WHO: Coronavirus Patients Who Don’t Show Symptoms Aren’t Driving Spread of Virus

WHO: Coronavirus Patients Who Don’t Show Symptoms Aren’t Driving Spread of Virus

Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated that the virus could spread from person-to-person contact, even if the carrier didn’t have symptoms. But WHO officials now say that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is not the main way it’s being transmitted.

Some people, particularly young and otherwise healthy individuals, who are infected by the coronavirus never develop symptoms or only develop mild symptoms. Others might not develop symptoms until days after they were actually infected.

“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency’s Geneva headquarters. “It’s very rare.”

Source: Asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is ‘very rare,’ WHO says

This Inexpensive Action Lowers Infections And Protects Against Flu

Harvard Researcher Says This Inexpensive Action Will Lower Hospital Infection Rates And Protect Us For The Flu Season

Picornavirus (picornavirid)
Picornavirus (picornavirid), responsible for: Colds, gastroenteritis, poliomyelitis and meningitis. Image made from a transmission electron microscopy view. (Photo by: Cavallini James/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

‘One factor stood out above them all, and it shocked the research team. The one factor most associated with infection was (drum roll): dry air. At low relative humidity, indoor air was strongly associated with higher infection rates. “When we dry the air out, droplets and skin flakes carrying viruses and bacteria are launched into the air, traveling far and over long periods of time. The microbes that survive this launching tend to be the ones that cause healthcare-associated infections,” said Taylor. “Even worse, in addition to this increased exposure to infectious particles, the dry air also harms our natural immune barriers which protect us from infections”…’

Full article: This Inexpensive Action Lowers Hospital Infections And Protects Against Flu Season (Forbes)

Anxiety might be alleviated by regulating gut bacteria

“People who experience anxiety symptoms might be helped by taking steps to regulate the microorganisms in their gut using probiotic and non-probiotic food and supplements, suggests a review of studies published today in the journal General Psychiatry.”

Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

‘Studies have shown that as many as a third of people will be affected by anxiety symptoms during their lifetime.

Increasingly, research has indicated that gut microbiota—the trillions of microorganisms in the gut which perform important functions in the immune system and metabolism by providing essential inflammatory mediators, nutrients and vitamins—can help regulate brain function through something called the “gut-brain axis”.

Recent research also suggests that mental disorders could be treated by regulating the intestinal microbiota, but there is no specific evidence to support this…’

Continued: Anxiety might be alleviated by regulating gut bacteria

Healing Foods for Five Common Ailments

Try healing foods for five common conditions with advice from the experts at Consumer Reports.
Try healing foods for five common conditions with advice from the experts at Consumer Reports.

For some health concerns, your kitchen may provide good medicine. Here’s what to eat and when

Certain foods can have a more immediate benefit and may help tame common health problems such as headaches and insomnia. So the next time you experience one of the conditions below, consider heading to your kitchen before you open your medicine cabinet…

Continue reading: Healing Foods for Common Ailments

Roundup ingredient found in Cheerios, Quaker Oats, and other cereals

“Days after a California jury awarded a school groundskeeper more than $289 million in damages after he claimed Monsanto’s best-selling weedkiller Roundup gave him cancer, the controversial ingredient – glyphosate — has been detected in popular kids’ breakfast cereals, including Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Quaker Old Fashioned Oats, according to an activist group.

Lab tests conducted by the left-leaning Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit advocacy group that specializes in toxic chemicals and corporate accountability, indicated almost three-fourths of the 45 food products tested detected high levels of glyphosate, which has been identified as a “probable carcinogen” by the World Health Organization in 2015…

Yet, Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., and senior science adviser for the EWG, says the bottom line is that glyphosate does not belong in children’s food and that recent biomonitoring studies show detectable levels of the ingredient in people’s urine, which likely comes from dietary exposure.”

Article: Roundup ingredient found in Cheerios, Quaker Oats, and other cereals

Woman battles cancer with diet; Harvard researchers to study her

A woman said her emphasis on diet helped her in her battle against cancer, and now her approach will be studied by researchers at Harvard University to see if it can help others.

For Kathy Bero, time in the kitchen is an investment in good health.

“It isn’t really about eating healthy,” Bero said. “It’s about eating specific foods that fight disease.”

She ought to know. In 2005, doctors diagnosed Bero with inflammatory breast cancer. Her prognosis for survival was 21 months.

At the time, Bero was 41 years old and the mother of two young girls. She fought the disease with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. But the cancer fought back.

“Eleven months after my first diagnosis, I was diagnosed with a high-grade tumor in my head and neck,” Bero said.

The medication took its toll.

“My kidneys were failing; my liver was failing,” Bero said. “My lungs were damaged. My heart was damaged. I told my oncologist that I’m done with that protocol because one way or another, I’m going to die. And I don’t want to go that way.”

It was then she decided to go off chemotherapy and use a strategy suggested by a friend.

“My friend kept saying you have to learn about anti-angiogenic foods,” Bero said.

Anti-angiogenic foods essentially block the creation of blood vessels so cancer can’t easily spread. Examples include organic vegetables such as purple potatoes, carrots and leeks.

“Leeks are at the top of the cancer-fighting list,” Bero said.

Also on her list: berries, walnuts, green tea and herbs, especially garlic.

“When a recipe calls for two cloves, I’m probably going to put in six because garlic is a really strong cancer fighter,” Bero said.

Bero said her diet – combined with a type of alternative medicine called Reiki, along with meditation and visualization – worked.

“My doctors just kept saying, ‘Huh. That is interesting,'” she said.

Today, more than 12 years after her first diagnosis, Bero, who is 54, said she’s cancer-free and now works as a cancer coach.

“She’s teaching me food is the best form of medicine,” said Phil Baugh, one of Bero’s clients. Baugh, a 43-year-old father of three, is fighting brain cancer.

“It’s stopped growing now, so it’s wonderful,” Baugh said. “And a huge part of that is food.”

Researchers at Harvard University learned of Bero’s success and will study her method.

“It’s exciting,” Bero said. “I’m now validated. I’m no longer the ‘crazy cancer patient.’ There’s a real science that is going to be there.”

Bero said Harvard researchers will study people who’ve had exceptional outcomes.

“They’re looking at our genetics and the genetics of the tumor,” Bero said. “What the outliers did; their attitude, environment, faith, social support. What they’re trying to do is create a database of all these different things and look for the commonalities between these people.”

The lead Harvard researcher, Dr. Isaac Kohane, said that because these outcomes are so rare, this particular study will take some time to complete.

Copyright 2018 WISN via CNN. All rights reserved.

Source: Woman battles cancer with diet; Harvard researchers to study her

Damaged teeth can be regrown naturally using an Alzheimer’s drug, scientists discover

‘A way to naturally regrow damaged teeth has been discovered by scientists in a breakthrough that could significantly reduce the need for fillings. Researchers at King’s College London (KCL) found that a drug designed to treat Alzheimer’s disease was able to stimulate the tooth to create new dentine capable of filling in large cavities. Teeth can already cope with small areas of damage using the same process, but when the holes become too large a dentist must insert artificial cements or the tooth will be lost.

“Indeed when fillings fail or infection occurs, dentists have to remove and fill an area that is larger than what is affected, and after multiple treatments the tooth may eventually need to be extracted.

“As this new method encourages natural tooth repair, it could eliminate all of these issues, providing a more natural solution for patients”.’

Source: Damaged teeth can be regrown naturally using an Alzheimer’s drug, scientists discover

New study links protein in wheat to the inflammation of chronic health conditions

“Scientists have discovered that a protein in wheat triggers the inflammation of chronic health conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, and also contributes towards the development of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity.”

 

“With past studies commonly focusing on gluten and its impact on digestive health, this new research, presented at UEG Week 2016, turns the spotlight onto a different family of proteins found in wheat called amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs). The study shows that the consumption of ATIs can lead to the development of inflammation in tissues beyond the gut, including the , kidneys, spleen and brain. Evidence suggests that ATIs can worsen the symptoms of , , lupus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as .”

Continue reading: New study links protein in wheat to the inflammation of chronic health conditions

Diet Soda and Weight Gain: It’s Not Your Imagination

These results, which the study authors call “striking,” add to the growing body of evidence that no- and low-calorie sweeteners may come with health concerns. Though scientists are still puzzling through the mechanisms by which diet soda seems to have the unintended consequence of weight gain, they have some ideas. Sugar-free sodas contain substances that sweeten up soda at 200-600 times the sweetness of sugar…

Continue reading: Diet Soda and Weight Gain: It’s Not Your Imagination

Now There’s Proof: Docs Who Take Company Cash Tend to Prescribe More Brand-Name Drugs

“The more money doctors receive from drug and medical device companies, the more brand-name drugs they tend to prescribe, a new ProPublica analysis shows…”

“ProPublica has compiled the disclosed payments from pharmaceutical companies to doctors and other health care providers.  Pharmaceutical companies have paid out 3.49 billion dollars in disclosed payments: 681,020 to doctors, 81,135 to hospitals, and 21,565 to companies.”

Continue reading: Now There’s Proof: Docs Who Take Company Cash Tend to Prescribe More Brand-Name Drugs

Search for your doctor in their interactive database at: http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/