High Sugar Intake Associated with Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers at Rush University followed 837 patients with 19 different tests for memory and other brain functions. They found that higher consumption of foods and drinks with added sugars was associated with greater loss of ability to recognize objects and remember facts, and with greater risk for developing dementia.
How Your Diet Affects Your Blood Pressure
Extensive recent research shows that high blood pressure is associated with having specific harmful bacteria in your colon, and that reducing harmful colon bacteria and increasing healthful ones can help to control high blood pressure. You can do this primarily by eating an anti-inflammatory diet, as well as by exercising regularly, losing excess weight, and avoiding smoke and alcohol.
Masks Do Not Block Breathing
Researchers showed that “wearing a surgical face mask did not cause gas exchange abnormalities in healthy adults or even in adults with lung function impairment”. The authors measured carbon dioxide exchange and oxygen saturation before and after wearing a surgical mask in physicians with healthy lungs and in people with severe chronic obstructive lung disease.
Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle to Treat Many Diseases
Many types of arthritis are believed to be caused by inflammation, where a person’s own immune system attacks and damages joints and other tissues in the body. An anti-inflammatory diet may help to control arthritis ) as well as giving its well-established benefit of helping to prevent heart attacks.
Almost All U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths Are Now In Unvaccinated People
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths shows that of more than 18,000 people who died from COVID-19 in May 2021, only 150 deaths occurred in fully vaccinated people. That's less than one percent.
Chronic Constipation
The first-line treatment for chronic constipation is to eat lots of foods that are full of fiber such as fruits and vegetables, to severely restrict processed foods, particularly those made from refined carbohydrates (bakery products, pastas and many dry breakfast cereals), and to exercise. If these lifestyle changes do not solve your problem, you may benefit temporarily by taking over-the-counter laxatives
Dementia May Be Preventable
The American Heart Association has published a scientific statement on “Harnessing Healthy Behaviors to Prevent Dementia” (Stroke, Mar 15, 2021:52(6A);52:e295–e308). They report that dementia is associated with the following modifiable risk factors: depression, all heart attack risk factors, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, an inflammatory diet, smoking, social isolation, excessive alcohol use, sleep disorders and hearing loss.
Arthritis and Colon Bacteria
A study of 1,388 women with hand arthritis, average age 61, showed that they had higher levels in their colons of the bacteria Bilophila and Desulfovibrio that try to invade their colon cells, as well as a lower level of the genus Roseburia that do not invade colon cells. An anti-inflammatory lifestyle has been shown to help grow healthful bacteria in your colon, which can help to treat arthritis.
Treating Type II Diabetes and High Blood Pressure with Diet
Type II Diabetes shortens lives by causing high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. Diabetics in the DIRECT study in Scotland, who followed a strict 800-calorie-per-day diet and lost a lot of weight, were also able to lower their high blood pressure.
Routine CT Scans Can Increase Cancer Risk
More than 80 million CT scans are done in the U.S. each year to help diagnose many medical conditions. In 2007, the National Cancer Institute predicted that 29,000 future cancer cases could be linked to the CT scans performed in the U.S. in that year alone, and doctors have ordered more CT scans every year since then.
High-Plant, Low-Salt Diet to Lower Blood Pressure
High blood pressure affects 108 million adults, increasing risk for heart attacks, the leading cause of death in the United States. A Harvard study of 412 adults found that a low-salt version of the DASH diet dramatically lowered both high blood pressure and markers of heart muscle damage in just four weeks
Jim Allison’s Nobel Prize: Toward a Cure for Cancer
In August 2015, the world learned that former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s melanoma skin cancer had spread to his liver and his brain. Patients with melanoma that had spread through their bodies were expected to die from their disease, but doctors radiated Carter's tumors and then gave him Keytruda, a check point inhibitor. Three months later, there was no evidence of cancer in his 91-year old body.
Risk Factors for Dementia and Heart Attacks Start Early in Life
Researchers in Finland followed 3,596 children (3-18) for 31 years to see whether cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and adolescence were associated with cognitive performance later in life. Cognitive testing was performed in 2,026 of the participants at 34-49 years of age, and the researchers found that early heart attack risk factors were also major risk factors for reduced mental function.
Muscle Pain While Taking Statins for High Cholesterol
More than one hundred million North Americans have taken statin drugs that help to save lives by lowering cholesterol and preventing heart attacks. Ten to 20 percent of people who take statins have been reported to have suffered muscle pain, but a recent study from the UK claims to show that statins are no more likely than a placebo to cause muscle pain.
COVID-19 Update – Vaccines Are Very Effective
An Israeli study followed 596,618 people who were newly vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine during a six-week period from December 20, 2020, to February 1, 2021, and a matched group of the same number of unvaccinated controls. The researchers found that the vaccine offered a high degree of protection, similar to the results shown in the clinical trials.
Excess Belly Fat Increases Heart Attack Risk Even If You Are Not Overweight
The American Heart Association (AHA) reports that a high waist circumference among individuals with normal weight appears to be a more reliable predictor of risk for heart attacks than just being overweight. The AHA recommends using the ratio of waist circumference to body height or the waist-to-hip ratio to warn about increased heart attack risk.
Lack of Sleep Linked to Risk for Dementia
Researchers in the Whitehall Study followed 7959 British men and women for 30 years, with data on their sleep habits collected at ages 50, 60 and 70. They found that those who slept six hours or less per night had a 30 percent increased risk for dementia, compared with those who slept seven hours or more.
Treatable Risk Factors for Severe COVID-19
Don't believe the claims made for nutritional products that are supposed to boost your immunity and protect you from infections, unless you suffer from a specific medical condition or deficiency that can be corrected by that product. The current evidence shows that you are at increased risk for infection with, and severity of, COVID-19 if you have a medical condition that interferes with your immune system such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and so forth.
Sunscreens and Sun Protection
Sunscreens help to prevent sunburns and skin cancers because they actually block the ultraviolet rays of the sun that damage the skin. However, some sunscreens are safe, while others may not be safe.
COVID-19 Precautions May Affect Other Respiratory Infections in the Future
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that we may need to continue social distancing and hand washing for years to come. The significant reduction in non-COVID-19 respiratory infections this year could decrease the number of people who are immune to other respiratory viruses, and increase the frequency and severity of other respiratory infections in the future.
Guidelines for COVID-19 Fully Vaccinated People
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released recommendations for fully vaccinated people who are two weeks past their second injection of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, or have had the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As of March 8, 2021, more than 31 million people (9.4 percent of the U.S. population) had completed these vaccines.
Prostate Cancer and Heart Attacks Share Lifestyle Factors
A study of 90,494 U.S. veterans with prostate cancer found that more than half suffered from uncontrolled risk factors for heart attacks. Men who suffer from prostate cancer have a very high rate of heart attack risk factors and heart disease.
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine Approved
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the U.S., and millions of doses are now being shipped. We already have mass immunizations underway with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which look better and better as we keep getting new reports of their benefits and minimal side effects.
Gut Bacteria and Colon Cancer Risk Factors
A review of 45 prospective studies found that risk for suffering colon cancer is increased by drinking alcohol and eating red meat, and decreased by eating more fiber and yogurt. More than 1.3 million North Americans have had colorectal cancer, a disease associated with lifestyle factors that cause bad bacteria to thrive in your colon.
Omega-3’s from Fish and Plants Help to Prevent Heart Attacks
People who had higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids at the time of a heart attack were far less likely to die or to have repeat heart attacks within three years, compared to those who had lower levels. The sources of omega-3s in the 944 heart attack patients in this study included both fish and plants.
People Who Have Had COVID-19 Are Protected for Three Months, Probably More
Two studies suggest that you can get long-term immunity after being infected with COVID-19. People who previously had COVID-19 have high protective antibody titers for at least three months, and at six months still had persistent parts of the COVID-19 virus in their intestines that continued to cause high protection antibodies.
Messenger RNA May Help to Beat Cancer
The two currently-approved COVID-19 vaccines use a technique called messenger RNA (mRNA) that could lead to cures for cancer and many other diseases.
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine is Coming
The soon to be approved vaccine for COVID-19 from Johnson & Johnson requires just one injection, instead of the two required for the previously-approved vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. The J&J vaccine can be stored with ordinary refrigeration and does not need the extremely cold storage required for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Can Be Delayed if Necessary
Many people are worried that they may not receive their second dose of the vaccine on schedule because of delayed deliveries of the vaccine, or because of suggestions that the scheduled second doses of the vaccines should be given as a first dose to others so that more people can be immunized.
Two New COVID-19 Vaccines Coming Soon
The Pfizer\BioNTech and Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines are already available for some people. They require two injections and look better all the time, with very few serious reactions so far and good antibody response for prevention of COVID-19. Two more vaccines appear ready to be available soon for public immunization.
