TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Japanese trading and pharmaceuticals company Kowa Co Ltd (7807.T) on Monday said that anti-parasite drug ivermectin showed an "antiviral effect" against Omicron and other coronavirus variants in joint non-clinical research.

Fentanyl overdoses have surged to the leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 45, according to an analysis of U.S. government data.

Between 2020 and 2021, nearly 79,000 people between 18 and 45 years old — 37,208 in 2020 and 41,587 in 2021 — died of fentanyl overdoses, the data analysis from opioid awareness organization Families Against Fentanyl shows.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be deadly even in very small amounts, and other drugs, including heroin, meth and marijuana, can be laced with the dangerous drug. Mexico and China are the primary sources for the flow of fentanyl into the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Comparatively, between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 15, 2021, there were more than 53,000 COVID-19 deaths among those between the ages of 18 and 49, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Scientists have developed a vitamin D pill to treat advanced prostate cancer.
Exposure to Vitamin D from sunlight is known to improve the prognosis of certain cancers.

US drug company Novacea has produced a pill which delivers a concentrated dose of the vitamin without running the risk of side-effects from an overdose.

Chemistry and Industry magazine reports that if clinical trials of the drug - Asentar (DN-101) - are successful it could be available by 2009 //

Data shows that rates of prostate cancer are higher in countries further away from the equator, where there is less exposure to sunlight.

Taking lots of multivitamins may increase the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.
Their study showed taking multivitamins more than seven times a week was associated with an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer. //

Experts advised men to eat a healthy diet to reduce their risk of cancer.

The findings, based on data on nearly 300,000 men, indicated the risk of advanced prostate cancer is 32% higher in men who take multivitamins more than once a day than in those who do not take them at all.

Risk of fatal prostate cancer was almost double. //

In an accompanying editorial, European researchers said a high intake of fruit and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. //

There has been a lot of research into antioxidants such as vitamin C and E because it is believed they may protect cells against damage.

However, some analyses have suggested that beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E supplements may shorten life rather than extend it. //

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. It kills one man every hour in the UK.

The government admits the evidence for using masks in schools to reduce spread of Covid is "not conclusive".

The uncertainty is acknowledged in a review used by ministers in England to make their decision to introduce face coverings in classrooms.

The government's own study in the autumn did not provide proof of a statistically significant impact.

The evidence review says other studies have provided mixed results, but taken together suggest they may help.

"An N95 is more protective because it has a better face seal in general than a KN95 or a KF94," explains Aaron Collins, a mechanical engineer with a background in aerosols science. He's also known as the Mask Nerd because he's been testing hundreds of masks over the last year and a half. (You can explore a master spreadsheet of his results here.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M0mdNLpTWEGcluK6hh5LjjcFixwmOG853Ff45d3O-L0/edit?usp=sharing //

N95s are strapped to your head with a headband, which gives them a snug fit – and with masks, a tight fit is key to better protection. In its new guidance, the CDC notes that N95s and other NIOSH-approved respirators are the most protective options.

By contrast, both KF94s and KN95s attach with ear loops, which many people find more comfortable but don't seal quite as tightly to your face. //

N95s are made to U.S. government standards put out by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and are rigorously tested, so they're a reliable choice. KF94 is a South Korean standard, and they're regulated by the Korean government. "Every [KF94] I've tested so far has been extremely high performing," Collins says.

KN95 is a Chinese respirator standard, but these respirators aren't strictly regulated by the Chinese government, according to both Collins and Anne Miller of Project N95, a nonprofit organization that connects consumers with legitimate masks and other PPE. While you can find some good KN95s (the ones made by Powecom have done well in tests), low-quality or outright fake KN95s have been a problem throughout the pandemic. //

Can I re-use an N95 or other respirator?
Yes, though Miller advises following the "brown bag decontamination method." Basically, if you need to wear a respirator all day for your job, at the end of the day, put it in a brown paper bag or hang it up in a cool, dry place. The idea is to let it rest for five days so any viral particles trapped on it can die off. Label the bags Monday mask, Tuesday mask, etc. The CDC advises reusing an N95 respirator no more than five times. (Health workers shouldn't reuse them.) Using this guideline, a rotation of just five respirators could last you 25 days, Miller notes.

What if you only don an N95 for a quick trip to the store every now and then? Then think about your respirator's total lifespan being about 40 hours of use, Miller advises – the equivalent of five eight-hour days. If the respirator is dirty or getting harder to breathe through, or the straps have gotten stretched out, it's time to toss it out.

Space anemia is tied to being in the void and can stick around awhile

Space isn’t easy on humans. Some aspects are avoidable—the vacuum, of course, and the cold, as well as some of the radiation. Astronauts can also lose bone density, thanks to a lack of gravity. NASA has even created a fun acronym for the issues: RIDGE, which stands for space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, gravity fields, and hostile and closed environments.

New research adds to the worries by describing how being in space destroys your blood. Or rather, something about space—and we don’t know what just yet—causes the human body to perform hemolysis at a higher rate than back on Earth. //

The team’s results showed that in space, the astronauts’ bodies destroyed around 3 million red blood cells every second. This is 54 percent higher than what happens in human bodies on Earth, where the rate is 2 million every second. //

It’s also uncertain how long a person in space can continue to destroy 54 percent more red blood cells than their Earth-bound kin. “We don’t have data beyond six months. There’s a knowledge gap for longer missions, for one-year missions, or missions to the Moon or Mars or other bodies,” he said.

Considering the looming possibility (or reality, if you’re a billionaire or aging Star Trek actor) of space tourism, Trudel’s research could pose a warning for some would-be space-farers. People with heart problems, angina, abnormal hemoglobin levels, or a propensity for blood clots might be at risk for complications out in the void, he said. The work may also help us learn about space injuries—a body’s ability to heal a cut might be affected by this shift in red blood cells.

Transplant is "compassionate use" rather than part of a clinical trial.

On Monday, the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced that its staff had completed the first transplant of a pig's heart into a human. The patient who received the heart had end-stage heart disease and was too sick to qualify for the standard transplant list. Three days after the procedure, the patient was still alive.

The idea of using non-human organs as replacements for damaged human ones—called xenotransplantation—has a long history, inspired by the fact that there are more people on organ waiting lists than there are donors. And in recent years, our ability to do targeted gene editing has motivated researchers to start genetically modifying pigs in order to make them better donors. But the recent surgery wasn't part of a clinical trial, so it shouldn't be viewed as an indication that this approach is ready for widespread safety and efficacy testing.

Instead, the surgery was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration under its "compassionate use" access program, which allows patients facing life-threatening illnesses to receive investigational treatments that haven't gone through rigorous clinical testing yet.

The heart used for this transplant did come from a genetically modified line that was specifically engineered to reduce the chance of rejection by the human immune system. //

I hope he gets his pilot's license.

Sooo... who gets the donor's bacon?

Glad a pig was able to save this guy's bacon!

People who receive a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination are shown to be well protected against the omicron variant, a South African study found.

Research from the South African Medical Research Council found that levels of protection against COVID-19 rose in the following weeks after receiving the booster, even after the surge of the easily transmissible omicron variant.

After a booster dose was given to those who previously received the J&J vaccine, it was shown to prevent 85 percent of hospitalizations in those who had received the second jab one to two months ago, an increase from 63 percent for those who had got their booster within the past two weeks.

Vaccine effectiveness against hospital admission in South African health care workers who received a homologous booster of Ad26.COV2 during an Omicron COVID19 wave: Preliminary Results of the Sisonke 2 Study //

People who receive a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination are shown to be well protected against the omicron variant, a South African study found.

Research from the South African Medical Research Council found that levels of protection against COVID-19 rose in the following weeks after receiving the booster, even after the surge of the easily transmissible omicron variant.

After a booster dose was given to those who previously received the J&J vaccine, it was shown to prevent 85 percent of hospitalizations in those who had received the second jab one to two months ago, an increase from 63 percent for those who had got their booster within the past two weeks.

https://news.yahoo.com/johnson-johnson-booster-offers-strong-125556832.html

Coffee is very chemically complex; its different components affect us in different ways.

You’ve probably heard it before: drinking coffee is good for your health. Studies have shown that drinking a moderate amount of coffee is associated with many health benefits, including a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But while these associations have been demonstrated many times, they don’t actually prove that coffee reduces disease risk. In fact, proving that coffee is good for your health is complicated.

While it’s suggested that consuming three to five cups of coffee a day will provide optimal health benefits, it’s not quite that straightforward. Coffee is chemically complex, containing many components that can affect your health in different ways.

Noah Rothman
@NoahCRothman
Wow. “The pandemic is potentially driving another national crisis related to its effects on behavioral health, with people experiencing new or exacerbated behavioral health symptoms or conditions.”
Perspective | The pandemic could drive another national health crisis, GAO warns: covid-19 anxiety
washingtonpost.com //

According to the experts Gueren interviewed for her article, she wrote, and the “limited research we have so far, the COVID-19 pandemic has come with a unique set of factors that can certainly fuel health anxiety in people”—particularly people who are already susceptible to the virus.

Josh Spitalnick, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and CEO of Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta, told Health:

People who are having real medical and/or physical symptoms and they’re terrified about what they might mean—that’s typically understood as somatic symptom disorder.

And then there are people who worry about just getting a disease — getting COVID, getting cancer, having a stroke—where there’s no real physical or medical symptoms. //

“The worry that we have for health anxiety is productive at the beginning,” said Spitalnick, “which only each person can individually measure, but increasing becomes ‘not healthy.'”

And that place, RedStaters, is exactly where Biden, Fauci, and the Democrat Party want you to live–in the land of the not mentally healthy. Why?

Because people who are afraid of something, particularly irrationally so, are more susceptible to listening to advice about that “something” from “experts” and “leaders” who profess to know what they’re talking about—even when said advice is consistently wrong.

Chiari Malformation is a serious neurological disorder where the bottom part of the brain, the cerebellum, descends out of the skull and crowds the spinal cord, putting pressure on both the brain and spine and causing many symptoms.

JERUSALEM, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Israeli researchers said on Saturday they found that a three-shot course of the Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccine provided significant protection against the new Omicron variant.

The findings were similar to those presented by BioNTech and Pfizer earlier in the week, which were an early signal that booster shots could be key to protect against infection from the newly identified variant.

The study, carried out by Sheba Medical Center and the Health Ministry's Central Virology Laboratory, compared the blood of 20 people who had received two vaccine doses 5-6 months earlier to the same number of individuals who had received a booster a month before.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) VigiAccess database lists adverse reactions (ADRs) reported by people after taking a drug or vaccine. It does not confirm that medicinal products or their active ingredients caused any observed symptoms. //

The Facebook user who shared the graph says: “So would you rather take the WHO drug that has just over 5,000 adverse events reported over 20 years or the one the WHO reports has had nearly 2,500,000 adverse events reported in less than 2 years? Asking for a friend… #AxTheVax #MedicalFreedom #WeWillNotComply”

The “WHO drug” they are referring to is ivermectin, which has been written about in numerous previous fact checks //

Firstly, ivermectin is not a “WHO drug” – //

Secondly, although the figures collated in the chart appear to be accurate as of the date it was created (Nov. 12, 2021), VigiAccess data – a web-based tool for searching the WHO’s global database (VigiBase) – only shows potential side effects that have been reported to its Programme for International Drug Monitoring (WHO PIDM) (see the FAQ section www.vigiaccess.org ).

A WHO spokesperson told Reuters in an email: “Information in VigiAccess on potential side effects should not be interpreted as meaning that the medicinal product or its active substance either caused the observed effect or is unsafe to use. Confirming a causal link is a complex process that requires a thorough scientific assessment and detailed evaluation of all available data. The information on this website, therefore, does not reflect any confirmed link between a medicinal product and a side effect.”

They added: “VigiAccess cannot be used to compare the safety profiles of different medicinal products… and VigiAccess cannot provide sufficient context to make such comparisons possible.”

Vagus Nerve Acupuncture for Dysautonomia / POTS Relief
The Vagus nerve point is one of the most potent acupuncture points to use when treating people who have the challenge of managing dysautonomia and is therefore included in our acupuncture POTS protocol. The Vagus nerve is the longest, cranial “wandering” nerve that covers the heart and innervates most major organs, impacting the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, respiratory, and digestive systems. The Vagus nerve also impacts the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.

People inoculated against Covid-19 are just as likely to spread the delta variant of the virus to contacts in their household as those who haven’t had shots, according to new research.

In a yearlong study of 621 people in the U.K. with mild Covid-19, scientists found that their peak viral load was similar regardless of vaccination status, according to a paper published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. The analysis also found that 25% of vaccinated household contacts still contracted the disease from an index case, while 38% of those who hadn’t had shots became infected.

The results go some way toward explaining why the delta variant is so infectious even in nations with successful vaccine rollouts, and why the unvaccinated can’t assume they are protected because others have had shots. Those who were inoculated cleared the virus more quickly and had milder cases, while unvaccinated household members were more likely to suffer from severe disease and hospitalization. //

“Our findings show that vaccination alone is not enough to prevent people from being infected with the delta variant and spreading it in household settings,” said Ajit Lalvani, a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London who co-led the study. “The ongoing transmission we are seeing between vaccinated people makes it essential for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated to protect themselves.”

Vaccination reduces the risk of delta variant infection and accelerates viral clearance. Nonetheless, fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can efficiently transmit infection in household settings, including to fully vaccinated contacts. Host–virus interactions early in infection may shape the entire viral trajectory.

While many children who do catch COVID have few to no symptoms, those with underlying health conditions may be at increased risk of severe illness. //

Taiwan has temporarily suspended giving second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to children and adolescents between 12 and 17 years over concerns from the risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the outer lining of the heart), according to media reports. //

In Norway, which is not part of the EU, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for those aged 12 to 15. But health authorities have paused the rollout of second doses, partly due to a rare side effect linked to heart inflammation. //

Since the beginning of the pandemic, children represented 16.9 percent of all confirmed cases, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In the week ending November 18, children made up 25.1 percent of reported cases. Children make up 22.2 percent of the US population.

According to Michael Weinrauch, MD, a New Jersey-based cardiologist, the bottom line is that even the smallest neighborhood loop can have an immense impact on your health and well-being. “The take home point here is that even 15 minutes a day of walking, without stopping, provides benefit with regards to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,” he says. Morbidity refers to illness or disease, while mortality refers to death. Research has associated 15 minutes of activity with a 22 percent lower risk of death (mortality), and walking with a 43 percent reduced risk in stroke and reduction the risk factors of heart attack (morbidity), regardless of how fast your heart is beating. “Keep in mind, most of the research that has been done on the benefits of walking have been done without monitoring heart rates during physical activity. Remember, the Fitbit and smart watch apps are still actually a relatively new phenomenon,” adds Dr. Weinrauch. Long story, short: The morbidity and mortality benefits of walking seem to occur regardless of your heart’s beats per minute (BPMs).