Health

Read more about the article The U.S. and U.K. Were the Two Best Prepared Nations to Tackle a Pandemic—What Went Wrong?
The U.S. and U.K. Were the Two Best Prepared Nations to Tackle a Pandemic

The U.S. and U.K. Were the Two Best Prepared Nations to Tackle a Pandemic—What Went Wrong?

By Gavin Yamey and Clare Wenham July 1, 2020 6:00 AM EDT Yamey is a physician and professor of global health and public policy at Duke University, where he directs the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health. Wenham is an assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, where she directs the master of science degree program in global health policy. On Oct. 24, 2019—45 days before the world’s first suspected case of COVID-19 was announced—a new “scorecard” was published called the Global Health Security Index. The scorecard ranked countries on how prepared they were to tackle a serious outbreak, based on a range of measures, including how quickly a country was likely to respond and how well its health care system would “treat the sick and protect health workers.” The U.S. was ranked first out of 195 nations, and the U.K. was ranked second.…

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Read more about the article Gavin Newsom Declares California a ‘Nation-State’
Gavin Newsom Declares California a ‘Nation-State’

Gavin Newsom Declares California a ‘Nation-State’

California this week declared its independence from the federal government’s feeble efforts to fight Covid-19 — and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and America’s budding 21st-century majority, embodied by California’s multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.

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That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief by Scott Berinato HBR Staff/d3sign/Getty Images We’ve made our coronavirus coverage free for all readers. To get all of HBR’s content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter. Some of the HBR edit staff met virtually the other day — a screen full of faces in a scene becoming more common everywhere. We talked about the content we’re commissioning in this harrowing time of a pandemic and how we can help people. But we also talked about how we were feeling. One colleague mentioned that what she felt was grief. Heads nodded in all the panes. If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it. We turned to David Kessler for ideas on how to do that. Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief. He co-wrote with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief…

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Read more about the article The Lunatic Farmer – Loneliness
The Lunatic Farmer

The Lunatic Farmer – Loneliness

January 31, 2020             A new study highlighted in the Wall Street Journal says loneliness is up:  61 percent of Americans say they're lonely.              Additionally, the study found a direct relationship between social media and loneliness.  The more social media usage, the higher the loneliness.              But I thought we were better connected through our devices.  These kinds of findings make me shake my head and marvel.  In case you're just tuning in, Teresa and I have no TV in our house.  Neither of us has a smart phone.  We have flip phones.  I don't do texting--at all.  My cell phone does not work in our house.  Even cordless landlines are dicey in our house.              I'm not lonely.  Is it possible to have device addiction?  Or to have interest addiction--like if someone doesn't express interest in me every 30 minutes, then apparently the world doesn't think I'm worth attention?             …

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Read more about the article Panic Attacks and Anxiety Episodes Linked to Vitamin Deficiencies in Groundbreaking Study
Panic Attacks and Anxiety Episodes Linked to Vitamin Deficiencies in Groundbreaking Study

Panic Attacks and Anxiety Episodes Linked to Vitamin Deficiencies in Groundbreaking Study

With approximately 40 million adults across the United States experiencing anxiety each year, scientists and researchers have dedicated their careers to trying to better understand this condition. Despite this work, we are still somewhat unclear on what actually causes this condition to occur. Characterized by feelings of nervousness and restlessness, increased heart rate, hyperventilation, sweating, trembling, difficulty concentrating and uncontrolled worry, it has the ability to impact every area of one’s life. There are many theories regarding the root cause of the condition, including genetics, brain chemistry, environmental factors or other medical factors and/or disease, however, nothing has been proven definitively. Instead, the scientific community continues to explore these leads further in the hope of an answer. One small study out of Japan may provide an important insight into the connection between nutritional deficiencies and mental health, revealing that low levels of vitamin B6 and iron may actually trigger the…

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Read more about the article ‘It makes me enjoy playing with the kids’: is microdosing mushrooms going mainstream?
Post Image Mushrooms Going Main Stream

‘It makes me enjoy playing with the kids’: is microdosing mushrooms going mainstream?

Before the school run, or commuting to work, increasing numbers are taking tiny doses of psychedelic drugs in the UK. Why? Rosie has just returned from the school run. She drops a bag of groceries on to her kitchen table, and reaches for a clear plastic cup, covered by a white hanky and sealed with a hairband. Inside is a grey powder; her finely ground homegrown magic mushrooms. “I’ll take a very small dose, every three or four days,” she says, weighing out a thumbnail of powder on digital jewellery scales, purchased for their precision. “People take well over a gram recreationally. I weigh out about 0.12g and then just swallow it, like any food. It gives me an alertness, an assurance. I move from a place of anxiety to a normal state of confidence, not overconfidence.” Over the last 12 months, I have been hearing the same story from…

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Read more about the article The Truth About Dentistry
The Truth About Dentistry 1

The Truth About Dentistry

  • Post category:Health

It’s much less scientific—and more prone to gratuitous procedures—than you may think. In the early 2000s Terry Mitchell’s dentist retired. For a while, Mitchell, an electrician in his 50s, stopped seeking dental care altogether. But when one of his wisdom teeth began to ache, he started looking for someone new. An acquaintance recommended John Roger Lund, whose practice was a convenient 10-minute walk from Mitchell’s home, in San Jose, California. Lund’s practice was situated in a one-story building with clay roof tiles that housed several dental offices. The interior was a little dated, but not dingy. The waiting room was small and the decor minimal: some plants and photos, no fish. Lund was a good-looking middle-aged guy with arched eyebrows, round glasses, and graying hair that framed a youthful face. He was charming, chatty, and upbeat. At the time, Mitchell and Lund both owned Chevrolet Chevelles, and they bonded over…

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Read more about the article Autism symptoms reduced nearly 50% 2 years after fecal transplant
Autism symptoms reduced nearly 50% 2 years after fecal transplant

Autism symptoms reduced nearly 50% 2 years after fecal transplant

April 9, 2019 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in every 59 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in every 150 in 2000. They report that “about half a million people on the autism spectrum will become adults over the next decade, a swelling tide for which the country is unprepared.”  The apparent rise in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its stubborn resistance to treatment has spurred a legion of researchers to enter the field and explore the disability in innovative ways. Recent research suggests our gut microbiomes affect brain communication and neurological health. Worldwide, interest is growing in the idea that changes in normal gut microbiota may be responsible for triggering various conditions. At ASU, a research team is exploring using the microbiome to treat autism symptoms. Image by Shireen Dooling Download Full Image Currently, effective treatments for ASD include behavioral…

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Read more about the article High Stress Drives Up Your Risk Of A Heart Attack. Here’s How To Chill Out
High Stress Drives Up Your Risk Of A Heart Attack. Here's How To Chill Out

High Stress Drives Up Your Risk Of A Heart Attack. Here’s How To Chill Out

April 14, 20195:01 PM ET Heard on Morning Edition Allison Aubrey Twitter The trick, of course, is to find moments of deep relaxation wherever you are, not just on vacation. Laughing with friends can be another way to start breaking the cycle of chronic stress and help keep your heart healthy, too. stock_colors/Getty Images Work Stress. Home Stress. Financial Stress. The toll of chronic stress isn't limited to emotional suffering. High stress can set the stage for heart disease. In fact, research shows that those of us who perceive a lot of stress in our lives are at higher risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems over the long term. Shots - Health News This Is Your Stressed-Out Brain On Scarcity The latest evidence comes from a new study of siblings in Sweden. Researchers identified about 137,000 people who had been diagnosed with stress-related disorders; the diagnoses included post-traumatic…

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Drink to Your Health

Kombucha's unlikely rise from Soviet elixir to modern-day miracle drink. In May of 1995, Ruth Patras realized that something was wrong with her 5-week-old daughter, Ciara. Initially happy and healthy, about a month after Ciara was born, the whites of her eyes started to turn yellow. Over the next few days, the color deepened, and her appetite diminished. Patras took Ciara to her pediatrician, who sent the family to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Tests revealed that Ciara had biliary atresias, a rare liver disease in which the ducts that pass bile from the liver to the gallbladder and the first section of the small intestine become blocked. Bile serves two functions in the body, helping to digest fat and carry waste out of the liver. When trapped, the excess bile damages liver cells, eventually leading to liver failure. Doctors told Patras that the only hope for Ciara was a complex…

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Monsanto to drop name after sale to Bayer

The new owner of Monsanto, synonymous with deadly chemical warfare and genetically modified plants, is ditching the name. A Monsanto manufacturing and operations center in Lillo, Belgium, in 2016.John Thys / AFP - Getty ImagesJune 4, 2018, 2:03 PM EDT / Updated June 4, 2018, 2:03 PM EDTBy Ben Popken The name of Monsanto, a company that has often been vilified for pioneering the genetic modification of crops, is about to be retired. The move comes as part of the approved mega-merger sale of the American seed company to German pharmaceuticals and chemical giant Bayer, originally valued at $60 billion. "Monsanto will no longer be a company name," Bayer said in a statement Monday. "The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio." Bayer announced last month it would be selling off some $9 billion in assets as required by the U.S. Department of Justice in…

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Stop Teaching Your Preschooler How to Read

Michelle Woo12/08/17 4:00pm Photo via Shutterstock My daughter is onto me. As I read bedtime stories to her, sometimes I’ll stop, point to a word, and in my most convincing voice, and say, “Hmm, I don’t know this one. C-A-P? Can you help me?” The almost-five-year-old, not falling for this nonsense at all, will then say to me, “Mom, just read it.” And I’ll keep reading. Like a chump. I am fully confident she will learn to read when she learns to read, but as a parent, I sometimes wonder if I should be trying to speed up the process. I’ve followed the advice of friends and purchased BOB Books for beginning readers, and I often prompt her to sound words out. I can tell that she almost gets it, but I can also tell that I’m not much help. So when Daniel T. Willingham, a professor of psychology at…

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We’re Not Gluten Intolerant, We’re Glyphosate Intolerant

Study blames Roundup herbicide for gluten intolerance and celiac disease epidemic “Celiac disease, and, more generally, gluten intolerance, is a growing problem worldwide, but especially in North America and Europe, where an estimated 5% of the population now suffers from it,” researchers wrote in a meta-analysis of nearly 300 studies. “Here, we propose that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide, Roundup®, is the most important causal factor in this epidemic,” they add. The study, published in the journal Interdisciplinary Toxicology in 2013, was completely ignored by the media except for Mother Earth News and The Healthy Home Economist. Now that glyphosate is getting the attention it deserves, being named as the culprit in a $280 million cancer lawsuit and labeled as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and the state of California, it may be time to look at the chemical’s role in a related disease: The symptoms…

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Doctors Explain How Hiking Can Actually Change Our Brains

While it may seem obvious that a good hike through a forest or up a mountain can cleanse your mind, body, and soul, science is now discovering that hiking can actually change your brain… for the better! Hiking In Nature Can Stop Negative, Obsessive Thoughts Aside from the almost instant feeling of calm and contentment that accompanies time outdoors, hiking in nature can reduce rumination. Many of us often find ourselves consumed by negative thoughts, which takes us out of the enjoyment of the moment at best and leads us down a path to depression and anxiety at worst. But a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that spending time in nature decreases these obsessive, negative thoughts by a significant margin. To conduct this study, researchers compared the reported rumination of participants who hiked through either an urban or a natural environment. They found those who walked for 90 minutes in a…

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Canadians! More No-Waste Grocery Stores Are Coming to a City Near You

And the trend doesn’t just apply to grocery stores. And the trend doesn’t just apply to grocery stores. The Soap Dispensary and Kitchen Staples in Vancouver, for instance, sells bulk and packaging-free beauty and household products, as well as food. This is a welcomed trend for environmentally-savvy consumers. “We’ve got a massive plastic packaging problem,” Barb Hetherington, a board member for Zero Waste Canada, told Global Citizen. “We’ve got so much packaging in the world that our recycling systems can’t handle it.” The average person in North America or Western Europe consumes about 100 kilograms of plastic, and the bulk of that is due to packaging, according to Zero Waste Canada. Related Stories June 18, 2018 New Toronto Grocery Store Lets Its Customers Pay What They Can Hetherington argues that the zero-waste shopping experience not only reduces the amount of packaging that has to be manufactured and recycled, but because…

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