowledgeable Board of Directors thatincludes former President ofMexico,Vicente Fox.

Visit Khiron online atwww.khiron.caand on Instagram @khironlife

Cautionary Notes

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Khiron undertakes no obligation to comment analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of Khiron, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although Khiron believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking statement has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Khirons control, including the risk factors discussed in Khirons Annual Information Form which is available on Khirons SEDAR profile atwww.sedar.com. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. Khiron disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

United States Disclaimer

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities intheUnited States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold withintheUnited Statesor to U.S. Persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Click here to connect with Khiron Life Sciences Corp. (TSXV:KHRN, OTC:KHRNF) for an Investor Presentation.

Source

Follow this link:
Khiron Increases Clinical Capacity in Colombia by 75 Percent with Opening of Zerenia Integrated Medical Clinic | INN - Investing News Network

True Food Kitchen, the healthy restaurant that opened a Downtown Summerlin location back in October, gets ready to open its first location on the Strip. The restaurant opens on Wednesday, February 12, at the Forum Shops at Caesars, complete with a first for the company out of Phoenix a True Bar sitting on top of the shopping centers reflecting pool at the entrance at Las Vegas Boulevard.

The 11,314-square-foot restaurant features an indoor patio, two private dining rooms each with their own theme, and an open kitchen. All come with design touches only found in the Las Vegas Strip location.

The heart of the menu focuses on simple ingredients that highlight the health benefits and favors of each ingredient. Integrative medicine expert Dr. Andrew Weil co-founded the restaurant in 2008. Lunch, dinner, and a weekend brunch each have their own menus. So far, teased dishes, which change seasonally, include an immunity bowl made just for winter, a fig and Gorgonzola flatbread, and guacamole made with edamame, as well as a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Other dishes always found on the menu include an ancient grains bowl, spaghetti squash casserole, organic Tuscan kale salad, grilled fish tacos, and the inside out quinoa burger.

The 1,800-square-foot True Bar sits nearby, floating on the reflecting pool and specializes in detox and retox drinks. One private dining room features a garden-inspired decor while the second larger private dining room features an al fresco-inspired dining room.

True Food Kitchen plans to be open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to midnight; Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All Coverage of True Food Kitchen [ELV]

Sign up for our newsletter.

Read the original:
True Food Kitchen and True Bar open at the Forum Shops at Caesars in February - Eater Vegas

It seems that more and more patients are walking in the door diagnosed with arthritis as the cause of their pain. While many of these individuals do have arthritis of some type, it may or may not be the cause of their actual pain. There are several different types of arthritis. So when a patient arrives at physical therapy and they say that the diagnosis they have been given is arthritis, they appear shocked when we ask, What type of arthritis? The type of arthritis is important to know because it may change the direction of physical therapy or the aggressiveness of the treatment.

Osteoarthritis, also referred to as degenerative joint disease, can be either primary or secondary. Primary osteoarthritis is usually due to the aging process. The reality of life is that we are mechanical in nature, and all of our parts are subject to wear and tear. Eventually the parts just wear out. How fast the parts wear out is up to us to a large degree. If you buy a new car and take great care of it, 25 years later you have a classic car. If you take good care of your body in your 60s, 70s and beyond, you will be a classic.

Secondary osteoarthritis can be from a direct trauma to the area, such as a sports=related injury or something like a motor vehicle accident. Patients who have had to have complex surgery to repair an athletic injury may experience an acceleration of osteoarthritis later in life. This rate of arthritic development has reduced as the precision of surgical procedures has improved. Look at the difference between Joe Namath having knee surgery in the 1960s and Adrian Peterson having knee surgery in 2016. There were two very different outcomes, and while Joe Namath has already had a total knee replacement, we are yet to see the long-term outcome of Adrian Peterson. Patients who play physical sports such as ice hockey, football, wrestling, etc. may have an accelerated path to osteoarthritis of the spine. While physical conditioning helps reduce the onset of osteoarthritis, the repeated trauma cannot be reversed, only slowed.

Continued here:
Buchberger: Arthritis, and what you can do about it - Auburn Citizen

In a Current Treatment Options in Gastroenterology review, a nutritionist and a gastroenterologist claim that "ultra-processed" food causes obesity.

If you are not familiar with ultra-processed food, that is a new-ish designation, an arbitrary metric of numerous things to separate it from regular processed food. All bread made in the last 10,000 years is "processed" food, for example, and 'all food is processed' reality hobbled efforts by integrative medicine/food is medicine proponents to claim our modern lifestyle is killing us, when the science community instead knows it's simply obesity that is the risk factor.

What is this "ultra-processed" food? Good luck getting a science answer. Because it's made up, it's definition has changed over time, to be varying levels of fat, sugar, salt, fiber, and even its "process", including whether or not it is advertised. It all depends on who is doing the scaremongering. In the past, if you canned your own fresh vegetables, it was processed and in the same category as Wonder bread you bought in a store - which is why in New Jersey it is illegal to sell bread or jelly you make in your house. Any processed food has the same rules before it can be sold to the public. By putting your fruit in a Ball jar and sealing it in your kitchen you are not obeying the fresh fetish.

Everyone knew that was stupid so now there are efforts to create strata that are just as arbitrary, but at least there are a lot more of them to be confused about. So instead of processed and unprocessed the public is now supposed to understand unprocessed, minimally processed, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods, and ultra-processed foods. And ultra-processed can contain foods whose advertising you happen not to like.

Baffling, right?

I can save you some time. The "ultra-processed" food gimmick is the same mindset that sold the public low-fat diets, trans fats, and the aa berry gimmick. The people promoting this latest thing basically want you to eat less food that is sold by companies producing the most successful products. Which is not a legitimate health guideline.

Articles about ultra-processed food have not kept pace with articles about obesity. The authors seem to believe that is a weakness of the academic literature rather than a better understanding of how metabolism works than folk/complementary'alternative/integrative medicine people have. It could also be everyone is scrambling to blame obesity on their pet cause using statistics and there are more people blaming something else.

Candy is a "processed" food, as is ice cream, even organic, peptide-fortified, holistic, free-range, dietitian-approved, shade-tree grown, low-fat Ben&Jerry's Hank-a-Hank-o-Burnin'-Fudge ice cream. That's right, peptide-fortified.(1)

In America's increasingly shrill culture war, calling food processed was not working very well, so in true Spinal Tap fashion 'food is medicine' proponents began to 'turn the amp to 11' and use this ultra-processed term. Regardless of its arbitrary category, candy and ice cream are a treat, enjoy those as a treat, don't consume them every day or you will get fat and somewhere a paper will get written claiming ice cream causes early death.

You'll also get fat if you work in an office and binge on 5,000 DASH diet calories a day. I guarantee it.

Food is not magic

Populist journalists really hate when I note that this century has been the first time in history even poor people can afford to be fat and we're all better off for that. But it's true. It means that we only need to solve a cultural maturity problem rather than let developing and rich nations alike be crippled by lack of basic necessities. History shows that when basic needs are affordable - like food and energy - culture follows. Child mortality improves, all health flourishes, crime goes down, science and art go up.

'Food is magic' alternative medicine/integrative medicine/wellness proponents often claim just the opposite - they believe that access to cheap food is a bad thing. Some actually believe they have found the Holy Grail of Obesity, and it isn't calories at all, it is any non-vegetable in the Trader Joe's freezer section. No. It's always the calories. There is no magic food that causes or prevents obesity, in 100 percent of studies people who consume more calories than they burn gain weight, regardless of how many legumes it involves.

All correlation studies, like this one on obesity and ultra-processed food, are only "exploratory" - that means they have no idea if they are really related, they are just creating a statistical correlation that might be interesting and someone else might want to find out if they are really linked.

Yet that is only buried down in the later parts of papers, and journalists write these correlation papers up as if they are causal. Media attention is why correlation studies are big business now. We have everyone from International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to Ramazinni Institute to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to Harvard School of Public Health jockeying for media attention so they can get more funding. And statistical links are a lot less work than science. In simple form, you can just pick a product and a disease that can give you a "p-value" that editors in journals think is some sort of threshold for legitimacy (.05) and write the paper. You then send it to journals until someone accepts.

Next is to get a press release written and when Science Daily or PhysOrg runs it, a journalist will see it and pitch it in an editorial meeting. Media bosses know that writing an article about the latest Miracle Vegetable or Scary Chemical will get readers so they encourage their employees to grab that low hanging fruit. And nutritionists and epidemiologists know sugar is low-hanging fruit as well. It's been blamed for obesity, trumping calories, for over 100 years.

Comedians poke fun at each other for grabbing low-hanging fruit, epidemiologists will be left behind in their careers if they don't. Screen cap: Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, now on Netflix.

In meetings with NIH I have asked epidemiology groups if it's possible for government to force grantees to watermark each page of funded epidemiology studies with EXPLORATORY so that journalists will stop claiming X causes Y, and though government sees the problem, their scholars go to parties with friends and hear food fad nonsense like we all do, they don't seem to be able to fix a problem they created by throwing money at survey papers. Which is all you need to know about government.

That means it is up to us to be the critical thinkers. People will write papers that use suspect methodology, sometimes they even mean well. It is not less wrong if their motivations are pure.

When papers have no plausible biological hypothesis for a link that is statistical, it should be regarded by journalists an op-ed with extra references, not a science fact of the week.

Ultra-processed food is not killing you, a Mediterranean diet is not saving you, but if you look at surveys of old people you can claim you find evidence for both.

If you want to promote a lifestyle, you can find centenarians that match - except this one thing

There are a lot of centenarians out there now, 80,000 just in the U.S., and these were all people born before the ballpoint pen was invented so you can imagine that with improvements in medical care, and far lower levels of smoking than decades ago, there will be millions of people over age 100 a generation from now.

This new correlation was created using pockets of centenarians in California, Costa Rica, Sardinia, Greece, and Japan. There is already a weakness in that. As an example, in the 19th century people with "consumption" - tuberculosis - were advised to go to Colorado because of the dry climate. A modern epidemiologist with an agenda would look at that cluster of TB deaths and correlate it so that it looked like moving to Colorado caused death.

That sounds ridiculous, and it is ridiculous, but it happens in food and chemical studies all of the time today. Hardly a paper comes out of our government's in-house scaremongering group, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, that doesn't engage in this same sleight of hand.

By using clusters you can fall victim to lots of confounders, the same way you are fooling yourself if you take an ancestry test and it tells you you're "from" a country, when all it really means is that a bunch of people who moved to that country and also paid to take that test share things in common with you. So it goes with studies using surveys.

People may not live longer if they don't eat Almond Joy's, they may have moved to a place where other people live longer for other reasons. As noted above, statistical studies have attempted to blame sugar for obesity in a magical capacity for over 100 years - before many centenarians were even born.

The link between ultra-processed foods and longevity doesn't survive an obvious test.

There is no valid link between BMI and "ultra-processed" foods

America leads the world in adult science literacy, science output, Nobel prizes, GMOs, prescription drug use, and obesity. If you try, you can therefore look at the curves of any of those and correlate them to each other. These spurious correlations can be used to inform or for humor - when organic industry trade groups tried to claim that the rise in autism was due to conventional pesticides but not the more toxic organic certified pesticides their clients use, the science community responded with a spurious correlation of its own:

This study looked at what centenarians surveyed claim they eat (already a confounder - on surveys Donald Trump was going to lose by 80 electoral votes in 2016) and speculates about what they have in common, and they arrive at lack of ultra-processed food. Yes, they credited longevity to a nocebo - the opposite of a placebo, like if removing a pill that looks like medicine makes you feel better.

Using such a method is suspect. A look at centenarians objectively finds histories of smoking, and alcohol, and meat consumption, along with people who don't do any of those. The one characteristic you struggle to find in centenarians is ... obesity. You don't find lifelong obese people dying at 102. The authors ignore all that and posit that a peasant diet - and never having enough food of any kind - is great for health, but then they make a real reach to claim that "ultra-processed" food is the dietary culprit, not a sensible diet overall, and they use five areas where older people are over-represented, such as Loma Linda, California.

They believe it was not the sensible diet that helped, it was less "ultra-processed" food, even though most people in developed countries have eaten such food their whole lives. Even if they are 100.

Become a Seventh Day Adventist and you won't be obese

The problem with relying on statistical correlation is that it can do a lot of things. Loma Linda has a lot of centenarians, it has a lot of vegetarians, and it also has a lot of Seventh Day Adventists.

If you are trying to correlate a reduction in "ultra-processed" food to longevity, you can do it, because the numbers are there. But if you want to correlate being a Seventh Day Adventist to longevity, you can also do it. Those numbers are also there.

Using such simple correlation, you can "suggest"we live longer if we don't celebrate birthdays or give blood.

The reason it is so easy for suspect correlation to occur is because food frequency questionnaires don't cover 'not giving blood' or refusing to celebrate birthdays, and this review is based entirely on taking food diaries and correlating what people recall eating with their known disease outcomes. The former is a guess and subjected to recall bias but the latter is real.

The problem with this methodology is it can't be trusted. It is why every food can cause or cure cancer by now. Just go to WebMD and you will be terrified at how much cancer is waiting to get you.

No one can ever be wrong using statistics. Pick a common food and studies can show it helps and harms you.

Population level analyses are not helpful for making individual clinical recommendations

Say you take a community of crab fishermen in Alaska, and look at their diets. You create rows of foods and find a statistically significant number of them consume this food, let's say baked beans. You then note the alarming injury and death rate of these fishermen compared to people who live in the Mediterranean and work in an office job and who have much lower early mortality.

Would you conclude thatbaked beans cause people to die early? No, Alaska crab fishing is more dangerous than an office job on the Dalmatian coast.

Concluding anything else is misunderstanding what things mean.

It's hard to choose one best thing in a terrific movie like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", but Andrea Martin has to be in the running.

Yet ther press release goes on to confuse the issue by invoking scary-sounding things likeemulsifiers and saying they "alter microbiome compositions" (What doesn't? The coffee I drank while writing this sentence did that) changed fasting blood glucose (ditto) but then you wonder where they are going because they cite woo papers claiming that these foods are magic, they cause hyperphagia, weight gain, and hepatic steatosis.

They even create a new form of that quasi-racist dig at Chinese food - 'you'll be hungry again in an hour' - by saying you won't feel full as soon if you eat delicious food versus crusty bread. They then claim people on the diet they're promoting have less obesity and therefore get fewer diseases related to obesity.

Those two things are not causal. There will be five times as many people living in the U.S. over age 100 30 years from now, whether they are ultra-processed food or not.

Sure enough the a co-author turns out to be a 'food is medicine' aficionado.

"Rather than solely treating the symptoms of obesity and related diseases with medication, we need to include efforts to use food as medicine," said Dr. Frame in their press release. "Chronic disease in later years is not predestined, but heavily influenced by lifestyle and diet. Decreasing obesity and chronic disease in the U.S. will require limiting processed foods and increasing intake of whole vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, and water. Health care providers must also emphasize lifestyle medicine, moving beyond 'a pill for an ill.' "

That's an incredibly disrespectful thing for a nutritionist who promotes alternatives to medicine to write about a physician, and a physician is her co-author so this was not only a premeditated slur directed at the medical community, it was signed off on by someone with an M.D. who feels the same way.

The fact remains that nanny government, labels, rules, and taxes are not how you change behavior. In New York City, government treats smokers like a cash cow, and when they created the highest taxes in the land, it did not reduce smoking, it caused a huge black market. A man of color died because selling "loosies" became popular and the police were ordered to crack down on sales of a $1 product because it avoided taxes.

Education about the harms of smoking did work, and smoking has plummeted in the United States. That is what we should do when it comes to the impending obesity crisis. Not look for particular foods to demonize because scholars are promoting wellness alternatives.

NOTE:

(1)

Yes, I have made that Elvis joke so many times that 11 years ago Professor Mike White made me my own Peptide.

More here:
'Processed' Food Causes Obesity It Says, But The Paper Ignores Obvious Confounders - Science 2.0

LYNDHURST, Ohio New year, new you? You may be working toward a healthier lifestyle this new year and theres a specific style of weight loss gaining popularity.

I definitely think it could be the new thing and the thing I like about it is that its not just a fad diet, explains Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Anna Kippen.

I consider to be a fad diet anything that cuts out entire food groups, is unrealistic and promises unlimited eating and incredible amounts of rapid weight loss, and that is not this.

Kippen is referring to intermittent fasting. What she calls an umbrella term for various diets that cycle between fasting and non-fasting over defined sets of time.

Two very popular types are 16:8 and 5:2.

16:8 is sixteen hours a day of fasting and eight hours a day eating, done seven days a week.

Were better off eating the majority of our calories during the time of day were most active, she says.

7am to 3pm is really a good time frame and really no later than 10am-6pm ideally.

During fasting hours you still have water, black coffee or plain tea.

This is something that works for a lot of people because its not necessarily limiting our portions, changing our diet drastically. It works within what you already do but it is important that you eat a healthy balanced diet during your feeding hours, Kippen explains.

5:2 is another popular option. Youre eating a healthy balanced diet five days out of the week. The other two youre eating 25-percent of your calories which Kippen says is about 600 calories a day for men and 500 for women.

This is just a method that a lot of patients love because its not really necessarily something that requires them to follow through every single day, they get to choose which days they do it, she says.

Try not to chose fasting days the same as exercise days, we tend to get hungrier when we exercise, youre less likely to be successful.

So is it safe long term?

Kippen says the jury is still out.

We do have a lot of studies that show it is effective for weight loss, she explains.

Kippen says, studies have shown improvements in insulin resistance, decreased blood sugars, decreased cholesterol and decreased blood pressure.

Theres a lot of benefit that were seeing but ultimately its very, very limited especially in humans. The majority of our studies are actually in animals which dont always apply humans.

She says the biggest thing to know is that those with chronic conditions, like diabetes or eating disorders, should not be trying intermittent fasting. She suggests anyone interested in this change reach out to a doctor and dietitian.

Diet and nutrition is very personalized and I think its a lot more individualized than people realize. What works for one person would not work for someone else, she explains.

If youre someone who likes to get drinks and dinner a couple of times a week with your friends this is going to significantly alter your lifestyle and it may not be worth the weight loss for you.

No matter what she recommends vegetables calling them a weight loss miracle. They are high in fiber, low in calories and carbs.

"Going on diets just simply does not work, that's what we know," Kippen explains.

"Any changes we make if we don't feel they're sustainable they're likely not going to be successful in terms of keeping the weight off."

More here:
New year, new you: Could intermittent fasting be the key to weight loss? - WKYC.com

Probiotics are generally regarded as safe to take if you're healthy according to the NCCIH. But if you have a serious illness or a compromised immune system, then you'll want to first get the green light from your doctor.

As for how much you should takeand how often? If you're generally healthy, it's fine to take a probiotic supplement every day, King says. It's also worth incorporating probiotic-filled foods into your dietthink yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, or tempeh.

There's no standard dosage that's right for everyone, though, so consider talking with your doctor or a registered dietitian who specializes in functional eating. They will be able to offer more specific guidance based on the health issue you're trying to address.

Finally, pay attention to how your probiotic supplement makes you feel. If the symptoms you're trying to manage seem to get worse instead of better or you start to experience stomach discomfort, then that could be a sign that the particular probiotic strain doesn't agree with you, King says. In that case, you should take a break and consider trying another strain.

Go here to read the rest:
6 Science-Backed Benefits Of Probiotics & Who Should Take Them - mindbodygreen.com

Awards Will Support Recording of Selected Original Compositions Inspired by Their Cancer Journeys

TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --The Stand Up To Cancer Canada Kate McGarrigle Fund announced today the "Music As Healing" Grant Program, an initiative that will encourage both cancer patients and cancer survivors, to share their cancer journey through original music compositions. Cancer patients and survivors are invited to submit original compositions (music and lyrics) to compete for ten grants.

The SU2C Canada Kate McGarrigle Fund is a new collaborative program that aims to provide music resources to cancer patients with a passion for music, as well as much-needed funds for sarcoma research. This program honors the memory of Kate McGarrigle, a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle. She is the mother of singers Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright from her marriage to American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, composer, Rufus Wainwright serves as Ambassador for the Stand Up To Cancer Canada Kate McGarrigle Fund. Canadian folk-rock singer, songwriter Martha Wainwright serves as Music Director for the Music As Healing program.

Up to ten finalists will be selected to receive up to $2500 USD as a Music As Healing grant, to support the professional recording of their original composition. Some finalist songs may be compiled into a digital Music As Healing recording for sale, to benefit the Kate McGarrigle Fund for both continuation of the Music As Healing program and sarcoma research.

"SU2C has been focused on ending cancer as we know it, through research into prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Music As Healing provides SU2C the opportunity to collaborate with Martha Wainwright and Rufus Wainwright to celebrate music's potential to heal, while raising funds needed for sarcoma research," stated SU2C Chief Executive Officer Sung Poblete, PhD, RN.

Story continues

From now through March 2, 2020, 5pm ET, the Music As Healing program will accept applications from cancer patients in active cancer treatment or care, or cancer survivors, who reside in Canada and the United States. Selection of the ten finalists will be made by the Music As Healing Selection Panel, comprising an array of music and cancer professionals and advocates. Music As Healing Music Director Martha Wainwright, leads the Selection Panel:

Martha Wainwright, Music As Healing Music Director, Canadian folk-rock singer-songwriter

Rufus Wainwright, SU2C Kate McGarrigle Fund Ambassador, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, composer

Ricky Minor, American bass player, music director, composer and music producer

Rob Nicholson, Managing Partner, Archon Private Equity Partners

Willian G. Nelson, MD, PhD, musician, SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee vice chair, and director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins

Karen Popkin, a board-certified music therapist and licensed creative arts therapist, Certificate in Hospice and Palliative Care Music Therapy (HPMT), Program Coordinator of Creative Arts at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Integrative Medicine Service

Jill Hamer-Wilson, BEng, BEd, MTS, Canadian lung cancer survivor and patient advocate who with her musician husband and children embraced music as healing through her treatment

"Music was a constant, a natural extension of daily life for our mother, who was often described as a luminous singer," stated Martha Wainwright, music director for Music As Healing. "I'm hoping that Music As Healing extends her legacy by illustrating through the songs that will be recorded, and through the listening experience of cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones, how music can provide a bright, shining light through the darkness that can accompany a cancer diagnosis."

Research has demonstrated that music reduces the side effects of cancer treatment by reducing anxiety during treatment and quelling nausea and vomiting for patients receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It helps to reduce stress and mitigates both acute and chronic pain. Music also serves to create social connections and a sense of community which can help cancer patients to create supportive and positive aspects in their shared experience.

"The power and freedom to express oneself through music and art is fundamental to our well-being, more so in a time of crisis such as receiving a cancer diagnosis, undergoing treatment, or living as a cancer survivor. The Wainwright's live and breathe music and we've witnessed, first-hand, the power and importance of music as a healing force," continued Martha Wainwright. The Music As Healing grants create a unique opportunity for musician-composers who share the common experience of a cancer journey.

Patient advocate and member of the Music As Healing Selection Panel, Jill Hamer-Wilson, added "When I was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013 and underwent chemotherapy and several experimental targeted therapies in a clinical trial, music became a shared comfort and joy with my husband and children. Cancer can be a very uncertain time for patients and their loved ones, but sharing music made it possible for us to enjoy time together in something not tied to my disease."

Cancer patients and survivors ages 15 through adults may apply. The application requires a brief essay describing how their original composition represents, or is inspired by, their personal cancer journey.

Each applicant is required to submit a sample music file, up to 2 (two) minutes, of their original composition reflecting their cancer diagnosis, treatment or life as a survivor. The song is not required to be a literal retelling of a personal cancer experience, but may convey any of the emotions and experiences of cancer patients and survivors, such as hope/optimism, worry/fear, or love for family/ friends/caretakers. All compositions must include lyrics.

The online application is found at: StandUpToCancer.ca/MusicAsHealing in Canada, and StandUpToCancer.org/MusicAsHealing in the US.

When Kate McGarrigle was diagnosed with sarcoma in 2007, it became her mission to combat the disease. After her death in 2010, Rufus, Martha and the Wainwright family have carried on her musical and artist legacy while also funding sarcoma research. Each year, Rufus and Martha Wainwright and several of their well-known musical friends produce a series of holiday concerts in select cities across North America and Europe. These concerts will now benefit the SU2C Kate McGarrigle Fund which exists to fund sarcoma research and this Music As Healing program. Most recently, the Wainwrights brought this concert series to Dublin and London in December 2019.

ABOUT STAND UP TO CANCER CANADA Stand Up To Cancer Canada is a Canadian registered charity (Reg: # 80550 6730 RR0001), launched by the U.S.-based Entertainment Industry Foundation in 2014. Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada) raises funds to support collaborative cancer research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

Under the direction of our SU2C Canada Scientific Advisory Committee, co-led by Alan Bernstein, Ph.D., president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., SU2C Canada operates rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs. SU2C Canada currently supports three "signature" Dream Teams engaging dozens of the best and brightest researchers in different disciplines from 15 institutions across the country.

In addition to a board of leading Canadian broadcaster representation, SU2C Canada is guided by the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) including Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser were also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., RN serves as SU2C CEO. The CFA includes entertainment industry leaders who utilize these communities' resources to engage the public in supporting this new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. For more information on Stand Up To Cancer Canada, visit StandUpToCancer.ca.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cancer-patients-and-survivors-invited-to-submit-original-music-compositions-to-compete-for-2500-usd-music-as-healing-grants-from-the-stand-up-to-cancer-canada-kate-mcgarrigle-fund-300985222.html

SOURCE Stand Up To Cancer Canada

Go here to read the rest:
Cancer Patients And Survivors Invited To Submit Original Music Compositions To Compete For $2500 USD "Music As Healing" Grants From The...

I have this text chain going, in which we often alert each other Skin Food is on sale at Whole Foods again. Before becoming a chronic user, Id heard about the little green tube of skin salve that supposedly cured everything and never left the medicine cabinet once it found permanent real estate there. Friends of mine are so into this product that their praise about its supposed effects seem to crescendo once a tube has been polished off their feelings about its virtues tend to sound like something of a eulogy.

Yes, were talking about a cream.

If Victoria Beckham uses it, its good enough for me, one friend texted me after using the stuff for more than a year. Another fired off a litany of praises: The scent is amazing, fresh and fruity, almost addictive. It kind of doubles as a perfume. I love that it has all clean ingredients no scary chemicals in it! This point about the smell is really contentious among chronic users. So I asked Rob Keen, the CEO of Weleda North America, to describe the smell. He pauses, and replies: Thats the hardest question Ive ever been asked. Like everyone and their mother who has an opinion about the cream, he presses on: Its a vibrant, floral, [with an] almost vanilla and almost citrusy undertone to it. Every time I smell it, my blood pressure drops.

This citrusy wizard paste, also known as Weledas Skin Food, has had massive success in recent years. Its a little gem. When I was first introduced to Skin Food, it was explained to me as the best-kept secret in the industry, Keen tells Teen Vogue. Its affordable at around $19, and its price per mileage is pretty astounding; Ive used my tube every day over the course of six months.

But Keen says a lot of the success of Skin Food, and by extension, the entire brand, has to do with greenwashing, a kind of marketing tactic that has been used to convince buyers that a product and its policies are eco-friendly. People are so confused by what's on [their] shelf. Its hard to tell whats really natural, whats not natural. When somebody finds a product that they can really trust like that, that is, you know, the real thing, is it has a big impact, Keen says.

It can also be hard to know if something is environmentally friendly when its value is essentially determined by how many influencers are telling you it is. Even so, the popularity of Skin Food has reached new heights in recent years, something Keen and the company are proud of: You know, when you see somebody like Gwyneth Paltrow who we love! or like a Rihanna or, you know, some of these makeup artistsKatie Jane Hughesthey say that this is a must carry in their bag. It just blows us away."

According to its website, Welda is certified by Natrue, a Brussels-based nonprofit committed to promoting and protecting natural and organic cosmetics worldwide.

The cream is made with a few key ingredients: viola tricolor, calendula, and chamomile, in a rich, thick base of oils and beeswax, according to the product listing on the companys site. Keen says the cream is supposed to mimic whatever the skin needs when it falls out of balance; the product promises to give skin a healthy, hydrated glow. People are just searching for products that they can trust. Once they find it, it becomes almost [vital], Keen says.

View original post here:
What Is Weleda Skin Food and Why Does Everyone Swear by It? - Teen Vogue

You can buy all the creams, pills and medicines in the world but if your mitochondria (known as the powerhouses of the cell) is not functioning the right way, you will still age rapidly, your skin will look dull, you will put on weight, lose hair, feel tired and be prone to conditions like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Autism, cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, dementia, diabetes, Huntingtons disease, migraine and a lot more.

Cellular healthWhile medicines, creams, pills, and all external aids can be used as a crutch, if you are looking to truly prevent or repair your body you need to start focusing on cell and cellular health. Take lack of energy as an example since its something we often complain about. We run behind coffee, tea, energy drinks, sugar, carbs to charge us up forgetting that our body is capable of generating its own energy. Every single cell is just like a battery and has the power to light up a bulb. This is enough energy to get us through a day be it physical, mental, workouts, digestion, etc. What is the source of this energy? Its the mitochondria!

It is a component present in each of these trillion cells and thats where this energy is generated. They are called the powerhouse of the cell as these tiny cellular factories create energy for the whole body. In each of these mitochondria, there are about 18,000- 20,000 assembly lines that take up nutrition and oxygen as raw materials and break it down to a molecule of energy called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). ATP is the energy currency and without it, we cannot survive. Its what gives our body to perform all the tasks right from digestion to immune system function. Lesser the number of ATP molecules, weaker is the body; and a weak body is susceptible to all the viruses, bacteria and pathogens. Our immune system derives energy to function and stay strong through ATP as well. Unfortunately, most of us do not generate the energy our body is capable of producing due to our faulty lifestyle unhealthy eating, no exercise, lack of sleep, unmanaged stress. Ever felt sleepy and lethargic after a junk meal? Now know its because your body has an excess of carbon dioxide in the system. Carbon dioxide makes us feel sleepy, tired and sluggish. This is fatigue caused by junk eating at a cellular level. To add to this, there is an increase in free radicals and thats closely connected to inflammation the root cause of most diseases right from diabetes, obesity to cancer.

So, its literally up to us to control inflammation in our body by choosing the right foods so that the mitochondria dont have to work too hard.

What makes our mitochondria function the right way:- Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains are all your cells need to function the right way. Do not deprive your cell and mitochondria of these essentials just because you want to go on a fad diet. Its that simple and there are no short cuts to good health. - Omega 3 (flaxseeds or fish) - Dietary fibre in adequate amounts.- HIIT (high-intensity interval training), strength training- Say no to sugar, refined flour, and all the junk food. - More cruciferous vegetables (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)- Quality sleep because those tiny factories need rest-Bone broth - Making lifestyle changes and preventing collateral damage if you are on statins. If you are on a statin, also add a selenium and CoQ10 supplement to preserve mitochondrial health.

Read this article:
Why you must keep your mitochondria healthy - Times of India

By Deepak Chopra, MD and Menas Kafatos, PhD

The universe is hard to explain, because there are so many moving parts and so many levels, probably infinite in both cases. It is a cherished goal in physics to unify these parts, but so far success has eluded even the most brilliant investigators. The average person might take an occasional interest in the latest theories about the cosmos, but we think the mystery of the universe faces everyone on a daily basis, as does the solution to the mystery.

The cosmic riddle is easy to state: Is the universe whole? Do its parts all work together, and if so, how? Clearly the universe isnt a machine, because machines are assembled from mechanical parts with visible connections like the gears in a cars transmission. But the universe has a peculiar feature. The moving parts, meaning any physical object, whether as large as a galaxy or as tiny as an atom, depend on probabilities to show us their properties, and these suddenly vanish at the quantum level. Even large, or macroscopic, objects exhibit quantum behavior. To drive the point home, subatomic particles do not have a stable identity. They flicker in and out of one state, following invisible probability waves. The same peculiarity holds true for the other basic ingredients of what we call everyday reality: time, space, and energy. All have an invisible source beyond the physical, even though we experience them in the physical world.

Classical physics, like all of todays science, depends on reductionism, the method that explains a phenomenon by breaking it down into smaller parts. Reductionism is tied to the fundamental idea that reality is physical and that nothing else is needed beyond the physical. Even though modern physics is hugely complex, the outmoded notion that the universe is a gigantic physical mechanism keeps persisting a century after quantum theory dismantled the very notion that the mystery of the universe lies in its tiniest bits and pieces.

If the mystery of the universe can be solved, the solution doesnt lie with a purely physical explanation. If we take an ordinary object like a coffee cup, the mystery of everything is contained in it, and in one stroke the mystery can be solved, because in the experience of holding a coffee cup, you can simultaneously throw out a solution that doesnt work and see that the right solution is dawning. Holding the cup and experiencing it is as important as the cup itself. The two cannot be separated.

Physics can reduce a coffee cup to the smallest scale before everything vanishes in the quantum dimensions known as the Planck scale, named for a seminal quantum physicist, Max Planck, who started the entire quantum revolution in 1903. Measurements of length are extremely tiny, almost infinitesimal at the Planck scale. As a unit of measurement, the Planck length is 100 million trillion times smaller than the proton. Planck theorized that five infinitesimal units that characterize the micro worldlength, mass, energy, temperature, and chargecan be reduced to individual quantum scales to the smallest possible values at the scale where the universe, and everything in it, originates. If you try to imagine the womb of creation, the Planck scale is its location.

Planck-scale units tell us the scale at which the universe began during the Big Bang, but they also mark the end of the road. This is where the laws of nature no longer operate, where smaller is impossible to measure because length itself, along with the whole setup of three dimensions, time, and every known constant, ceases to have meaning. There is much more to say about the Planck scale, but one thing is clear. Physical explanations stop here, and they havent solved the mystery of the origin of the universe. What lies over the Planck scale horizon cannot be known by any kind of physical experiment, data, facts, or any observation.

Where the universe collapses into pure mystery, so does a coffee cup and so do you. You are beyond any facts, which means that physical data concerning you, although interesting and useful, are just provisional, temporary, and relative. In fact, any theory reaches a horizon of understanding about the mysteries that lie beyond. The true, essential you (along with the coffee cup and the entire universe) can only be found following a non-physical path of explanation. This path, which is open to direct experience, is the path of consciousness. We are so conditioned to accept the physical explanation of reality that the path of consciousness seems alien. But consciousness itself already defies the reductionist approachas another great quantum physicist, Erwin Schrdinger declared, it makes no sense to subdivide the mind. It is far more credible and ultimately self-consistent to explain everything as a creation of consciousness than as a machine-like conglomeration of matter and energy.

The Planck scale cannot be observed, only speculated about. But whatever is happening, you and I are the result, along with everything in existence. Something has to be going on, and if it isnt material or physical, if it doesnt take time or occur in space, there is only one thing that the human mind can conceive, which is consciousness. This is a classic example, one might say, of Sherlock Holmess dictum that when every other explanation has failed, the one that remains, however improbable, must be true. Consciousness-based reality is ultimately the cleanest, most self-consistent and irreducible view of the wholeness that science and philosophy are trying to reach.

Assigning the leading role to consciousness isnt improbable. Being conscious is the essence of every experience. Without awareness, there is no known reality. To someone wedded to a purely physical explanation, consciousness is nothing, or at best a lingering mystery that no one can understand, but once you step away from physicalism, consciousness is everything. This choice, between nothing and everything, is crucial; you cant get around it. Planck himself came to believe that consciousness is fundamental to the universe. In an attempt to salvage physicalism, it is argued that the universe existed for billions of years before human beings appeared on the scene to be aware of it.

Physical explanations miss the point. What does it mean to say you are conscious? It means that you perceive, understand, and know. It means that you can think, observe, speak, and act. It means that you have a sense of self. These features of you cannot be created out of physical stuff. It only makes sense that they have always been around, woven into the fabric of existence itself. Consciousness knows, understands, perceives, observes, etc. These are its basic qualities, just as wetness is a basic quality of water.

So the path of consciousness is built up not from bits and pieces of matter, but the process of consciousness creating anything it wants simply by projecting itself. Its creative ability begins with nothing but itself. It doesnt need space, time, matter, and energy. They are tools of creation the way a painter uses the tools of color. A painting needs the tools of color to be created, but clearly the painting is much more than those tools. A coffee cup has local qualities and universal qualities at the same time. It is a thing and it is the idea of the thing. The local qualities are its color, shape, hardness, lightness, and so on. Its universal qualities are invisible, playing their part behind the scene. These are the qualities of creativity embedded in consciousness.

There is every reason to shift our explanations to be consciousness based. When you see a painting, its local qualities are in the picture. You can study the Mona Lisa for hours absorbing these qualities. But implicitly you know that it took a conscious mind, belonging to Leonardo da Vinci, to assemble those local qualities. He conceived how to make the models smile elusive, her beauty enigmatic, her skin luminous, and the inert paint come alive. Without consciousness, no local qualities can exist. The same is true of the universe, your body, a coffee cup, and anything else. Without consciousness to unify everything, we would be left with the only alternative, which is nothing.

DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. He is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego. Chopra is the author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His 90th book and national bestseller, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential (Harmony Books), unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Menas C. Kafatos is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics at Chapman University. Author, physicist and philosopher, he works in quantum mechanics, cosmology, the environment and climate change and extensively on philosophical issues of consciousness, connecting science to metaphysical traditions. Member or candidate of foreign national academies, he holds seminars and workshops for individuals, groups and corporations on the universal principles for well-being and human potential. His doctoral thesis advisor was the renowned M.I.T. professor Philip Morrison who studied under J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has authored more than 333 articles, is author or editor of 20 books, including The Conscious Universe, Looking In, Seeing Out, Living the Living Presence (in Greek and in Korean), Science, Reality and Everyday Life (in Greek), and is co-author with Deepak Chopra of the NY Times Bestseller You are the Universe (Harmony Books), translated into many languages and at many countries. You can learn more at http://www.menaskafatos.com

Go here to read the rest:
Finding the Universe in a Coffee Cup - SFGate

Footballs concussion crisis has been part of the NFL for almost two decades. But the pros arent the only ones reevaluating their relationship with the game. Now, studies are finding that parents of younger children are increasingly concerned about the long-term impacts of playing football.

A national survey from 2015 found that 25 percent of parents do not let their kids play contact sports due to fear of concussions, while an Aspen Institute report recently found that participation in tackle football declined by 12 percent among children ages 6 to 12 between 2016 and 2017.

The research into the risks of youth football is still coming into shape, and theres disagreement about just how universal and severe the risks are. Some researchers think football is dangerous for everybody; others are finding evidence that some kids might be more predisposed to health consequences than others.

In the last two years, some researchers have shown that head hits in youth sports increase the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, an untreatable degenerative brain disease with symptoms ranging from memory loss to progressive dementia. Other studies have shown that the longer a person plays football, the higher the risk they have for developing symptoms associated with CTE. So, case closed, right?

No football is not the only risk factor in developing symptoms of CTE. The same study that found an association between repetitive head impact and dementia in CTE also found that cardiovascular disease and dementia in CTE were correlated. And a separate study of some 10,000 people found no association between participation in contact sports and later cognitive decline or increase in symptoms of depression. We dont see this being a massive epidemic across a huge swath of the population, said Adam Bohr, a researcher in integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder and one of the co-authors of the study.

But that study isnt bulletproof either, as it checked back in with former high school athletes in early adulthood so it could still be too early to see cognitive decline.

And just to complicate things further, there is another study that tracked Wisconsin high school football players from the 1950s. Those former players, surveyed decades later in their 60s, did not have different cognitive or depression outcomes compared to nonplayers. Likewise, another recent survey of 35 retired NFL players over the age of 50 did not find a link between the number of concussions a player incurred and his cognitive decline.

It is difficult to parse the research, let alone conduct it: CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem. Unless scientists are looking at the actual brains of former players, argue researchers such as Dr. Lee Goldstein of Boston University School of Medicines CTE Center, they are not getting a complete picture.

Goldstein argues the case against football and other high-impact sports is open and shut. Association is very clear. Risk increases with greater exposure, so if you dont want to have this disease or any risk of it, you shouldnt do it, Goldstein said of playing football at any level.

Goldstein and colleagues published a paper in the journal Brain in 2018 in which they found that mice subjected to different kinds of hits showed early signs of CTE, even without signs of concussion, implying subconcussive hits could also start the progression of the disease.

C. Munro Cullum, a neuropsychologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, wants to understand what factors make some individuals more vulnerable to the negative outcomes of concussions. To do that, he and colleagues are partnering with youth football leagues in north Texas to collect data on concussions incurred during games. The project, called the Texas Sports Concussion Registry, aims to shed light on the connection between differences in how the sport is played and how that translates to concussion numbers and recovery.

Most people with a concussion get back to normal within days or weeks, but there is this significant minority that may have ongoing symptoms, Cullum said. Other researchers have found that a persons prior history of anxiety may increase the risk of a prolonged concussion recovery, or a family history of migraines might make someone more susceptible to experience post-concussion headaches.

Others are analyzing how all hits, not just concussions, affect players. Elizabeth Davenport, a researcher with the UT Southwestern radiology department, and her colleagues outfitted helmets for 60 high school players to measure every hit in a game. They then separated players into high- and low-impact groups and conducted fMRI scans to see how the groups differed.

Those in the high-impact group saw an increased grey matter volume, which is not normal for that age group.

In the low-impact group of players and in most normal teenage brains grey matter volume is generally reduced or pruned throughout adolescence into the early 20s to make way for new synapses. Your brain is forming more highways and less just general run-of-the-mill tissue, Davenport said.

It may sound alarming that football players who receive more hits experience abnormal brain development, but Davenport cautions that researchers still dont know what the changes mean or if they are long term. She would like to be able to know if its possible to draw the line at a certain number of head impacts before a player needs to recover. Similar measures already exist in baseball, for instance. Pitch counts help pitchers avoid rotator cuff injuries. Could football leagues eventually institute hit counts, after which players need to take a break? Would that break even allow the brain to heal?

But Goldstein doesnt buy it. There are just too many factors involved in individual health to pinpoint a single safety threshold in hits.

Theres not a universal threshold for the number of cigarettes, and if you cross that line then you have cancer. It doesnt work like that, he said.

Though parents are responding to that message a study out of Arizona found a 17-point decrease in the percentage of parents willing to let their child play contact sports between 2019 and 2017 football as an institution is not going anywhere. Its unlikely to be sued or legislated out of existence, at any level. A judge recently dismissed a lawsuit against Pop Warner, the largest youth football organization in the country, brought by two families of deceased players who claimed the organization hid the risks of youth football. Because so many factors affect brain health, its hard to just pin something like a suicide, depression or erratic behavior on playing football.

So all the research leaves us more or less at this finding: Playing a sport where kids get hit over and over again affects their brain development. How much those brains are affected appears to depend on how long they play, how hard they play, and likely a multitude of other physiological, sociological and genetic factors that researchers are just beginning to analyze.

Some researchers say its too early in the concussion research to offer judgement calls on whether kids should play football.

I would want more information, as a parent, to make a better-informed decision and thats where these studies come into play, Davenport said.

But in his work examining the brains of dead teenagers, Goldstein has seen enough.

I dont recommend it as a physician, I dont recommend it as a father and I dont recommend it as a scientist, he said. I cant.

See the rest here:
Should Parents Be Afraid To Let Their Kids Play Football? - FiveThirtyEight

We're not going to dive into all of these, but let's cover a couple that have been getting some extra attention lately: senescent cells, for example. Turns out, there's a limit to the number of times a cell can reproduce, called the Hayflick limit. When cells reach this limit, they're called senescent. "We used to think, well, they're old and in the way, but they're harmless," says Rountree. "But it turns out, they're releasing harmful signals and inflammation to the body."

Another topic you've likely read about right here on mbg is mitochondrial dysfunction. Think back to high school biology classmitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells, which produce ATP or energy. "When we get older, we tend to lose mitochondria because mitochondria don't have the same kind of repair mechanisms as our DNA," says Rountree. "So over time, we get more tired and we don't have the energy to fuel our cellular mechanisms."

Butand here's where things get a little crazySinclair believes there could be one common driver of all nine of these processes, which he sums up with his information theory of aging. "The theory proposes that all of the causes of aging that people are working onfrom loss of mitochondria to senescent cells to telomere shorteningare manifestations of a very simple principle, which is a loss of epigenetic information in the cell rather than genetic information.Meaning that cells lose their ability to read the right genes at the right time, in the same ways that scratches on a CD would mess up the ability to play a beautiful album," he says. (The epigenome, if you're unfamiliar, essentially tells the genome what to do.)

"What I'm proposing," he says, "is that if we can stop the epigenome from degrading, all of these other things go away." But if Sinclair's new theory is true, it raises the question: How the heck do you prevent these scratches (aka epigenome degradation) so cells continue to read the right genes at the right time, and so you can avoid things like fatigue, frailty, and cancer? And can we "clean up" damage that's already there and essentially turn back the clock?

According to Sinclair, there are sort of two levels to that answer. One, there seems to be quite a bit we can do that may effectively slow the aging process (i.e., prevent these scratches) via targeted dietary and lifestyle changes and a few promising supplements, which we'll dive into in the section below.* As for the second part of the question, to truly turn back the clock, lifestyle changes won't cut it. But future therapies and drugs could make that possible.

"We think we've figured out how to reset the age of cells," says Sinclair. "We've figured out that there's essentially a backup hard drive with this epigenetic information that we can access and tell the cells to be young again and reset their clock." Sinclair admits that this work is still quite preliminary, but they've just had some very promising results in animal studies with gene therapy treatments (right now they're injections, but they could eventually be pills). In a study from July 2019, they were able to reprogram damaged optic nerve cells in mice with glaucoma and restore vision.

"That's another level of science that's coming, and we're still in the early stages, but if we can restore vision, what else might we be able to reset?" he asks. Which, to be honest, is equal parts freaky and fascinating.

The rest is here:
The New Science Of Aging: How To Biohack Your Way To A Longer, Healthier Life - mindbodygreen.com

Adiponectin is a hormone which is produced by adipose tissue or fat cells. Luke Coutinho says that everyone has this hormone but it is not activated in many people. Activation of this hormone can help you burn fat.

Turmeric can help in activating adiponectin hormone

Improving your lifestyle is the most important aspect to weight loss. When you start gaining weight or are not losing weight despite trying, you need to figure out why your cells are holding on to the fat. Apart from poor diet, lack of exercise, you may be gaining weight because of improper communication between cells, says lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho in one of his live sessions on Facebook. In some cases, weight gain occurs because of medical disorders and metabolic syndromes. But most others gain weight because of a poor lifestyle and improper communication between cells.

Luke mentions that humans can activate and deactivate genes or hormones that cause weight gain. Leptin, for instance, is the hormone which induces feeling of fullness. It prevents you from feeling constantly hungry or consuming unnecessary calories.

Ghrelin, on the other hand, is the hunger hormone. Overactivation of this hormone can make you feel constantly hungry, binge eat sugary and junk foods, etc.

Overactivation of ghrelin hormone can make you overeat junk foodPhoto Credit: iStock

These hormones are the reason why you gain weight even when you are exercising well and even consuming a healthy diet.

Adiponectin is a hormone which is produced by adipose tissue or fat cells. Luke says that everyone has this hormone but it is not activated in many people. Activation of this hormone can help you burn fat.

Adiponectin has been found to control metabolism of insulin in the body. This means that it is great for people with diabetes. Release of adiponectin results in increased insulin sensitivity. It enables the insulin to communicate with cells to open and take in blood sugar.

Also read:Insulin Resistance: Causes, Symptoms And Prevention

Adiponectin helps in metabolism of lipids- which includes both bad (LDL) and good cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides.

Yes, eating good fat can activate adiponectin and help you burn fat and lose weight. Food sources of good fat include ghee, avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, egg yolks, nuts and seeds and oily fish.

Omega-3 fatty acids are required for a healthy brain and heart. Flaxseeds, walnuts, fatty fish, canola oil and soybeans are rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acid can activate adiponectin as well.

Salmon and other fatty fish are good source of omega-3 fatty acidsPhoto Credit: iStock

Having the right amount of fibre is important for activation of adiponectin. Fibre is also a nutrient that can aid weight loss as it induces feeling of fullness and keeps you full for longer.

Also read:Foods Rich In Fibre: Make Sure To Include Them In Your Diet

Something as simple as walking combined with yoga can activate adiponectin hormone. Swimming, Pilates and weight training are exercises that can activate this fat burning hormone.

Getting a good night's sleep is important for your overall health and weight loss. Sleeping well can also lead to activation of adiponectin hormone.

Drinking black coffee can aid fat burning. Make sure you consume it in controlled proportions only. You can get similar effects by drinking good quality green and black tea.

Curcumin in turmeric can help in releasing adiponectin hormone. Make sure that you include turmeric in your daily diet.

Turmeric can help in activation of adiponectin hormonePhoto Credit: iStock

The idea is to say that a balanced diet, with a combination of all nutrients can help you burn fat and lose weight effectively. Good carbs are present in foods like vegetables, whole grains, lentils and legumes and fruits. Carbs provide you with energy, the energy you need to burn fat effectively. They also help in releasing adiponectin hormone.

Zinc is present in almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and green leafy vegetables are all rich sources of zinc. Zinc-rich foods can activate adiponectin hormone for burning fat and losing weight.

Also read:This Juice Should Be A Part Of Weight Loss Diet; Here's Is The Right Method To Consume

Good quality dark chocolate contains powerful antioxidants that benefit your health and also aid fat burning.

(Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Integrative Medicine)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

Read more:
Fat Loss: Burn Excess Fat By Activating This Magic Hormone; Here's How It Works - Doctor NDTV

BURN, BABY, BURN

The cold and darkness call for lighting some candles. Here are a few local offerings.By AmyTalbott

Black Dog CandlesA lot of times, people like to get away from the food scents because they have that around the holidays, owner Kristen David says, so we actually sell a lot of our citrus scents around (wintertime). We have one called citrus basil; its really fresh and clean, and it sort of clears your palate from the holidays. David also recommends woodsy blends like cedarwood and amber, and one called Cozy Cabin a blend of leather, vanilla and sandalwood scents. Available at blackdogcandles.com, limited selection at Feeders Supply, Kroger and shops like Block Party Handmade Boutique, Edenside Gallery, and Vintage Style and Designs.

Lighten up with this candle made by At Home. Photo by Mickie Winters

At HomeCandlemaker Eric Stearns combines soy wax and wood wicks in vintage jars and containers to create an especially cozy effect. He gets the glass, metal and pottery containers mostly at estate or yard sales his favorites are copper mule mugs and pewter or silver julep cups. Expert candle-burning tip from Stearns: When you burn a candle, you always want to make sure it liquefies across the top before you blow it out. Typically, its an hour per inch across, he says. This will help prevent the tunnels that can form down the middle of larger candles and ensures that all the wax will get used up. Available at Crazy Daisy Antique Mall and through Facebook.

Maddox & Rose MarketplaceChoose from more than 60 scented oils and a variety of containers to make a personalized candle. 900 E. Main St.

By Amy Talbott

Amanda OBryan, a psychologist and meditation teacher, recommends embracing winter as a chance to slow down. I think our culture, we have Jan. 1 as the new year, and we are in the depths of winter and the depths of darkness, and were trying to push ourselves and motivate ourselves to do all of this accomplishment and evolution and exercise and all of this stuff. And I dont think its really honoring our body or the season, she says. For me, its saying Im going to honor the darkness, Im going to go inward, Im going to spend more time in stillness, more time in introspection. And not give into this idea of having to do a million things, and I have to be busy, and I have to change my life. Maybe Ill keep that for the springtime or the summer and just be respectful of the fact that winter is a quiet time.

By Amy Talbott

Randy Schrodt, a psychiatrist at Integrative Psychiatry in Lyndon, says its normal to feel at least a little down during the winter: Maybe 1 to 10 percent of people will meet clinical criteria (for seasonal depression), but I think everyone, to some degree, is affected a little bit by it. He says exposure to full-spectrum white light can help. Thirty to 90 minutes a day, preferably in the morning, can help reset the bodys circadian rhythm. Schrodt says any lamp that provides 10,000 lux will work, though he recommends a brand called Northern Light Technologies. So how do you know if what youre feeling is just normal winter blahs or something that needs medical treatment? Everybodys got their own tipping point,Schrodt says. Consider how depressive symptoms like sluggishness, fatigue and sadness impact your daily routine. I dont think theres anything unusual on a gray day about wishing you were in Florida or wishing you could stay in bed, Schrodt says. But if it really does cause significant distress or impairment in function, thats worth checking with your doctor about.

Four dishes to break up the comfort-food fatigue.By Katie Molck

PoutineButcher Block Eatery at High HorseWhile poutine is often an app meant for sharing, its incredibly hard to. First, there are French fries, the best thing that ever happened to a potato. Then, traditionally, a smothering of brown gravy and cheese curds. Winter is the ideal time to enjoy this hearty Canadian pub classic, and Allan Rosenberg, chef-owner of Butcher Block Eatery in the High Horse bar on Story Avenue, agrees. Its very hearty, and any braised meat dish makes me think of winter, he says. He makes it with French fries, chicken gravy, braised short ribs and white Cheddar cheese curds, with an option to add a poached egg.

StamppotMonnikMashed potatoes lend a versatility other side dishes dont. You can add gravy, garlic, cheese or, if youre Monnik, kale, carrots, onions and a bratwurst. Stamppot is a traditional Dutch mashed potato dish with vegetables and sausage. Being that one of our owners is Dutch, we try to incorporate his love of the foods from his region into our menu, says Francie Wilder, kitchen manager of the Schnitzelburg restaurant. Monnik serves its stamppot as a main dish with a bratwurst on top but also offers it as a side dish without the sausage.

Seafood Curry BibimbapDragon Kings Daughter (Highlands and New Albany locations)I frequently belly up to the bar at Dragon Kings Daughter in the Highlands, where its a little more secluded and cozier than the dining room. (DKD recently announced it would be moving down Bardstown Road into the former Cafe Mimosa space.) Through the years, Ive developed a list of cold-weather favorites like the miso soup and veggie gyoza, but since the new menu dropped in November, the seafood curry bibimbap(pictured below) has topped my list. DKDs version is made with shrimp and scallops sauted in Japanese curry and topped with melted mozzarella. Its rich, creamy and cheesy, making it ideal for colder months. We heat a stone bowl until its piping hot, toss in white rice and toppings. It arrives to the table sizzling and steaming, manager Doug Turner says. We provide an extra-long spoon to mix the ingredients together and to stir the dish occasionally as it continues to cook at the table.

Tired of chili?Mmmmm, hot stonebibimbap. Photo byDanny Alexander

Marks SpecialStevens & Stevens DelicatessenCold cuts just dont do it for me in the winter. Thats when I turn to the Marks Special at Stevens & Stevens Delicatessen in the back of Dittos Grill on Bardstown Road. Named after one of the owners, the sandwich is simple: hot corned beef and pastrami, melted Swiss cheese and mustard sandwiched between slices of rye bread. This delightful and warm NYC classic takes up over half the paper plate, making it perfect for sharing. And it comes with two sides. I always go with the pasta salad and salt-and-vinegar kettle chips.

By Jenny Kiefer

Your dog hates the cold and wet as much as you do. But you dont need to stick your pets paws into those tiny boots just to get out of the house this winter and you can enjoy a beer while youre at it. Home of the Yappy Hour, Apocalypse Brew Works was one of the first breweries to allow dogs when it opened on Mellwood Avenue in 2012. Dogs are always welcome inside the brewery, and during the cold months Apocalypse sets up a tent outside equipped with a cozy fireplace, where you can find at least one canine regular curled up in a repurposed down-coat-turned-dog-bed if it isnt chasing the brewerys rescue cats. (As long as theres no kitchen, a brewery likely allows leashed dogs.) The Jeffersontown location of 3rd Turn Brewing has a dedicated bowl of dog treats on the bar top for four-legged customers. Owner Brian Minrath says 3rd Turn always intended the space to be dog-friendly. It often hosts events for rescues, sometimes with adoptable dogs, so you might even come home with a new friend. We always wanted dogs, but kids were questionable, Minrath says. During Thirsty Tails Thursday each week, Old Louisville Brewery offers dogs who bring their humans VIP pricing on pints. Or enjoy a movie or board game with your pup at Great Flood Brewing in Douglass Loop. At Holsopple in Lyndon, co-owner Sam Gambill says he often sees the same pups wagging their tails next to their owners. Besides making the brewery feel like a home away from home, Gambill says dogs serve another purpose. Dogs really like beer, he says. They keep the floor clean.

Photo by Joon Kim

Find a cozy, well-lit space.By JenniLaidman

Take the A TrainOK, you cant really take a train out of Union Station any longer, but the Richardsonian Romanesque building on Broadway between 10th and 11th streets offers loads of sunshine. Some of the light carries cheery tints from the buildings two giant round windows. But the main event is the daylight flooding in through the massive skylight in the barrel-vault ceiling of what is now TARC headquarters. The setting is almost the perfect place to enjoy the light on a cold day. The only downside? The benches arent built for lounging.

Meet Me in the ConservatoryThe walkway between the Galt Houses two towers offers daylight galore, comfy seating, cocktails and small plates of (mostly) calorie-dense deliciousness.

A+ SunningThe $80-million Belknap Academic Building, completed in 2018 on the University of Louisville campus, is a delight of sunlight. Several stories of windows wrap much of the buildings faade, guaranteeing a bathed-in-sunlight setting. Around the back, more large windows light up a ribbon of study space. Many of the classrooms are similarly sunny. Plenty of lobby seating makes it easy to take in the light therapy.

Sweetness and LightRabbit Hole Distillery on East Jefferson Street is a multi-sense immersion. First, theres the glass-surrounded second-floor atrium overlooking big vats of live-action fermentation, then, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, theres the gorgeous cityscape view from the hip and cheerful Overlook bar. Accompanying all this sun is the sweet smell of mash becoming bourbon.

A Place in the WoodsThe remarkable fact about the visitors center at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is that its not all windows. In some of its dazzling rooms, it will seem to be. The building with the living roof was designed to maximize exposure to the low angles of winter sun, so the entire interior is exposed to rays, while exposure to the high angle of summer sun is minimized both by the building design and the surrounding vegetation. The only way to truly lounge here, though, is while snacking in Isaacs Cafe. The rest of the building is either a gift shop or sunlit (and often available for chilling) meeting space.

Comfy and SmartLouisvilles newest libraries offer some of the best sunny lounging around. All have plenty of comfy seating and loads of inspiring sunlight. And while youre basking in the glow, you can raise your IQ a point or two. The libraries: St. Matthews Eline Library expansion, which opened this year; South Central Regional Library, which opened in Okolona in 2017; Southwest Regional Library, which opened in Valley Station in 2014; and Northeast Regional Library, which opened in Lyndon this year.

By Michelle Eigenheer

Rows of vintage fur, flannel shirts, party dresses, wool sport jackets and warm top hats fill the Nitty Gritty, the vintage clothing and costume-rental shop on Barret Avenue. Its where you can find your new seasonal staple. Maybe its one of the elegant hats from Kennedy-era pillbox pieces to softer wool and velvet caps. For me, it was the emerald-green 1950s wool coat hanging on a consignment rack. A steal at $20. The warm fur collar is hand-stitched, and the Jackie O. sleeves are a reminder to slip on a pair of gloves before heading out into the chill of winter.

Photo by Mickie Winters

By Scott Carney, Wax Fangfrontman

Combatting the winter blues is as easy as lining up your favorite comedies of all time and then ripping through them with reckless abandon, hoping that spring arrives before you run out of ideas. Monty Pythons The Meaning of Life has the best opening musical number in the history of cinema. If you still feel depressed after watching the Coen brothers gem Raising Arizona, perhaps you deserve to be sad. Best in Show is my favorite from Christopher Guest and Co. And, f*ck yeah: Team America: World Police.

Book recommendations fromMcKinley Moore, guitarist andsinger in Pleasure Boys.By Katie Molck

If on a Winters Night a Traveler,by Italo CalvinoThis is one of my favorites, and I tend to read it once a year during the winter. Its a somewhat absurd postmodernist book about you, the reader, reading a book called If on a Winters Night a Traveler. It takes a minute to sink your teeth into it but is very rewarding. I constantly recommend it to anyone who has any interest whatsoever in literature and often give it as a gift.

Circe, by Madeline MillerCirce is a retelling of the Greek myth of Circe, ocean nymph and daughter of sun god Helios. You might remember her as the one who turned all of Odysseus men into feral pigs.

Dawn of X and Powers of X,by Jonathan HickmanThe thing Ive enjoyed reading the most lately is the newest run of X-Men comics that serve as a complete reset of the entire universe. I loved comic books when I was young, and this series has made me love them again.

1984, by George OrwellI hadnt read this one since being forced to in high school, but the current state of the world caused me to revisit it. Its horribly poignant now. That said, it definitely did not make me feel better about anything, so avoid if thats what you want!

Watchmen, by Alan MooreTheres all the buzz now because of the new HBO series, but the original graphic novel that the horrible Zack Snyder movie was based on is one of the best works of modern fiction. Everyone should read it at least once.

By Amy Talbott

Winter can actually be a beautiful time for a hike. You have longer lines of sight through the woods, and the views are better, says Bryan Lewis, a land manager for natural areas within Louisville Metro Parks. Especially when youre hiking in Jefferson Memorial Forest you can see long distances when youre on the ridgetops. For the best views there, Lewis recommends the Yost Ridge, Siltstone, Coral Ridge Loop or Scotts Gap Loop trails. We have the highest elevations in Jefferson County, so you can look down and see the river valley, you can see downtown, you can see the land in every direction. Rebecca Minnick, executive director of the Louisville Nature Center near Joe Creason Park, says winter can be a good time for spotting birds and wildlife. If theres snow on the ground, its really cool to look for animal tracks, she says, adding that you can see animals like owls, woodpeckers, deer, foxes and the occasional beaver at the center. Having the right clothes for the weather helps a lot too. The tried-and-true strategy that we use here, not only as outdoor enthusiasts but that we recommend to our customers, has been layering, says Scott Newsome, general manager at Quest Outdoors. He recommends a base layer (including Merino wool socks) to wick perspiration off your skin, a mid-layer (like a down sweater jacket you can wear from the first of October to April) to help you retain body heat, and a breathable but water-repellent outer layer to shield you from wind, rain or snow. Looking for opportunities to test that gear? Check out these events:

Jan. 5: First Sunday nature hike at BernheimJan. 10: Full moon night hike at Louisville Nature CenterJan. 11: Winter nature walk in Iroquois ParkJan. 18: Winter tree identification at Louisville Nature CenterFeb. 14: Valentines Day lantern hike at Louisville Nature CenterFebruary 13 and 14: Valentines Day hikes at Jefferson Memorial ForestFeb. 29: Birding for beginners at Louisville Nature Center

By Amy Talbott

Sarah Teeple, a holistic health coach, teaches practices from Ayurveda, a traditional Indian system of medicine. In Ayurveda, we think about the qualities of the season, says Teeple (whom you may recognize as the lead singer in the former Louisville band the Ladybirds). Winter has qualities of being dry, cold. It can sometimes be dense or stagnant. We want to apply opposite qualities to balance. Here are some of Teeples winter recommendations.

Moisturizing:Its very traditional to oil the body daily in Ayurveda, Teeple says. She recommends using oils like sesame, fractionated coconut or sweet almond. Rub that oil all over your body, using long strokes on the arms and legs, and going in circles over joints. You can also oil from the inside out by adding nourishing oils to your food, she says. She recommends ghee (clarified butter), coconut oil and olive oil.

Hydrating:Teeple recommends eating foods with high water content, like stews and vegetable or lentil soups. Think dishes that are mushy and served warm. Winter is not Crock-Pot season for no reason, she says.

Warming:A wonderful way to warm ourselves from the inside out is by cooking with medicinal digestive spices, Teeple says. We dont necessarily mean that all your meals have to be hot, spicy Indian food. Use some gentle, more savory spices. She mentions cumin, ginger powder, paprika, black pepper or turmeric for food, and drinking spiced teas like chai.

Another bit of advice:If youre feeling sluggish, get some essential oils with stimulating scents like citrus or herbs. Find one that you like and keep it on your bedside table, so when you first wake up in the morning, if you dont want to get moving, you have this beautiful essential oil, Teeple says. Put a drop or two in the palm of your hand, rub your palms together, and cup your hands over your nose and take three slow, long breaths through the nose. And then bring your hands to your scalp and give yourself a nice scalp-and-neck rub. She likes an oil blend called Good Morning Sunshine, available at Rainbow Blossom.

By Amy Talbott

I get a little sad when I take the lights and sparkly holiday decorations down after New Years. Fortunately, Mardi Gras season starts in January and runs until Feb. 25, giving me another reason to put up shiny, colorful things.

I got the inspiration to decorate for Mardi Gras when my husband and I went to New Orleans in January a few years ago. Houses were adorned with green, purple and gold garlands, wreaths with gold fleurs-de-lis and beads. Everywhere. I particularly loved the beads in the trees on St. Charles Avenue and wanted to bring a little of that magic home, so we went to a store in nearby Lafayette, Louisiana, that sold recycled Mardi Gras beads. I bought like 12 dozen cases of them. When I threw all the beads up in the sprawling branches of the redbud tree in our front yard, people noticed. (I mean, it is kind of weird to be a grown adult out in your front yard, throwing beads in a tree.) It has become kind of a thing since then. Were the house with the bead tree. I also repurpose Christmas wreaths with Mardi Gras-colored ornaments and put them on our front door and window. We live on a street near Iroquois Park where a lot of people walk by, and several have told us they look forward to seeing what I put out on the porch.

Last February, I was at Hobby Lobby when I ran across a pair of five-foot-tall metal flamingos. They needed to come home with me. I put one on each side of the front door and draped some beads on them. They stayed on after Mardi Gras, and we became the house with flamingos and beads.

This is all kind of ridiculous, I know. Giant porch flamingos arent for everyone. But if winter gets you down and theres some kind of way you can incorporate color into your life, why not go for it?If getting out of the house for Mardi Gras is more your style, here are two local celebrations.

Feb. 22: Mardi Gras Bar Crawl at Fourth Street Live. For those who like a rowdier celebration, Fourth Street is basically transforming into New Orleans Bourbon Street for a night. Beads, beads, and more beads!

Feb. 25: Rouler 2020 at the Olmsted. This fundraiser for Catholic Charities of Louisville features New Orleans-themed food and drinks, plus bingo, casino games, prizes and live music.

Or, if youre a homebody like me, pick up a King Cake from Heitzman Bakery.

Five drinks to warm you up,at the bar or at home.By Michelle Eigenheer

DeccaFor those desperately seeking the heat of summer, go with Deccas spicy Chupacabra. Smoky mezcal, lime and ginger syrup pair with cilantro and chile. Winter nights are well spent in the NuLu restaurants cozy cellar bar, curled up in a chair surrounded by jazz and soft glowing lights.

Chupacabra- 2 ounces mezcal- 1 ounce lime- ounce ginger syrup- 2 slices of Fresno chile- 1 pinch of cilantro- Muddle chile and cilantro. Shake all ingredients. Double strain and serve on the rocks.

Alex&nderFrom one of the highest points in Butchertown, warm your insides as you look over the gray winter cityscape. On the menu at the Copper & Kings brandy distillerys rooftop bar, the Yule Mule gets a replay, elevated from its previous appearances on the menu with the addition of Copper & Kings new Destillar Mistelle. The drink has a more complex, woody flavor than a traditional mule. Vanilla-Angostura absinthe adds a depth of flavor to syrup infused with traditional winter spices, layered over the fruity taste of pomegranate.

The Yule Mule- 1 ounce Copper & Kings Destillar Intense Pomegranate liqueur- 1 ounce Copper & Kings Destillar Mistelle- ounce lime- ounce winter spice syrup (Make this at home by infusing a simple syrup with your choice of spices. Alex&nder uses cloves, green cardamom, star anise, peppercorn and cardamom seeds.)- 3 dashes vanilla-Angostura-absinthe bitters (Make this at home by adding absinthe to half a bottle of Angostura bitters and dropping in vanilla bean.)- Top with ginger beer- Shake all ingredients in a shaker tin. Double strain into a highball glass over ice. Garnish with rosemary, mint and cranberries.

610 MagnoliaThe Sugarplum Bubbly is on the cocktail menu at this Old Louisville institution this winter, with a mix of champagne, bourbon and plum. Embracing the oft-forgotten flavors of sugarplum, the woodsy, warming sensation of bourbon and the delightful effervescence of champagne, the drink has a sweet start, with muted bourbon flavors that warm. A touch of winter greenery from the sprig of rosemary floats just under your nose as you sip.

Sugarplum Bubbly- ounce bourbon- Plum bitters- Raw sugar cube- Champagne- Sprig of rosemary- Rim a coupe glass with sugar (610 uses gold and purple sugar for added color). Saturate the sugar cube with plum bitters in the glass. Pour in bourbon and top with champagne. Float a sprig of rosemary on top.

8UPThis winter, 8UP (on the eighth floor of the Hilton Garden Inn downtown) has added igloos to its rooftop patio six clear domes that each offer a different theme (disco lounge, diamonds and fur, tropical dream). Share pitchers of drinks like spiked hot chocolate and warm Belvedere Citrus cider. (Youll want to go with a group because food/drink minimums run from $200 to $750, depending on day and time.) If youre hosting at home, make the cider on your own stovetop.

Belvedere Citrus Cider- 14 ounces Belvedere Citrus vodka- 6 cups apple juice- 4 ounces St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram- 4 ounces lemon juice- Combine the juices and Allspice Dram in a pot on medium. Bring to a simmer. Add vodka and serve.

Photo by Danny Alexander

This originally appeared in the January2020 issue of Louisville Magazine under the headline Stop Hating Winter Already. To subscribe to Louisville Magazine,click here.To find us on newsstands,click here.

Cover photoby Mickie Winters,mickiewinters.com

Read the original post:
15 Ways to Thrive in Winter - Louisville.com

Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly is an award-winning physician, double board certified in internal and integrative medicine. After completing internal medicine residency, she did a fellowship in integrative medicine trained in functional medicine, nutrition and mindfulness. Her approach is rooted in evidence-based medicine that is personalized to each individual she works with. She partners with her patients to discover and address the root causes of their conditions and develops individualized plans to support and empower each unique individual to achieve her or his health goals. As part of her mission to deliver accessible, evidence-based health and wellness information, she created her website, drbojana.com, that features her videos, articles and recipes.

Dr. Bojana is the recipient of several patient satisfaction awards at Cedars-Sinai and was recognized as the Southern California Top Doctors Rising Star in 2016 and 2017 and awarded the Top Doctor recognition in 2018 and 2019 in New York.

Prior to starting her integrative and functional medicine practice, she worked as a primary care physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and Crossover Health,providedexecutive healthcare at EHE and worked at Dr. Frank Lipmans Eleven Eleven Wellness.She was the Co-Founder of and served as the Chief Medical Officer of WellStart Health, a digital therapeutics start up for chronic disease prevention and reversal. She currently serves as their Medical Advisor.

A lifelong learner, she completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine established by Dr. Andrew Weil at the University of Arizona and continues to train in functional medicine at The Institute for Functional Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and West LA Veterans Affairs in Los Angeles. She completed medical school, Master of Science (Experimental medicine) and Bachelor of Science (Biophysics Honors) degrees at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Throughout her academic career, Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly performed research in endocrinology and oncology, published papers in peer-reviewed journals and presented her work at academic conferences. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. She has also established herself as an educator and speaker, teaching medical students and residents, and speaking on health and wellness in academic and corporate settings, podcasts, and wellness events. She has also shared her medical expertise on Today Show and Rachael Ray.

In addition to serving on the Board of EWG, she serves on the Board of Directors and has been honored for her contribution by Lifeline New York, a nonprofit organization that provides support to Serbian hospitals and children in need, and is on the Board of Tryall Fund, a non-profit organization that promotes health and education in Jamaica.

Dr. Bojana loves spending time with her two children and husband in nature, experimenting in the kitchen, doing ballet barre and practicing mindfulness and yoga. Her not guilty pleasure: Reishi mushroom coffee in the morning. Guilty pleasure: anything with chocolate.

Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly practices at 245 5th Avenue, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10016.

Go here to see the original:
10 Habits to Create Less Stress in Your Daily Life (Part 2) - Thrive Global

Yoga therapist Tina Paul (back) and Lori Weisenberg-Catalano work on form.

Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service Jun Mao performs acupuncture on a patient.

Music therapist Alessandro Ricciarelli and an MSK Kids patient play the guitar.

Summary

The Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering is celebrating 20 years of incorporating complementary medicine into the care plans of people with cancer.Read on to learn about its first days and whats to come.

As a new millennium approached in 1999, another beginning was underway: the creation of the Integrative Medicine Service (IMS) at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The IMS was built on the premise that healing from cancer goes beyond standard medical treatments promoting wellness in mind and spirit can help people feel whole again, too.

For 20 years, the IMS staff has cared for hundreds of thousands of people with cancer and led studies that have furthered the field of integrative oncology. The program has always been rooted in evidence-based medicine, says IMS Chief Jun Mao. Unlike alternative medicine, which uses unproven methods instead of conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, the IMS works with a persons primary MSK cancer care team to support them holistically. Specialized integrative medicine doctors consult with patients and create a road map for their therapeutic needs. Services such as fitness training, acupuncture, meditation, yoga, massage, music therapy, and more are tailored to the individuals symptoms and promote restoration.

The blend of programs at MSK was the brainchild of philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller, who was on MSKs Boards of Overseers and Managers for more than 50 years. He believed that we have to take care of quality-of-life issues for people affected by cancer, Dr. Mao says. The first IMS Chief, Barrie Cassileth, established the prototype for the IMS and later founded the Society for Integrative Oncology, a multidisciplinary international society with more than 500 members from over 30 countries.

Integrative Medicine

Our Integrative Medicine Service offers a range of wellness therapies that are designed to work together with traditional medical treatments. Visit us today.

Barrie wanted me to continue to build upon the strong foundation she created and take this program to the next level, Dr. Mao says. Mr. Rockefellers legacy is now being carried forward by his daughter Lucy R. Waletzky, an MSK Board member who continues to support the IMS.

Integrative medicine services at MSK are more accessible than ever. Today, patients can receive acupuncture at all of MSKs regional locations. Through telemedicine, they can consult with an IMS doctor and take mindfulness classes from home. They can also access an online video library of mind-body programs guided by IMS specialists, including a series of instructional tai chi videos. In 2019, the IMS began offering pediatric integrative medicine consultations through MSK Kids. The IMS continues to lead integrative oncology research. In April 2019, Dr. Maos team published findings showing that changes to sleep behavior and acupuncture can offer persistent relief for insomnia.

Dr. Mao envisions an even more robust future, with expanded in-person and digital offerings. MSKs About Herbs database, an online hub of information on vitamins and supplements, has had roughly seven million visitors from 194 countries over the past 15 years. We really want to harness the power of technology so that patients have access to MSKs experts and services at their fingertips, he says.

Original post:
Whole-Person Healing: Celebrating 20 Years of Integrative Medicine at MSK - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering

Lets first talk about what migraines are. Migraine is a type of headache that can be quite disabling and can last from hours to several days. It is typically associated with nausea and vomiting, light and/or sound sensitivity, and tends to be characterized by throbbing pain on one side of the scalp. Other features may include vision disturbances, numbness or weakness of one part of the body or even vertigo. Migraines can occur several times per week, or once or twice per year.

Migraine headaches affect 12% of the US population and are up to3 times more common in women than in men(up to 6% of men and up to 17% of women have them. Theprevalence of migraines increases up until the age of 39. In a group of women aged 30-39, close to 1 in 4 may have a migraine.

Mechanisms leading to migraines are complex and not fully understood. Scientists believe that migraines result from a malfunction of neurons (nerve cells) that leads to a sequence of changes that lead to migraine symptoms described above. Both genetic and environmental factors are involved in migraines.

When it comes to migraine headaches, there are 2 basic approaches in conventional medicine when it comes to treating the symptoms.

A class of drugs known as triptans (e.g., sumatriptan (Imitrex), rizatriptan (Maxalt), or naratriptan (Amerge)), may be used to abort the symptoms once they start. Non-steroidal anti- inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve) may also be used.

Those who have frequent migraines may be on medications for migraine prevention, or even have Botox to help prevent migraines. Some of the oral medications that help prevent migraines include anti-seizure medications such as topiramate (Topamax), beta-blocker medications such as propranolol (Inderal), and anti-depressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil). In 2018, the FDA approved drugs that are calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists for migraine prevention. More data are needed to know the long term safety of these medications.

While it is important to get migraine symptoms under control, it is just as important to understand the root cause of migraines and identify any possible triggers. Many of my patients migraines are triggered by certain foods, by skipping meals or by alcohol.

Many of my patients find that their migraine frequency increases when they dont sleep well and their stress levels are high. Working with your qualified healthcare practitioner is key in both adequately addressing your symptoms but also identifying triggers, so that you reduce these symptoms and their frequency, or even completely eliminate them.

Prevention is key. Although it may take considerable detective work to understand what triggers your migraines, it is generally easier to prevent a migraine than it is to have to endure the symptoms and treat it.

Here are my top tips:

Here is a list of supplements you may want to ask your provider about, that can help reduce the frequency of migraines:

*Sublingual ginger and feverfew have been found torelieve migraine attacks.

None of the information in this article is a representation or warranty that any particular drug or treatment is safe, appropriate or effective for you, or that any particular healthcare provider is appropriate for you. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking help from a health care provider due to something you have read or seen in this article. Your reading/use of this article does not create in any way a physician-patient relationship, any sort of confidential, fiduciary or professional relationship, or any other special relationship that would give rise to any duties. This article does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, healthcare providers, procedures, or treatments, and if you rely on any of the information provided by this article, you do so solely at your own risk.

More here:
How to Take Charge of Your Migraines - Thrive Global

One of the defining events of 2019 was Extinction Rebellion, the global protest movement bolstered by activists like Greta Thunberg to make the climate emergency a priority for governments around the world.

Since its founding in 2018, XR, as its known, has mobilized thousands of people in dozens of countries, brought sections of London, New York, and Sydney to a standstill, and spawned 3,000 arrests in the UK alone (purposeful arrests are a core part of its strategy).

While the movement has received its share of criticism as it has grown in size and powernamely around its lack of diversityits sheer numbers and degree of international press coverage point to an enviable level of operational success.

A key to this success? Choosing an effective organizational model early on, informed by the latest management science. XR is a decentralized network designed to resemble a holacracy, an operating structure for self-organization tested by tech companies like Google, Zappos, and Medium. Anyone can join XR so long as they adhere to its 10 core principles and values, including a commitment to nonviolence.

While holacracy, too, has received its share of criticism as it, too, has gained traction, the system is credited for providing a basic framework for effective self-organization. At a holacracy training session at Zappos, the online shoe retailer, in 2013, HolacracyOne co-founder Brian Robertson, who invented the system, described his creation as providing a rule system for anarchy.

Extinction Rebellions embrace of holacracy makes it the largest-scale use case to date, eclipsing Amazon-owned Zapposs high-profile trials with holacracy involving 1,500 employees. Like Zappos, which has quietly backed away from certain tenants of the system and has begun to experiment with its own, modified version of holacracy, XR is also taking a broader interpretation of holacracy.

Were not dogmatic about using holacracy; its an adaptive version, says Ronan Harrington, a UK political strategist who was personally recruited by XR co-founder Roger Hallam to join the movement.

XR is not formally engaging HolacracyOnes services. Instead, its leadership has trained itself using online videos and with guidance from advisors like Miki Kashtan, an international teacher of nonviolent communication and former McKinsey consultant Frederic Laloux, whose internationally bestselling book Reinventing Organizations profiles successful self-managed organizations, including HolacracyOne.

The defining feature of a holacracy is its circular hierarchical structure, which is quite different from the static pyramid hierarchies most organizations employ today. The flattened hierarchy, combined with a focus on granular roles over broader job titles, as well as distributed decision-making and clear frameworks for conflict resolution, makes holacracy a more dynamic and scalable option for self-organizing entities like XR.

Reflecting basic holacratic structure, XR has a number of core circles that focus on everything from finance and fundraising to legal, tech, and even the nature of self-organizing systems. The core circles send representatives to the main circle, led by XR co-founders Hallam and Gail Bradbrook. Feedback loops run quickly both down- and upstream. Those in core roles are empowered to make decisions as they see fit, so long as they consult with others who have expertise in order to make thoughtful decisions.

More complex decisions involve integrative decision making, a process where all proposals need to pass with no objection. When necessary, a rapid-response team makes faster decisions on strategy and other issues.

The movement has learned from the mistakes of Occupy Wall Street, which was weighed down by crowded general assemblies that made decisions by consensus, which quickly became a hindrance to progress. By contrast, holacracy is designed to protect against that kind of gridlock by empowering individuals to act with full sovereignty within the scope of their roles, while retaining a democratic bent through its governance and integrated decision-making processes.

Harrington notes that the average XR protester probably would not even know that they are operating within a holacracy (though the group does hold training sessions on holacracy in various local chapters). People know [holacracy] by the processes we have, he explains. For most people its their first experience in a self-organizing system.

Daniel Thorson, who has explored the concept of societal and ecological collapse through his podcast Emerge: Making Sense of Whats Next, participated in the UK protests this past autumn. While he wasnt initially aware of XRs holacratic design, he observed that anyone was empowered to act as they desired, so long as it was in accordance with the movements principles. He kept up-to-date on the campaigns UK strategy through a widely broadcast channel on Telegram, the encrypted messaging service. Transparent information flow is a core tenet of holacracy because it fosters trust, the lynchpin of all effective self-organized systems.

Thorson, who also participated in Occupy Wall Street, was struck by the way XR participants were noticeably more in control of their emotions than the Occupiers were, evidenced by a more cool-headed approach to protesting.

In Londons Trafalgar Square, youd come across a sign for therapeutic yoga and sound healing, right next to a table for the scientists of XR, and the Buddhists of XR, he said, referring to the mixture of the spiritual and the sacred within the context of the protest movement. At Occupy there would have been antipathy for that.

On Thorsons podcast following his visit to the UK, he interviewed Harrington, who pointed out that many XR protesters have done their shadow work, that is, healed traumas within themselves so they dont project dysfunctional conditioning onto others, namely law enforcement.

They have done inner work on antagonism, so they are projecting less onto the public, explained Harrington, noting the clear link between self-development and systems transformation. [When] an activist hasnt actually processed the rage and the anger that comes from issues with their mothers and fathers, they project that onto the system. And people feel that.

Thorson adds that the inherent discomfort associated with protesting can easily trigger unhealed emotional wounds. You can tell where trauma is if you get irritated, he says. There are so many opportunities for people to freak out. People were more angry and rageful at Occupy, whereas at XR people are pretty peaceful. Its more of a festival atmosphere.

The XR movement itself has its roots in the spiritual. In 2016, Bradbrook attended an ayahuasca ceremony in Costa Rica for activists with the intention of discerning the codes for social change. (Ayahuasca is a plant-based medicine thought to have a mind-opening effect.)

Not long after, Bradbrook, a former biophysicist, met Hallam, a former organic farmer who is pursuing a PhD at Kings College London centered on how to create social change; and together they began laying the groundwork for XR. The activists studied notable protest movements in modern history and determined that nonviolence, promoted by the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., has by far been the most effective strategy. Their message was bolstered by the work of Jem Bendell, a professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, who published a viral academic paper in July 2018 discussing the need for deep adaptation in the face of impending ecological collapse.

Using holacracy as an operating system, they scaled XR globally in relatively fast order, starting with the groups official founding in October 2018 and accelerating with mass protests in April and October of this year. The campaign has brought attention to the climate emergency, but it is still far from persuading political leaders to meet its demands, which include a commitment by the British government to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Based on their academic research, XRs leaders predict it will take 3.5% of the population getting involved to affect systemic change.

As XR strategizes for its next phase in 2020, it is also integrating lessons Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, which is leaderless out of necessity. We admire their Bruce Lee, be-like-water approach, says Harrington, though he is quick to note a core difference between the two is XRs commitment to non-violence. Either way, he says, Hong Kong shows us the value of keeping something in the news long enough.

Original post:
Extinction Rebellion is using holacracy to scale its international movement - Quartz