Videos:

1. Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons state unvaccinated are meantally ill (0:48)
2. Pandemic Amnesty’: Do you Forgive and Forget? (8:19)
3. Experts try to calm the angry AI, w Elon Musk Part 2 –  (8:00)
4. MEP Clare Daly – Speech from Nov 23 (1:12)
5. How Long Would Society Last During a Total Grid Collapse? (14:56)

The ultimate stress buster: L-theanine

Columbia University Medical Center,  November 16, 2022

Honestly, who would have thought that stress can cause heart damage equivalent to smoking five cigarettes?

This is according to a study conducted by Columbia University Medical Center and published in the American Journal of Cardiology. 

The study reveals how an amino acid known as L-theanine reduces both stress levels and heart rate.  As a way to increase stress levels, scientists asked 12 participants to solve a mentally stressful task in four double blind trials.

L-theanine was given to participants in one of the four trials before dealing with the stressful task.  In the second group, study subjects took L-theanine midway through the work.  In the third and fourth variations, subjects were respectively given a placebo and nothing at all before attempting the task.

In comparison to the placebo group, there was a reduced amount of immunoglobulin (a stress marker in saliva released by the immune system after exposure to viruses, bacteria, and other foreign entities) and a lower heart rate in participants who took L-theanine.

The researchers explained that L-theanine works by suppressing the sympathetic nervous system responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ response during emergency situations.

This is achieved by blocking a chemical known as glutamate (L-glutamic acid) that carries electric signals transmitted from nerve cells to the rest of the body cells. The conclusion was that L-theanine plays a major role in terms of influencing psychology (mind) and physiology (body) function during stressful situation.

Greater flavonoid intake associated with less arterial calcification

Edith Cowen University (Australia), November 23 2022. 

The December 2022 issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology reported a study that uncovered a relationship between greater consumption of plant compounds known as flavonoids and decreased calcification in the abdominal aorta, which supplies blood to the abdominal organs and lower limbs. 

Greater abdominal aortic calcification has been associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and dementia. 

The study included 881 participants in the Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women. Dietary questionnaire responses were analyzed to determine total and individual flavonoid intake. 

Women whose total flavonoid intake was among the top 25% of participants had a 36% lower risk of extensive abdominal aortic calcification than women whose intake was among the lowest 25%. Among women whose intake of individual flavonoids known as flavan-3-ols and flavonols was among the top 25%, respective risks were 39% and 38% lower. 

Those who consumed 2–6 cups per day of black tea (the main source of total flavonoid intake in this study), had a 16%–42% lower risk of extensive abdominal aortic calcification than women who were not tea drinkers. 

“In most populations, a small group of foods and beverages—uniquely high in flavonoids—contribute the bulk of total dietary flavonoid intake,” first author Ben Parmenter noted. “The main contributors are usually black or green tea, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, red wine, apples, raisins/grapes and dark chocolate.” 

“Out of the women who don’t drink black tea, higher total non-tea flavonoid intake also appears to protect against extensive calcification of the arteries,” he continued. “This implies flavonoids from sources other than black tea may be protective against abdominal aortic calcification when tea is not consumed.”

“Abdominal aortic calcification is a major predictor of vascular disease events, and this study shows intake of flavonoids, that could protect against abdominal aortic calcification, are easily achievable in most people’s diets,” he concluded.

Researchers discover that vitamin C improves health for children of pregnant smokers

Oregon Health & Science University, November 22, 2022

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have found that vitamin C supplementation to pregnant women unable to quit smoking significantly improves airway function and respiratory health in their offspring at 5 years of age.

While previous studies have shown that vitamin C improves airway function in infants, this is the first study to demonstrate that the improvement in airway function can be maintained through preschool age.

The study published this week in JAMA Pediatrics.

Despite anti-smoking efforts and a steady decrease of smoking among the adult population over the past decade, the addictive properties of tobacco products can make quitting smoking incredibly challenging for many individuals. Roughly 10% of American women continue to smoke in pregnancy, each year resulting in about 400,000 infants being exposed to smoke in-utero, or in the uterus.

In-utero smoke exposure from maternal smoking during pregnancy can be dangerous for a developing baby and is linked to poor health outcomes, including impaired fetal lung development, decreased airway function and an increased risk for wheezing and asthma. Additionally, decreased airway growth early in life causes increased risk for serious lifelong conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is now the third leading cause of death worldwide.

For this study, participating women were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial to receive either vitamin C (500 mg/day) or a placebo.

Statistical analyses showed that the effect of vitamin C supplementation to pregnant smokers prior to 23 weeks of gestation consistently resulted in significantly better airway function in their offspring at 5 years old.

While the findings may improve the health of the many children who face in-utero smoke exposure, these findings may have even broader implications: The results may potentially lead to better understanding of—and treatments for—the health impacts of other smoke exposures, including indoor and outdoor air pollution, vaping and wildfires.

Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system, lymph nodes study finds

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, November 23, 2022

The diminished power of the immune system in older adults is usually blamed on the aging process. But a new study by Columbia immunologists shows that decades of particulate air pollution also take a toll.

The study found that inhaled particles from environmental pollutants accumulate over decades inside immune cells in lymph nodes associated with the lung, eventually weakening the cells’ ability to fight respiratory infections.

The findings—published Nov. 21 in Nature Medicine—offer a new reason why individuals become more susceptible to respiratory diseases with age.

The Columbia researchers weren’t initially looking at air pollution’s influence on the immune system. More than ten years ago, they began to collect tissues from deceased organ donors to study immune cells in multiple mucosal and lymphoid tissues. Such cells have been largely inaccessible to researchers studying the immune system where sampling is limited to peripheral blood.

“When we looked at people’s lymph nodes, we were struck by how many of the nodes in the lung appeared black in color, while those in the GI tract and other areas of the body were the typical beige color,” says Donna Farber, Ph.D., the George H. Humphreys II Professor of Surgical Sciences at Columbia University , who led the study.

And as the researchers collected more tissue from younger donors, they also noticed an age difference in the appearance of the lung’s lymph nodes: Those from children and teenagers were largely beige while those from donors over age 30 looked were tinged with black and got darker with increasing age.

“When we imaged the lung’s blackened lymph nodes and found they were clogged with particles from airborne pollutants, we started to think about their impact on the lung’s ability to fight infection as people age,” Farber says.

In the new study, she and her colleagues examined tissues from 84 deceased human organ donors ranging in age from 11 to 93, all nonsmokers.

They found that the pollutant particles in the lung’s lymph nodes were located inside macrophages, immune cells that engulf and destroy bacteria, viruses, cellular debris, and other potentially dangerous substances.

The macrophages containing particulates were significantly impaired: they were much less capable of ingesting other particles and producing cytokines—chemical “help” signals—that activate other parts of the immune system. Macrophages in those same lymph nodes that did not contain particulates were unimpaired.

“We do not know yet the full impact pollution has on the immune system in the lung,” Farber adds, “but pollution undoubtedly plays a role in creating more dangerous respiratory infections in elderly individuals and is another reason to continue the work in improving air quality.”

Biologist explains how cannabinoids cause tumor cells to commit suicide

Compultense University (Spain): November 17, 2018

A molecular biologist from Compultense University in Madrid, Christina Sanchez, has been studying the molecular activity of cannabinoids for over a decade. Through her studies, she and colleagues found that tetrahydrocannabinol , (THC) which is the main psychoactive part of cannabis, kills tumerous cells while allowing healthy cells to be. It was an unexpected discovery when Sanchez and crew were studying brain cancer cells to grasp a better understanding of how they function. They observed that when cells were exposed to THC, the tumeral cells stopped growing then destroyed themselves. This occurred both in lab tests and animal trials. Sanchez first reported her miraculous findings back in 1998.

According to Sanchez ,”After the discovery of this compound that is called THC, it was pretty obvious that this compound had to be acting on the cells, on our organism, through a molecular mechanism.” Research finds that the human body is designed to use cannabis compounds. In the eighties, research first showed the human body contains two targets for THC. One is the endocannabinoid system which processes THC through an endogenous framework. Then the various cannabinoid receptors throughout the body that use them. In conjunction, the body benefits from cannabinoids via these two natural systems. Cannabis is the only place in nature where some certain cannabinoids are found.

Sanchez continues, “The endocannabinoids, together with the receptors and the enzymes that synthesize, that produce, the endocannabinoids and that degrade the endocannabinoids, are what we call the endocannabinoid system. We now know that the endocannabinoid system regulates a lot of biological functions: appetite, food intake, motor behavior, reproduction, and many, many other functions. And that’s why the plant has such a wide therapeutic potential.”

Cannabis cannabinoids, when consumed, work with the body’s natural endocannabinoid system and bind to the receptors in the same manner as endogenous cannabinoids. The effects cancer-wise as demonstrated in animal models of breast and brain cancers is that the cancerous cells self destruct. A big advantage of cannabinoids is their unique ability to specifically target tumor cells with no effect on normal cells. This gives cannabinoids the advantage over chemotherapy which targets way more then the actual target

Spending Time in the Forest or the Field: Investigations on Stress Perception and Psychological Well-Being

University of Freiburg (Germany), November 16, 2022
Research suggests that stays in a forest promote relaxation and reduce stress compared to spending time in a city. The aim of this study was to compare stays in a forest with another natural environment, a cultivated field. Healthy, highly sensitive persons  aged between 18 and 70 years spent one hour in the forest and in the field at intervals of one week. The primary outcome was measured using the Change in Subjective Self-Perception (CSP-14) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were measured using the Profile Of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire and by analyzing salivary cortisol. 
The medicinal use of forests is of increasing interest worldwide. Forest air is refreshing because trees clean the air of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, produce oxygen, and release volatile bioactive terpenes into the air . Research from Japan, South Korea], China, Taiwan, Australia, the United States, Italy, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Austria suggests that spending time in the forest promotes relaxation, lowers stress hormones and blood pressure and strengthens the immune system. Most studies compared stays in the forest to stays in the city. Accordingly, forests potentially contribute to the prevention of stress-related diseases. Controlled studies have shown positive effects in high blood pressure, chronic heart failure, COPD and chronic neck pain. In addition, spending time in the forest seems to improve psychological well-being.
Spending time in forests reduced adrenaline and noradrenaline in urine, cortisol in saliva and self-rated stress perception; it also induced relaxation in controlled trials. This indicates that forest stays can reduce stress.
The available data also indicate that “forest bathing”, i.e., walking, standing or sitting in a forest with the purpose of relaxation, perceiving the environment and inhaling phytoncides stabilizes the autonomic nervous system by reducing the sympathetic and activating the parasympathetic tones. With regard to the immune system, which is linked to stress response and vegetative nerve system, an increase in the activity of natural killer cells and the expression of anti-cancer proteins such as perforin, granzyme A/B, granulysin could be demonstrated. In view of these findings, forests could make an important contribution to the prevention of stress-related diseases.
As shown in previous studies, the stressful environment of a city was most often compared to a forest; it remains unclear whether forests have specific effects or are just acting as natural environments. Therefore, we wanted to compare two natural but polar-opposite environments. In cultivated fields, sensory impressions are different from the forest. In order to maximize profitability, fields are mostly structured into rectangular shapes and usually mainly one type of plant is found, while in a natural forest, different types of plants grow side by side. Accordingly, visual, auditory and olfactory impressions are less diverse in fields than in forests The play of light and shadow that characterizes the forest atmosphere is not found in fields. The plants are usually not tall enough to provide shade, whereas the height of the trees in the forest can provide a sense of shelter. Field paths are more often sealed than forest paths, which changes haptic perception when walking on them. Thus, there are significant differences in the types of sensory impressions between forests and fields.  Highly sensitive persons (HSP), due to their subtle perception, intensely perceive stimuli that others might not even consciously notice. These stimuli may consist of the behavior or moods of other people, the media, medications, pain, and hunger [32]. They perceive stimuli, positively or negatively, to a higher degree, which may, on the one hand, lead to a prolonged reaction time, and on the other hand to more intense feelings and emotional excitability.
Our main outcome results show that, as soon as one hour after entering the forest, participants felt a sense of security, relaxation and inner connectedness. In summer, forest interventions had a better effect on vitality. Our study was the first to use the CSP-14 questionnaire, and the comparisons between field and forest interventions were also novel. Forest interventions significantly lowered perceptions of depression, anxiety, hostility, fatigue, confusion and total mood disturbance, and greatly increased vigor.
This study shows that forests are not the only kind of natural environment that can promote psychological well-being. The characteristics and qualities of natural environments might influence people’s mood and well-being differently. There might also be differences dependent on the preferences of the respective individuals. We regard it as meaningful to study these different effects of nature on the human soul and body in more detail. In addition, future studies examining the effects of different natural environments on human health should respect seasonal aspects and weather conditions.