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Managing hypertension may prevent chronic kidney disease

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Health education combined with general practitioner (GP) training in managing blood pressure delayed decline of kidney function and lowered the risk of death from kidney failure in individuals with hypertension, according to an extended analysis of the COBRA* study.

“Our findings indicate that public health interventions using effective lifestyle modification approaches and training of providers in a primary care setting can yield long-term benefits for preserving kidney function,” said lead author Dr. Tazeen Jafar, a professor of Health Services and Systems Research at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, Singapore.

The study included 1,271 hypertensive individuals aged ≥40 years from low-income communities in Pakistan. The participants were randomly assigned to a control group, which received standard care, or an intervention group, which received health education emphasising healthy lifestyle and adherence to antihypertensive medication, and/or care from GP trained in hypertension management for 2 years. [Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2016;doi:10.2215/CJN.05300515]

The participants were evaluated for changes in kidney function from baseline to 7 years after the start of intervention.

Kidney function, measured as the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), of the intervention group did not changed significantly (-0.3 ml/min per 1.73m2, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], -3.5 to 2.9 ml/min per 1.73m2) after 7 years, compared with the control group, which saw a -3.6 ml/min per 1.73m2 decline in eGFR (95 percent CI, -5.7 to -2.0 ml/min per 1.73m2) (p=0.01).

Participants receiving intervention were half as likely as participants on standard care to experience a >20 percent decline in kidney function (adjusted risk ratio [adjRR], 0.53, 95 percent CI, 0.29-0.96; p=0.04).

Also, the risk of death from kidney failure or >20 percent kidney function decline was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with control group (adjRR, 0.47, 95 percent CI, 0.25-0.89).

“Blood pressure control is a cornerstone of management to both prevent the onset and delay the progression of CKD,” said Drs. Min Jun and Brenda Hemmelgarn from the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada in a separate editorial. [Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2016;11:932–934]

“Current clinical guidelines widely advocate blood pressure reduction strategies, including both pharmacologic and lifestyle interventions.”

Previous studies showed that improvement in diet and exercise had beneficial effects on cardiometabolic parameters and preserving kidney function. [Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011;(10): CD003236, Nephrology (Carlton) 2015;20:61–67]

These simple interventions could be implemented in low- and middle-income countries to help prevent chronic kidney diseases (CKD), suggested Jafar.

*COBRA: Control of Blood Pressure and Risk Attenuation.
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Malay ethnicity, smoking, hyperlipidaemia predict risk of coronary calcification

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Malay ethnicity, male gender, smoking and having hyperlipidaemia are associated with an increased risk of coronary calcification, according to a study presented at the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology (APSC) Congress 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan.

“Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is highly associated with the presence of coronary atherosclerotic plaque that has prognostic value towards cardiovascular events,” lead author Shu Yun Heng said. “It has shown that CAC varies among different ethnic groups in the same age and gender.”

Multivariate analysis of 16,546 individuals revealed that CAC increased with increasing age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.13; 95 percent CI, 1.13–1.14). Compared with women, men had higher CAC score across all ages (AOR, 3.70; 3.41–4.02).

Individuals of Malay ethnicity generally had higher CAC compared with those of Chinese ethnicity (AOR, 1.37; 1.16–1.63), after adjusting for confounding variables. In addition, CAC was also higher in smokers than nonsmokers (AOR, 13.29; 1.43–123.87) and among individuals with hyperlipidaemia (AOR, 1.62; 1.02–2.58).

These results are consistent with those of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), which found that men had greater calcium levels than women, and calcium amount and prevalence were steadily higher with increasing age. Researchers also found significant differences in calcium by race, and these associations differed across age and gender. [Circulation 2006;113:30-73]

A prospective cohort study, MESA is designed to assess subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a multiethnic cohort free of clinical CVD. A total of 6,110 patients (mean age 62 years; 53 percent women) participated in the study. [Circulation 2006;113:30-73]

The MESA public website (http://www.mesa-nhlbi.org) provides an interactive form that allows one to enter an age, gender, race/ethnicity, and CAC score to obtain a corresponding estimated percentile.

Bild and colleagues, in one publication of the MESA results, also found ethnic differences in the presence and quantity of coronary calcification that were not explained by coronary risk factors. [Circulation 2005;111:1313-1320]

“Identification of the mechanism underlying these differences would further our understanding of the pathophysiology of coronary calcification and its clinical significance,” said Bild, adding that “[d]ata on the predictive value of coronary calcium in different ethnic groups are needed.”

Furthermore, data from another study focusing on the prognostic value of CAC in a large, ethnically diverse cohort for the prediction of all-cause mortality support a growing body of evidence noting substantial differences in cardiovascular risk by ethnicity. [J Am Coll Cardiol 2018;doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2007.03.066]

In this present retrospective study, Heng and colleagues assessed the distribution of CAC in a multiethnic cohort between ages 35–84 years from a single tertiary institution, National Heart Centre Singapore, between 2007 and 2017. Participants were 64 percent men and had a mean age of 55 years. CAC was determined by 320 Multi-Detector Row CT.

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What, how, when of using NOACs in practice

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Dr Chan Yi-Hsin

When making practical decision on using non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), several factors should be considered such as age, renal function, and risk of bleeding, according to a presentation at the APSC Congress 2018.

The Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) 2017 consensus paper states that “for Asian patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), standard-dose NOACs are the default doses of choice for stroke prevention unless label guidance recommends low-dose regimens.” [J Arrhythm 2017;33:345-367]

“Aspirin is not recommended solely for stroke prevention in AF,” said Dr Chan Yi-Hsin of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan.

The recommendations from APHRS are generally aligned with the ACC* and ESC** guidelines, he noted, which indicate that low-risk patients (defined by a CHAD2DS2-VASc=0 for male and =1 for female) do not require antithrombotics. On the other hand, higher-risk patients (CHAD2DS2-VASc ≥2 for all or =1 for male) were recommended to be further assessed with the SAMeTT2R2 score to guide the choice of anticoagulants — NOACs are preferred if the final score is ≥3. [J Arrhythm 2017;33:345-367]

How and what to select?

In selecting which NOAC to use, clinicians need to consider the CHAD2DS2-VASc score, age, renal and liver function, risk of bleeding, and concurrent medications a patient is receiving, Chan pointed out. [APSC 2018, session S047-04]

If CHAD2DS2-VASc=0/1, dabigatran or apixaban can be considered, based on findings from the RELY and ARISTOTLE trials which involved 30–34 percent of lower-risk patients in the overall study population. [N Engl J Med 2009;361:1139-1151; N Engl J Med 2010;363:1875-1876; N Engl J Med 2011;365:981-992] In higher-risk patients, the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial involving 77.4 percent of patients with CHAD2DS2-VASc=2 suggests the use of edoxaban in such patients, while the ROCKET AF study comprising 87 percent of patients with CHAD2DS2-VASc ≥3 indicates that rivaroxaban be used in these patients. [N Engl J Med 2011;365:883-891; N Engl J Med 2013;369:2093-2104]

Nonetheless, Chan was quick to point out that there are no head-to-head trials comparing the different NOACs so far, and the above suggestions are based on review of the various randomized controlled trials comparing each NOAC with warfarin.

When selecting NOAC in elderly patients (aged ≥75 years), a review study on phase III randomized clinical trials (RCTs) suggests that the risk of bleeding was reduced with apixaban 5 mg BID vs warfarin but the converse was seen (ie, warfarin was favoured) when compared with rivaroxaban 20 mg QD or dabigatran 110/150 mg BID in elderly patients. [Best Pract Res Clin Haematol 2013;26:215-224]

As different NOAC has different renal excretion rate, AF patients with impaired renal function (eGFR*** <50 mL) can consider dabigatran up to 150 mg with regards to efficacy (in terms of reduction in stroke rates), said Chan. [N Engl J Med 2009;361:1139-1151] However, in terms of safety outcome, apixaban can be considered in these patients as previous finding has shown a greater extent of reduction in major bleeding risk with apixaban vs warfarin. [N Engl J Med 2011;365:981-992]

“NOACs can [also] be used in patients with mild or moderate liver impairment (Child-Pugh categories A and B), with no dose reduction required for any of the NOAC in AF patients with Child-Pugh category A impairment,” said Chan. “NOACs are not recommended for those in Child-Pugh category C.” [Eur Heart J 2018;39:1330-1393]

One should also consider drug-drug interactions of NOACs with other medications a patient is taking, advised Chan. For example, in AF patients who are also taking HIV protease inhibitor or anti-epileptic drugs (such as carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin), all NOACs are contraindicated. [J Formos Med Assoc 2016;115:893-952; J Arrhythm 2017;33:345-367]

When to stop and restart?

“Renal function and surgical factors [ie, bleeding risk for surgery] help to determine when to discontinue and restart a NOAC for elective surgery,” said Chan.

According to the APHRS, TSOC, and THRS# guidelines, AF patients with normal renal function can stop any of the NOAC ≥24 hours before an elective surgical intervention classified to be of low bleeding risk and ≥48 hours for high bleeding risk. However, in AF patients with renal impairment, a longer duration of NOAC discontinuation before an elective surgery needs to be considered for those on dabigatran. [J Formos Med Assoc 2016;115:893-952; J Arrhythm 2017;33:345-367]

“Heparin/LMWH## bridging is generally not necessary for NOACs. NOAC is uninterrupted when performing AF catheter ablation,” said Chan.

“Generally, NOACs can be restarted 24 hours post-procedure with low-bleeding risk, and 48–72 hours post-procedure with high-bleeding risk. For procedure in which immediate and complete haemostasis can be achieved (eg, pacemaker implantations and skin surgery), NOACs can be resumed 6–8 hours after the interventions,” he added, citing recommendations from the ESC, APHRS, TSOC, and THRS guidelines. [Eur Heart J 2018;39:1330-1393; J Formos Med Assoc 2016;115:893-952; J Arrhythm 2017;33:345-367]

Bleeding management

“For non-life-threatening major bleeding, reversal agent is generally not necessary … these can be managed with supporting care,” said Chan. [Eur Heart J 2018;39:1330-1393]

For life-threatening major bleeding, idarucizumab is the specific reversal agent for dabigatran while andexanet alpha can be used to reverse factor Xa inhibitors such as apixaban, rivaroxaban, and edoxaban, he stated.

 

*ACC: American College of Cardiology
**ESC: European Society of Cardiology
*** eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate
#TSOC and THRS: TSOC=Taiwan Society of Cardiology; THRS=Taiwan Heart Rhythm Society
##LMWH: Low-molecular-weight heparin.

 

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Could an independent vaccine safety group save the U.S. from government corruption?

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Image: Could an independent vaccine safety group save the U.S. from government corruption?

It’s no secret that everything we’re told about vaccines by the mainstream media and major “health” organizations is a lie. Agencies like the CDC may be charged with protecting public health, but they continue to demonstrate that they are more concerned with upholding their archaic narratives and protecting Big Pharma’s profits than the American people. Is an independent vaccine safety organization the solution? The World Mercury Project team believes it could be the answer to corruption in U.S. government — and they might just be right.

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared last year, the CDC is really nothing more than an “edifice of fraud,” and other federal agencies like the FDA, EPA and USDA aren’t any more respectable. The amount of power yielded by unelected government agency officials borders on unconstitutional, and in fact, evades the Constitution entirely (by design). The administrative power federal agencies have granted themselves is a force that Americans need to reckon with, if we truly want change.

There are many questions surrounding vaccines and vaccine safety, but federal agencies have made it clear that they cannot be trusted to give us real answers. Look no further than the admissions of guilt from CDC whistleblower Dr. William Thompson for proof of that. Thompson came forward, confessing that he and his colleagues destroyed evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism.

Federal agencies abuse their power

There have been many, many whistleblowers over the years, who’ve been brave enough to come forward about the corruption, lies and deceit that have overtaken federal agencies across the board. While their testimonies have been greatly appreciated by those willing to listen, far too often they are simply ignored or publicly smeared by the mainstream media. In this way (among others), federal agencies are already operating at near-authoritarian level; those who expose them are hung out to dry, and there’s little room to question their self-imposed authority.

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As Columbia Law Professor Philip Hamburger, author of the books The Administrative Threat and Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, explains that federal agencies are essentially modern-day royalty. “Administrative power also evades many of the Constitution’s procedures, including both its legislative and judicial processes. Administrative power thereby sidesteps most of the Constitution’s procedural freedoms. Administrative power is thus all about the evasion of governance through law, including an evasion of constitutional processes and procedural rights,” he writes.

USA Today notes that non-judicial administrative courts decide cases and impose penalties without a jury or even an actual judge — courts like the  Vaccine Claims/Office of Special Masters, which are run by unelected bureaucrats.

Hamburger says that the increase in power yielded by the administrative branch coupled with a decreasing emphasis on the importance of the legislative and judicial branches spells out “big trouble” for the U.S. as we know it.

Corruption influences major policy decisions

The expansion of administrative power is not the only problem plaguing the U.S. government agencies. Major conflicts of interest are a substantial problem in government offices like the CDC or FDA. World Mercury Project (WMP) notes that watchdog groups, legislators and even researchers have documented the growing problem of bias caused by conflict of interest within these agencies.

Ties to the very industry these agencies are supposed to regulate are perhaps the most glaring of problems; not only do the CDC and FDA often rely on external experts with financial ties to the pharma industry, members of their advisory committees often own stock in vaccine companies. How can we expect these agencies to be impartial when they clearly have something to gain by approving certain products?

Both the Office of Inspector General and the Committee on Government Reform have made note of this clear conflict of interest over the years. The Committee first outlined this problem nearly 20 years ago — and little to nothing has been done to rectify it. Conflict of interests, cronyism and corruption abound in administrative agencies, and no one is standing in their way.

These agencies also fail to actively look for adverse effects of vaccines. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a huge flop; as sources explain “no active effort is made to search for, identify and collect information, but rather information is passively received from those who choose to voluntarily report their experience.”

There are substantial limitations to the current monitoring system — but the agencies in charge of it have made no effort to make the VAERS system more complete. As few as one percent of vaccine-related adverse events are reported — and even then, the CDC reports 4,500 “serious” health events are declared annually.

As an agency charged with protecting the public, you’d think this should be more concerning. Instead, the CDC maintains “while these problems happen after vaccination, they are rarely caused by the vaccine.” Thousands of people are being harmed, while administrative overlords do nothing but collect stocks and kickbacks.

Independent science is the solution to government failure

The list of wrongdoings at the behest of the CDC and FDA is a lengthy one: WMP reports that the agencies are guilty of working to conceal unwanted outcomes during testing, ignoring whistleblowers and silencing them, relying on outdated information and publishing misleading safety studies and more. The FDA recently came under fire for hiding their findings about glyphosate in food, for example.

As WMP contends, “With the FDA and CDC having repeatedly demonstrated their prioritization of industry profits over public safety, the time is past due for creating an independent agency that takes vaccine safety seriously.” Independent science has always been the most trustworthy and reliable — why should an agency tasked with protecting public health be any different?

Stay up-to-date on the latest government controversies at Corruption.news.

Sources for this article include:

WorldMercuryProject.org

USAToday.com

NaturalNews.com

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Is Monsanto going down like Big Tobacco? FAKE SCIENCE about to be exposed on a global scale

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Image: Is Monsanto going down like Big Tobacco? FAKE SCIENCE about to be exposed on a global scale

Monsanto is showing some clear signs that they’re getting nervous as their dishonest practices come significantly closer to being brought to light on a grand scale.

Last week, the peer-reviewed manuscripts of the pilot phase of a study known as the Global Glyphosate Study were revealed at a European Parliament press conference, and it’s all bad news for the maker of the world’s most popular glyphosate herbicide, Roundup.

In the short-term pilot study, glyphosate-based herbicides were shown to change some very important biological parameters in rats at exposure to the level set by the Environmental Protection agency as “safe” of 1.75 mg/kg per day. Some of the parameters that were altered relate to sexual development, the intestinal microbiome and genotoxicity. The papers will be published in the Environmental Health journal later this month.

One author of the report, Daniele Mandrioli, said that they found glyphosate in the gut bacteria of rats born to mothers who weren’t affected by it, something he believes is remarkable. He pointed out that gut microbiome disruptions have been linked to problems like diabetes, obesity, and immunological problems.

Another researcher, Professor Philip J. Landrigan, said that these findings should be investigated further in comprehensive long-term studies given their potential to impact a significant number of people around the world.

Monsanto goes on the attack

Monsanto reacted exactly how you’d expect them to react, by attacking the scientists and institutions involved in the study. The firm’s global strategy vice president, Scott Partridge, told The Guardian that The Ramazzini Institute is an “activist organization with an agenda that they have not disclosed.”

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It’s an unsubstantiated claim in any event, and it’s also worth noting that the Global Glyphosate Study was carried out by many other bodies in addition to The Ramazzini Institute, such as the Italian National Institute of Health, George Washington University, the Icahn School of Medicine at New York’s Mount Sinai, the University of Bologna, and the Genoa Hospital San Martino. Of course, they won’t be able to attack all of those institutes, so they decided to single one out.

In fact, The Ramazzini Institute is a well-respected institution manned by expert scientists for more than four decades. Their goal is to protect public health, and their activities relate to finding carcinogens and evaluating the safety and efficacy of drugs and ingredients. Their long-term studies have a lot of clout, with past research on benzene, vinyl chloride, and formaldehyde leading to changes in global regulations.

One thing that makes the Ramazzini studies so respected is the fact their design mirrors humans very closely. For example, they tend to follow rodents from prenatal life and observe them until their natural death; most labs “sacrifice” rats about two thirds of the way through their lifespan, which equates to around age 60 in humans. Many people develop cancers later in life, so other researchers miss those cancers that tend to show up in old age.

Glyphosate is everywhere

As the most common herbicide in the world, 18.9 billion pounds of glyphosate have been spread across the planet since 1974. Its use has risen 15-fold since the introduction of genetically modified crops, even though they were initially marketed as being able to reduce the need for herbicide. In the last two decades, the levels of glyphosate found in the human bloodstream have risen by more than 1,000 percent.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015; Monsanto is now trying to campaign against them and stop the American government from funding them. Now, it looks like the respected institutions involved in the latest study to expose the dangers of their products will also be targeted by their smear campaigns.

Read StopEatingPoison.com to stay informed.

Sources for this article include:

SustainablePulse.com

GlyphosateStudy.org

TheGuardian.com

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Infected EBOLA carriers escape quarantine hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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Image: Infected EBOLA carriers escape quarantine hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo

A new and growing Ebola outbreak is hitting the Democratic Republic of Congo, and additional concerns have been raised as three infected people escaped their quarantine hospital, potentially infecting countless others.

The three patients had been quarantined in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, a port city with a population of nearly 1.2 million. Two of the patients have passed away, while a third has been found alive and brought back to the hospital for observation. Medecins Sans Frontieres said that two of the escapees had been brought by their families to a church to pray.

World Health Organization Spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told ABC News that while the incident was very concerning, it isn’t unusual for people to wish to spend their final moments in their homes with loved ones. WHO staff is now redoubling its efforts to track down everyone who might have come into contact with these patients.

The problem is compounded by the fact that Ebola is so easily spread. Exposure to the body, fluids, or even personal items of someone who has died from the disease can spread it easily, something that not everyone there is aware of. The WHO is working with community and religious leaders to get the word out in hopes of keeping infections to a minimum.

Another challenge is the fact that traditional practices in the area don’t match up with health recommendations, particularly when it comes to funeral practices. In addition, some of the rural population does not believe in Ebola in the first place and has no faith in the ability of Western medicine to help.

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Workers from the WHO and Oxfam are going door to door to let everyone know what hygienic precautions they can take to lower their chances of contracting the deadly disease. They’re also letting them know about symptoms to look out for, which include headache, muscle pain, fatigue, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, and bleeding or bruising.

How far will the current outbreak spread?

Until recently, the current Ebola outbreak had been confined to the country’s rural areas, but it has now made its way to bigger cities like Mbandaka, where it has the potential to spread to many more people. The city’s location along the Congo River and its use as a transit hub is raising fears about just how far the outbreak could spread. The city of Kinshasa, which has a population of 10 million, is just downstream, and across the river is the Republic of the Congo’s capital, Brazzaville.

So far, 58 people have reported hemorrhagic fever symptoms in the country, although it’s likely that there are many more cases going unreported given the general mistrust of doctors in the country. Thirty cases have tested positive for Ebola, 14 are suspected, and 14 are considered probable. Some of the infected include health care workers. Twenty-two people have died so far in what is the country’s ninth outbreak since the deadly virus was first identified in 1976, and the outbreak only started earlier this month.

Experts have said that the outbreak has now reached a critical point, with the next few weeks indicating whether they’ll be able to keep the outbreak under control or if it will hit urban areas in full force. Health workers have a list of more than 600 people who are known to have come into contact with confirmed cases, and they are working hard to keep it from becoming a repeat of past outbreaks. One of the biggest Ebola outbreaks struck Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia between 2013 and 2016, killing more than 11,300 people.

Sources for this article include:

DailyStar.co.uk

ABCNews.go.com

CBC.ca

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Dog saves owner by sniffing out her cancer BEFORE she even knew she had it

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Image: Dog saves owner by sniffing out her cancer BEFORE she even knew she had it

Dogs have a long history of being man’s best friend. But the story of a Newburyport Police Department officer and her blind dog from Massachusetts, doesn’t merely prove the bond between owner and pet but also proves that dogs are great at detecting illnesses.

Police officer Megan Tierney was reportedly at home with Dude, her blind border collie/Australian shepherd mix, when he started acting a little strange. According to her, she was lying in bed when Dude suddenly became focused on her chest area, placing a paw on her.

Tierney turned her attention on the spot Dude was touching and noticed a tissue swell. But to her surprise, a trip to the doctor confirmed that she has stage two triple negative invasive ductal breast cancer. And although finding out you have cancer is never an easy thing to swallow, the police officer said, “Dude found the lump, and we were never so happy because it just meant that we could get it where it was, rather than not knowing.”

It is known that dogs have a more heightened sense of smell compared to humans. Dude, being a blind dog, has greatly enhanced this particular sense which helped him detect the illness of his owner. Moreover, canines’ olfactory bulbs have 220 million scent receptors; 195 million more than that of humans.

According to dog-cognition researcher Alexandra Horowitz from Barnard College, dogs can smell odors in parts per trillion. For example, in a million gallons of water, dogs can detect if a teaspoon sugar was mixed into the water. This means their smelling abilities are 100,000 times better than ours. (Related: Dogs can smell lung cancer in humans.)

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One study, conducted by the Pine Street Foundation, reflects Dude’s exceptional skill. The study involved five dogs that were given breath samples of 31 breast cancer patients, 55 lung cancer patients and 83 healthy persons. All dogs were able to pinpoint which samples came from those who were ill, with approximately 90 percent accuracy.

Can dogs really smell cancer?

According to Tammana Khare of Dogs Naturally Magazine, because of the metabolic waste released by cancerous cells, a distinct smell is also released from the human body. This significant smell can be easily traced by dogs even during the earlier stages of cancer.

Other studies suggest that canines also have the ability to smell traces of skin cancer melanoma through skin lesions, and detect prostate cancer with just a urine sample from a person who is suffering from one.

“Not only does their sense of smell make cancer detection possible, but research suggests that dogs can be trained actively to sniff out the cancer, ” the canine expert shared. “In Berlin, a group of researchers trained some dogs to detect the presence of various types of cancer, including ovarian cancer, bowel cancer, as well as bladder cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer,” Khane finished.

Although some remain to be with the whole idea of dogs being able to sniff out cancer and other illnesses, there are already some field experts who see a future where dogs will be directly used in patient care. More importantly, the special dog ability Dude exhibited helped his owner, Tierney, to manage her sickness and prolong her life.

Check out more amazing stories about man’s best friend on NaturalNewsPets.com.

Sources include:

Lifezette.com

PBS.org

 

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7 things happy people always do (but never talk about)

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Why are some people more happy than others? It looks like they’ve found what they love to do and have a consistent sense of peace and happiness.

They see positive opportunities when most people see closed doors. They handle failures and setbacks with grace and confidently continue moving in their desired direction.

Don’t worry if you think this doesn’t sound like you.

The good news is, you can be one of those people. Those characteristics are largely learned.

I know this from personal experience. I’ve seen people go through hardships and depression and yet turn their life around purely through their actions and attitude.

Being happy is possible, no matter how dark your days are.

Contrary to popular belief, being happy really doesn’t have much to do with “positive thinking”. It’s about cultivating a realistic attitude that embraces life as it is.

Finding lasting happiness is a lot like physical fitness. You have to work your muscles daily if you want to see results over time. So, if you’re looking for a nudge to get the ball rolling, here are 7 habits of authentically happy people.

1) They have at least 5 close relationships

Did you know that the longest Harvard study ever on happiness found that healthy relationships were the most consistent predictor of a happy person? Having a few close relationships has also been found to help us live a longer, higher quality life. True friends really are worth their weight in gold.

But why five relationships?

This has been found to be an acceptable average from a variety of studies. According to the book Finding Flow:

“National surveys find that when someone claims to have 5 or more friends with whom they can discuss important problems, they are 60 percent more likely to say that they are ‘very happy’.”

However keep in mind that the actual number doesn’t necessarily matter that much, it is the effort you put into your relationships that matters.

2) They don’t tie your happiness to external events

A variety of research says that self-esteem that is bound to external success can be quite fickle. For example, if you tie your self-esteem to getting that job promotion, you’ll experience a small boost when you get it, but it won’t last long.

Tying your happiness to external events can also lead to behaviour which avoids failure. The key may be to think of yourself less as this C.W Lewis quote says to avoid the trap of tying your self-worth to external signals.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” – C.W. Lewis

3) They exercise

It’s been proven over and over. Exercise will make you feel better if you stick with it. Body image improves as a result of exercise and eventually you’ll begin to experience that “exercise high” thanks to the release of endorphins. It doesn’t matter which physical activity you do, just as long as you do something.

4) They become good at something

Happy people generally have something that they’re “good at”. A skill they’ve honed over the years. People report that even though it may have been tough to improve their skills at something, they are satisfied with themselves when they look back.

The rewards of becoming great at something far outweigh the short-term discomfort.

5) They spend more money on experiences

According to a fair amount of research, experiential purchases tend to make us happier than spending money on material goods. This could be because experiences are something you’ll remember forever, they’re social and they’re unique. Nobody in the world will have the same exact experience you had.

6) They don’t ignore negative emotions

Yes, it’s common for most of us to resist emotions like sadness. But the truth you need sadness if you’re going to have happiness. And resisting these emotions will only turn into something more ugly down the road. Perhaps master Buddhist Pema Chödrön says it best:

“…feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us, with terrifying clarity, exactly where we’re stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we are.”

7) They are busy, but not rushed

Research shows that if you constantly feel rushed, then you’ll feel miserable. On the other hand, studies suggest that have nothing to do can also takes its toll.

The best is when you’re living a productive life but at a comfortable pace. Meaning: You should be expanding your comfort zone, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed. The best advice here is to say no to things that you’re not excited about, and yes to things that you can say “hell yeah!” to.

For all book lovers please visit my friend’s website.
URL: http://www.romancewithbooks.com

An Introduction to Scarlet Fever: A Contagious Childhood Disease

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Story at-a-glance

  • Characterized by bright red rashes, fever and sore throat, scarlet fever is a transmissible illness caused by the Streptococcus bacteria — the same bacteria that cause strep throat
  • Learn important facts about scarlet fever, its hallmark symptoms, possible causes and the different treatment methods that may help reduce its impact on your life

Characterized by bright red rashes, fever and sore throat, scarlet fever, aka scarlatina, is a transmissible illness caused by the Streptococcus bacteria — the same bacteria that cause strep throat. Although it affects different age groups, it’s more predominant in children ages 5 to 15, which is why it’s considered a childhood disease.1

While it’s a mild illness that is rarer and less threatening nowadays than it was in the past, a scarlet fever outbreak may still lead to severe complications if left untreated.2 To further understand this illness, let’s first discuss what the Streptococcus bacterium is and how it affects your body.

Understanding the Streptococcus Bacteria

Scarlet fever is caused by Group A Streptococcus, a type of bacterium that can also cause strep throat and glomerulonephritis, a kidney disease that can occur in rare instances after you recover from certain throat or skin infections.3 The Streptococcus group of bacteria is divided into three groups: alpha-hemolytic, beta-hemolytic and no-hemolytic.

These groups are broken down further by letter grades A to V. The specific bacteria behind scarlet fever belong to the Gram-positive, beta-hemolytic group A Streptococcus, also called Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A strep (GAS). Pyogenes infections cause mild to severe illness, including:4

Pharyngitis

Scarlet fever (rash)

Impetigo

Cellulitis

Erysipelas (skin infection)

Necrotizing fasciitis

Myositis (inflammation of muscle tissue)

Toxic shock syndrome

Rheumatic fever

Acute glomerulonephritis

Group A strep is commonly found on the surface of the skin and inside the throat. It’s usually passed from one person to another through direct contact with the open wounds, sores, mucus or bodily fluids of an infected person.5

Not everyone who carries these bacteria will become ill, though. A Streptococcal infection usually occurs if the bacteria get into your tissues, or if the infected person has a weakened immune system.6 Some strains of these bacteria can also produce an erythrogenic toxin, which will then cause the hallmark red-colored skin rashes of scarlet fever.7

Aside from scarlet fever, some of the other mild illnesses that group A strep may cause include strep throat, sinusitis and middle ear infections. There are also instances wherein a virulent strain of a different group of strep, Group B, aka Streptococcus agalactiae, may cause severe diseases such as neonatal pneumonia and sepsis, meningitis, vaginitis and endocarditis.8

The History of Scarlet Fever

Thanks to antibiotics and other modern treatment options, scarlet fever today is a fairly rare disease and considered a mild Streptococcal infection. It was a rare disease many centuries ago, too, in the 1600s — in fact, the first report of the disease was recorded in 1553. But during the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution gave rise to overcrowded, low-income urban areas, it emerged as one of the deadliest communicable diseases at the time.

The group A Streptococcus bacteria thrived in these unhygienic and congested cities, causing a spike in the occurrence of scarlet fever, which recurred in a cycle of epidemics, usually affecting children.9

In fact, 95 percent of the people who caught this infection in the U.S. state of Massachusetts during 1858 were children under the age of 15.10 In Britain, over 30 percent of scarlet fever cases were fatal, making it one of the deadliest diseases during the mid-19th century.11 These fatal cases continued into the early years of the 20th century.12

Researchers found that public health and hygiene play a key role in the development of scarlet fever. This helped lower its severity and recurrences, as people pushed for better living conditions and urban cleanliness.13 The mortality rate for scarlet fever significantly dropped during the 1950s. By 1980, scarlet fever diagnoses finally became uncommon.14

Unfortunately, this disease did not completely disappear. In fact, statistics show that cases of scarlet fever have steadily increased in some parts of the world since 2014, particularly in the U.K. and northeast Asia.15 Since it’s still a threat to your and your family’s health, you should be alert for scarlet fever outbreaks.

Avoid Falling Victim to Scarlet Fever With the Help of These Pages

Scarlet fever is a mild disease but it may cause serious health problems. Fortunately, with the right knowledge, you can prevent it from occurring, or at least reduce its severity If you do get it. Continue reading these pages to learn important facts about scarlet fever, its hallmark symptoms, possible causes and the different treatment methods that may help reduce its impact on your life.

For all book lovers please visit my friend’s website.
URL: http://www.romancewithbooks.com

How Anger and Other Negative Emotions Affect Your Body

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Have you ever been so angry that your face turns red, your body starts shaking, or you feel like you just want to hit something?

You can imagine anger like a volcano, building up pressure until the top just blows off. Or, if you’re like me, maybe you remember Bugs Bunny cartoons and watching the characters blow steam out of their ears. Lol!

When we experience the emotions of anger, there’s actually a whole series of biological effects that take place in the body. Here’s a really cool 2 1/2-minute video on the science of anger.

Anger is a natural emotion and it should be acknowledged. It can also be a catalyst for positive changes, like when we see an injustice that should be righted, when we witness another being hurt, or maybe if we’ve been taken advantage of.

But when we hold on to this emotion, or if we are quick to anger all of the time (like someone cutting you off in traffic) it can actually be toxic and degrading to our overall health.

That’s why we need the proper tools to release it, and to bring our bodies back into balance.

If you’d like some help with releasing anger, I encourage you to check out this Tapping Meditation. It’s great to use in the moment, and when used repeatedly, it can train your brain and your body to be less prone to anger.

 

For all book lovers please visit my friend’s website.
URL: http://www.romancewithbooks.com