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Antiviral drug used to treat coronavirus infection in cats may be effective against SARS-CoV-2, says study
Weekly Link Love — Edition 96
Research of the Week
Insulin exemplifies “too much of a good thing.”
Sleep-induced memory consolidation is more pronounced in kids than adults.
In older adults with obesity, a high-fat, low-carb diet burns a ton of visceral fat.
“Activating” your nuts doesn’t improve nutrient bioavailability.
New Primal Blueprint Podcasts
Episode 442: Drew Manning: Host Elle Russ welcomes Drew Manning back to the podcast to discuss his latest Fit2Fat2Forty experiment.
Media, Schmedia
Why has the Brazilian Amazon had such a good go with COVID-19?
One-night stands during a pandemic.
Interesting Blog Posts
Why are dietary guidelines still insisting we eat less saturated fat?
Are we all feeling acedia?
Social Notes
I prefer dogs, but I have to hand it to cats on this one.
Everything Else
COVID-19 lockdowns killed pro cyclists’ performance. Indoor training wasn’t enough.
Parents: give your kids more salmon, less poultry.
Things I’m Up to and Interested In
Chat I really enjoyed: The with Tara Garrison about metabolic flexibility and how low-carb changes everything.
Research I found interesting: New review of the interplay between selenium and COVID-19.
Cool study: Can a carnivore diet provide all essential nutrients?
Sadly I’m not surprised (though I wonder if it’s purely causal): More BPA, higher long-term mortality.
Reminder: A gluten-free diet has the potential to be lower in micronutrients if you don’t base it on whole foods.
Question I’m Asking
What’s your favorite go-to meal right now?
Recipe Corner
Time Capsule
One year ago (Aug 22 – Aug 28)
- What’s TMAO, and What Does It Have to Do With My Health? – Will it kill you or won’t it?
- Dear Mark: Is Fish Enough, Do Carnivores Really Need It, and More – I answer a few of your burning questions.
Comment of the Week
“I have a B.A. in Interior Design, but no one ever taught me how to design my own life; I had to discover that years later on my own. I would like to see classes in finding your life purpose, goal setting and developing good habits. In other words, classes in personal transformation.”
-Great point, Michael. Ideally, changing schools to adhere more to a child’s nature would allow this ability to develop organically.
The post Weekly Link Love — Edition 96 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
Blown up in smoke: Young adults who vape at greater risk of COVID symptoms
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COVID-19 has swept across the globe, infecting millions and resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Substantial resources have been invested into understanding individual vulnerability in order to protect those at greatest risk. Age is the most often cited risk factor; 75% of US deaths have been in people over the age of 65, while younger people generally have milder symptoms. In addition to age, the Centers for Disease Control has delineated a list of health factors that increase vulnerability, most of which are chronic disorders that generally alter health status. The single most modifiable risk factor for severe COVID-19 infection is inhaled substance use through smoking or vaping.
Vaping and smoking increase young adults’ risk of COVID symptoms
A new study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health used national data to estimate the toll of smoking and vaping on COVID-19 risk for young adults. The team found that overall, nearly one in three young adults ages 18 to 25 in the US are at heightened risk, though that number falls to one in six among those who do not smoke or vape. In other words, smoking and vaping double the number of young adults in the at-risk category.
The at-risk categorization is more than a theoretical concern. Smoking and vaping both cause lung injury that threatens pulmonary reserve. Substance use can also weaken the immune system, resulting in reduced capacity to fight off infection. A recent study found that adolescents and young adults who smoke and vape were five times more likely to report COVID-19 symptoms and seven times more likely to have a diagnosis, compared to their peers. A combined analysis using data from multiple studies found that among people infected with COVID-19, those with history of smoking were twice as likely to have disease progression.
Risk-taking during adolescence could mean greater risk for COVID
During adolescence and young adulthood, developing brains are wired to seek large neurological rewards, resulting in the risk-taking that is associated with this stage of life. Most young adults enjoy good health and hearty physiologic reserve, allowing them to tolerate the insults of substance use without noticeable impact, until the cumulative effects accrue in middle adulthood — or at least that was generally assumed to be the case prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike other risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease, smoking and vaping also inherently increase the risk of respiratory virus transmission. Smoking and vaping are often social activities for young adults. Both involve exhaling forcibly, which may propel droplets that carry viral particles further than at-rest breathing. The Canadian government recommends that people remain six feet apart and avoid sharing products, though people who get together to smoke or vape may not adhere to government guidelines. It goes without saying that both smoking and vaping are incompatible with wearing a mask. These factors combine to pose a real threat in places where young people gather — including colleges and universities. Schools would be smart to institute strict no-smoking and no-vaping rules and enforce them vigorously as part of a COVID-19 containment plan.
Younger people may be overconfident about health risks
Young people tend to overestimate their own ability to control a situation, and think of themselves as invincible; many are inclined to think that they will be able to quit smoking whenever they want to. A little extra confidence may be useful during the transition to adulthood, even if based on a faulty assessment of one’s own capabilities. But the same tendency can cause real problems in this pandemic. The idea that younger people are safe from COVID-19 is inaccurate; according to an early report from the CDC, one in five people ages 20 to 44 who become infected are hospitalized, and 2% to 4% require treatment in an intensive care unit. The best thing we can do for young people is to promote accurate information about their true risks. More than any other group, young adults who are able to quit smoking and vaping have the power to flatten their own personal risk curves.
Supporting young people who want to quit vaping and smoking
Parents and healthcare professionals have a role to play here, too. Many youth who use vaping products have seriously considered quitting, but quit attempts don’t always stick. Vaping is so new that specific treatments have not yet been rigorously tested, but there are effective treatments for nicotine use disorders. Healthcare professionals can prescribe medications that help relieve withdrawal symptoms and prevent cravings, and counselors can provide support during the process. Parents can help by encouraging their children to get help. For people who are trying to quit using nicotine, a little help can go a long way.
The post Blown up in smoke: Young adults who vape at greater risk of COVID symptoms appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
7 Foods That Promote Younger Skin and Prevent Wrinkles
There is a connection between the foods we eat and how young our skin appears, and it is possible to prevent some wrinkle formation and get more youthful-looking skin through your diet. Find out how.
The post 7 Foods That Promote Younger Skin and Prevent Wrinkles appeared first on Chris Kresser.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Cancer Care, In 4 Charts
Before the pandemic, about 1,000 new patients came to Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for treatment consultations each week. When COVID-19 hit Massachusetts this spring, the number of new consultations fell by half and the hospital moved as many appointments as possible online.
Now, with daily case counts relatively low in the area, the hospital is back to scheduling about 800 consultations per week, using a mixture of telemedicine and in-person appointments, says associate chief medical officer Dr. Andrew Wagner—but that still means about 200 cancer patients per week are not getting the treatment consultations they would in more normal times. Continued travel restrictions and fear of infection likely play a part, but many would-be patients aren’t setting up appointments because they don’t know they need to. The number of cancer screenings happening nationwide plummeted this spring when lockdowns went into effect, meaning many of the people who would be seeking care from Wagner and his colleagues don’t yet know they have cancer at all.
“Five months in, with the procedures and equipment we have put in place to ensure the safety of our patients and our staff, the potential health impact from [canceling cancer screenings] is a bigger concern than the pandemic,” Wagner says.
When COVID-19 hit the U.S. this spring, hospitals in many areas canceled elective surgeries to redirect resources and personnel to treating coronavirus patients, and people were encouraged to use telemedicine or delay non-urgent medical appointments. While doing so was necessary to try to stop the spread of the virus, it led to unintended consequences. About 40% of Americans recently said they were unable to get some kind of care due to the pandemic, and studies show emergency room visits plunged nationwide.
For cancer patients, the unintended consequences start with those who don’t even know they have the disease yet. Studies suggest the pandemic led to a roughly 80% drop in routine screening appointments that could catch new cancers in March and April. Rates recovered somewhat in the late spring, but one paper still estimated approximately 60% fewer breast, colon and cervical cancer exams from mid-March to mid-June compared with years prior. That translates to hundreds of thousands of missed exams nationally—and, among those who do have undetected cancer or precursors to it, the loss of potential early diagnoses and interventions.
Part of the problem, Wagner says, is that the vast majority of cancer screenings can’t happen virtually. Most screenings require an in-person procedure like a colonoscopy (for colon cancer), mammogram (for breast cancer) or a pap smear (for cervical cancer). Some clinics can test for colon cancer with a stool sample patients send in from home, and dermatologists may be able to look at an unusual mole remotely—but that’s about where the list ends.
Even remote tests for colorectal cancer aren’t used as often as they could be, says Dr. Rachel Issaka, a gastroenterologist and clinical researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “In this era of social distancing, this really is an opportunity for us to start to use these tests to a greater extent,” Issaka says. “This time is requiring us to be a little bit more creative.”
The stakes are high. Fewer screenings translated to fewer cancer diagnoses during the pandemic, data show. According to one estimate, the number of weekly diagnoses for breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic, gastric and esophageal cancers dropped by about half during the pandemic.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force sets specific recommendations for who needs which screening tests, and how often. Most cancers are slow-growing enough that missing those intervals by a few months won’t make a huge difference, says Dr. David Cohn, chief medical officer at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. “But the biggest fear is that a couple months turns into a couple years,” he says. If a cancer goes undetected for years, the patient’s prognosis could be grim, he says.
Patients who had been diagnosed prior to the pandemic have experienced disruptions, as well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention never recommended that people with a cancer diagnosis delay their care, but cancer patients and their doctors have had the difficult task of weighing the risk of COVID-19 against the urgency of cancer treatment. As TIME reported last month, some patients have deferred chemotherapies and radiation treatments that need to be administered at medical facilities under professional supervision.
In one April survey of breast cancer patients, 44% reported treatment delays during the pandemic—a number that was relatively steady regardless of the stage of cancer. The highest rate of delays concerned routine follow-ups and breast reconstruction surgery. But about a third of respondents reported delays in cancer therapies that take place in a medical facility, including radiation, infusion therapies and surgical tumor removal.
It’s too soon to say what the fallout from all the delays in screenings, diagnoses and treatments will be. Dr. Ned Sharpless, who leads the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, estimated that pandemic-related delays in screenings and cancer care will over the next decade result in about 10,000 excess deaths (on top of the 1 million typically expected deaths) from breast and colorectal cancer alone. The analysis of these two cancers, which account for about a sixth of all cancer deaths, is based on a conservative model that assumes pandemic-related delays last only six months.
“Even a small dropoff has a very substantial impact on population health,” Cohn says.
We won’t see these deaths show up in the data for a few years, since many cancers progress in severity over a relatively long period of time.
Most hospitals and doctors’ offices are again encouraging patients to come in for routine care. Many have implemented safety protocols (like limitations on visitors, getting rid of waiting rooms and mandatory COVID-19 testing for certain patients and staff) that make it safe for most patients to come in for screening tests, Cohn says.
And there is at least one way telemedicine can help cancer care, Cohn says. Patients who are nervous, or who have unique risk factors, can talk through the risks and benefits of making an appointment with their doctor first, from home.
How tattooing helps cancer survivors regain control of their bodies
How tattooing helps cancer survivors regain control of their bodies
https://ift.tt/3jmSYlV August 28, 2020 at 07:01PM https://ift.tt/1R552o9
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