videos:

1.‘Do You Think Dr. Fauci Intentionally Lied Under Oath?’: Ex-CDC Director Gives Bombshell Testimony
2.Kat Cammack Calls Out ‘Blacklists’ Of People Who Disagreed With Fauci On COVID-19 (6:23)

3.Clayton Morris: They want to watch the banks burn on purpose (START @ 5:01)
4.Neil Oliver ‘…they lied to & manipulated us, and it’s still happening!’ (13:40)
5.Tulsi Gabbard: Nancy Pelosi is getting away with this (1:00)

Meta-analysis adds evidence to comfort-supportive property of PEA

Medical University of Graz (Austria), March 13 2023. 

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal Nutrients affirmed the association between supplementing with palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and improvements in chronic pain, functional status and quality of life. 

“Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is a naturally occurring fatty acid amide which was first isolated and described in 1957 as N-(2hydroxyethyl)-palmitamide,” Kordula Lang-Illievich of the Medical University of Graz and colleagues wrote. “PEA was initially extracted from soybean lecithin, egg yolk, and peanut meal and was reported to have anti-inflammatory properties in an animal model. It was later isolated from mammalian tissues and is an endogenous compound in the human body.”

For their review and meta-analysis, the research team selected 11 double-blind randomized controlled trials that included a total of 774 men and women with chronic pain. Conditions responsible for chronic pain included gynecologic diseases, neurologic diseases, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthritis, knee arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders. Studies evaluated the effects of oral PEA in doses of 300 to 1,200 milligrams per day administered in one or two doses. Treatment periods ranged from 10 days to 12 months.

Pooled analysis of the studies found a significant reduction in pain intensity among participants who received PEA compared to the control group participants. Several studies also revealed associations between improved pain control and functional and quality of life improvements. 

The authors of the report remarked that the findings support the consideration of PEA for people with chronic pain who poorly tolerate common pain relievers because of their side effects. “Our meta-analysis of double-blind randomized controlled trials reports a pooled effect favoring PEA over placebo or active comparators in the analgesic treatment of chronic pain,” they concluded.

Compound in wakame seaweed found to have anticancer properties

Universidad de La Frontera (Chile), March 3, 2023

Wakame seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) is a staple in the Japanese diet, often served alone as a side dish or mixed in soups and stews. However, a compound in this seaweed has been discovered to exhibit cancer-fighting properties.

A study published in Marine Drugs elaborated on this compound called fucoidan, which wakame is a well-known source of. Aside from wakame, the study mentioned that other marine invertebrates such as the Japanese sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) and the tubular sea cucumber (Holothuria tubulosa) are also sources of fucoidan.

The study authors from three universities in Chile found that fucoidan prevents metastasis – the spread of cancer cells from a tumor site to other parts of the body – by binding to the receptors outside of these cells. With fucoidan binding to the cancer cell receptors, their possibility of breaking away from the primary tumor and settling in a different part of the body decreases.

They also found that fucoidan from wakame inhibit hypoxia – blood oxygen levels that are lower than normal – in the area surrounding a tumor. Insufficient blood oxygen levels can promote the spread of cancer cells in the body.

Moreover, the researchers also noted how fucoidan prevented cancer cells from becoming resistant to certain drugs and even boosted the effects of certain anti-cancer medications, citing two examples.

First, fucoidan from U. pinnatifida improved the effect of the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen against mouse models of breast cancer. Second, the compound from brown wakame was able to inhibit the growth of tumors caused by melanoma (a kind of skin cancer) by 85 percent when combined with the anti-melanoma drug lapatinib. Using lapatinib alone inhibited melanoma tumor growth by 60 percent, the study authors pointed out.

Mediterranean diet associated with decreased risk of dementia

Newcastle University (UK), March 13, 2023

Eating a traditional Mediterranean-type diet—rich in foods such as seafood, fruit, and nuts—may help reduce the risk of dementia by almost a quarter, a new study has revealed.

Experts at Newcastle University found that individuals who ate a Mediterranean-like diet had up to 23% lower risk for dementia than those who did not.

This research, published today in BMC Medicine, is one of the biggest studies of its kind, as previous studies have typically been limited to small sample sizes and low numbers of dementia cases.

Scientists analyzed data from 60,298 individuals from the UK Biobank, a large cohort including individuals from across the UK, who had completed a dietary assessment.

The authors found there was no significant interaction between the polygenic risk for dementia and the associations between Mediterranean diet adherence. They say this may indicate that even for those with a higher genetic risk, having a better diet could reduce the likelihood of developing the condition.

John Mathers, Professor of Human Nutrition, Newcastle University, said, “The good news from this study is that even for those with higher genetic risk, having a better diet reduced the likelihood of developing dementia.

They conclude that based on their data, a Mediterranean diet that has a high intake of healthy plant-based foods may be an important intervention to incorporate into future strategies to reduce dementia risk. “The protective effect of this diet against dementia was evident regardless of a person’s genetic risk, and so this is likely to be a beneficial lifestyle choice for people looking to make healthy dietary choices and reduce their risk of dementia. 

Meditation and music improve quality of life for older people with cognitive decline

West Virginia University, February 27, 2023

One thing that everyone is concerned about as they get older is their cognitive function. Some degree of memory loss is common as we age, but new research shows that there are some great activities that can help with healthy aging. A study has revealed that participating in meditation or music listening programs can provide a number of benefits to older adults with preclinical memory loss.

The study, which was led by researchers from West Virginia University, noted that improvements were seen in a number of different key areas that are often affected first in the early stages of dementia. Great strides were made in the areas of attention, processing speed, subjective memory, and executive functions like problem solving and working memory.

In addition to bolstering prime areas of cognitive function, the study participants also experienced improvements in their stress levels, quality of the sleep, better moods, and reported an overall improvement in their state of well-being and quality of life. In other words, it appears that the benefits of music and meditation are far-reaching and could be very useful for older patients. The research was published by the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

To conduct their research, the team recruited 60 older people with a condition called “subjective cognitive decline,” or SCD — which may represent a preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease, and is considered to be a strong predictor of the disease. The participants were then assigned to either a beginner meditation (Kirtan Kriya) or music listening (ML) program and asked to practice 12 minutes every day for a period of 12 weeks.

After three months of participation, both groups reported substantial improvements in cognitive function and memory recall, as well as in other areas of well-being. The meditation group reported more pronounced improvements in the areas of stress, sleep, mood and quality of life, but both groups reported a significant change. The researchers also note that at the six-month follow-up period, the participants’ overall gains had been maintained, or had even continued to improve.

According to the team, their findings also indicated that these benefits did not differ by age, gender or other variables; the benefits seemed to reach across the spectrum indiscriminately.

In their conclusion, the study authors stated, “Findings of this preliminary randomized controlled trial suggest practice of meditation or ML can significantly enhance both subjective memory function and objective cognitive performance in adults with SCD, and may offer promise for improving outcomes in this population.”

New study aims to break the taboo surrounding spirituality

University of Southern Denmark

Do you ever think about what happens when we die, whether we have a soul, or what the meaning of life is? This—and much more—is what new research is shedding light on.

In 2021, more than 100,000 Danes were invited to participate in the largest questionnaire survey ever conducted on spiritual and existential needs.

They were asked 20 questions, all related to these topics. Over 80 percent of those who responded reported experiencing at least one strong or very strong spiritual need in the past month.

The first study based on the survey has just been published in The Lancet Regional Health—Europe.

“We live in a society where religion and spirituality are taboo and something we rarely talk about with each other. What we believe in, why we are here, what happens when we die. And we might be led to believe that it’s not important, or something we shouldn’t concern ourselves with in the healthcare system. But our study convincingly shows that these topics are important to Danes,” says Tobias Anker Stripp, a medical doctor who is the lead author of the study.

In the study, participants were asked about their need for finding inner peace and doing something for others, with these two topics being the most highly valued.

“Experiencing inner peace and giving something of oneself to others are classic existential or spiritual needs. And even though we don’t always verbalize it that way, most of us intuitively feel that this is important. About one-fifth of Danes have also reported a religious need—that is, a need directly related to belief in something greater. All of this we have now shown in numbers.”

“When you think about how healthy it is to believe in something greater and experience meaning in life, I think it’s important that we as healthcare professionals are interested in whether our patients have needs in these areas that we can address, especially when dealing with serious illness. Biomedical treatment is not enough. We must remember that we humans are more than just our physical bodies,” says Stripp.

“This study supports the holistic approach that general practice sees as central and has been educating practicing physicians in for years. This approach should be disseminated and supported by the entire healthcare system.”

“It is also a shift in the right direction for medical research that a respected journal like The Lancet addresses this topic,” which is otherwise atypical, he believes.

Red meat compound linked to worse outcomes in heart failure patients

University of Leicester (UK), February 19, 2023 

A new study finds that worse outcomes in patients with acute heart failure are linked to higher levels of TMAO – the major source of which is thought to be L-carnitine, a compound that is metabolized by gut bacteria during the digestion of red meat.

Previous studies have linked TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) with higher risk of death in chronic heart failure, note the researchers, but their study appears to be the first to find such a link in patients with acute heart failure.

In the new study, led by Toru Suzuki, a professor in the cardiovascular sciences department at Leicester, the researchers measured circulating levels of TMAO in 972 patients admitted with heart failure to University Hospitals of Leicester National Health Service (NHS) Trust.

The results showed that acute heart failure patients who had higher levels of TMAO at the start of the period were the ones most likely to die or be rehospitalized with heart failure in the following 12 months.

Prof. Suzuki says:

Our study shows that higher levels of TMAO, a metabolite of carnitine derived from red meat, is associated with poorer outcomes associated with acute heart failure, one of the main diseases of the heart. This metabolic pathway provides a possible link between how red meat is associated with heart disease.”

L-carnitine is one of a group of compounds with the generic name carnitine that are derived from an amino acid and are found in nearly all cells of the body. The name comes from the Latin for flesh – carnus – because it was first isolated from meat.

Red meat is not the only dietary source of carnitine – for example, milk, cheese, whole-wheat products and asparagus also contain it, but in much smaller concentrations. It is also a common ingredient of energy drinks.

Some research suggests the effect of bacteria metabolizing carnitine into TMAO and influencing heart risk appears to be more pronounced in people who consume meat than in vegans or vegetarians.

But it is early days, and the implications of these findings are not well understood and require more research.

For example, one area that is not clear is that while we know the process of converting L-carnitine into TMAO is different from person to person (depending on the microbe metabolism of their gut), does that mean we can say how much of the link to disease is due to diet (e.g. the red meat) and how much is due to the gut?