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A man receives his Covid-19 vaccination at the John Scott Vaccination Centre in Green Lanes, north ... [+] London, where Hatzola, in partnership with the NHS and Hackney Council are delivering a coronavirus vaccine clinic for the local Orthodox Jewish community. Picture date: Sunday March 21, 2021. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)

The Orthodox Jewish community was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Swift community action ensued; Jewish schools were closed and synagogues were shuttered. While anticipation for the Covid-19 vaccine grew, physicians and leaders within the community wondered: will Orthodox Jews get the Covid-19 vaccine?

A new study published by Dr Ellie Carmody, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and co-authors, surveyed 102 Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, NY between December 2020 and January 2021. At that time, 41% were undecided about the vaccine and 47% were strongly hesitant.

While many U.S. citizens fought for access to the vaccine, others were understandably hesitant to take a new vaccine. The vaccine has had its fair share of doubt including concerns about fertility and safety monitoring (neither concern has been proven).

In the past, Shoshana Bernstein, an Orthodox community activist in NY, worked to educate community members about the measles vaccine. Her experience taught her that the majority of Orthodox Jews do indeed vaccinate.There are outliers who are openly anti-vax and the movable middle who are unsure. Unfortunately, it has become more and more the norm for the media to focus on Orthodox Jews which can and does create the erroneous assumptions.

At the same time, Ms. Bernstein explained that the insular lifestyle of many demographics in the Orthodox Jewish community limits their access to credible medical information. Many individuals in these communities dont use the internet, social media, and smartphones. There, Ms. Bernstein recommends it is imperative that culturally sensitive, written and spoken education be written and made available.Unlike the secular world, written publications are very much alive and well in the Orthodox Community.Dial-in hotlines and Yiddish language radio stations reach a large swath of the population and should be utilized.Doctors, nurses, physician assistants and urgent care centers are generally widely trusted and should be provided written material.

Dr Miriam Andrusier, MD, MPH a member of the Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, echoes Ms. Bernsteins concerns about targeted misinformation. Both in terms of how the virus spreads and what information people have available to them are very unique and could be quite insular. The Orthodox Jewish community is very tight knit. The ways in which information is dispensed and shared is very unique: people tend to get a lot of their information from social media and groups like Whats App where it is incredibly easy to pass along misinformation that can be forwarded thousands of times within minutes.

When the pandemic eased in the summer of 2020, anti-vax and anti-medical establishment groups made efforts to spread misinformation specifically in the Orthodox Jewish community. At an event in Crown Heights on February 16th, 2021, Dr. Simone Gold urged attendees not to get the Covid-19 vaccine because dying from Covid-19 itself is exceedingly uncommon. The second speaker, Rabbi Michoel Green told (unverified) stories of individuals who lost relatives and suffered side effects from the vaccine.

The anti-vaccine movement is finding fertile ground in people today in general because they succeed by sowing fear, uncertainty and doubt, and this pandemic is already rampant in all three, says Dr. Alissa Minkin, a pediatrician and Chair of the Jewish Orthodox Womens Medical Association (JOWMA) Preventative Health Committee. Dr Minkin also hosts the JOWMA Podcast, which covers health topics geared towards the Orthodox community. Full disclosure- I serve as president of JOWMA and have been actively involved in JOWMAs educational efforts for the Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr. Minkin believes the politicization and polarization of this pandemic is contributing to anti-vaccine sentiment across the board, not just in the Orthodox community. Because religion is not one of the metrics for vaccine uptake, we do not have exact statistics for percent vaccinated in each of these communities.

While the exacts numbers of those vaccinated in the Orthodox community isnt quite clear, informal surveys by synagogues, physicians, and schools indicate that vaccine uptake is high. Suri Kasirer, President of Kasirer LLC, the #1 lobbying firm in New York, has been working with government and community organizations like JOWMA to educate NY residents about the Covid-19 vaccine. I come from this community, which was among the most impacted by the pandemic. In reaching out to the Orthodox community with timely information about the vaccine, there are unique challenges, such as language barriers, or limited access to TV and the Internet.Were so proud to have helped effectively counter disinformation and build confidence in the vaccine as we see this vibrant community back to good health post-pandemic.

"Most of my elderly patients wanted to get the vaccine as soon as it was available. As part of my work as the medical director of Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Corps, we facilitated hundreds of vaccines to home-bound Holocuast survivors, said Dr Jason Zimmerman, medical director at Boro Park Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Brooklyn, NY.

Dr. Zimmerman cares for patients from the Orthodox community in Brooklyn, NY. He shared Many younger patients were initially hesitant to take the vaccine, but over the past few months, they've watched their healthcare providers, family and friends get vaccinated and this visibility has really helped alleviate people's initial hesitation."

Dr. Minkin believes that while we havent yet reached herd immunity, the percent of people who had Covid-19 already are contributing to the percent who are immune along with the vaccinated. There are good reasons to get vaccinated even if you had Covid-19, but public health officials should acknowledge that people who had Covid-19 are making a risk benefit decision from a different position than those who never had it.

Dr. Ellie Carmody MD, MPH, agrees that some hesitancy around the vaccine may be understood from a scientific and health perspective. Within some Orthodoxcommunities that have been very highlyimpacted by Covid-19, reasons for not vaccinating are complex.Some are wary of new technologies and are subject to similar misinformation that circulates within wider anti-vaccination discourse.But for many people who have had Covid-19, there is simplynot a sense of urgency to be vaccinated, given that they observe that symptomatic re-infections in their communities are low and they feel protected.

Dr. Carmody believes that vaccine strategies should be re-evaluated for those who have recovered from Covid-19, as more studies demonstrate that there is a robust immune memory response to one dose of either an mRNA vaccine or adenoviral vector vaccine in people who have recovered from Covid-19.

A one-dose immunity booster may be more well received than a two-dose mRNA vaccineseries, as it validates the contribution of natural immunity toward protection from disease.One-dose mRNA vaccine strategies could also help stretch the world's supply of these vaccines, said Dr Carmody.

In the meantime, educating patients about Covid-19 vaccination remains a priority.

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Hit Hard By The Pandemic, Orthodox Jews Are Choosing The Covid-19 Vaccine - Forbes

BRENDA LEON / CONNECTICUT PUBLIC RADIO

Supporters of Senate Bill 956 spoke publicly on the consequences of limited access to health insurance for undocumented immigrants outside the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

Before the pandemic, Carlos liked playing soccer with his friends and building robots at school. His parents both worked, and provided him with a stable, loving home. Carlos was a healthy and thriving sixth grader. But when I met him, working as his pediatrician in the Intensive Care Unit, he was suffering from kidney failure secondary to complications of COVID-19. Why did this healthy child become so sick?

We discovered that Carlos had an undiagnosed kidney condition that had progressively worsened over the years. Why hadnt this condition been picked up earlier by his pediatrician? Why was Carlos approaching kidney failure when there were readily available treatment options?

Unlike other kids his age, Carlos did not see a pediatrician for regular check-ups. Like other undocumented children in Connecticut, Carlos does not qualify for HUSKY (Health Care for Uninsured Kids and Youth), Connecticuts state-funded health insurance program. For Carlos, and the other 13,000 undocumented children who live in Connecticut, access to affordable routine healthcare is nearly impossible.

With Senate Bill 956, Connecticut has the opportunity to make HUSKY accessible to these children, their parents, and thousands of other undocumented Connecticut residents. I believe that access to healthcare is a basic human right, and Connecticut must provide health insurance to our undocumented neighbors, family members, and friends.

As a pediatrician in New Haven, I worry about our 13,000 undocumented children. Carlos recovered from his acute illness but, unfortunately, now requires dialysis three times a week to live. If Carlos had had regular check-ups with a pediatrician, his kidney disease could have been discovered and treated earlier, and prevented a lengthy hospital admission and lifelong dialysis.

I worry about Carlos, and I also worry about the kids I dont meet. Preventative medicine is at the heart of pediatrics, and kids without health insurance are at risk for worse health outcomes. I see children at regularly scheduled visits from birth through young adulthood. I provide vaccines, screen for developmental delays, manage medical problems, and counsel mental health concerns. Compared with their uninsured peers, insured children are more likely to succeed in school, avoid drug and alcohol use, have more successful careers, and lead healthier adult lives.

The proposed legislation Senate Bill 956 would allow all income-eligible residents to enroll in HUSKY, regardless of citizenship status. To be sure, expanding state-funded health insurance is costly, at an estimated $195 million/year for Connecticut. However, this price tag would be mitigated by future savings on healthcare costs, like uncompensated care. For example, Carloss prolonged hospital stay alone cost just over $1 million. For uninsured patients, the hospital absorbs some cost, while local, state and federal funding sources cover another percentage. Since tax dollars are paying for this care anyway, why not pay for routine health visits upfront, and avoid expensive hospitalizations down the road?

Connecticut, despite a long history of state budget deficits, is now in good financial standing. A recent report projected an extra $925 million in revenues for the current fiscal year, which would wipe out the $640 million projected deficit. In addition, some of those revenues come directly from the taxes paid by the undocumented immigrant community, including Carloss parents. In 2018, undocumented immigrants in Connecticut contributed an estimated $197 million in state and local taxes. This would cover the estimated $195 million annual cost of expanding HUSKY.

My heart breaks for Carlos. His life is forever changed by a condition that could have been prevented by regular check-ups with a pediatrician. Lets work together to bring SB 956 to a vote and pass this bill before the CT General Assembly adjourns on June 9.

What can you do to help? Please write to your state senator and your state representative today. Ask them to vote yeson SB 956. Every Carlos in Connecticut deserves a happy, healthy future.

Dr. Kristin Reese is a pediatrician in New Haven.

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Opinion Access to health care for undocumented people is both right and smart - The CT Mirror

Illustration: Sameer Pawar

What if this pandemic never goes away? I ask a computer screen dotted with pixels somewhat resembling managers and doctors from across our network of hospitals. No response. Nine months into this pandemic and our videoconferencing skills were abortive at best.

What if the world never goes back to normal, and this is what our future looks like? I could sense the mood in the room shift a little, but still no response. I check the audio settings and curse the UX choices of the developers behind our videoconferencing app.

How will our business thrive in a world permanently scarred by Covid-19? I ask as loud as is possible in a professional setting.

The session did not go the way I had hoped it would. Everyone I spoke with maintained that the pandemic was almost over, and that business will get back to normal. I found this hard to believe. This rogue strand of RNA had already humbled the smartest people to ever face a television camera and brought the world economy to its knees. If there is a simple narrative, it would be that the coronavirus controls the world, and we need to do its bidding. The more nuanced narrative is that we will never wake up to a pre-Covid world, and we need to adapt our business to succeed in a new world order dominated by uncertainty. I was hoping we would come up with a better solution than copy-pasting the 2019 business plan for 2021 and hoping for the best.

Nobody knows for certain what this new world looks like, nor do they know how to succeed in that new world. But people like me are paid by their investors to predict the future and we need to have bold and confident strategies like The Future is Digital or We will SaaS our Blockchain on an Electric Cloud. There is footage of me telling news channels quite confidently that masks are not necessary, the coronavirus will be contained to East Asia, and lockdowns will flatten the curve, so my credibility as a Covid expert is quite low. But I have a library full of books which use the words disruptive innovation a lot, so I know exactly what companies that are nothing like mine did 30 years ago to survive in a country with a high ease-of-doing-business score. With the spirits of Harvard strategy professors whispering in my ear, my predictions for Indias future are: 1) Businesses will get disrupted; 2) People will still need health care; and 3) Magazine editors will still want Future of X articles from business leaders.

India has highly skilled doctors, but the pace of their emigration is likely to skyrocket after the pandemic as the West faces a shortage of staffImage: Amarjeet Kumar Singh / Sopa Images / Light Rocket via Getty Images

There are enough beneficiaries of todays technology industry singing paeans to the benefits of technological innovation, but none from the past. I have sourced some of my favourite historical quotes on the topic: Why is that hairless ape carrying a stick twice his size? Last thoughts of the first woolly mammoth to meet the pointy end of a spear.

These printed Bibles sure seem to be getting popular. Should we ban them? Pope Leo X, right before the Protestant Reformation.

What do you mean the ghost people are carrying metal tubes that spit lightning and thunder? Montezuma, last Emperor of the Aztecs.

As history shows us, time and time again, the benefits of disruption usually accrue to the ones doing the disrupting. We do not know what kind of disruption the health care industry will see, but we know that when books are written about us decades from now, we will belong to the Can you believe they used to do this? chapter.

The next decade will see an explosion of software that will help doctors make better clinical decisions

Health care is still very hospital-centric and hospitals are the most expensive places to deliver health care because they have to account for every minor contingency. A hospital in India and a hospital in Germany are made of 90 percent similar components, even though their patients come from two completely different worlds. The cost of delivering health care has increased dramatically, led by higher input costs for drugs and consumables, followed by higher salaries to doctors and nurses working in a riskier clinical environment.

As Indian hospitals become even more specialised, they are leaving poor patients with regular ailments further and further behind. To make things worse, the spend on public health care is not growing as fast as the disease burden. This will keep increasing the quality gap between health care delivered in public hospitals versus private hospitals, which in turn will push the out-of-pocket health care spend, already among the highest in the world, even higher.

Narayana Healths mission is to make high quality health care accessible to everyone. We made a name for ourselves by becoming a focus factory for low-cost surgical procedures and driving down costs through process innovation. We have now reached the limit of how low we can safely drive down costs and every incremental improvement we have rolled out has faced diminishing returns. The flaw lies in the current model of delivering health care, which Dr Robbie Pearl from Kaiser Permanente instead calls delivering sick care. Hospitals focus on delivering surgeries, medicines and procedures to patients in the most efficient way possible. But what if that is the wrong model? What if instead of lowering the cost of a medical procedure, we focus on preventing that procedure from having to take place?

Narayana Health has always looked up to health systems like Kaiser Permanente that manage the entire spectrum of care for their patient members. We believe that a fully integrated health care system that incorporates preventative medicine, primary, secondary and tertiary care in a coordinated manner is more relevant to developing countries like India with a younger and poorer population. This is the only way to ensure that hospitals are completely aligned with a patients long-term incentive to live a healthy life. Narayana Health has begun the process of becoming a fully integrated health care provider and we will know over the next 10 years whether this was the right call.

Digital technology has wreaked havoc across massive industries like transportation, hospitality, food, media, retail and finance, and transformed those industries into something my grandfather would scarcely recognise. There is nothing to suggest that the health care industry will be immune to disruptive innovation coming from non-traditional health care companies catering to the aspirations of a digital-native customer base. There are several billion-dollar health care startups that are bypassing hospitals and offering primary care directly to patients. The largest technology companies in the world have expressed an interest in building a health care vertical and are partnering with health care providers to build solutions that bend the cost/quality curve.

Tech companies need large amounts of patient data and clinical insight to build technology solutions that can automate medical decision-making. The next decade will see an explosion of software that will help doctors make better clinical decisions or empower patients to take care of their own health. It will be interesting to see if tech companies continue working with hospitals once they realise they can sell their products directly to patients or doctors and cut out the intermediary. They do make lovely presentations about being together forever, but we have built a large software development arm of our own. Just in case.

The medical field has benefited immensely from scientific progress and cutting-edge technology that has made it possible to cure diseases that were previously thought incurable. Technologies like CRISPR have the potential to eliminate certain types of cancers and genetic disease. Newer classes of drugs and medical implants can extend the average persons lifespan. None of these were developed in India, and we are completely reliant on universities or companies from the developed world for cutting-edge innovation. Despite our size, we do not have enough specialists available for treating complex diseases and recording their results in a searchable electronic format. The few specialists who are available are too busy treating patients to spend any time doing unremunerated clinical research.India will need to rapidly scale up the medical education and health care infrastructure to 10 times the present size, to have the critical mass of health care professionals required for innovation to flourish. Clinical research is one field that India can dominate because we have the most critical raw ingredientmillions and millions of sick people. Over the coming years, most major Indian hospitals will run large clinical research divisions in partnership with multinational drug companies or foreign universities.

The future holds great promise, but there are several worrying signals for Indian health care in the near term. Our public finances are stretched thin, and the government will be severely constrained in its ability to ramp up health care spending to fund a national procedure reimbursement scheme and a national Covid vaccination programme at the same time. Procedure reimbursements from government programmes have not changed in over seven years, and most hospitals have huge accounts receivable from government payors. Private equity investment into new hospitals has stopped as the ten-year return on capital is less than the cost of capital for greenfield projects. Most of the investment coming into the Indian hospital sector is being used to fund M&A deals, not add more beds.

The part that worries me most is the growing shortage of skilled manpower. The pace of emigration of Indian doctors and nurses will skyrocket after the pandemic as health care systems in the West face staffing shortages from early retirements of their stressed-out health care workers. Medicine is not a preferred option for students from developed countries, and their governments will relax the visa requirements to encourage a large number of skilled doctors and nurses from Asia to fill the gap. India has some of the most highly skilled doctors in the world working in an environment that does not always value their output. Relatively few doctors who graduate become specialists and earn enough to live in a nice neighbourhood, drive a nice car and put their kids in a good school. Those who dont get into artificially scarce postgraduate training programmes will get disheartened and start looking abroad.

History is littered with examples of pandemics reshaping society. The Justinian plagues split the Roman empire and ended the Mediterranean dominance of Europe. The Black Death tilted the feudal compact in favour of the peasants. The Spanish flu spurred the creation of national health care systems and influences hospital design up to the present day. The Covid pandemic has laid bare the fragility of our health care systems and been an equal-opportunity destroyer of rich and poor lives across the country. Through the darkest days of this pandemic, I console myself with the hope that millions of people who have lost someone to Covid are going to find their voice. They will rise up to the people in power and say, Never again. They will demand a better system that provides health care for everyone, because until all of us are safe, none of us are safe.

The writer is executive director and group COO, Narayana Health

(This story appears in the 21 May, 2021 issue of Forbes India. You can buy our tablet version from Magzter.com. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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Future Of HealthcareFocus Should Be On Preventative And Holistic Care For All: Viren Shetty - Forbes India

An Ohio bill that expands an athletic trainers ability to help athletes received unanimous support last week as its the first update regulating athletic trainers in three decades, the Journal-News reports.

House Bill 176 would allow licensed athletic trainers the option to enter into a collaboration agreement with a physician or podiatrist to allow that athletic trainer to perform additional services and activities. The bill is jointly sponsored by Reps. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., and Rick Carfagna, R-Genoa Twp., and received 95 votes in support on May 5.

Hall said the bill modernizes the practice act for Ohios athletic trainers in order to better reflect current practice and changes in athletic training education and training.

Carfagna said what athletic trainers are learning now does not match up with what they are permitted to do in the real world.

As we explore ways to stabilize healthcare costs and identify effective pain management techniques, particularly in response to the opioid crisis, expanding access to the expertise provided by athletic trainers will help to keep Ohioans of all ages and abilities healthy and active, he said.

The state has more than 2,300 licensed athletic trainers, and Hall said we should be able to fully utilize athletic trainers and their modern-day skills. Licensed athletic trainers can provide physical medicine and rehabilitation healthcare and partner with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.

The bill also makes changes governing the practice of athletic training, including allowing for referrals to athletic training from additional practitioners.

The collaboration agreement between athletic trainers and physicians provides team-based care that is far stronger than any individualized care, said Dr. Benjamin Bring, who is the medical director for the OhioHealth Capital City Half and Quarter Marathon, among other roles. Our goal is to supplement the care we are providing, and we are not replacing physicians. The medical team in sports medicine is always stronger when athletic trainers are involved.

He said the Capital City Half Marathon, which attracts more than 14,000 runners, has a medical team of 70 to 80 healthcare personnel. More than half, he said, are athletic trainers because of their abilities and training with multiple medical issues including heatstroke and hyperthermia, cardiac arrest and CPR, exertional associated collapse, and many other first aid skillsets.

House Bill 176 was introduced into the Ohio Senate on Thursday and has not yet been assigned a committee.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.

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Ohio bill could expand athletic trainer impact on treating injuries - WCPO

Good self-advocacy in medical settings requires a complicated balance of confidence and humility.

Can I be honest with you? I dont always like my doctors.

It can be difficult to admit that.

The white lab coat, the bright office full of expensive equipment, and the many, many years of schooling to earn a prestigious degree all loom in my mind when I meet a new doctor.

I see these people through the aura of authority that they cultivated over years of education and practice. Even if I feel uncomfortable with my treatment, it can be hard to give myself permission to look past that glow.

Combine this with whatever powerful emotions I might have about my appointment anxiety, fear, hopefulness and I can become disoriented. I often feel small and uncertain about what I need or want in relation to the health concerns that brought me in.

To be fair, its not just the doctors. I also dont always like my treatments.

Have you ever been prescribed a medication, maybe for pain management or to control symptoms, that you felt ambivalent about?

Maybe youre concerned about possible side effects. Maybe you heard of another option, but its not available because your insurance wont cover it.

Or how about undergoing a new procedure? In non-emergency situations, for exploratory, preventative, or treatment reasons, the choice to put on the hospital gown can be a hard one, even if you know its for your long-term benefit.

Healthcare choices often involve trade-offs. There are risks, benefits, potential side effects, and alternative care options to consider.

Ideally, your doctor should be a compassionate and knowledgeable guide through these tough decisions. Many are. But others dont always have the time or training to do this in the best way possible.

Whats more: At a personal level, we might not always connect well with our doctors. This isnt necessarily their fault. Underneath all that glow, theyre human, too.

Its not wrong to see your doctors as authorities. Theyve earned their credentials through years of study that you and I havent necessarily done, and theyve devoted their lives to caring for others.

We come to them for their vast knowledge in medicine and physiology.

Still, as patients, we have our own forms of knowledge and authority that are grounded in the lived experience of our bodies, our histories, and our hopes for the future.

We know best what pain we feel, what suffering weve lived with, and what we want or can tolerate for our futures.

Chronic pain and illness will undoubtedly change things in ways that are out of our control, but we can still have some decisive power in our health choices.

Sometimes, we have to advocate for ourselves to be able to access that power.

For me, I find that good self-advocacy in medical settings requires a complicated balance of confidence and humility: the confidence to understand and embrace the health choices I make and the humility to realize that Im not an expert in modern medicine even if Im an expert in my own needs.

It doesnt always go like this, but, in the best of scenarios, I want to:

Here are four tips Ive learned that may help you feel more empowered in the process.

This is definitely a knowledge is power situation.

Improve your understanding of your condition and the available treatments by consulting reliable sources.

Websites like Healthline are a great place to start, but also try looking for organizations and resources that are nationally funded or tied to reputable research institutions.

Use this information to ask questions and make strong choices.

Your relationship with your doctor should be collaborative, rather than hierarchical.

To be part of this shared-decision making, seek out doctors who will, within reason and the time constraints of their practice, engage your questions and your right to self-determination.

This is especially important, and often especially challenging, for patients who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) with histories of oppression and marginalization in their communities.

Research has shown that racial and ethnic disparities between patient and physician can affect quality of communication, with some evidence that unconscious bias on the part of the physician may be a contributing factor.

Medical and communications research has proposed ways that professionals can overcome this gap through good communication practices that focus on patient empowerment.

Medical concerns are scary. Chronic pain and chronic illness are anxiety provoking and distracting. Theres no way around that.

This can make it hard to focus and make clear decisions in medical settings.

That may be particularly true if youre a person living with a history of trauma or experiences of marginalization by authority figures.

Your discomfort here is like an alarm bell, letting you know you could be in danger. These fears may be realistic or unrealistic, but theyll make it difficult to be present either way.

Partners, friends, and family members can often help you process and untangle your fears and anxieties.

Sometimes, it may feel like youre leaning too hard on your loved ones or that they arent able to support you in the way you need. In this case, support groups, online communities, or even acquaintances or co-workers with similar experiences can be your most trusted allies.

A good therapist can also help.

While youre the authority on your own experiences and feelings, sometimes these can be misleading.

To help balance your feelings with your physical reality, find a way to keep track of your symptoms and interventions in real time by using a measurement thats as objective as you can achieve.

Memory can be tricky, and our emotions can have a big impact on how we experience our symptoms.

For chronic pain, try building a daily log that charts your pain morning, afternoon, and evening on a scale of 1 to 10. List any new treatments or other interventions you tried that day.

Even if you have trouble with this in the moment, looking back at your log can help you judge whether that new regimen of medication, morning yoga, or turmeric tea had any impact over the course of the week.

Health choices usually involve trade-offs, but we can participate fully in the choices we make. Dont be afraid to ask questions and make your own decisions.

Michael Waldon, LMSW is a psychotherapist, writer, and clinical social worker based in New York and California. He is trained in relational, psychodynamic, and somatic psychotherapies. Michael provides individual therapy to clients based in New York and coaching services to clients all over the United States. You can learn more through his website or at Tapestry Psychotherapy, where he maintains a practice specializing in anti-oppressive and integrative approaches to the treatment of trauma.

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How to Advocate for Yourself When You're Living with a Chronic Illness - Healthline

(CBS) Mothers Day brings families together, but for those serving in the military overseas it is another holiday apart. One way families try to stay in touch is by recording Mothers Day greetings, which mean a lot to Spc. Samantha Cordova.

Cordova is from Denver, about 7,000 miles away from where she currently serves in the Army in Kuwait. She was deployed over a year ago and has found several ways to stay in touch with her mom.

Weve been able to write letters and call each other on the phone and you have FaceTime calls as well. So, thank God there is some technology there so you can still communicate with each other, Cordova said.

When Cordova joined the military, she was 23 and her mom was the first person she told of her decision to serve her country.

Her response actually shocked me because she said, This is who you were meant to be. This is what you were meant to do, Cordova said.

Filled with encouragement, Cordova decided to see a career as a preventative medicine specialist helping to protect soldiers from any disease, illness or injuries on the base. The hard work is not only gratifying, but it has also grown the bond between mother and daughter.

She was very resilient throughout her entire career. I look up to her and I hope, if I ever become a mother, to be just as strong as she is one day, she said.

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Denver Native Serving In The Military Finds Ways To Preserve Mother-Daughter Bond - CBS Denver

By researcher Naledi Mashishi

Countries around the world have been racing to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19. South Africas programme started on 17 February 2021. By 10 May, it had vaccinated 395,230 people or 0.7% of its population.

But in April, South Africa suspended the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This was due to a joint advisory by the US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control that detailed six cases of blood clotting in women who had received the vaccine.

In response, South African political party the Economic Freedom Fighters issued a statement calling for the government to look at alternatives.

We urge the South African government to consider the Russian and Chinese vaccines, which up to this point, have proven to be of better efficacy than Euro-American vaccines, the statement ended.

Was the party right? We checked.

VACCINES TRAIN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

A vaccine is a type of preventative medicine that trains the immune system to create antibodies in order to build resistance to specific infections. Most are administered through injection.

Companies that have produced vaccines in Europe and America include: Moderna (US), Pfizer-BioNTech (Germany), AstraZeneca (UK), Johnson & Johnson (US) and Novavax (US).

Companies that have produced vaccines in China and Russia include: Sinopharm (China), Sinovax (China) and Gamaleya (Russia).

MINIMUM 50% EFFICACY REQUIRED

For a vaccine to be approved in South Africa, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority requires the efficacy to be at least 50%. This is in line with global health standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr Lee Hampton, a paediatrician and medical epidemiologist with the Vaccine Alliance, said in an interview with the WHO that vaccine efficacy referred to a vaccines protection against a disease/pathogen in a vaccine trial.

If a vaccine has, for example, 70% efficacy, it means a person vaccinated in a clinical trial is around two-thirds less likely to develop the disease than someone in the trial who didnt get the vaccine.

GERMAN AND US MRNA VACCINES SHOW HIGHEST EFFICACY

Professor Salim Abdool Karim is the director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa) and has recently been appointed to the WHOs Science Council.

He told Africa Check that the vaccines with the highest efficacy were the two mRNA vaccines: Germanys Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna from the US. (Note: mRNA vaccines fight diseases by teaching the immune system how to respond to viruses and bacteria. Watch this video to learn more.)

A US trial published on 1 April 2021 found that Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine had shown 91.3% efficacy against COVID and 95.3% to 100% efficacy against severe disease, depending on the definition used. An Israeli trial published in the Lancet on 5 May 2021 found that the vaccine had shown 95.3% efficacy against COVID-19 infection and 97.5% efficacy against severe COVID.

Modernas vaccine has shown 94.1% efficacy at preventing COVID-19 illness and 100% efficacy against severe COVID.

There are no other COVID-19 vaccines that compare with these two vaccines. All other vaccines, including those developed in Russia and China, have lower levels of efficacy for any symptomatic infections, Karim said.

Russias Sputnik V vaccine has shown 91.6% efficacy against COVID-19 and 100% efficacy against moderate or severe COVID-19.

Chinas Bio-New Crown Vaccine by Sinopharm has shown 79.3% efficacy against COVID-19 and 100% efficacy against moderate and severe COVID-19. (Note: This study has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.)

CoronaVac by Sinovac has shown 67% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19, 85% efficacy against hospitalisations and 80% efficacy against death. (Note: These results are from a Chilean study that has not been peer reviewed.)

NO NEED TO COMPARE VACCINES

Despite the differences in efficacy, medical experts and researchers caution against comparing the vaccines. This is because, according to Hampton, the efficacy data is not designed to be compared.

Clinical trials are set up differently and measure different things. All clinical trials provide rigorous data, but it makes it much harder to do direct comparisons between vaccines, he explained.

For this youd need a head-to-head trial, with the same protocol for all the vaccines, delivered and tracked in the same way.

A number of variables can influence the results, including what is considered a COVID-19 case, the study population and statistical methods for efficacy.

Hampton said available data showed that all the vaccines offered better protection against severe illness than symptomatic illness. Given the risks of COVID, he said, he would still advise patients to take vaccines with slightly lower efficacies.

Karim added that there was no need to compare the vaccines.

The level of difference is not really meaningful as these are all highly efficacious, he said. There is no need to compare the Russian and Chinese vaccines to other vaccines as their efficacy data speak for themselves that the vaccines from these two countries are very good vaccines.

SOUTH AFRICAS VARIANT COMPLICATES DATA

Comparisons of vaccine efficacy are further complicated by the 501Y.V2 variant of COVID-19 discovered in South Africa in December 2020.

Professor Hassan Mahomed, a public medicine specialist at the Stellenbosch University Division of Health Systems and Public Health and at the Western Cape provincial department of health, said more research was required to understand the vaccines efficacy in a local setting.

At this stage, few vaccines have released data about their efficacy against the 501Y.V2 variant. Pfizer reported that a small study of 800 people showed that their vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 cases in South Africa''.

In peer reviewed published data, the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine showed 64% overall efficacy and 82% efficacy against severe disease in South Africa.

Moderna is currently undertaking trials with the South African variant, following early results that suggested it might not be as effective.

There is currently no data on Sputnik or Sinopharms efficacy against the 501Y.V2 variant.

We dont have any data so far about whether [Sputnik] is effective against the variant present here, Mahomed said. It wasnt tested in South Africa at all.

Sinovac has reported that their vaccine remained effective against the 501Y.V2 variant.

CONCLUSION

South Africas Economic Freedom Fighters political party recently claimed that COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China have better efficacy than Euro-American vaccines.

But trials show that the mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna in the United States has higher efficacy than Russian and Chinese vaccines.

But experts say the efficacy of different vaccines should not be compared because their trials were designed differently. The vaccines also need to be tested against the 501Y.V2 variant that has become dominant in South Africa to ensure that they are still effective.

We rate the claim as unproven.

This article appeared on AfricaCheck.org, a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and the media. Follow them on Twitter: @AfricaCheck

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Interim analysis from the ongoing, open-label, randomized acute viral pneumonia (including COVID-19) pilot study shows 150 ppm nitric oxide (NO) administered with LungFit PRO is well-tolerated with no treatment-related adverse events, and demonstrates encouraging efficacy signals

Further analysis of 3 previously reported pilot studies in bronchiolitis at 150-160 ppm NO demonstrates a favorable safety profile and consistent efficacy across multiple endpoints

Entirety of data at 150-160 ppm NO in both adult and infant patient populations supports further development of LungFit PRO in patients hospitalized with viral pneumonia

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond Air, Inc. (NASDAQ: XAIR), a clinical-stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company focused on developing inhaled nitric oxide (NO) for the treatment of patients with respiratory conditions, including serious lung infections and pulmonary hypertension, and gaseous NO (gNO) for the treatment of solid tumors, today announced the presentation of data at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference 2021, which is being held virtually from May 14 May 19. The data from both LungFit PRO programs, acute viral pneumonia (including COVID-19) and bronchiolitis, show a favorable safety profile and encouraging efficacy trends using high concentration inhaled NO for the treatment of acute viral lung infections in hospitalized patients.

We have now demonstrated a consistently favorable safety profile at high concentrations of nitric oxide in both adult and infant populations with acute viral lung infections, said Steve Lisi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Air. The new data from the acute viral pneumonia pilot trial in adults, taken together with our three previously completed pilot clinical trials in bronchiolitis, enable Beyond Air to prepare for a pivotal study for high concentration NO in a viral indication.

The interim analysis of patients in the acute viral pneumonia (including COVID-19) pilot study shows a favorable safety profile and encouraging efficacy signals in this adult patient population treated with 150 ppm NO generated and delivered by LungFit PRO, commented Andrew Colin, M.D., Batchelor Family Professor of Cystic Fibrosis and Pediatric Pulmonology Director, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. Given these current data, I believe the results support the continued development of high concentration inhaled NO that can be delivered with ease by LungFit for the treatment of viral pneumonia including COVID-19. LungFit PRO is a revolutionary device that can allow for the treatment of this diverse patient population on a large scale.

Summary of Interim Results of Acute Viral Pneumonia (including COVID-19) Pilot Trial

The ongoing acute viral pneumonia pilot study is a multi-center, open-label, randomized clinical trial in Israel with an emphasis on enrolling patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Patients are randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive inhalations of 150 ppm NO given intermittently for 40 minutes four times per day for up to seven days in addition to standard supportive treatment (NO + SST) or standard supportive treatment alone (SST, control group). At the time of the cut off for these data, a total of 23 COVID-19 subjects were enrolled. The intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis population included 19 patients (9 NO + SST vs 10 SST).

Safety and Tolerability

Effect on Duration of Hospital Stay Intent to Treat Population

Intent to Treat Population with Exclusion of Extreme Values*

*2 subjects discharged from hospital within 6 hours of study enrollment were excluded from analysis.

Effect on Oxygen Support Requirements

Additional detailed study results will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming scientific meeting.

Summary of Analysis of 3 Completed Bronchiolitis Pilot Trials

To date, over 90 patients hospitalized with a viral lung infection have received 150-160 ppm inhaled NO, dosed intermittently, without any reported treatment-related serious adverse events, said Asher Tal, M.D. Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics, Soroka University Medical Center; Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Overall, the data show that 150 ppm NO given intermittently via inhalation is effective in the treatment of patients with bronchiolitis, while data at the lower concentration of 85 ppm show no benefits. I look forward to further development of the program using a minimum concentration of 150 ppm NO, noting that a reduction in time spent in the hospital by these patients would be clinically meaningful.

Beyond Air has assessed inhaled NO in three pilot clinical trials in bronchiolitis. 198 infants (43% females; 57% males) participated across the three programs, with a mean age of 3.9 months (range 0.3 11.9 months). Inhaled NO treatments were given intermittently for 30 to 40 minute durations, from 4 to 5 times daily for up to 5 days. Data from patients in the SST group were pooled across the 3 studies for safety analysis.

Studies Included in the Analysis

Safety and Tolerability

Efficacy Conclusions

*Met statistical significance (p

About Beyond Air, Inc.Beyond Air, Inc. is a clinical-stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company developing a revolutionary NO Generator and Delivery System, LungFit, that uses NO generated from ambient air to deliver precise amounts of NO to the lungs for the potential treatment of a variety of pulmonary diseases. LungFit can generate up to 400 ppm of NO, for delivery either continuously or for a fixed amount of time and has the ability to either titrate dose on demand or maintain a constant dose. The Company is currently applying its therapeutic expertise to develop treatments for pulmonary hypertension in various settings, in addition to treatments for respiratory tract infections that are not effectively addressed with current standards of care. Beyond Air is currently advancing its revolutionary LungFit for clinical trials for the treatment of severe lung infections such as SARS-CoV-2 and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Additionally, Beyond Air is using ultra-high concentrations of NO with a proprietary delivery system to target certain solid tumors in the pre-clinical setting. For more information, visit http://www.beyondair.net.

About Nitric Oxide (NO)Nitric Oxide (NO) is a powerful molecule, naturally synthesized in the human body, proven to play a critical role in a broad array of biological functions. In the airways, NO targets the vascular smooth muscle cells that surround the small resistance arteries in the lungs. Currently, exogenous inhaled NO is used in adult respiratory distress syndrome, post certain cardiac surgeries and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn to treat hypoxemia. Additionally, NO is believed to play a key role in the innate immune system and in vitro studies suggest that NO possesses anti-microbial activity not only against common bacteria, including both gram-positive and gram-negative, but also against other diverse pathogens, including mycobacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast and parasites, and has the potential to eliminate multi-drug resistant strains.

About LungFit*Beyond Airs LungFit is a cylinder-free, phasic flow nitric oxide generator and delivery system and has been designated as a medical device by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ventilator compatible version of the device can generate NO from ambient air on demand for delivery to the lungs at concentrations ranging from 1 part per million (ppm) to 80 ppm. LungFit system could potentially replace large, high-pressure NO cylinders providing significant advantages in the hospital setting, including greatly reducing inventory and storage requirements, improving overall safety with the elimination of NO2 purging steps, and other benefits. LungFit can also deliver NO at concentrations at or above 80 ppm for potentially treating severe acute lung infections in the hospital setting (e.g. COVID-19, bronchiolitis) and chronic, refractory lung infections in the home setting (e.g. NTM). With the elimination of cylinders, Beyond Air intends to offer NO treatment in the home setting.

* Beyond Airs LungFit is not approved for commercial use. Beyond Airs LungFit is for investigational use only. Beyond Air is not suggesting NO use over 80 ppm or use at home.

About BronchiolitisThe majority of hospital admissions of infants with bronchiolitis are caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is a common and highly transmissible virus that infects the respiratory tract of most children before their second birthday. While most infants with RSV present with minor respiratory symptoms, a small percentage develop serious lower airway infections, termed bronchiolitis, which can become life-threatening. The absence of treatment options for bronchiolitis limits the care of these sick infants to largely supportive measures. Beyond Airs system is designed to effectively deliver 150 - 400 ppm NO, for which preliminary studies indicate may eliminate bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes from the lungs.

About Acute Viral PneumoniaIn adults, viruses have been identified as the causative agents in approximately 100 million cases of community-acquired pneumonia per year. While viral pneumonia in adults is most commonly caused by rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza virus, newly emerging viruses (including SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, avian influenza A, and H1N1 viruses) have been identified as pathogens contributing to the overall burden of adult viral pneumonia. Patients aged 65 years or older are at particular risk for death from the disease, as are patients with other underlying health conditions or weakened immune systems. There is no consensus regarding the use of antiviral drugs to treat viral pneumonia, and specific preventative measures are currently limited to the influenza vaccine. Given that current treatment recommendations are largely limited to supportive care, there is an unmet medical need for effective treatment options.

About COVID-19COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 first emerged in December of 2019. Those affected develop fever, cough, shortness of breath and/or difficulty breathing. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some can progress to pneumonia and multi-organ failure. Older adults and people who have serious chronic medical conditions are at an increased risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19. There is no specific treatment approved for COVID-19 and patients are managed with supportive care. NO may prove to be a treatment as the impact on the lung should result in bronchodilation, reduction in inflammation and inhibition of the viral replication process1,2,3. As of May 12, 2021 more than 160 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 3.3 million deaths have been reported globally.

[1] Tripathi et al, FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology, December 2017[2] Saura, M., et al., An antiviral mechanism of nitric oxide: inhibition of a viral protease. Immunity, 1999. 10(1): p. 21-8.[3] Akerstrm S et al. Nitric oxide inhibits the replication cycle of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. J Virol. 2005; 79(3):1966-9.

Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements concerning inhaled nitric-oxide and the Companys LungFit product, including statements with regard to potential regulatory developments, the potential impact on patients and anticipated benefits associated with its use. Forward-looking statements include statements about our expectations, beliefs, or intentions regarding our product offerings, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects. You can identify such forward-looking statements by the words anticipates, expects, intends, impacts, plans, projects, believes, estimates, likely, goal, assumes, targets and similar expressions and/or the use of future tense or conditional constructions (such as will, may, could, should and the like) and by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and reflect our views as of the date they are made with respect to future events and financial performance. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements, including risks related to: our approach to discover and develop novel drugs, which is unproven and may never lead to efficacious or marketable products; our ability to fund and the results of further pre-clinical and clinical trials; obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property utilized by our products; our ability to enforce our patents against infringers and to defend our patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; our ability to obtain additional funding to support our business activities; our dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales, and distribution of products; the successful development of our product candidates, all of which are in early stages of development; obtaining regulatory approval for products; competition from others using technology similar to ours and others developing products for similar uses; our dependence on collaborators; our short operating history and other risks identified and described in more detail in the Risk Factors section of the Companys most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC, all of which are available on our website. We undertake no obligation to update, and we do not have a policy of updating or revising, these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

CONTACTS:Steven Lisi, Chief Executive Officer Beyond Air, Inc. Slisi@beyondair.net

Maria Yonkoski, Head of Investor RelationsBeyond Air, Inc.Myonkoski@beyondair.net

Corey Davis, Ph.D.LifeSci Advisors, LLCCdavis@lifesciadvisors.com (212) 915-2577

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Beyond Air Presents Data in Hospitalized Patients with Viral Lung Infections (including COVID-19) from LungFit PRO Programs at ATS 2021 -...

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Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD is a neurologist and the co-director of the Alzheimers Prevention Program at Loma Linda University Our brain is the most active organ in our body, consuming 25 per cent of our energy and at times up to 50 per cent of our oxygen, even while we sleep. A balanced diet is crucial for helping it function at its highest capacity, yet all too often brain health is overlooked. So with the help of my wife Ayesha, who studied preventative medicine and neurology, I have devised a diet plan to boost our brain health: The 30-Day Alzheimers Solution: The Definitive Food and Lifestyle Guide to Preventing Cognitive Decline. Alzheimers and dementia are typically problems that are addressed later in life, but the plan is targeted at people of all ages as it is never too early to start feeding your brain: even our children, who are 14 and 16, follow this diet. We dont fall into any one diet plan, as they can all have unhealthy elements. We advocate for a clean, plant-based approach to eating focused around the nine NEURO points: nutrition, exercise, unwind, restore and optimize. The plan also aims to encourage positive habits, such as getting a good nights sleep and eating without your phone. An example of this would be: Nutrition: I will eat three servings of kale per week. Exercise: I will walk briskly for 15 minutes a day, five days a week. Unwind: I will meditate for 10 minutes every day. Restore: I will turn off all device screens an hour before I go to bed every night to help me have a night of restorative sleep. Optimise: I will practice piano three times a week. We chose to keep the plan to 30 days because, based on our experience, that is long enough to create a core set of habits that will last. My wife and I have devoted our careers to exploring the prevention of Alzheimers and other neurodegenerative diseases. What we have discovered is that food is inextricably linked to brain health. Thousands of years ago, the goal was only to live for as long as it took to find a mate, which drove us to seek out sugar and high energy foods. To put it simply, life was about surviving, not thriving. But now, the aim is to cheat that system and live long and healthy lives. If we continue to eat sugars and processed carbohydrates to excess, as is common in Western diets, it can damage your brain. This is partly down to the role of insulin: if you eat too much sugar, the cells become overwhelmed, leading to insulin resistance and diabetes. Diets that are high in saturated fat cause long-term damage to our cells, including oxidation, while too much salt can impair blood pressure and damage the blood vessels leading to the brain. We chose to avoid fish for environmental reasons and concerns about mercury and lead. Instead, our plan incorporates omega-3 into peoples diets through walnuts and supplements. The beauty of the brain is that it can thrive when it is fed with the right foods. These are the neuro nine, which should be eaten every day. 1. Green leafy vegetables This includes dark green leafy vegetables like kale, watercress, Swiss chard, collard greens, arugula and spinach. These contain no saturated fats and help to keep you feeling full; consequently youre less likely to reach for unhealthy foods. They dont release sugar or glucose in excess, so they are the best thing for diabetes, pre-diabetes and glucose metabolism. Aim for: three cups raw or 1.5 cups cooked. 2. Whole grains Such as oats, quinoa, brown rice, farro and buckwheat. The fibre component is crucial, because it is broken down into these short fatty acids that affect the blood/brain barrier. Aim for: three servings ( cup cooked oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, or 100 per cent whole-wheat pasta is 1 serving). 3. Seeds Especially ground flaxseeds and chia seeds. They have a ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids of 34 to 1, making them a powerful brain health food. DHA is the omega-3 that is good for the brain; usually it comes from the algae which fish eat. Flaxseeds also contain lignans, which have antioxidant properties and fight degenerative changes in the body and brain. Aim for: two tablespoons (two servings) 4. Beans and legumes You should aim for a diet that is rich with chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, lentils, edamame, giant beans, tempeh, tofu. Beans contain resistant starches, fiber, plant proteins, anti-oxidants, phytonutrients and iron. They lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and have also been shown to reduce the risk of stroke. Aim for: three servings of 12 cup cooked beans or tofu/tempeh, 14 cup hummus, or 12 cup peas 5. Berries Such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries. Blueberries contain anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Anthocyanins have also been linked with increased neuronal signaling in areas of the brain that are responsible for memory function, and they improve the delivery of glucose to the brain. Aim for: 12 cup (one serving) 6. Nuts Including walnuts, almonds and cashews. Alongside seeds, these are a source of healthy fat. Walnuts are the stand-out choice when it comes to brain health: they have relatively high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in the form of ALA as well as fibres and minerals. Walnuts also have the highest antioxidants among all nuts; however, nuts are high in calories so it is important to consume them in moderation. Aim for: 14 cup (one serving) 7. Crucifiers Such as broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. These also have important anti-inflammatories called Sulforaphane, that can access the blood-brain barrier and actually reverse damage caused by free radicals and even normal aging. Aim for: one cup (two servings) 8. Tea Green, white, black, or Oolong tea. Green tea contains catechin, a polyphenol that activates toxin-clearing enzymes. This makes it a great anti-inflammatory. Recent research shows that consuming 1 to 2 cups of green tea a day lowers your risk of Alzheimers and stroke due to the compound EGCC. Aim for: At least one cup daily 9. Herbs and spices Especially turmeric, but also sumac, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, cloves, Indian gooseberry, and saffron. We mainly use these in the plan as a replacement for salt, because of the flavour they bring. However, they are also an easy way of adding more anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds to your diet. Aim for: At least 14 teaspoon daily The 30-Day Alzheimer's Solution: Definitive Food and Lifestyle Guide to Preventing Cognitive Decline by Dean Sherzai and Ayesha Sherzai is out now (HarperOne) As told to Alice Hall

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Genome sequencing the ability to sequence an individual's DNA is becoming a standard tool to study diseases. In 2019, over 26 million people took direct-to-consumer DNA tests, which speaks to our collective desire to better understand our genomes.

In July 2013, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics issued a recommendation that people who have their genomes sequenced in a clinical setting should also have their genomic data screened for variants in 56 genes that can pose health risks. The genes (which includes the RET gene) are associated with increased risks for several life-threatening, but treatable or preventable diseases. The number of genes included in the list increased to 59 in 2016, and clinicians expect that the list will be updated again soon.

When a person comes into the clinic to be tested for a specific condition, any positive result related to that condition is called a primary finding. But when testing reveals information separate from the original condition, it is called a secondary finding. An estimated 1-4% of people receive unexpected health results from genomic tests each year.

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Animation of a clinician explaining primary and secondary findings. Credit: Harry Wedel, NHGRI.

Secondary findings are not unique to clinical genomics. People can also receive secondary findings from MRI, radiology and other medical tests.

In the case of genome sequencing, examples of secondary findings can include those related to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer risk, and conditions such as inherited heart rhythm problems. Clinicians share such secondary findings with a person only if the person consents to receiving such information.

Secondary findings are now a component of precision medicine, relying on individual and collective genomic data to make assessments about a persons health risks. Clinicians can obtain highly accurate findings because of the vast amount of available genome sequence data. Researchers can search this data to improve genomic testing and how they detect people who are at risk of harboring disease-related variants. Specifically, secondary findings provide individuals and families the opportunity to learn about their health risks before they develop a disease.

In 2019, researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) started the Genomic Services Research Program, part of what is now NHGRI's Center for Precision Health Research, to further understand and improve the implementation of precision medicine initiatives.

"Secondary findings play a pivotal role in diagnosing diseases, preserving health and saving lives," said Leslie Biesecker, M.D., chief of the NHGRIs Clinical Genomics Section. "Our research program measures how clinicians communicate these findings and peoples reactions so we can identify areas for improvement. The payoff could improve human health by making it commonplace for people to get treatment for diseases before they are sick."

The payoff could improve human health by making it commonplace for people to get treatment for diseases before they are sick.

According to Biesecker, identifying a secondary finding is only the first step. The Genomic Services Research Program studies whether secondary findings have real-life use and value by assessing three key components:

Biesecker also emphasized the need for healthcare providers to clearly communicate with patients who receive secondary findings so they understand their treatment options.

"Most people seek out genetic testing because they know of a strong family history for a certain disease," said Katie Lewis, Sc.M., CGC, a genetic counselor in the program. "But for those individuals who get these secondary findings, it can be an immense surprise. Our goal is to help individual patients get the care they need and share the result with their families.

Lewis also adds that there is very little known about the extent to which patients follow through with treatment and the factors that influence their decisions. Understanding what motivates those who do take action and those who do not can help genetic counselors target their efforts to assist an individual with a secondary finding and translate it into improved long-term health.

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From one genomic diagnosis, researchers discover other treatable health conditions - National Human Genome Research Institute

In a new survey, Healthline examined how COVID-19 impacts the mental and physical health of different people by ethnicity. Heres how our findings highlighted the variety of health inequities experienced during the pandemic.

Healthline recently conducted a survey that reveals health inequities by ethnicity.

Comparing data from 1,533 U.S. adults collected in February 2020 with data from 1,577 adults in December 2020, the survey revealed that People of Color (POC) are less likely to rate their overall health and wellness as excellent or very good compared with white Americans.

Moreover, COVID-19 specifically impacted the physical and mental health of POC.

COVID-19 has brought to the forefront a tale of two pandemics. One of which has impacted every major system within our [country]: systemic racism. The other [pandemic], COVID-19, has made the general public aware of the inequities that exist within our systems of care as Black Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) and those that identify as Latino or Latinx have always experienced disproportionate inequities in healthcare, Andrea Heyward, deputy director of the Center for Community Health Alignment, told Healthline.

Healthlines study revealed the following inequalities.

Asian, Hispanic, and Black populations have had more difficulties accessing medical professionals since the pandemic in the following ways:

Inability to see doctors or get treatments:

Delayed doctor or medical appointments due to lack of availability:

Dr. Michelle Ogunwole, health disparities researcher in San Antonio, Texas, noted that some access problems during the early days of the pandemic were due to patient-related reasons, such as being afraid to go to a doctors office for fear of contracting the virus.

Physicians, such as primary care doctors, called to help COVID-19 patients and, therefore, taking appointments only with those who had urgent needs is another reason, she said.

Think about people who get care at federally qualified health centers where the physicians there are already stretched to capacity add in COVID-19, and so it will be difficult to get appointments, and you might have to wait a long time, Ogunwole told Healthline.

Still, she stressed that other reasons related to structural racism are also to blame for lack of access.

Our nation was set up this way. Black and Brown communities live in different areas of town because of redlining and residential segregation, so theyve always had less resources, and the pandemic magnifies this, she said.

For example, hospitals for Black and Brown people have historically been built in the poor parts of town and not invested in. So less innovation occurs, and fewer researchers are inclined to invest in the hospital.

Its a snowball effect. It matters in terms of the quality of care, said Ogunwole.

Dr. Kunjana Mavunda, a pediatric pulmonologist in Miami, agreed. She explained that before the pandemic, clinics that provide care to poor, marginalized groups tend to have long wait times to get appointments, the physical facilities are not well-kept, and the education of the staff might be inadequate.

Due to inadequate financial support, these clinics may not have adequate preventative programs, and when appointments are given, patients have to wait for a long time to be seen which means that a person would have to take a whole day off from work in order to get medical attention, Mavunda told Healthline.

Because of this, patients tend to seek care only when they are sick, and then, they are more likely to go to an urgent care center or emergency room. So, the patient is not able to develop a working relationship with a primary care provider, care is episodic, and there is no continuity of care, she said.

Also, poverty and transportation problems increased during the pandemic, making it difficult for people to keep appointments.

Add in the fact that there is racism and implicit bias on the individual level. There are studies that have shown that peoples biases affect their ability to give the same standard of care to patients, Ogunwole said.

The Healthline survey showed that most POC have felt more anxious and stressed than white Americans over the past few months:

For example, a higher percentage of Asian Americans said they feel stressed. Asians have been falsely blamed for spreading COVID-19 and have been the targets of a higher number of hate crimes during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced not just the longstanding pressure for minorities to assimilate and acculturate in America, but also the absolute demand to assimilate in a way that completely erases cultural history, identities, and practices, Elizabeth Keohan, a licensed certified social worker at Talkspace, told Healthline.

As a result, marginalized groups experience significant levels of stress, anxiety, and depression at a time when personal safety is a persistent concern during everyday life, she said.

It can already be a challenging personal struggle to feel different, separate, and isolated, but when the larger society perceives you as a foreigner in your own land, then emotional stress is raised even higher to a level that can border on an inability to live ones life free of fear, said Keohan.

Heyward added that existing and continuous racial injustices in the United States call for movements such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate.

What we know to be true is that stress impacts the health of individuals across a spectrum of conditions, Heyward said. In fact, it is far from surprising that any individual experiencing the stress of COVID-19, lack of access to healthcare, social determinants of health, in addition to experiencing the trauma of prejudice and racism would be impacted physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

While access to healthcare is complicated in many ways, Ogunwole said, the pandemic has shown that change can happen fast.

Systemic change can happen rapidly and overnight because thats what our healthcare system has done this past year, she said.

For instance, telemedicine being covered by Medicaid during the pandemic helped many people.

However, a lot of work needs to be done to help with healthcare disparities long term. Experts believe the following ways can make a difference.

For change to happen, the first step involves intentional and meaningful engagement of people who experience health inequities and racial injustices, said Heyward.

This includes being open to hearing collective voice and tapping into the power of individuals that experience prejudice and racism for any substantial change to happen, she said.

Keohan noted that dialogue connects and sustains people.

Certainly, as humans we cannot heal from what we do not talk about. And after a year of isolation, the wounds of vulnerability have come to the surface, exposing biases, negative worldviews, insecurities, even our own, that may have permeated before now, said Keohan.

Elevating the conversation toward understanding each other can lead to less division and more support for those who need it.

We need to identify and recognize the harshness of our reality, acceptance of what is true and real for so many the ongoing and the wide gaps and disparities in systems of care, Keohan said.

African Americans and Hispanics are often thought of as one unified group, Mavunda said. However, she believes this needs to change.

The thinking process of different groups is different, and it will be more meaningful to look at the groups separately, she said.

For example, American-born African Americans are different from Caribbean Blacks, who are different from Haitian Blacks, who are different from Africans.

Experiences these societies have had for at least the past two to three generations dictate their approach to healthcare, said Mavunda. The same applies to Hispanics recently arrived Cubans are different than Cubans who have grown up in the United States. Puerto Ricans are different than the Mexicans who are different than the Central or South Americans who are different than the Dominicans.

Ogunwole sees differences between POC in her research.

For example, this is a broad generalization, but as a health disparities researcher, a lot of times when you look at the Asian populations health outcomes, if you broke them down into specific subgroups, you would see even more disparities. But they usually tend to be closer to white people than Black and Hispanic people in terms of disparities that we see, she said.

Moreover, she explained that the way People of Color experience racism is different.

We have a shared sense of marginalization, certainly, but the historic roots of racism are very different in the Black community, Latinx community, and the Asian community. In the Black community, it was slavery. In the Asian community, it was the Chinese Exclusions Act. Understanding this is important, she said.

Only 5 percent of U.S. doctors are Black, and according to research from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the number of doctors who are Black men remains unchanged since 1940.

We know that diversity helps, yet in my specialty, which is internal medicine, the physician population does not yet reflect the patients we see, said Ogunwole.

She explained that physician diversity matters because physicians of color bring new perspectives to medicine and are more likely to work in communities of color.

Theres evidence of increased patient satisfaction when patients share not only racial concordance but language concordance with their doctor, Ogunwole said.

When you look at the projectory of this country, the census is predicting that its going to be a minority-majority by 2050, 2060. Were a melting pot, so we need to have physicians who are reflective of the rich diversity of this country, said Ogunwole.

Being aware of legislation that can impact health and access to health is one way everyone can help, says Mavunda.

Many of our political leaders work to make access to healthcare more difficult. An example is the Florida Legislature. Many years ago, the federal government offered to provide monies to the states to expand Medicaid for the poor and the disabled. Florida has chosen not to accept the money, she said.

She recommended supporting leaders who aim to address disparities as a systemic problem by establishing adequate medical facilities in neighborhoods where people need healthcare and who provide opportunities for patients to build trust with providers.

Unfortunately, this requires money, and changes need to be made at governmental levels state, federal, local, etc. Not all leaders are willing to make changes or spend money on all communities. We know that this will work because we have pockets where this is already happening, e.g., clinics that treat the migrants and federally funded clinics located in poor neighborhoods, Mavunda said.

For mental healthcare needs, Keohan suggested identifying what is available to you, within your own network of care, and also within your community to help ease the search.

When performing an online search, enter clinician of color or BIPOC therapist of color.

Ask questions about worldviews, approach and style to understand that a particular provider might be better equipped to understand and validate the stressors you might be experiencing both personally and also through a broader scope of gender, race, faith, and sexuality, said Keohan.

Once you can identify what matters to you, it can be easier to eliminate the wrong provider and find one who can support and compliment your value, she added.

When scheduling visits with a new clinic, Ogunwole said there is nothing wrong with saying, Id like to request a bilingual provider, or Id like to request a Black woman provider, or Id like to request a provider who is comfortable treating transgender youth.

Its not always that youll get a doctor who looks exactly like you. Its about finding a doctor who cares about your well-being, and who can suspend judgment, and who is willing to listen to you and include you in the conversation about your health, Keohan said.

Heyward suggested reaching out to a community health worker (CHWs), people with lived experience who have strong ties to the community they serve.

As community leaders and advocates in many areas, CHWs help individuals every day in navigating healthcare and social needs, she said.

To learn more about CHWs and other community resources, including those for COVID-19, visit their website.

Cathy Cassata is a freelance writer who specializes in stories around health, mental health, medical news, and inspirational people. She writes with empathy and accuracy and has a knack for connecting with readers in an insightful and engaging way. Read more of her work here.

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From Stress to Healthcare: How COVID-19 Is Impacting People of Color Differently - Healthline

Infex Therapeutics has awarded a 1m contract to Lonza to help progress its RESP-X program, a novel therapy which targets serious recurrent respiratory infections in patients with damaged lung functions.

RESP-X is expected to enter clinical trials at the Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust Clinical Research Facility in November this year.Lonza, the Swiss-owned contract manufacturing company, will manufacture a therapeutic antibody for the program in its plant in Slough, UK.

RESP-X is an anti-virulence therapy in-licensed from Japanese pharma company Shionogi. It is designed to help the body tackle Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, a hard to treat drug-resistant pathogen recognised by the WHO as a critical threat to human health. A novel humanised monoclonal antibody, RESP-X does not kill bacteria directly but deactivates a mechanism that prevents the immune system from acting against the infection.

Dr Peter Jackson, executive director of Infex Therapeutics, said: Lonza is recognised as a global leader in the manufacture of therapeutic antibodies and we have negotiated this agreement that will provide access to their manufacturing plant within the timeline we need.

Lonza was involved in an earlier stage of the program, producing pre-clinical material at its facility in Singapore, and were very pleased to be able to bring this larger scale body of manufacturing to Lonzas facility in the UK.

RESP-X is designed as a preventative treatment against non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a long-term condition where the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus that can make the lungs more vulnerable to infection. Patients can become chronically infected with Pseudomonas, significantly reducing their quality of life. There is high, unmet need, with millions of patients worldwide at risk of this condition, and no approved preventative therapy.

Jeetendra Vaghjiani, Director Commercial Development, Mammalian at Lonza stated: We are proud to be selected as Infexs manufacturing and development partner for this project. The mission of Infex is an important one and we are happy to collaborate with Infex in this battle against serious infectious disease.

The RESP-X program is backed by iiCON, the infectious disease consortium led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, supported by the Strength in Places Fund from UKRI.

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Infex Therapeutics appoints Lonza to manufacture new lung infection drug - Business Up North

ESCANABA It has been more than 15 months since our nation began its fight against COVID-19. Weve prevented infections, cared for the sick, saved lives and mourned those weve lost. Weve provided so much more than medicine during this time as loved ones supported from a distance. The burdens and responsibilities of the pandemic have strained organizations, families, and each of us in very personal ways. Now, as more than 2.3 million veterans across the nation have been fully vaccinated trust and confidence in VA health care is at an all-time high.

Our health care teams at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center here in Iron Mountain have earned that trust, working on the frontlines to provide care to those most in need. We began implementing safety measures over a year ago to protect Veterans and our staff from getting sick. As part of prioritizing safety, for each appointment weve had to weigh the options and risks with our patients. When clinical urgency rose above the risk of COVID-19, we provided in person care. When it did not and the risk of COVID-19 infection took priority, we offered alternatives. This was the right decision. In many cases, Veterans told us they preferred postponing routine care because they did not want to risk being exposed to the virus and we worked with them to identify next steps.

We successfully moved many appointments to video and telephone when that was appropriate and helped meet the needs of the patient. This has even offered unexpected benefits of convenience for veterans or additional engagement options for family and caregivers. Unlike with in person care, virtual options give a Veterans support network the ability to join visits and engage with VA providers much more easily. We anticipate continuing to offer virtual visits even as we return to more in person care.

As we move forward, we are welcoming veterans back in record numbers. We are encouraging veterans to call first and talk to their health care team about coming in for routine and preventative care. These appointments, from cancer screenings to eye exams are essential to staying healthy and ultimately save lives.

Here at OGJVAMC, we have reached out to patients to be sure they are getting the care they need and working with them to reschedule appointments. As our community spread of COVID-19 has decreased over the past few months, many have already resumed their care, while others have begun scheduling appointments for the weeks ahead, either within the VA or when eligible, in the community.

In working to coordinate care, we have found that many community providers outside of VA are also needing to reschedule previously cancelled appointments or are managing abbreviated schedules, creating longer wait times than usual and often longer than within VA. We have provided more than 2.3 million Veterans care in the community since the MISSION Act was implemented almost two years ago, and we are proud that so many Veterans continue to choose VA, allowing us to coordinate timely, quality and patient-focused care inside or outside our walls.

I want this community to know that OGJVAMC is dedicated to caring for Veterans, not just in this time of national emergency, but continuing now and into the future. While we are part of the national healthcare system, first and foremost, we are members of this vibrant community. OGJVAMCs 700 employees are here day and night for those who have served our nation and call the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin home.

Recent legislation has enabled us to open up vaccination clinics to any Veteran along with their spouse or caregiver, and we are pleased to be meeting new members of this community for the first time, or welcoming back those who we havent seen in a while. We would encourage every Veteran to consider coming in and receiving their COVID-19 vaccine and enrolling in care with us. If you or a Veteran in your life havent come in for care in a while, please check in with your provider team and consider scheduling an appointment. If you know a veteran who isnt enrolled in VA health care and is interested in their eligibility, please direct them to http://www.VA.gov.

I hope Veterans and all members of the community will take the time to work with their medical provider team to get their appointments rescheduled, even if they havent been vaccinated yet. Our doors are open, and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Jim Rice is director of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain

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Alcohol deaths in England and Wales in 2020 were the highest for 20 years. The Office for National Statistics recorded 7,423 deaths from alcohol misuse, a 19.6% increase compared with 2019. Although this is likely to have many complex causes, data from Public Health England suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting lockdowns are at least partly responsible for the increase. Largely, the disruption of work and social routines have led to a surge of hazardous drinking within the home (with some fairly harrowing personal stories).

The Intoxicating Spaces project, of which Im part, has been exploring how pandemics also influenced the use of intoxicants, including patterns of alcohol consumption, in the past. As part of this work, weve looked at how the successive bubonic plague outbreaks that gripped England, especially London, in the 17th century (1603, 1625, 1636 and 1665) wrought similar changes in peoples drinking habits.

Like today, these sudden and frightening outbreaks of disease restricted access to inns, taverns, alehouses and other public drinking places the cornerstones of early-modern sociability. While never subject to wholesale closure, these environments were targeted by the equivalent of social distancing legislation. A 1665 London plague order, for example, identified tippling in taverns, alehouses, coffee-houses, and cellars as the greatest occasion of dispersing the plague, and imposed a 9pm curfew.

The extent to which these regulations altered 17th-century peoples relationship with alcohol is difficult to determine based on surviving information. However, anecdotal evidence suggests there might have been a comparable shift towards drinking at home.

In his classic 1722 meditation on the 1665 London outbreak Due Preparations for the Plague, Daniel Defoe told the story of a London grocer who voluntarily quarantined himself and his family in their home for the duration of the pandemic. Among the provisions he assembled were 12 hogsheads of beer; casks and rundlets containing four varieties of wine (canary, malmsey, sack and tent; 16 gallons of brandy; and many sorts of distilld waters (spirits).

According to Defoe, this impressive stockpile was not gratuitous but necessary supplies. This is because, surprisingly from the perspective of todays public health messaging, in this period alcohol was thought to have had medicinal value and its moderate consumption during plague outbreaks was actively encouraged.

Contemporary doctors and medical writers believed alcohol worked as a plague preventatives, in two main ways.

First, the consumption of beers, wines and spirits was believed to strengthen the bodys key defensive organs of the brain, heart and liver. They were especially beneficial when taken first thing in the morning, with many commentators recommending fortifying liquid plague breakfasts.

In his 1665 plague treatise, Medela Pestilentiae, minister and medical writer Richard Kephale claimed that its good to drink a pint of maligo [Malaga wine or port] in the morning against the infection. (He was also effusive on the inexpressible virtues of tobacco.) Many recipes for the popular preventative and cure plague water invariably contain wine and spirits, as well as pharmaceutical herbs.

Second, and perhaps more significantly, moderate drinking was believed to ward off those fearful mental states that induced melancholy (early modern terminology for depression), which was thought to make people more vulnerable to contracting the plague.

As Defoe put it, the grocers liquor hoard was not for his and his familys mirth or plentiful drinking, but rather so as not to suffer their spirits to sink or be dejected, as on such melancholy occasions they might be supposed to do. Likewise, in his 1665 plague treatise, Zenexton Ante-Pestilentiale, physician William Simpson advocated the drinking of good wholesome well-spirited liquor to make the heart merry and cause cheerfulness. This would banish many enormous ideas of fear, hatred, anxiousness, sorrow, and other perplexing thoughts, and thereby fortify the balsam of life against all infectious breaths.

The key thing for all of these writers was alcohol moderately taken. Excessive drinking to the point of drunkenness was still cautioned against, and living with temperance upon a good generous diet (in the words of one author) remained the baseline for most plague medicine.

However, then as now, its likely that the disruption of patterns of labour and leisure, along with the daily anxieties of living in a plague-stricken city, drove many to the psychological consolations of the bottle on a more dangerous and habitual basis. In A Journal of the Plague Year Defoes other, more celebrated novel about the 1665 London outbreak he tells the story of a physician who kept his spirits always high and hot with cordials and wine. But could not leave them off when the infection was quite gone, and so became a sot for all his life after.

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How the bubonic plague changed drinking habits - The Conversation UK

Blood clots, through venous thromboembolism and arterial thromboses, have been shown to be one of the causes of death in individuals with COVID-19. Medications that prevent blood clots, or anticoagulants, may be effective in treating patients with the disease. New research published in The BMJ shows that patients put on preventative doses of anticoagulants within the first 24 hours of being hospitalized with COVID-19 are about 30 percent less likely to die compared to those not put on anticoagulant medication.

Led by researchers at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Yale School of Medicine (YSM), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the observational cohort study found that early initiation of prophylactic anticoagulation was safe and effective in treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

"As we await full reporting of ongoing clinical trials, these findings provide strong real-world evidence to support guidelines recommending the use of prophylactic anticoagulation as initial therapy upon hospital admission for COVID-19 patients who do not have a contraindication to this therapy," said LSHTMs Christopher Rentsch, PhD, study co-lead author.

This study is an outstanding example of the use of electronic health record data from the national Veterans Affairs Healthcare System to rapidly address urgent problems in health care, said YSMs Amy C. Justice, MD, PhD, C.N.H. Long Professor of Medicine (General Medicine) and professor of Public Health (Health Policy) served as co-principal investigator of the study.

Using VA hospitalization data from March 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, the team looked at each individual with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who was able to receive an anticoagulation medicine within 24 hours of admission to the hospital. Of the 4,297 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 during this time period, 84 percent received prophylactic anticoagulation within the first 24 hours of admission. Nearly all the patients received subcutaneous heparin or enoxaparin.

The researchers followed these patients to identify who died or experienced a serious bleeding event within 30 days after hospital admission and looked to see if there were differences in the rates of death or serious bleeding events between patients who were given prophylactic doses of anticoagulation and those who received no anticoagulation in the first 24 hours of hospital admission.

14.3 percent of patients who received prophylactic anticoagulation and 18.7 percent of patients who didnt receive the medication died within thirty days of hospital admission. This amounts to an absolute risk decrease of 4.4 percent or relative risk decrease of 27 percent. Receipt of prophylactic anticoagulation was not associated with increased risk of serious bleeding events. Additionally, researchers concluded that the benefit associated with prophylactic anticoagulation appeared to be greater among patients who were not admitted to the intensive care unit.

This was a large, well-designed study using electronic health record data and comprehensively accounted for reasons why people are given, or not given, anticoagulation. Results were also unchanged in several sensitivity analyses, suggesting that they withstand scrutiny. However, the researchers acknowledge that due to the observational nature of the study, a degree of uncertainty persists that can only be addressed through randomized trials.

Other YSM collaborators included Farah Kidwai-Khan, MS; Janet P. Tate, MPH, ScD; and Joseph T. King, Jr., MD, MSCE. The study was funded by U.S. VA Health Services Research and Development and the National Institutes of Health.

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Use of Anticoagulants Within 24 Hours of Hospitalization Can Reduce Death in COVID-19 Patients - Yale News

By Perry N. Halkitis, Shobha Swaminathan and Travis Love

For the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to undermine their physical, mental, social, and economic wellbeing.

These impacts on health are exacerbated in Black and brown communities particularly Black sexual- and gender-minority men and women and Black cisgender women who are coping with the realities created by COVID-19, ongoing systemic discrimination, and a plethora of other social inequities that create additional vulnerabilities to their overall health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has derailed our efforts to bring an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, adding to the stigma, systems of oppression and structural racism that ultimately fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our state and country.

We know all too well that stigma is one of the reasons why patients continue to experience trauma related to their HIV diagnosis. In fact, for many people living with HIV/AIDS, reliving the trauma of isolation while simultaneously fearing for their lives should they become infected with COVID-19 has had a synergistic effect.

As a result of the ongoing stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, many people who become infected with this virus may not want to know their status, fearing rejection from family, friends, and sexual partners. In fact, for those already diagnosed, the stigma and resulting trauma can prevent many from continuing to seek adequate care, undermining their viral suppression and resulting in the progression of HIV. This can also lead to increased infectivity to sexual partners.

In the early days of HIV/AIDS, victim-blaming was common and those who developed a detectable number of antibodies in their blood were categorized as either innocent victims (i.e. children and hemophiliacs) or immoral beings who through their actions brought the disease upon themselves (i.e. gay men and injection drug users).

We believe that stigma is the driving force behind the health disparities that continue to put people at risk for HIV/AIDS. In order to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we must ensure more access to care and cultivate an ecosystem that combats systemic racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

We must call on the federal government to fund and tackle gaps in care and to prioritize care for individuals who are vulnerable to both COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, who are too often Black and brown people.

It is very possible to envision a world free from HIV, given our current medical advances in the form of preventative medication, PrEP, and effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), which when dosed properly creates a zero probability that an HIV-positive person can infect someone else.

What we need now, is a vaccine. After 30 years of research, a new clinical study, MOSAICO, shows promise and offers hope. The Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Clinical Research Center (NJMS CRC) is currently seeking volunteers who are queer, gender non-conforming, and transgender to screen and enroll in the study. The research team also facilitates workshops to reduce vaccine hesitancy and to raise research literacy.

Yet, medications are not enough. While novel therapeutics remain key, behavioral interventions and social acceptance are essential for their success. By using a status neutral approach, we will stop the forced differentiation of HIV positive and negative people. This approach is simple: a person is ensured access to care if they are HIV positive. If a person is HIV negative, they are given access to preventative medications such as PrEP.

Practicing a status neutral approach can repair the schism that has existed for far too long between HIV-positive and HIV-negative populations. Our goal is to assure that everyone has a right to good health.

Gov. Phil Murphy has shown how deeply he understands and how passionately he cares about the structural drivers of disease. Now we must act. We cannot let the HIV/AIDS epidemic continue to take a backseat to pressing health care issues of the moment. As we continue to raise awareness, we are calling on New Jerseys Legislative leadership to enact the policies developed by Governor Murphys Statewide Task Force to End the HIV Epidemic.

We all need to raise our voices together to end this epidemic. The public can also make a difference by urging our elected officials to:

To learn more, join Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as we strive to raise awareness of a Neutral Nation with a series of engaging events from February 17 to 20.

Dr. Perry N. Halkitis is dean and director of the Center for Health, Identity Behavior & Prevention Studies (CHIBPS) at the Rutgers School of Public Health. Dr. Halkitis also was a member of both the New Jersey and New York Ending the HIV Epidemic planning groups.

Dr. Shobha Swaminathan is an associate professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the Medical Director of the infectious diseases practice at University Hospital in Newark. She was a principal investigator of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine trial in Newark.

Travis Love is a community educator who has served as a public health representative at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School since 2016.

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COVID-19 and victim-blaming has made it more difficult to care for people living with HIV/AIDS | Opinion - NJ.com

Rachael Riley|The Fayetteville Observer

Leaders at the Joint Readiness Training Center are addressing concerns anonymous Fort Bragg paratroopers have raised about a COVID-19 outbreak at the center.

Last week, The Fayetteville Observer was sent an anonymous letter purportedly written by a paratrooper on behalf of other paratroopers. The letter was also shared on social media, where online users commented with similar concerns.

An estimated 4,000 paratroopers are at the center for training, less than 1% of which, a spokesman previously estimated, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Among the concerns raised in the letter are questions about leadership within the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division; whether proper precautions are being taken during training during the COVID-19 pandemic; and claims that paratroopers who have since tested positive for the virus infected others during the bus ride to Louisiana.

Officials have said all paratroopers were tested before the bus ride and before leaving the Fort Bragg, and that they were given the option to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The letter and online comments also brought up concerns about how those with COVID-19 are quarantined in Louisiana, what theyre being fed and the water in Louisiana.

More: Fort Bragg paratroopers take to social media with COVID-19 outbreak concerns

Hundreds of soldiers that are being sent for the training exercise named JRTC, or Joint Readiness Training Center, are now battling a mass outbreak, the letter reads. Soldiers are having to sleep amongst those that are infected and are not provided with a place to quarantine or isolate.

Brig. Gen. David Doyle, commander of Fort Polk and the Joint Readiness Center, and Col. Jody Dugai, commander of Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital at Fort Polk, spoke to The Fayetteville Observer on Thursday.

Doyle reiterated that before leaving Fort Bragg, all paratroopers were tested for the COVID-19 virus and had their movements restricted as a precautionary requirement established by U.S. Army Forces Command.

They did a thorough screening and every paratrooper was asked if they came in contact with someone who they thought had COVID-19, Doyle said.

Doyle explained Fort Polk is set up with a north and south region, with the north region being the training area.

Military personnel in the south region are not allowed to go to the north area, unless approved, tested, cleared and screened for the virus to ensure the populations arent mixed.

Once (the paratroopers) arrived they were kept in a training bubble, Doyle said.

He said a small number of paratroopers who came to the Joint Readiness Center tested positive for the virus when arriving and that they were quickly isolated.

The brigade has been tested by Fort Polks hospital staff to allow results to come back in about three hours, Doyle said.

Additionally, Fort Polk has new barracks within their garrison where the COVID-19-positive paratroopers stay and are visited by a field officer each day.

Doyle said its across the street from the hospital, should the soldiers need further medical attention. He said none of the paratroopers who have tested positive have required hospitalization.

Online comments and concerns raised in the letter claimed the 3rd Brigade Combat Team paratroopers showing symptoms of the virus are being kept in the box or training area

Dugai said if someone complains of having symptoms of COVID-19, they are placed in a holding area and tested. If results come back negative, they are either treated for their cold or other illness, or they are returned to training. If the test is positive, the soldier is transported to the isolation barracks by personnel wearing protective equipment.

We dont send them on a plane, train or bus during the 10 days of isolation or 14 days of quarantine, depending on when they tested positive, Dugai said.

If the soldiers unit has ended training during the isolation or quarantine phase, Dugai said, the COVID-19 positive soldiers will remain at Fort Polk until the quarantine ends and they test negative for the virus.

The letter also stated that quarantined soldiers are concerned for their nutrition, as soldiers have been reporting that frequently they have been receiving minuscule amounts of food or none at all.

Doyle said quarantined and isolated paratroopers are being fed the same meals served in Fort Polks dining facilities and given to all soldiers, noncommissioned officers and commissioned officers.

In one of the online comments sent to The Fayetteville Observer, a person claimed a field sanitation worker told them the water was not safe to drink, so chlorine was placed in it and their squad was getting headaches.

Doyle said water at Fort Polk is monitored by the state of Louisiana and federal regulators, and professionals from the hospitals preventative medicine department also examine it. It has been rated safe each year, he said.

The only difference is there is a higher concentration of manganese in Louisiana, which gives it a brown appearance, though Doyle said it is safe to drink and another additive that is not a health threat will soon be added to change the color.

During the early part of the pandemic last year, two rotations at the Joint Readiness Training Center were canceled.

By April, senior Army leaders finalized plans to return to collective training.

"The Army continues to need a manned, ready force," even while balancing operations and combating COVID-19," former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville said collective training is crucial, but leaders needed to ensure the right measures were in place.

Its not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution, McConville said in an Army articlein April. But were looking. But were looking at the long game. Were not waiting for COVID-19 to go away.

Lt. Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, which is over the 82nd Airborne Division, made a similar comment during a Fort Bragg town hall meeting in March.

Its a balance between risks to force, which is spreading the virus, and the risk to the mission of being able to meet those mission requirements should our nation call, Kurilla said.

Since then, there have been rotations at the center with the 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade, the 101st Airborne Division, the 25th Infantry Division and another Security Force Assistant Brigade.

More: Fort Bragg activities slowly start to resume

Training at the Joint Readiness Training Center provides soldiers with opportunities their home stations can not, Doyle said.

He said there are personnel who are intensely familiar with the training area, and their only mission is to act as aggressors toward the training soldiers to simulate any threats theyd face by an opposing force.

He said there are coaches, observers and trainers who ensure the soldiers are able to execute safe actions during dangerous situations and conduct thorough after-action reviews to better the soldiers.

Another thing every soldier and paratrooper gets here is data indicators, which tracks every individual's engagements, Doyle said. At the end of the rotation, well show them imagery and pictures… . So it allows them to see that first hand and take that back with them.

Theres training for electronic warfare, which replicates whats seen on social media or with cyber strikes.

Training scenarios are built out 270 days in advance with specific scenarios designed for each unit, such as scenarios for the 82nd Airborne Division's Immediate Response Force.

More: Fort Bragg special warfare students, instructors who tested positive for COVID-19 complete isolation

We want to ensure every single soldier who comes here can redeploy back to their home station and is prepared for whatever mission is given by their unit, Doyle said. And were doing that with a set of protocols to protect against COVID-19 and all other threats that come with high-risk training.

Training at Fort Polk is not new, starting with World War II soldiers, and training before conflicts in Korea and Vietnam.

Were still doing that today and want most to have the most difficult training we can possibly render and want the hardest day for paratroopers and soldiers to be here at JRTC and Fort Polk and not be in combat, Doyle said.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

Support local journalism with a subscription to The Fayetteville Observer. Click the "subscribe'' link at the top of this article.

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What leaders say is going on at JRTC, where Fort Bragg paratroopers claim theres a COVID-19 outbreak - The Fayetteville Observer

Qigong meditation is an ancient Chinese healing practice that combines controlled breathing, gentle movement, and meditation to promote good mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Similar to tai chi, qigong meditation is believed to treat a variety of health conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and leg and back pain, among others. Yet, research backing these claims is limited.

With qigong meditation growing in popularity, you may wonder whether its something you should try.

Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) meditation is an ancient Chinese healing practice that combines meditation, controlled breathing, and gentle movement.

Its roughly translated as the master of ones energy and combines two important concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Qi roughly translates to vital life force, while gong means mastery or cultivation (1, 2).

This practice is meant to cultivate the energy and strength of nature into ones body to promote better mental, physical, and spiritual health (1, 2).

In TCM, poor health is the result of blocked energy that flows through the twelve meridians or sections of the body. Thus, qigong is believed to promote health by allowing your energy, or qi, to flow through the body (1, 2).

Qigong is popular in China for exercise, recreation, relaxation, preventative medicine, and physical and mental healing. Plus, its even employed in martial arts training. Despite its widespread use, research to support the theory of qi energy is lacking (2).

Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is a traditional Chinese medicine healing practice thats believed to support mental, physical, and spiritual health through gentle movement, meditation, and breathing techniques.

While there are many ways to practice qigong, there are two main categories: active (dynamic) qigong and passive qigong. Active qigong uses controlled, slow movements, while passive qigong involves stillness and calm breathing.

Qigong can also be practiced internally (by yourself) or externally (via a qigong therapist). With external qigong, a therapist provides emitted qi to promote healing. Though, for most people, qigong is a self-healing technique thats practiced without a therapist (1).

Regardless of the form of qigong, the goal is to allow energy to freely move throughout the body and reconnect with the earth for healing (1).

Active qigong also known as dong gong involves intentional, active movement and breathwork that enhances yang energy. In TCM, yang represents active energy, strength, and vibrancy, while yin depicts passive energy, calmness, and gentleness (1).

It includes repeating gentle, coordinated movements to promote blood and lymphatic drainage, balance, muscle strength and flexibility, and a greater awareness of ones body in space (known as proprioception) (3).

This type of qigong is considered exercise but shares mutual characteristics with passive qigong, such as good posture, controlled breathing, focus on relaxation, and visualization.

Passive qigong focuses on embracing yin energy through body stillness and the mental cultivation of qi energy (1).

During this form of qigong, the body is not moving externally, but the mind is actively working to cultivate and move qi energy throughout the body. This practice would be similar to traditional meditation.

The two main categories of qigong include active and passive qigong. Active qigong uses controlled, slow movements to help energy or qi flow through the meridians of the body, while passive qigong involves stillness and calm breathing.

Qigong offers many benefits. Some of them are backed by research, including improved balance and gait, as well as reduced stress levels.

Other purported benefits include a lower risk of chronic disease and improved focus.

Qigong focuses on controlled, slow movements of the body to improve your proprioception, or awareness of your body in space, which helps increase balance, muscular strength, and flexibility (3).

In a 2020 study in 95 adults ages 5196, participants that practiced weekly qigong for 12 weeks had significant improvements in balance and gait (walking) scores (4).

Interestingly, qigong can also improve balance in younger adults. One randomized pilot study in 30 people ages 1825 showed a 16.3% increase in stability scores after weekly qigong for 8 weeks. No changes were observed in the control group (5).

Considering that all age groups can safely participate in qigong, it may be an effective and enjoyable strategy to improve balance and lower the risk of falls.

Qigong involves meditation, controlled breathing, and gentle movements, all of which have all been shown to help lower stress and symptoms of anxiety (6, 7, 8, 9).

Calm, controlled breathing tells your body theres no immediate threat and activates the parasympathetic nervous system the rest and digest system. It also slows your bodys stress response system known as the hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis (9, 10).

Also, incorporating qigong into ones daily or weekly practice has been linked to greater quality of life due to less stress, greater self-efficacy, and better physical health. Still, higher quality studies are needed (11, 12, 13, 14).

By incorporating qigong into your weekly or daily routine, it may help you better manage the daily stressors of life (15).

Qigong is a gentle form of exercise and emphasizes calm, meditative breathing. Together, this may reduce stress on the body, increase blood flow, and improve your overall fitness all of which can lower your risk of chronic disease (16, 17).

In particular, qigong has been shown to lower the risk and improve symptoms of type 2 diabetes and heart disease (18, 19, 20, 21).

Still, researchers urge that larger, more robust studies are needed before qigong can be recommended as a standard treatment.

That said, most people can safely practice it in addition to their current medical treatments prescribed by their healthcare provider (21, 22).

Many people struggle to focus on tasks due to the busyness of day-to-day life.

Qigong requires focus of the breath, mind, and body. Through regular practice, qigong may help improve your ability to focus and concentrate by helping you learn to regulate thoughts in a more productive manner (23).

Despite the many benefits of qigong, higher quality research studies are needed.

The benefits of qigong include improved balance, greater mental focus, lower levels of stress and anxiety, and decreased chronic disease risk. Though many people report the benefits of qigong, larger studies are needed.

There are dozens of variations of qigong. To get started, heres a basic guide for passive and active qigong. However, before beginning any new exercise routine, its best to speak with your healthcare provider.

Passive qigong is very similar to traditional meditation. Two main types of passive qigong exist: mental focusing (ru jing) and visualization (cun si).

To practice mental focusing, simply sit in a comfortable upright position, close your eyes, and breathe in and out with your belly (diaphragmatic breathing). Ideally, try to sit for at least 10 minutes or longer and focus on your breath.

Visualization involves a similar practice but with added imagination. With your eyes closed, imagine things that bring you joy or relaxation (e.g., the beach, a flower-filled valley, a mountaintop). Use these visualizations to help direct positive energy throughout your body.

You may also visualize energy going toward an organ or area in the body that requires healing. To enhance your practice, attend classes or read qigong guides to learn chants, visualizations, and other meditative techniques.

If youre unsure where to start, there are many free meditation videos online, or you can download meditation apps on your phone.

The goal of active qigong is to continuously keep your body in flow. Unlike yoga, which generally focuses on static stretches, active qigong requires you to keep your body moving through various movement sequences.

Since qigong involves a sequence of movements, its best to start with a beginners class or online video. Ideally, active qigong is practiced in a group setting to promote connectedness and community, which TCM believes is important for health and healing.

With either passive or active qigong, remember to practice patience while you learn and enjoy the process.

When learning active qigong, its best to visit an in-person class to learn the sequences correctly and build a sense of community. You can also watch beginner videos online. For passive qigong, try adding 10 minutes of meditation per day to your routine.

Qigong is a meditation and healing practice that has been part of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries.

Benefits of qigong include lowered stress and anxiety, increased focus, and improved balance and flexibility. It may even reduce your risk of certain chronic diseases. Nevertheless, more high quality research is needed.

Most forms of qigong can be practiced by people of all age groups and conditions. However, if you have a chronic illness or injury, its best to speak with your healthcare provider before introducing any new form of exercise to your regimen.

If youre interested in calming your mind and body, you will want to give qigong a try.

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Qigong Meditation: For Beginners, Techniques, Benefits, and More - Healthline

While the bulk of the current research on COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is focused on its impact and transmission in humans, a group of researchers at Ohio State University is testing animals and environmental reservoirs for the virus, says Vanessa Hale, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of veterinary preventative medicine at Ohio State University.

We have an incredible team of over 20 researchers looking for the virus in all of the environments outside of humans, Hale told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the virus causing Covid-19 most likely jumped from one animal species to another before entering the human population and is highly unlikely to have leaked from a laboratory, a WHO investigative team said during a news conference in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Hale says the OSU research teams objective is to see if it can find potential reservoirs of the Covid-19 virus in water or animals and to assess the risk to animal health and potential re-entry into the human population. In addition, the team is also studying mutations.

So, we've been hearing a lot about variants the past couple of weeks and concerns about variants that may spread faster, Hale says. Were trying to understand, (will) we see this virus in animals? Is the virus changing in a way that is concerning?

The good news to date is the researchers have not detected a single positive result in more than 1,000 animal samples evaluated throughout Ohio.

Weve not seen a single SARS-CoV-2 positive in any of those animals, Hale says. That includes shelter cats, farm animals at agricultural fairs around the state and wildlife.

The testing and evaluation work has been done in partnership with hunters and trappers and also with organizations such as Ohio metro parks and the Ohio Wildlife Center.

There have been reports from other states that mink have been infected with the virus. Hale notes that mustelids, in general, are highly susceptible to the virus. They can have clinical signs, get quite ill and die from the disease, she says.

According to an article published by The Atlantic on December 8, COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in animals at 16 mink farms in four states: 12 in Utah, one in Michigan, one in Oregon, and two in Wisconsin (see https://bit.ly/3cVZyzW).

No problems in Ohio have been identified, though Hale says the OSU team plans to check for it in wild mink populations in the state.

Our goal is to see if we can find this virus anywhere else outside of humans, and then use that information to figure out how we can predict and prevent future pandemics, she says. We want to know if there is going to be a reservoir and if that reservoir is going to pose a problem to animal or human health.

The complete discussion on AgriTalk is available here:

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Researchers Hope To 'Predict and Prevent' Future Pandemics - Agweb Powered by Farm Journal

A recent study conducted by investigators from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, in collaboration with the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has found that the experimental antiviral EIDD-2901 stopped the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prevented human cells from becoming infected. Results from the study were published in the journal Nature.

"We show that LoM allow for the in vivo study of all recently emerged human coronaviruses in a single platform," Lisa Gralinski, PhD, co-author on the study said. "Our model allows researchers to directly compare infection between human coronaviruses and the effectiveness of potential preventative and therapeutic approaches."

With cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rising across the globe, it is paramount to find therapies that will halt its spread. Although various vaccines have been authorized for emergency use, the levels of vaccination needed will take time, as issues with manufacturing, shipping, storage and distribution are still being sorted out.

The investigators behind the study created human lung tissues models and implanted them in immune-deficient mice, which allowed the virus to replicate and infect them. Early diffuse lung damage caused by the disease presented in the mice similarly as it does in humans. Additionally, the infection induced a robust and sustained type 1 interferon and inflammatory cytokine/chemokine response. They then administered the antiviral therapy to the mice 24 or 48 hours after exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and every 12 hours after.

"We found that EIDD-2801 had a remarkable effect on virus replication after only two days of treatment - a dramatic, more than 25,000-fold reduction in the number of infectious particles in human lung tissue when treatment was initiated 24 hours post-exposure," J. Victor Garcia, senior author and professor of medicine and director of the International Center for the Advancement of Translational Science said. "Virus titers were significantly reduced by 96% when treatment was started 48 hours post-exposure."

Separate phase 2 and 3 trials are currently ongoing to evaluate EIDD-2801 safety in humans, as well as its impact on viral shedding in patients with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

"Previously, we demonstrated that EIDD-2801 is also efficacious against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infection in vivo and in primary human airway epithelial cultures," Ralph Baric, the William Kenan Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Medicine said. "Overall, these results indicate that EIDD-2801 may not only be efficacious in treating and preventing COVID-19, it could also prove to be highly effective against future coronavirus outbreaks as well."

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Experimental Antiviral Effective at Treating and Preventing COVID-19 - Contagionlive.com