Videos:

1.‘That’s A Lie!’: Bill Cassidy Harshly Confronts Janet Yellen (6:46)
2.Former Michael Cohen legal adviser Robert Costello claims ex-client said he’d ‘do whatever it takes’ to avoid jail (6:24)

Leafy greens may boost gut immunity: Study

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Australia, March 15, 2023

The new study finds that dietary factors, and in particular consumption of cruciferous leafy greens, control the activity of vital immune cells through the activation of a particular gene known as T-bet.

These immune cells, known as innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), play a vital role in protecting the body from infection by ‘bad’ pathogenic bacteria in our gut – and have also been suggested to play an important role in controlling food allergies, inflammatory diseases, obesity, and even bowel cancers, say the researchers writing Nature Immunology.

“In this study, we discovered that T-bet is the key gene that instructs precursor cells to develop into ILCs, which it does in response to signals in the food we eat and to bacteria in the gut,” Dr Gabrielle Belz from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Australia. “ILCs are essential for immune surveillance of the digestive system and this is the first time that we have identified a gene responsible for the production of ILCs.”

Belz said that the proteins in cruciferous vegetables are known to interact with a cell surface receptor that switches on T-bet – and might therefore play a role in producing these critical immune cells.

Belz and her team noted that ILCs are essential for maintaining the delicate balance between tolerance, immunity and inflammation – by producing a hormone called interleukin-22 (IL-22), which can protect the body from invading bacteria.

“We are just starting to understand how important these immune cells are in regulating allergy and inflammation, and the implications for bowel cancer and other gastrointestinal disorders such as Crohn’s disease,” she said.

“Our research shows that, without the gene T-bet, the body is more susceptible to bacterial infections that enter through the digestive system,” Belz added. “This suggests that boosting ILCs in the gut may aid in the treatment of these bacterial infections.”

95% Cure Rate for Prostate Cancer In Men Treated With High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

Diagnostic Center for Disease, March 13, 2023

The Sarasota, Florida based Diagnostic Center for Disease in conjunction with PanAm HIFU, LLC, released data showing a 95% cure rate with HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) in more than 200 patients at more than 7 years post treatment. This group of patients had biopsy proven prostate cancer in conjunction with a 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spectroscopy scan (MRI-S). 

Ronald E. Wheeler, M.D. (Medical Director) attributes the results to excellence in imaging, excellence in application of technology as well as excellence in patient selection. W

hile MRI-S continues to be evaluated in a head to head comparison to random prostate biopsies, it appears the MRI-S scan is the missing piece of the diagnostic puzzle allowing for a dramatic improvement in treatment results. Approximately 700,000 American men receive a negative prostate biopsy result; however approximately 25% of these results are false-negative. Under the current standard of care, prostate biopsy procedures collect 10-12 needle biopsy cores on average, effectively sampling less than 1% of a man’s prostate. This approach leaves men at risk for a hidden cancer, leading to a high rate of repeat biopsies, often on cancer-free men, which hinders or delays the application of a procedure with this high rate of cure.

Specifically, the MRI-S scan allows for an enhancement of various diagnostic discrimination factors including: evidence of extracapsular extension (ECE), dominance of cancer in a side to side assessment, true density of tissue based on a diffusion weighted image sequence (DWI), dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) and spectroscopy (if assessable). Once the patient assessment has taken place, a qualified HIFU treating expert can expect to experience predictably better results than those achieved without the MRI-S scan. Dr. Wheeler goes on to say that current worldwide data with HIFU (regardless of technology utilized) supports a cure rate of approximately 78-80%. Our data is a seminal study that enables prostate cancer patients the opportunity to improve their choice of one therapy versus another.

Forests reduce health risks, new global report confirms

International Union of Forest Research Organizations (Austria), March 21, 2023

• Forests, trees and green spaces play a vital role in ensuring a healthy life for all on a global scale.
• The health benefits of forests and trees, ranging from physical and mental well-being to overall mortality reduction, far outweigh the adverse effects on health. As health threats, such as forest fires, are mainly caused by human activities, urgent action is needed.
• In order to address health challenges, it is important to recognize the close links between human health and the health of other species, of ecosystems, and of the planet as a whole.

The global scientific evidence of the multiple types of benefits that forests, trees and green spaces have on human health has now been assessed by an international and interdisciplinary team of scientists.  IUFRO unites more than 15,000 scientists in more than 630 member organizations – mainly public research centers and universities – in 115 countries and is a member of the International Science Council.

Existing evidence strongly supports a wide range of physical, mental, social and spiritual health benefits associated with forests and green spaces. They have positive effects, e.g., on the neurodevelopment in children, on diabetes, cancer, depression, stress-related disorders, cognitive aging and longevity, and are critical for enhancing social interactions, recreation and relaxation. Although all life stages are impacted, starting from the prenatal stage, the significant effects on children are particularly important, not least because of repercussions in later life.

Evidence highlighted in the report includes that no less than 24% of global deaths (and 28% of deaths among children under five) are due to negative environmental factors such as air pollution and extreme weather events. Premature death and disease can be prevented through healthier environments worldwide.

Forests, trees and green spaces also help reduce the negative health impacts of climate change. In cities, for example, green spaces and trees have a significant cooling effect, which is particularly important as more frequent heat waves are expected, greatly increasing the risk of heat stress and heat stroke.

This peer-reviewed assessment is the most comprehensive on this topic to date and has been carried out by the Global Forest Expert Panel (GFEP) on Forests and Human Health in the frame of the IUFRO-led Joint Initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). A total of 44 scientists and experts have contributed to this assessment, with a core Expert Panel of 16 scientists with diverse expertise, including forestry, ecology, landscape design, psychology, medicine, epidemiology and public health. Authors and reviewers are from across the globe and represent different genders.

“The report underpins a One Health perspective, which recognizes that the health of humans, animals, plants, and the wider environment are closely linked and interdependent. It suggests that decision-makers in forest, health and related domains should also adopt more integrative perspectives for addressing forest-human health relations. By linking forest and human health policies and strategies, new and innovative solutions for health and forest challenges can be identified,” says Panel Chair Cecil Konijnendijk, University of British Columbia, Canada.

While most of the health outcomes of forests, trees and green spaces are positive, there are also some negative impacts that need to be considered and mitigated. Human health can be impacted adversely through allergies, diseases transmitted by animals or reduced air quality because of forest fires, for example. Global crises such as climate change, land-use change, urbanization and biodiversity loss endanger the important role that forests and trees provide as ‘safety nets’ for the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable populations.

These negative impacts are mostly due to factors such as disturbed relationships between forests and people, poor forest conservation and management, or inappropriate choice of tree species in areas where people live. Decision-makers should promote and enhance positive forest and tree health outcomes while minimizing and managing potential negative impacts, especially on vulnerable populations.

As the acceleration of negative global trends and challenges including climate change and pandemics alters and intensifies the importance of forest-human health relations, urgent action is required. Climate change, urbanization and lifestyles that are disconnected from nature are among the main reasons behind many of the health challenges that societies around the world are facing today, including malnutrition, cardiovascular diseases and mental health problems. Environmental and climate disruptions have also led to a surge in life-threatening diseases such as Ebola or avian flu. Land-use change is estimated to have caused the emergence of more than 30% of new diseases since 1960.

For clues to healthy brain aging, look to the Bolivian Amazon

University of Southern California, March 21, 2023

Some of the lowest rates of heart and brain disease ever reported by science are found among Indigenous communities inhabiting the tropical forests of lowland Bolivia. New USC research on two of these societies, the Tsimané and Mosetén, suggests that there are optimal levels of food consumption and exercise that maximize healthy brain aging and reduce the risk of disease.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thanks to industrialization, humans now enjoy greater access to food, less physical toil and better access to health care than ever before. However, we’ve grown accustomed to eating more and exercising less. Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are associated with smaller brain volumes and faster cognitive decline.

To better understand the tipping point where abundance and ease begin to undermine health, the researchers enrolled 1,165 Tsimané and Mosetén adults, aged 40-94 years, and provided transportation for participants from their remote villages to the closest hospital with CT scanning equipment.

The team used CT scans to measure brain volume by age. They also measured participants’ body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol and other markers of energy and overall health.

Researchers found that the Tsimané and Mosetén experience less brain atrophy and improved cardiovascular health compared to industrialized populations in the U.S. and Europe. Rates of age-related brain atrophy, or brain shrinking, are correlated with risks of degenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

“The lives of our pre-industrial ancestors were punctured by limited food availability,” said Andrei Irimia, an assistant professor of gerontology, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “Humans historically spent a lot of time exercising out of necessity to find food, and their brain aging profiles reflected this lifestyle.”

The Mosetén: A bridge between pre- and post-industrialized societies

The findings also illustrated key differences between the two Indigenous societies. The Mosetén are a “sister” population to the Tsimané in that they share similar languages, ancestral history and a subsistence lifestyle. However, the Mosetén have more exposure to modern technology, medicine, infrastructure and education.

“The Mosetén serve as an important intermediary population that allows us to compare a wide spectrum of lifestyle and health care factors. This is more advantageous than a straight comparison between the Tsimané and the industrialized world,” Irimia said.

Irimia said that, along this continuum, the Mosetén showed better health than modern populations in Europe and North America—but not as good as that of the Tsimané.

Among the Tsimané, surprisingly, BMI and somewhat higher levels of “bad cholesterol” were associated with bigger brain volumes for age. This, however, may be due to individuals being more muscular, on average, than individuals in industrialized countries who have comparable BMIs.

Still, both the Tsimané and Mosetén come closer to the “sweet spot,” or balance between daily exertion and food abundance, that the authors think may be key to healthy brain aging.

Sleep quality is significantly associated with quality of life indicators over time

Charles University & Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic), March 18, 2023

Sleep quality is much more significantly linked to quality of life over time than sleep duration or “social jetlag,” according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michaela Kudrnáčová from Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, and Aleš Kudrnáč from the Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences.

Though many studies link sleep quality to one’s overall quality of life, there’s little research on the relative impact of changes in sleep duration, quality, and timing on an individual’s quality of life over the long term.

To investigate this further, different adults in the same household each completed the survey, and later iterations of the survey approached the same individuals to participate again: 5,132 Czech adults responded to the survey.

The authors analyzed responses to questions covering life satisfaction, well-being, happiness, subjective health, and work stress alongside responses on self-reported sleep duration, sleep quality, and sleep timing or “social jetlag” (when someone’s socially directed sleep rhythms and innate biological sleep rhythms are mismatched). 

At the individual level, reported sleep quality was significantly correlated with all five quality of life measures except work stress. Sleep quality was also significantly positively correlated with all quality of life measures when comparing between people. Comparing between respondents, sleep duration was significantly correlated with subjective health and happiness, and social jetlag was significantly correlated with life satisfaction and work stress. 

The authors add, “Better sleep means a better quality of life. While when we sleep and how long we sleep is important, individuals who have better quality sleep also have a better quality of life, regardless of the time and length of sleep. In addition, by following 4,253 people for three years, we found that those whose sleep improved also had an improved quality of life.”

Ginger Helps Relieve Inflammation Caused by Rheumatoid Arthritis

Iran University of Medical Sciences, March 20, 2023

Medicinal herbs such as turmeric, cardamom and ginger have long been found to have therapeutic and healing effects on illnesses that target the bones in the feet and knees, including osteoarthritis. In a new study, however, researchers observed the effects of ginger on rheumatoid arthritis.

To understand how ginger can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, researchers from Iran University of Medical Sciences ran a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial and administered ginger powder to rheumatoid arthritis patients for 12 weeks.

In the 12-week study, researchers from Iran assigned participants into two groups that would either receive 1,500 milligrams (mg) of ginger powder in capsules or a placebo. They measured disease activity score and the gene expression of immunity and inflammation factors such as NF-κB, PPAR-γ, FoxP3, T-bet, GATA-3 and RORγt before and after the intervention. They concluded:

“In RA as an autoimmune disease, the immune system is impaired and it seems that ginger can improve immune function in patients with this disease and other autoimmune diseases. The results showed that ginger decreased the expression of T-bet gene significantly.” 

The results of the study showed that ginger reduced manifestations of the disease via increasing FoxP3 gene expression alongside decreasing RORγt and T-bet gene expression. The T-bet gene was shown to trigger the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis among patients.

Researchers conclude that ginger is effective in reducing the manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis and improving immune system function.