Summary: Cognitive reserve measured through IQ predicted the steepness of cognitive decline in aging men, but not women.
Source: University of Tasmania
Tasmanian researchers are one step closer to understanding why women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, with their research recently published in the journal Neurology.
Professor Jane Alty and Aidan Bindoff from the University’s Wicking Dementia Research and Education Center led a team of researchers to determine if cognitive reserve (education and IQ) slowed down age-related cognitive decline equally in males and females.
“We know women have a higher age-adjusted incidence of Alzheimer’s disease than men, but the reasons remain unclear. It is not simply related to women living longer than men,” Professor Alty said.
“One proposed contributing factor is that, historically, women had less access to education and therefore may have accumulated less cognitive reserve.”
Cognitive reserve refers to the ability to buffer the effects of physical changes in the brain so it does not have a direct effect on function.
“People who have developed higher cognitive reserve over their lifetime (through more education and other cognitively stimulating activities such as employment and hobbies) generally do not show as marked decline in their memory and thinking functions,” Professor Alty said.
Researchers measured cognitive reserve using total years of education and by measuring their IQ, accessing data through the Wicking Center’s Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project (THBP).
The THBP is a long-term cohort study, recruiting healthy Australians aged 50–80 years without cognitive impairment that began about 10 years ago.
The THBP aimed to determine if university education later in life reduced age-related cognitive decline and significantly decreases risk, or delays the onset, of dementia.
Data from 562 participants (383 females and 179 males) was analyzed for Professor Alty’s study.
The study’s results showed that cognitive reserve, measured through IQ, moderated the steepness of age-related cognitive decline in males, but not in females.
Cognitive reserve refers to the ability to buffer the effects of physical changes in the brain so it does not have a direct effect on function.
“Males with higher estimated IQ had a less rapid (less steep) age-related cognitive decline than their lower IQ male peers—this is what we expected,” Professor Alty said.
“However, we did not see these same protective effects in females—so those with higher cognitive reserve declined in their memory and thinking tests as they got older at the same rate as females with lower cognitive reserve.”
The study’s results also showed education did not significantly moderate cognitive trajectories in either males or females.
“The study’s findings do not appear to support the hypothesis that historical sex disparities in accessing education contribute to the higher female incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
“They do suggest that there are sex-specific effects of cognitive reserve though, with males benefiting more—this highlights that further research studies should assess males and females separately when investigating how we can best protect people against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline,” Professor Alty said.
Summary: Spinal cord stimulation restores movement in the arms of stroke patients with locomotion problems, researchers report. The treatment has the potential to improve the quality of life for those who suffer arm paralysis following a stroke.
Source: University of Pittsburgh
A neurotechnology that stimulates the spinal cord instantly improves arm and hand mobility, enabling people affected by moderate to severe stroke to conduct their normal daily activities more easily, report researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University today in Nature Medicine.
A pair of thin metal electrodes resembling strands of spaghetti implanted along the neck engage intact neural circuits, allowing stroke patients to fully open and close their fist, lift their arm above their head or use a fork and knife to cut a piece of steak for the first time in years.
“We discovered that electrical stimulation of specific spinal cord regions enables patients to move their arm in ways that they are not able to do without the stimulation. Perhaps even more interesting, we found that after a few weeks of use, some of these improvements endure when the stimulation is switched off, indicating exciting avenues for the future of stroke therapies,” said corresponding and co-senior author Marco Capogrosso, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery at Pitt.
“Thanks to years of preclinical research building up to this point, we have developed a practical, easy-to-use stimulation protocol adapting existing FDA-approved clinical technologies that could be easily translated to the hospital and quickly moved from the lab to the clinic.”
When it comes to strokes, doctors predict a grim future: Globally, every fourth adult over the age of 25 will suffer a stroke in their lifetime, and 75% of those people will have lasting deficits in motor control of their arm and hand, severely limiting their physical autonomy.
Currently, no treatments are effective for treating paralysis in the so-called chronic stage of stroke, which begins approximately six months after the stroke incident. The new technology, researchers say, has the potential to offer hope for people living with impairments that would otherwise be considered permanent.
“Creating effective neurorehabilitation solutions for people affected by movement impairment after stroke is becoming ever more urgent,” said senior co-author Elvira Pirondini, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Pitt.
“Even mild deficits resulting from a stroke can isolate people from social and professional lives and become very debilitating, with motor impairments in the arm and hand being especially taxing and impeding simple daily activities, such as writing, eating and getting dressed.”
Spinal cord stimulation technology uses a set of electrodes placed on the surface of the spinal cord to deliver pulses of electricity that activate nerve cells inside the spinal cord. This technology is already being used to treat high-grade, persistent pain. Additionally, multiple research groups around the world have shown that spinal cord stimulation can be used to restore movement to the legs after spinal cord injury.
But the unique dexterity of the human hand, combined with the wide range of motion of the arm at the shoulder and the complexity of the neural signals controlling the arm and hand, add a significantly higher set of challenges.
Following years of extensive preclinical studies involving computer modeling and animal testing in macaque monkeys with partial arm paralysis, researchers were cleared to test this optimized therapy in humans.
“The sensory nerves from the arm and hand send signals to motor neurons in the spinal cord that control the muscles of the limb,” said co-senior author Douglas Weber, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering at the Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
The new technology, researchers say, has the potential to offer hope for people living with impairments that would otherwise be considered permanent.
“By stimulating these sensory nerves, we can amplify the activity of muscles that have been weakened by stroke. Importantly, the patient retains full control of their movements: The stimulation is assistive and strengthens muscle activation only when patients are trying to move.”
In a series of tests adapted to individual patients, stimulation enabled participants to perform tasks of different complexity, from moving a hollow metal cylinder to grasping common household objects, such as a can of soup, and opening a lock. Clinical assessments showed that stimulation targeting cervical nerve roots immediately improves strength, range of movement and function of the arm and hand.
Unexpectedly, the effects of stimulation seem to be longer-lasting than scientists originally thought and persisted even after the device was removed, suggesting it could be used both as an assistive and a restorative method for upper limb recovery. Indeed, the immediate effects of the stimulation enable administration of intense physical training that, in turn, could lead to even stronger long-term improvements in the absence of the stimulation.
Moving forward, researchers continue to enroll additional trial participants to understand which stroke patients can benefit most from this therapy and how to optimize stimulation protocols for different severity levels.
Summary: Those with cocaine use disorder who were administered ketamine for depression or pain experienced a two-to-four times higher remission rate.
Source: Case Western Reserve
As cocaine use continues to climb across the United States, scientists have struggled to develop an effective pharmacological approach to treat the devastating disorder.
But by seamlessly combining artificial intelligence (AI), human intelligence, clinical testing and computer analysis, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have unearthed an existing option that appears to hold promise.
“Ketamine, a small synthetic organic molecule used clinically as an anesthetic and a depression treatment, was found to be associated with significant improvement in remission among people with cocaine-use disorders,” said the study’s corresponding author Rong Xu, professor of biomedical informatics and founding director of the Center for AI in Drug Discovery at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
“This study is a great example of addressing an intractable problem by the creative use of AI using different sources of data,” said study co-author Pamela Davis, the Arline and Curtis Garvin Research Professor at the School of Medicine. “It is our hope that this approach will suggest therapeutic approaches for other difficult problems.”
The study was published in Addiction.
More than 2 million people in the U.S. regularly use cocaine, more than three times the number who take methamphetamine. Roughly one of every five drug overdose deaths in this country involves cocaine, and its consistent use contributes to an array of serious health issues—including heart attack and stroke. However, there is no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for cocaine-use disorders.
Decades of research have found that existing medications such as antidepressants or stumulants have no meaningful effect, while others involve such small patient samples as to be years away from certain conclusions. Therapeutic interventions have yielded positive outcomes, but barriers such as cost, staffing and stigma significantly limit widespread adoption.
Therapeutic interventions have yielded positive outcomes, but barriers such as cost, staffing and stigma significantly limit widespread adoption.
By developing novel AI-based drug discovery algorithms to identify promising candidates from all FDA-approved drugs, reviewing top drug candidates by expert panels of addiction experts such as the University of Cincinnati’s T. John Winhusen, Xu and her colleagues determined ketamine held the greatest potential to yield useful insights.
They evaluated the potential clinical effectiveness of ketamine on improving remission rates among patients with cocaine-use disorders by analyzing tens of millions of electronical health records. They found that cocaine-use disorder patients administered ketamine for pain or depression experienced two to four times higher remission rates.
While a few previous studies have found increased efficacy of ketamine in treating cocaine use disorder, the groups involved were largely homogenous. The Case Western Reserve study not only included greater diversity of participants by race and gender, but also those suffering from additional medical and psychiatric conditions.
While this study substantially strengthens the argument for the use of ketamine in treating cocaine-use disorder, the researchers emphasized that additonal clinical trials are required to assess ketamine’s potential impact more thoroughly.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals announced the FDA approved its product Syfovre, also known as pegcetacoplan injection, for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, according to the press release.
This approval makes Syfovre the first and only treatment for geographic atrophy (GA), a leading cause of blindness in the world. The treatment has a well-demonstrated safety profile following approximately 12,000 injections over 24 months.
This approval makes Syfovre the first and only treatment for geographic atrophy (GA), the leading cause of blindness in the world.
As Healio has previously reported, Apellis Pharmaceuticals investigated the efficacy and safety of a pegcetacoplan injection in the DERBY and OAKS studies. Results from the Phase 3 DERBY and OAKS studies showed that Syfovre reduced the rate of GA lesion growth compared with sham and increased treatment effects over time, according to the release.
“The approval of [Syfovre] is the most important event in retinal ophthalmology in more than a decade,” Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, lead investigator for the OAKS study, director of ophthalmology clinical research and associate professor of ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center, said in the release. “Until now, there have been no approved therapies to offer people living with GA as their vision relentlessly declined. With [Syfovre], we finally have a safe and effective GA treatment for this devastating disease, with increasing effects over time.”
Syfovre is approved for use in patients with GA with or without subfoveal involvement and offers dosing flexibility with a dosing regimen of every 25 to 60 days. Syfovre is expected to be available nationwide by the beginning of March through specialty distributors and pharmacies. Apellis Pharmaceuticals is awaiting approval for a marketing authorization application for Syfovre by the European Medicines Agency and has submitted a marketing application for the injection treatment to Health Canada, according to the release.
Bottom line:Patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with neoadjuvant nivolumab had improved five-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates compared with historical outcomes.
Background:NSCLC is the most common type of lung cancer and is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite strides in treating metastatic NSCLC, new treatments for earlier-stage disease have only recently emerged, according to Forde.
Rosner added that there is great interest in optimizing neoadjuvant strategies for earlier-stage NSCLCs that are eligible for surgical resection. Rosner is a medical oncology fellow at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and a member of Forde’s research group.
Forde, Rosner, and colleagues previously reported safety and efficacy results from a phase II clinical trial in which patients with stage I-III resectable NSCLC were treated with two doses of neoadjuvant nivolumab. Major pathological responses were observed in 45 percent of patients, independent of tumor PD-L1 expression, and 73 percent of patients whose tumors were surgically resected were recurrence-free 18 months following surgery.
The latest publication reports the final analyses from this trial, including five-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates for the 20 patients who underwent surgical resection.
“To our knowledge, this is the longest follow-up to date for a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor in the neoadjuvant setting for any solid tumor,” said Forde.
Results:Among the 20 patients who underwent surgical resection, 12 patients (60 percent) remained recurrence-free five years after surgery, and 16 patients (80 percent) were alive, exceeding the 36 to 68 percent five-year survival rate historically observed for patients with stage I-III NSCLC, Rosner noted. Forde added that the observed patient outcomes after neoadjuvant nivolumab were better than those historically observed among patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
The authors also identified major pathologic response after neoadjuvant nivolumab as a potential predictive biomarker of recurrence-free and overall survival. Of the nine patients who had a major pathological response after neoadjuvant nivolumab, eight were alive and cancer-free five years after treatment. One patient experienced a recurrence within the first 10 months after treatment but has since been disease-free after definitive chemoradiation. The one death in this subgroup was unrelated to cancer.
In contrast, six of the 11 patients who did not have a major pathological response experienced disease recurrence, and three of these patients died due to their cancer. These results indicate that a major pathological response following neoadjuvant nivolumab may be associated with a lower risk of disease recurrence and death, although the authors caution that these results are preliminary and require further validation in larger studies.
Neoadjuvant nivolumab did not lead to surgical delays, and there was only one late-onset immune-related adverse event, which occurred 16 months after nivolumab treatment and was successfully managed, the authors noted.
Author’s comments:“The results from the five-year follow-up analysis indicate that neoadjuvant nivolumab was safe in long-term follow-up and led to encouraging survival in this patient cohort,” said Forde. “The long-term safety and efficacy data from this study provide further support for the use of nivolumab in the neoadjuvant setting.”
Neoadjuvant nivolumab in combination with chemotherapy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2022 for the treatment of lung cancer. “Further studies will help us determine whether select patients may benefit from immunotherapy alone,” Forde noted.
“An interesting finding from the analysis was the difference in outcomes between patients with and without a major pathological response,” said Rosner. “Although the sample size was small, the results illustrate the potential power of pathological response as a predictive biomarker.”
The most detailed study of Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, has offered considerable insight into what tumor cells must do to sustain. The Wellcome Sanger Institute discovered that cancer cells utilize signals to attract specific types of immune cells and direct them not to attack.
The study, which was published in Blood, also discovered that high concentrations of these cell clusters in existing sample data predicted chemotherapy failure. This understanding could be used to speed up the transition to precision medicine and identify patients who just might profit from newer immune-based therapies, which are more efficient when conventional therapies fail.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, a vital component of the human immune system that aids in the fight against infections and the destruction of abnormal cells. Hodgkin lymphoma is distinguished by the presence of Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells, which are cancerous white blood cells known as B lymphocytes. B lymphocytes normally produce antibodies to aid in the fight against infections.
Hodgkin lymphoma affects approximately 2,100 people in the UK each year. Though most patients respond well to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or a combination of the two, these treatments do not work for everyone. The good news is that these patients frequently respond favorably to new treatments such as “immune checkpoint inhibitors,” particularly PD-1 blockers.
In this recent study, investigators used a variety of methods to examine the immune microenvironment surrounding Hodgkin lymphoma tumors in extraordinary depth.
The Wellcome Sanger Institute produced single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomic data from Hodgkin lymphoma and healthy lymph node tissue to pinpoint the genes expressed by each cell and their position in relation to their neighbors. This was coupled with microscope imaging data from Newcastle University Hodgkin lymphoma biopsies.
Single-cell analysis showed that cancer cells were enveloped by immune cell clusters of macrophages, monocytes, and cDC2 dendritic cells. Data from imaging revealed that these cells expressed molecules that inhibited their anti-tumor abilities.
This study is a great example of how much information we can get out of one tissue sample. By combining single-cell, spatial transcriptome and histological data, we were able to learn how precisely Hodgkin lymphoma manages to evade immune response. You could think of this approach as a sort of roadmap for molecular pathology, which could be applied to other diseases as well.”
Dr Ben Stewart, Study First Author, Wellcome Sanger Institutute.
Researchers also discovered two distinct “microenvironments” around cancer cells, which indicated how effective conventional therapies would be. High concentrations of immune cell clusters around cancer cells predicted treatment failure, even though a high concentration of stromal cells in the microenvironment predicted treatment success.
Since stromal cells imply that tissue has been repaired earlier, it is possible that the immune system was already partially successful in combating the disease, with treatment offering a helping hand to completely eradicate cancer.
Understanding how Hodgkin lymphoma tumors bypass the body’s immune response opens up new possibilities to treat this disease. If we could identify which patients have higher concentrations of these immune cell clusters around the tumor, for example, we could tailor their treatments, limiting the effects of chemotherapy for patients in whom it is less likely to work and proceeding directly to immune-based therapies that stand a better chance.”
Dr Chris Carey, Study Senior Author, Newcastle University
A possible drug target is the cellular messaging used by cancer cells to manipulate immune cells. In theory, interrupting this signaling would enable the immune system to respond normally and attack the cancer cells.
Single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches are bringing a whole new level of detail for the study of human health and disease. When they are combined with other types of data, you can be incredibly specific about what is happening in the human body. This precision is key and I’m sure in time the data that we have generated in this study will have a positive impact on the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma.”
Dr Sam Behjati, Study Senior Author, Wellcome Sanger Institute
Despite being high in glucose and fructose, honey has some helpful effects for diabetics
Honey can be a good sugar substitute to meet the sugar needs of people with diabetes. (Shutterstock)
0:009:52
Yes, you are not hearing wrong: Honey can reduce blood sugar despite being roughly 80 percent sugar. In addition to lowering blood sugar, honey can boost immunity and slow the aging process. Recently, researchers have shown that honey has a wide range of unanticipated advantages. For example, diabetics who consume honey in moderation might significantly reduce their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes complications. Eating honey can also help with obesity and lower blood pressure to prevent diabetes. Although honey has long been used in traditional medicine, it has only recently come to the attention of scientists who have begun to explain its advantages. The health advantages of honey are covered in full in the following article, which may inform your view on it.
Can Diabetic Patients Eat Honey?
There is a long-standing misconception that diabetics cannot use honey in their diets because of the high amount of carbohydrates in its chemical makeup. So can diabetics eat honey or not?
Researchers from the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Romania discovered that when compared to the consumption of dextrose and sucrose, honey caused people with diabetes to have lower elevated blood sugar levels and higher elevated insulin levels. According to the study, honey benefits diabetic individuals. Additionally, honey’s antioxidant properties are crucial in the management of diabetes.
According to research published in 2008 in The Scientific World Journal, these beneficial effects may be related to the high content of fructose in honey. The high amount of fructose in honey stimulates glucokinase in liver cells, which plays an important role in promoting the uptake and storage of glucose in the liver. Therefore, fructose in honey is very important in lowering blood sugar.(pdf) Honey also contains other sugars, notably it contains high amounts of glucose, but has significantly less maltose and sucrose.
Mamdouh Abdulrhman, a professor of pediatrics at Ain Shams University in Egypt, has been studying the health effects of honey for a long time. One of his studies (pdf) reported that diabetic patients taking honey might experience an increase in blood sugar in the first few weeks, but consuming small amounts of honey over a long period can be beneficial to health. The study also showed that honey can lower blood pressure as well as improve cardiovascular function when consumed by diabetics over a long period.
Honey Can Prevent Heart Disease Complications in Diabetics
Diabetic patients are known to be prone to heart disease. In general, diabetic patients have complications such as hypertension and lipid metabolism in addition to hyperglycemia, which can easily lead to atherosclerotic heart disease. In November 2022, researchers from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada, found that eating honey in moderation can effectively reduce the risk of heart disease. The study found that honey was able to lower key indicators of the development of heart disease, including total cholesterol and triglycerides. The researchers explained that honey is a complex composition of common and rare sugars, proteins, organic acids, and other biologically active compounds that are likely to benefit health.
Honey Can Improve Obesity and Prevent Diabetes
Obese patients are more likely to develop diabetes compared to healthy individuals. Obesity is the most significant risk factor for diabetes because obese patients frequently have higher overt insulin resistance and because research demonstrates a clear association between obesity and insulin resistance.
Studies have reported that honey not only does not contribute to obesity, but it can also help reduce it. The Scientific World Journal study included 55 overweight and obese participants in a 30-day trial. The participants were split into two groups, with one group consuming 70 grams of sucrose daily and the other 70 grams of raw honey. The scientists discovered that eating honey led to a slight decrease in body weight (1.3 percent) and body fat (1.1 percent). Honey was also found to lower total cholesterol (3 percent), LDL cholesterol (5.8 percent, a “bad” cholesterol), triacylglycerol (11 percent), fasting glucose (4.2 percent), and increase HDL cholesterol (3.3 percent, a “good” cholesterol) in the subjects. The researchers concluded that the consumption of natural honey did not increase body weight in these subjects.
The study concluded that the control of obesity could be attributed to fructose, which is a major component of honey, as well as the many other proteins, organic acids, vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds found in honey. These substances in honey cause a decrease in lipogenic activity, thus reducing the accumulation of lipids in fat cells. In addition, the phenylalanine found in honey increases the levels of peptide YY, a substance that reduces appetite. Therefore, honey is ideal for obese or overweight people whose high body weight and caloric intake can be controlled by it. In addition, honey contains several bioactive compounds, including phenolic acids and flavonoids, which positively affect obesity and weight management.
In fact, it may be a mistake to over-emphasize fructose as a weight-loss measure or a part of a healthy diet given research that suggests that fructose on its own can have harmful effects. A review study published in Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences in 2020 found “dietary fructose intake strongly promotes hepatic insulin resistance via complex interplay of several metabolic pathways, at least some of which are independent of increased weight gain and caloric intake.” Other research also linked fructose with decreased insulin sensitivity, a defining trait of diabetes. These finding suggest that the combination of complex compounds in honey provide a critical element to its overall effect.
Honey Is Best When Eaten in Moderation
Companies often promote their products in a way that magnifies their benefits; therefore, people should be wary of packaging the features “honey.” These products often contain little real honey and more substantial amounts of other added sugars along with processed ingredients that negate any real benefit. It is also wise not to consume excessive amounts of honey. Consuming 3 to 4 tablespoons per day is sufficient. According to the World Health Organization, the calories provided by simple sugars should not exceed 10 percent of the total body requirement. Honey contains approximately 60 calories per tablespoon. Therefore, the 180 to 240 calories provided by honey per day is significant and will require you to closely watch other sugar intake. To absorb the maximum benefits of honey, consume it one hour before lunch. Drinking it 30 minutes before bedtime helps to relax the nerves and help you fall asleep. Some people have allergic reactions to certain enzymes or pollen in honey, resulting in atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis. People with allergies should take a small amount of honey to test their sensitivity. Babies should not be given honey either as it can lead to infant botulism.
Diabetes is a chronic disease, and according to the researchers from the Romanian study, it is vital to determine the optimal dose of honey for human intake. People with diabetes should not drink honey indiscriminately. People should have their blood sugar levels tested and be sure they are normal before consuming honey regularly. More than 80 percent of honey is composed of sugar. Because honey is rich in monosaccharides and fructose, it is a blood sugar-raising food that acts quickly. Eating honey will not cause high blood sugar in an average person. But drinking a lot of honey water or consuming a lot of honey will cause a sudden rise in blood sugar in a diabetic patient, almost like drinking sugar water. Therefore, it is recommended that people with diabetes pay attention to the amount of honey they use and not consume large amounts at once. A sudden rise in blood sugar can be challenging to control in this population, and acute complications of hyperglycemia may occur.
While honey can be used as a potential hypoglycemic agent that can reduce the complications of diabetes, long-term studies on diabetics are needed. What is certain is that honey can be a good sugar substitute to meet the sugar needs of people with diabetes.
How to Consume Honey
Honey is a completely natural food that may be eaten on its own. A popular method of consuming honey is to make honey water, prepared by combining a suitable quantity of honey with warm boiled water. Honey should not be brewed with water that is hotter than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to steam but not bubble and to dip your finger in briefly without burning you. Heating honey beyond 140 degrees F will cause many of the health-promoting active ingredients to lose their potency and reduce the nutritional content of the honey.
Honey can also be added to other foods for consumption. Honey can be used instead of syrup for pancakes and waffles. Honey can also be spread on toast or bread, or added to coffee or tea to enhance the taste. Mixing honey with yogurt, cereal, porridge, or oatmeal also tastes excellent. Adding honey to hot milk before bedtime can also improve sleep.
Ensure Your Honey Is Genuine
In the face of the booming honey market, some shady vendors have begun producing “fake honey,” and there are many ways to counterfeit it. It can be difficult to tell real honey from fake, though there are a variety of tests promoted online that may give you some indication. One of the best ways to ensure your honey is real is to purchase it from a local producer. Then you will not only gain the benefits of real honey, but also gain additional benefits from supporting your local food system and draw a deeper connection to the local plants bees feed on.
When Dr. Ananias Diokno saw the article “How Humankind Came To Be” by Mr. Li Hongzhi, published by The Epoch Times, he was curious as to what answer the author would supply.
“I think I know,” Dr. Diokno thought. “It is by evolution or by Creation, which is a discussion that has been going on.”
But when he started reading the article, “I could not stop until the end.”
Dr. Diokno, 80, has had a long and well-respected career in urology. He held several university faculty positions, served as president of a number of organizations including the Michigan Urological Society, edited the International Journal of Urology and Nephrology, published more than 250 journal articles, and is the recipient of numerous awards. He retired from clinical practice in the past few years, and he continues to do research, consulting, and mentoring. On Sundays, he joins a large group of medical doctors on Zoom for prayer, after which there is time for open discussion. For their next session, Dr. Diokno wanted to bring up the article to the group.
Related Coverage
Falun Gong Founder Mr. Li Hongzhi Publishes ‘How Humankind Came To Be’
The Bottom Line
“I recognize that it is similar to the Roman Catholic doctrine. There are some differences, but the bottom line is the belief that there is a Creator, that there is an afterlife,” he said. “I am in agreement with the concept that there is a Creator, that there is a concept of heaven, and that there is the concept of you have to do good in order to be accepted into heaven.”
“The more I read it, the more I said this is exactly what I have been thinking, what I am following, and this is exactly what I plan to do for the rest of my life,” Dr. Diokno said.
“The point is, if you have to really believe in all of those, you have to have faith. There is no sense in believing all of those if you are just saying it, because no one has ever really seen heaven or been there, except in discussions in the scriptures, and even the author of this paper said he had some secret messages he had been sent by the divine beings, which, all of this, is believed by his followers as true,” Dr. Diokno said. The bottom line, he added, is that one must have faith, otherwise the world and our interactions with it, our reality becomes chaotic.
“The part that resonated with me is that we are not just physical bodies; in each of us is a soul, and the soul will ultimately live, depending on where you go is how you perform in your physical life. I think if people read this and believe this, we hope that the world will be in a better order,” he said. “To me, what resonated was this message that we need to do good in this world.”
“I think that is what the world needs,” he said, “because as this [article] says, we are getting to the point of destruction.”
You only have to look around and turn on the news, to realize the world has become “so scary,” he said. “Crime is so rampant, people do not believe life is valuable, people are killed for no reason, attacked for no reason, we could have World War III coming out.”
“So messages like this are welcome,” he said. “[I am] reading this, and hoping that as many will read this, it will affirm their belief of being a good citizen, and for those that do not believe in the value of life, after reading this, being more mindful of it.”
‘Like a Touchstone’
Dr. Virgil DuVernay, an internist, said he “is Roman Catholic cradle-to-not-yet-grave.”
“I’m steeped in Christianity,” said Dr. DuVernay, who lives his life “as Christian as possible, which is to say as righteously and upright as possible, to try to do honor by my family, my people, my church, my country, and my Lord.”
When he got an alert that The Epoch Times had published “How Humankind Came To Be,” the title similarly intrigued him. He watched a video reading of the article initially, and for the next few days read the article daily. He is still reading the article weekly, and has some people in mind he would like to send the article to for a discussion.
Dr. DuVernay said “[the article] rang true in a historical, spiritual, Biblical sense.”
Virgil DuVernay. (Courtesy of Virgil DuVernay)
“It’s sort of like a touchstone, a guidepost,” he said. “It’s reassuring that someone else in the world has considered these thoughts, from a culture that far exceeds the Western world, and in dimensions that are different from what the Western world has perceived. It just makes you realize that we’re a speck of sand on a beach.”
“I’m in a religious following that we thought we were thinking that way, and around the world other Christians were thinking that way, and we know that other Judeo-Christian beliefs have some overlap,” he said. “This comes along without any overt direction from any religious order … when this came around and I read it, it put that whole perspective in mind.”
Moving to a Spiritual Mindset
The article, in different words and different ways than what was familiar to Dr. DuVernay, spoke of things that felt familiar in essence. He found the ideas intriguing, and thought they will be intriguing for others of different religious, spiritual, or even secular viewpoints.
“I think if one has an open mind,” he said, “this will benefit most to move out of a secular concept to a more spiritual concept.”
He said the article discussed what his own religion refers to as the End Times, which could very well be upon us; as for those with a secular worldview, the sheer volume of reported tragedy could drive a person to desperation, leading one’s actions to become base. To borrow the words from his pastor’s sermon, these people would “consider themselves a canary at the bottom of their cage. The owner wraps them up in the paper and throws them away.”
“Some people live life that way,” he said. With faith, as a Christian, he would “consider we’re on a sojourn through a temporary plane and we will move on to other areas, so we look at life in a different way.”
A shaken worldview amidst these modern tragedies just might lead someone to come to the article and change their thoughts on spirituality, Dr. DuVernay reasoned.
“The part where Mr. Li speaks of the outer realms of the universe, and this being the trash heap, the dust, or the clay, that we are not really part of that, we are spiritual selves—so who we really are moves on,” he said. “So it’s best to do good whenever possible, to try to earn your way higher, rather than not.”
Dr. DuVernay said he is glad the article is still being circulated. “Someone’s going to read that, and even if you’re secular, it’s going to challenge your beliefs, and that’s a good thing.”
A deep-learning artificial intelligence model led to a “significant increase in diagnostic performance” for radiologists distinguishing between acute diverticulitis and colon cancer via CT images, according to results in JAMA Network Open.
“Acute diverticulitis (AD) is a frequent gastrointestinal cause for hospital admission with a substantial disease burden,” Sebastian Ziegelmayer, MD, a radiology resident at the Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the Technical University of Munich, and colleagues wrote. “Contrast-enhanced CT is the imaging modality of choice, and imaging signs include bowel wall thickening, fat stranding, enlarged local lymph nodes and the presence of diverticula, none of which is specific to AD.
“However, radiologic differentiation from its most important differential diagnosis, colon cancer, remains difficult due to an overlap of imaging features.”
In a single-center, retrospective study, Ziegelmayer and colleagues evaluated the diagnostic performance, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of a deep-learning algorithm in differentiating between colon cancer (CC) and AD on CT images.
They analyzed medical records of 585 patients (mean age, 63.2 years; 58.3% men) who underwent surgery between July 2005 and October 2020, of whom 267 had AD and 318 had CC. Researchers divided data sets into training (74.4%), validation (15.4%) and testing (10.2%) groups.
Images of diseased bowel segments and surrounding mesentery from CT scans were used to create a 3-D convolutional neural network (CNN) as an AI support system, and 10 board-certified radiologists and radiology residents were tasked with classifying the testing cohort first without then with this support.
Compared with the mean radiologist sensitivity and specificity, the 3-D CNN reached a higher sensitivity for the test set (83.3%; 95% CI, 70-96.6 vs. 77.6%; 95% CI, 72.9-82.3) and specificity (86.6%; 95% CI, 74.5-98.8 vs. 81.6%; 95% CI, 77.2-86.1).
For all readers, AI support improved sensitivity from 77.6% to 85.6% and specificity from 81.6% to 91.3%. It also reduced false-negative findings from 78.5% to 86.4% and false-positives from 80.9% to 90.8%.
“We developed a 3-D CNN that can be implemented as an AI support system for the differentiation of CC and AD based on CT images,” Ziegelmayer and colleagues wrote. “Artificial intelligence support led to a significant increase in diagnostic performance of board-certified radiologists and radiology residents.”
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, on Feb. 6, 2023.
The Ohio train crash on Feb. 3 highlights an essential fact of modern life that we all need to be prepared for: Our world runs, in large part, on toxic chemicals that we may inevitably be exposed to, either through the intentional use of everyday products or accidental exposures such as the derailed train that was carrying a variety of chemical products to Conway, Pennsylvania, from Madison, Illinois.
People living in the area surrounding East Palestine, Ohio, where about 50 cars derailed, are now contending with hazardous materials including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene. At this point, it’s important that three things happen: that the chemicals are cleaned up, that long-term monitoring ensures the health effects linked to the spill are recognized and treated, and that those now exposed do everything they can to help their body contend with the chemical soup that has crashed into their local environment.
The chemicals that leaked are used to make PVC, rubber, paint, and other chemical-based products. Millions of gallons of hazardous chemicals were spilled as a result of this crash. Reports of chemical residues are being found hundreds of miles from the incident. People are finding dead pets, chickens, and fish in local waterways. Some have experienced symptoms of acute chemical exposure.
Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen and has been associated with liver cancer. It’s of particular concern when it burns because it decomposes to gases that include hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and phosgene.
The Ohio Emergency Management Agency created a controlled explosion by releasing and burning the chemicals in an attempt to control the hazardous materials. Exposure to these gases can produce damaging reactive oxygen species, particularly hydroxyl radicals that wreak havoc on the body and impair mitochondrial function.
From a health perspective, even people living far beyond Ohio should be concerned about this incident and should support their bodies accordingly. It’s difficult to know the various toxic compounds that were released into the air, water, and soil in these areas and how far these residues will carry by wind and water.
These chemicals are hazardous to human health and can be absorbed through our lungs, digestive tracts, and skin. The extent of possible risk depends on the concentrations of contaminants and the length of exposure. Keep in mind, even low levels of exposure to toxic compounds can cause cancer, hinder the immune system, fuel inflammation, disrupt endocrine function, and damage the brain.
Signs of Acute Chemical Exposure
Tearing eyes
Burning of the eyes, nose, throat, chest, and/or skin
Headache
Sweating
Blurred vision
Stomach aches
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Difficulty breathing
Coughing
Wheezing
Feeling faint or weak
Inebriation
If you were knowingly exposed to hazardous materials or want to proactively support your body, there are various ways to support the body in a holistic way. None of this should be taken as direct medical advice; please check with your preferred provider to help you understand what strategies are right for you and your loved ones.
Antioxidants
Supplementing with antioxidants is important for helping to scavenge damaging free radicals. Glutathione is known as the body’s master antioxidant and is naturally produced within the body. Supplementing with a liposomal form is generally best absorbed.
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a precursor to glutathione and is sometimes better tolerated. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is also an excellent antioxidant to neutralize hydroxyl radicals.
Support the Liver
The liver is one of the primary detoxification organs, and certain supplements can help it do its job. Calcium d-glucarate helps facilitate phase two detoxification in the liver called glucuronidation. Milk thistle can reduce oxidative stress and free radical damage in the liver. As a bonus, these supplements also help the liver detox estrogens appropriately and foster healthy cholesterol levels.
Open Pathways of Elimination
In addition to the liver, making sure the body’s other pathways of elimination, such as the colon, kidneys, skin, lungs, lymphatic system, and glymphatic system are functioning well helps safely rid the body of toxins.
If these pathways aren’t functioning, it will be difficult for the body to safely detox because there will be no place for the toxins to go. Some ways to open up drainage pathways are:
Hydrating with clean water and mineral-rich beverages to flush the kidneys
Breathing through the nose with the diaphragm maximizes the oxygen delivered to the body
Exposing yourself to the morning sun as these drainage pathways are connected with your circadian rhythm
Consuming a clean, mineral-rich diet with plenty of fiber
Ensuring at least one to three daily bowel movements
Using coffee enemas to upregulate glutathione production and cleanse the liver and bile ducts
Encouraging lymph flow through the body through dry skin brushing, lymphatic massage, rebounding, and exercise
Castor oil packs over the liver, intestines, and/or colon
Managing stress
Binding Agents
Taking systemic binding agents such as humic and fulvic acids, micronized zeolite clinoptilolite, bentonite clay, and charcoal are effective in detoxifying hazardous materials such as vinyl chloride, dioxins, phosgene gas, benzenes, phthalates, plastics, and so forth. The substances can bind to toxic compounds and help the body expel them.
Support Your Barriers
Barrier integrity is crucial for safeguarding the body from toxins. It’s important to support the gut, brain, and lung barriers when exposed to toxins.
Gut: l-glutamine, deglycyrrhizinated Licorice, aloe, marshmallow root, slippery elm, curcumin, prebiotics, and probiotics all strengthen the integrity of the intestinal barrier.
Brain: Having a blood-brain barrier dysfunction, or “leaky brain,” is associated with intestinal hyperpermeability or “leaky gut,” so it’s wise to bolster both. Resveratrol, curcumin, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, and sulforaphane that are found in cruciferous vegetables can aid blood-brain barrier integrity.
Lung: Similar to a leaky gut and leaky brain, the delicate lining of the lungs can also become permeable. This happens when microscopic holes in the lungs allow inhaled particles to penetrate the lung tissue itself, making their way into the body cavity and causing an immune response. Nebulizing proper forms of glutathione along with taking immune-modulating compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol, omega-3 fatty acids, and maintaining proper vitamin D levels are important for adequate support.
Air Purification
Make sure you have a quality air purifier in your home environment to remove airborne particles as small as 0.003 microns in size. Change your HVAC system filter and air purifier filters on a regular basis. Additionally, if you live near one of these train crashes, it would be advisable to leave town until it’s safe to return.
Water Purification
All water in your environment must be filtered with activated carbon treatment whether it comes from the tap or well. This includes drinking water and water for bathing. There are filters that can be attached to shower and bath spigots to ensure bathing water is safe. For more information about your local water, you can get it tested locally or use a service such as mytapscore.com.
Food
It’s difficult to know how these chemical exposures will affect the food supply in the long term due to contaminated soils. In the short term, don’t eat fresh eggs, produce, or other foods directly exposed to toxins.
Sweat
Sweating helps the body eliminate toxins of various kinds. If you can afford a sauna, get one and use it frequently while replenishing electrolytes. Aim for 15 to 20 minutes of deep abdominal sweating. You can also achieve therapeutic sweating by raising your internal body temp with physical activity or appropriate sun exposure.
Since we don’t know what the long-term effects of this widespread toxin exposure will be, be wise and prudent, advocating for yourself and your loved ones!
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