America Is Stabbing Itself in the Back

America’s Soup-Brained President Says The US Never Interferes In Other Countries’ Elections

Heat wave scorches the U.S. West: 50 million people under warnings

VIDEOS

1. Are the Covid-19 vaccines “safe and effective”?  A video presentation by Steve Kirsch, Executive Director of the Covid-19 Early Treatment Fund. 7 mins

2. Gravitas: Caught On Camera: Bats locked up inside the Wuhan lab

3. The Horror of Teaching Critical Race Theory to Kids

STATUS OF COVID VACCINE INJURIES AND DEATHS

EU Eudra Vigilance database

1,354,336 injuries

13,867 deaths

Pfizer 6,732 – Deaths categorized as “General Disorders” 2,072  of 140,500 total injuries

Moderna 3,821 – Deaths categorized as “General Disorders” 1,646 of 28,000 total injuries

AstraZeneca 2,848 – Deaths categorized as “General Disorders” 769 of 195,600 total injuries

UK Yellow Card System

922,596 injuries

1,295 deaths – over half from AZ – 863

US

329,021 injuries

5,888 deaths  1.79% of injuries

5,884 life threatening cases

19,554 hospitalizations

EU – just over 300 million – 2 days ago

UK — 71 million

US – 368 million

If we base the ratio of deaths per number of vaccines administered in the EU to the US . then the real number should 17,000 deaths

Vioxx – was on market for 5 years – contributed to 60,000 deaths

These vaccines only on market for 6 months

REVIEW OF REPURPOSED DRUG STUDIES AGAINST COVID

Ivermectin

97 studies

61 trials involving 19,000 patients

31 randomized controlled – 64% improvement

85% improvement as prophylaxis

76% improvement early stage

46% improvement in late sage

only 2 trials that report negative

HCQ

307 studies – 227 peer reviewed

257 trials  — 384,700 patients

66  early treatment

75% early  treatment to prevent mortality

22% late

54 studies are negative

Fluvoxamine

6 studies

88% improvement – late stage

one study 93%

Vtimain D

85 studies

58 sufficiency studies with 32, 000 patients

27 treatment studies 25,000 patients

56% improvement

5-povidone-iodine (betadine)

20 studies

82% early treatment

Bromhexine – used to reduce abnormal mucus secretion by activating epithelium

6 studies

range between 90-38 percent

6 Bamlanivimab

8 studies

75% early treatment

18% late treatment

Regeneron – casirivimab

8 studies

68% early treatment – Regeneron studies report higher

6-12% late treatment

Colchicine

10 studies

43% late treatment – 4 studies 72% and higher

Early treatment

Proxalutamide a non-steroidal anti-androgenic drug invented by a Chinese company – 92% early and 91% late – only 3 studies

Fluvoxamine – 89%

All studies combined for Remdesiveir is only 24% effective

Having a strong life purpose eases loneliness of COVID-19 isolation

Those who felt their life was guided by meaningful values or goals were more willing to engage in COVID-19 protective behaviors

University of Pennsylvania, June 16, 2021

Why can some people weather the stress of social isolation better than others, and what implications does this have for their health? New research from the Communication Neuroscience Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania found that people who felt a strong sense of purpose in life were less lonely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Did they achieve less loneliness by flouting public health guidance? No. Although lonelier people were less likely to want to follow public health guidance, people with a stronger sense of purpose also expressed more willingness to engage in social distancing, hand washing, and other COVID-19 protective behaviors.

Purpose in life, or a sense that your life is guided by personally meaningful values and goals — which could involve family ties, religion, activism, parenthood, career or artistic ambitions, or many other things — has been associated in prior research with a wide range of positive health outcomes, both physical and psychological.

“In the face of adversity, people with a stronger sense of purpose in life tend to be more resilient because they have a clear sense of goals that motivate actions that are aligned with personal values,” says Yoona Kang, Ph.D., lead author and a Research Director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab. “People with strong purpose may also experience less conflict when making health decisions. We felt that the COVID-19 pandemic was an important context to test whether purpose in life relates to individuals’ willingness to engage in behaviors to protect themselves and others.”

Based on their prior research, Kang and her collaborators expected that people with higher sense of purpose would be more likely to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors than individuals with a lower sense of purpose. In order to test their theory, the researchers surveyed more than 500 adult participants to capture their levels of purpose in life, their current and pre-pandemic levels of loneliness, and the degrees to which they intended to engage in behaviors known to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

They found that higher levels of loneliness made people be less focused on protecting themselves from COVID-19, and more skeptical that behaviors to prevent COVID-19 would be effective. However, having a stronger sense of purpose was associated with lower levels of loneliness and a greater desire to take action to protect themselves from COVID-19. Those with a higher sense of purpose also expressed a stronger belief that COVID-19 prevention behaviors would work. Even when people who had a strong sense of purpose did report being lonely, they still felt strongly about taking precautions to prevent COVID-19.

“When faced with extreme loneliness and social isolation, like during the COVID-19 pandemic, wanting to connect with other people, despite the health risks, is a natural response,” Kang says. “And yet, amidst this drastic shift in social life, we found that people with a higher sense of purpose were more likely to engage in prevention behaviors. This is striking because it shows that purpose in life can empower people to make life-saving health decisions that protect their own health and those around them.”

Additionally, the researchers found that older people expressed less loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic than younger people. Kang sees this as a sign of the resilience of older adults, and she hopes to further study how to enhance purpose in life and resilience in aging populations.

“Having a stronger sense of purpose was associated with really important, positive outcomes across the lifespan,” says Emily Falk, senior author, Director of the Communication Neuroscience Lab, and Professor of Communication, Psychology, and Marketing. “Our upcoming work will test interventions to increase their sense of purpose, in hopes of bringing these benefits to more people.

Higher dose of DHA associated with lower early preterm birth rate

University of Kansas Medical Center, May 24, 2021

Women taking 1,000 mg of docosohexanoic acid (DHA) daily in the last half of pregnancy had a lower rate of early preterm birth than women who took the standard 200 mg dose, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Women who entered the study with the lowest DHA level had the greatest reduction in early preterm birth, which is birth before 34 weeks of pregnancy and which increases the risk of infant death and disability.

The study was conducted by Susan E. Carlson, Ph.D., at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, and colleagues. It appears in EClinicalMedicine. Funding was provided by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Previous studies on DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids, which are nutrients found in fish and eggs and supplements like algal oil, and their possible effects on the rate of early preterm birth have been inconclusive and have not identified a specific type or dose of omega-3 fatty acids.

Researchers enrolled nearly 1,100 women and compared the early preterm birth rate of women given 1,000 mg of DHA to those given 200 mg. Overall, 1.7% of women in the high dose group delivered early preterm compared to 2.4% in the standard dose group. Women in the high dose group with low DHA levels at study entry had the greatest reduction in early preterm birth (2% rate, compared to a 4.1% rate for those with low DHA levels on the standard dose). Among women who had high DHA levels at study entry, the rate of early preterm birth was low and did not differ by dose (1.4% vs. 1.1%). The authors called for screening DHA levels in pregnancy so that women with low levels could consider taking a higher daily dose.

Compounds derived from hops show promise as treatment for common liver disease

Oregon State University, June 17, 2021

Research by Oregon State University suggests a pair of compounds originating from hops can help thwart a dangerous buildup of fat in the liver known as hepatic steatosis.

The findings, published today in eLife, are important because the condition affects roughly one-fourth of people in the United States and Europe. While heavy drinking is often associated with liver problems, people with little or no history of alcohol use comprise that 25%, which is why their illness is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD.

Resistance to insulin, the hormone that helps control blood sugar levels, is a risk factor for NAFLD, as are obesity, a high-fat diet and elevated levels of fat in the blood. The liver helps the body process nutrients and also acts as a filter for the circulatory system, and too much fat in the liver can lead to inflammation and liver failure.

In a mouse-model study, Oregon State researchers led by Adrian Gombart showed that the compounds xanthohumol and tetrahydroxanthohumol, abbreviated to XN and TXN, can mitigate diet-induced accumulation of fat in the liver.

XN is a prenylated flavonoid produced by hops, the plant that gives beer its flavor and color, and TXN is a hydrogenated derivative of XN.

In the study, 60 mice were randomly assigned to one of five groups – low-fat diet, high-fat diet, high-fat diet supplemented by XN, high-fat diet supplemented by more XN, and high-fat diet supplemented by TXN.

The scientists found that TXN helped put the brakes on the weight gain associated with a high-fat diet and also helped stabilize blood sugar levels, both factors in thwarting the buildup of fat in the liver.

“We demonstrated that TXN was very effective in suppressing the development and progression of hepatic steatosis caused by diet,” said Gombart, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the OSU College of Science and a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute. “TXN appeared to be more effective than XN perhaps because significantly higher levels of TXN are able to accumulate in the liver, but XN can slow progression of the condition as well, at the higher dose.”

The mechanism behind the compounds’ effectiveness involves PPARγ, a nuclear receptor protein – one that regulates gene expression. PPARγ controls glucose metabolism and the storage of fatty acids, and the genes it activates stimulate the creation of fat cells from stem cells.

XN and TXN act as “antagonists” for PPARγ – they bind to the protein without sending it into action, unlike a PPARγ agonist, which would activate it as well as bind to it. The upshot of antagonism in this case is less fat collecting in the liver.

“Activated PPAR? in liver stimulates storage of lipids and our data suggest that XN and TXN block activation and greatly reduce expression of the genes the promote lipid storage in the liver,” Gombart elaborated. “These findings are consistent with studies that show weaker PPARγ agonists are more effective at treating hepatic steatosis than strong agonists. In other words, lower PPARγ activation in the liver may be beneficial.”

TXN was better at accumulating in the liver than XN, which may explain why it was more effective in reducing lipids, but the difference in tissue accumulation is not fully understood.

“It may be because XN is metabolized by the host and its gut microbiota more than TXN is, but additional studies are needed to figure that out,” Gombart said. “Also, while XN and TXN are effective preventative approaches in rodents, future studies need to determine if the compounds can treat existing obesity in humans. But our findings suggest antagonism of PPARγ in the liver is a logical approach to prevent and treat diet-induced liver steatosis and related metabolic disorders, and they support further development of XN and TXN as low-cost therapeutic compounds.”

Kidney stones can be avoided by drinking lemonade

University of California San Diego, June 16, 2021

The pain of passing a kidney stone has been described as on par with natural childbirth. However, urologists are increasingly prescribing an accessible natural remedy for kidney stones: lemonade.

Citric acid-rich lemon juice in the form of lemonade has proven highly effective in preventing kidney stones or slowing their formation substantially. Medical professionals like Roger L. Sur, MD, director of UC San Diego Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center and Steven Y. Nakada, chair and professor of urology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison advocate lemonade therapy as an alternative to taking medications or supplements for the painful condition.

Passing a kidney stone is experienced as an excruciating pain in the flank and lower back. Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and blood in the urine are also possible symptoms of kidney stones. In addition, important to note, the presence of a fever indicates a likely blood infection – which can be life-threatening.

People experiencing kidney stones or who are prone to them are often prescribed potassium citrate in supplement form. However, lemons and lemon juice contain the highest concentrations of natural citrate, making lemonade therapy an excellent alternative.

A study out of the Duke University Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center tracked 12 patients with kidney stones who were on lemonade therapy for as long as four years. They all showed a decrease in the levels and growth of kidney stones throughout the time they were on the citrus therapy.

By the way, none of the participants required a medical intervention for kidney stones during the study period.

Drinking lemonade also causes kidney stone patients to drink more water, which has a positive cleansing effect on the kidneys. Physicians recommend passing 1.5 to 2 liters of fluids each day to help reduce kidney stones. And, yes, taking a citrate supplement can have the same effect.

Kidney stones are formed when the urine becomes concentrated with stone-forming salts and has a deficit of stone-preventing substances such as citrate. Restoring citrate levels is key to addressing the problem of kidney stones, and a natural source of lemonade can offer a refreshingly effective way to address the citrate deficit.

The ideal blend of lemon juice and water for lemonade therapy is approximately ½ cup lemon juice to 7 cups water. A small amount of natural sweetener like, honey or stevia can be added for flavor.

And, while lemonade therapy is often highly effective for anyone suffering with kidney stones, it is also important to adjust the diet to reduce the formation of future stones. For example, avoid the intake of processed (denatured) table salt and meats.

In general, be careful not to eat too much protein and, of course, stay well hydrated by eating a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables daily. Remember, the development of kidney stones is a result of lifestyle decisions. Start making healthy choices today.

Uncovering how low-protein diets might reprogram metabolism

University of Wisconsin, June 11, 2021

In 2014, Dudley Lamming was reading a study out of Australia that looked at how mice responded to dozens of controlled diets when one thing caught his attention: The mice fed the least amount of protein were the healthiest.

“That was really interesting, because it goes against a lot of health information that people get,” says Lamming, a metabolism researcher in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Since then, Lamming and graduate students in his laboratory have been trying to answer the question the Australian study raised: Why would low-protein diets make animals healthier?

They have discovered a little-known but robust pattern across both animal models and humans. Diets high in the three branched chain amino acids, BCAAs, are associated with diabetes, obesity and other metabolic illnesses. Conversely, diets low in BCAAs can counter these metabolic ailments and even extend the healthy lifespan of rodents.

It’s not yet entirely clear just how BCAAs control metabolism, although restricting them seems to encourage faster metabolisms and healthier blood sugar control. And due to the immense complexity of diet-related research in humans, the full effects of BCAA restriction in people aren’t yet known.

But the line of research provides an intriguing new way to think about what we eat. Because studies are showing that low-protein diets reprogram metabolism even when animals eat the same—or more—calories.

“There’s a growing realization that a calorie is not just a calorie, that a calorie has implications beyond just its caloric content,” says Lamming. “What our research is showing is that protein calories are not the same as other calories.”

Less is more

Scientific evidence about the benefits of both calorie restriction and protein restriction extends back almost a century, and the field has grown in recent years. In 2009, UW–Madison researchers showed that rhesus monkeys on a long-term calorie-restricted diet lived longer. Studies in other animals have demonstrated similar results.

Protein-restricted diets have received less fanfare. But there is evidence that many of the benefits of calorie restriction can be accomplished just by limiting protein intake. Those benefits persist even when animals eat as much as they want.

In a pair of studies published earlier this year, Lamming and his colleagues, including graduate students Nicole Richardson and Deyang Yu, zeroed in on branched chain amino acid restriction in particular. BCAAs make up three of the nine essential amino acids, which humans cannot make on their own and must eat. As their name suggests, their chemical structures contain tree-like branches.

In one set of experiments published in January, Richardson tested a diet in mice that contained just one-third the normal amount of BCAAs. It wasn’t a calorie-restricted diet; the animals could eat as much as they wanted.

Male mice who ate the diet their entire lives lived about 30% longer on average—roughly eight more months. It’s not clear why female mice didn’t seem to benefit, though other research suggests female mice may need a slightly different diet to see benefits from reduced BCAA consumption.

The sex differences “were very surprising to us,” says Lamming. “Almost all past research was done on male mice. It points to the importance of doing these studies in both sexes.”

Male mice, though, showed reduced activity of a biochemical pathway known as mTOR, which is activated by BCAAs. Many experiments have shown that treatments that reduce mTOR activity tend to improve metabolic health and increase longevity.

In another paper, published in May, Yu and Richardson drilled down even further. They asked if the three individual BCAAs—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—had unique effects in the body, or if they all acted similarly.

“What we found is that isoleucine restriction has by far the most potent effect,” says Lamming. Mice fed low-isoleucine diets were leaner and demonstrated healthier blood sugar metabolism. Valine-restricted diets had similar, but weaker, effects. Reducing levels of leucine had no benefit and may even be detrimental.

To study how the three BCAAs affected obesity, the researchers provided mice with a so-called Western diet, which is high in both fat and sugar. After a few months on a Western diet, mice grow obese.

When Lamming’s group began feeding these obese mice a Western diet that was low in isoleucine, the mice began to eat more food but nonetheless lost weight. The weight loss was primarily caused by a faster metabolism, where the body burns more calories as heat while resting.

Turning to human health, the Lamming lab worked with SMPH population health professor Kristen Malecki and her colleagues to analyze the dietary diaries and weights of participants in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, a statewide public health study supported by the Wisconsin Partnership Program.

By calculating how many amino acids each person ate, they discovered that an increased intake of isoleucine was associated with a higher body mass index, which they had predicted based on the rodent studies.

Rethinking diet

Lamming recognizes the findings from his research are counterintuitive. A lot of modern diet advice recommends adding protein, not limiting it. Protein promotes a feeling of fullness, which can help people control their calories. And for athletes who are building and repairing muscle, these essential amino acids are, indeed, essential.

But with the majority of the U.S. population being overweight and sedentary, Lamming thinks there’s an opportunity to rethink diets. “Humans overall are not so good at long-term adherence to calorie-restricted diets,” he says. Yet evidence from animal models suggests that low-protein diets help shed fat even with normal caloric intake by reprogramming metabolism.

Plenty of questions remain, especially around low-protein diets in humans. The kinds of long-term, controlled diet studies that Lamming can do in rodents are nearly impossible to perform in people. But the Lamming lab and other groups are working to test low-BCAA diets in small human studies.

Even developing a realistic low-BCAA diet is difficult. Vegan diets are typically low in BCAAs, and animal proteins are high in them. But more nutritional research needs to be done, especially to create a low-isoleucine diet. And Americans typically eat far more protein than they need, so changing that habit might be hard.

“We’ve learned that the dietary composition of what you eat really matters for health span and longevity,” says Lamming. “And I think we’re on track to find a diet that people could adhere to without restricting calories, that would still enable them to live a long and healthy life.”

Vitamin E metabolite inhibits pro-inflammatory enzymes and induces apoptosis in human cancer cells

Purdue University, June 9, 2021

According to news reporting originating from West Lafayette, Indiana,research stated, “Vitamin E forms are substantially metabolized to various carboxychromanols including 13′-carboxychromanols (13′-COOHs) that are found at high levels in feces. However, there is limited knowledge about functions of these metabolites.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Purdue University, “Here we studied delta T-13′-COOH and delta TE-13′-COOH, which are metabolites of delta-tocopherol and delta-tocotrienol, respectively. delta TE-13′-COOH is also a natural constituent of a traditional medicine Garcinia Kola. Both 13′-COOHs are much stronger than tocopherols in inhibition of pro-inflammatory and cancer promoting cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and delta-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), and in induction of apoptosis and autophagy in colon cancer cells. The anticancer effects by 13′-COOHs appeared to be partially independent of inhibition of COX-2/5-LOX. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, we found that 13′-COOHs increased intracellular dihydrosphingosine and dihydroceramides after short-time incubation in HCT-116 cells, and enhanced ceramides while decreased sphingomyelins during prolonged treatment. Modulation of sphingolipids by 13′-COOHs was observed prior to or coinciding with biochemical manifestation of cell death. Pharmaceutically blocking the increase of these sphingolipids partially counteracted 13′-COOH-induced cell death. Further, 13′-COOH inhibited dihydroceramide desaturase without affecting the protein expression. In agreement with these mechanistic findings, delta TE-13′-COOH significantly suppressed the growth and multiplicity of colon tumor in mice.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our study demonstrates that 13′-COOHs have anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities, may contribute to in vivo anticancer effect of vitamin E forms and are promising novel cancer prevention agents.”