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Napping may boost your heart health. That's the finding of researchers in Switzerland, who tracked 3,462 healthy adults for five years. Those who dozed for five minutes to an hour once or twice a week were 48 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure than those who never snoozed in the daytime. Napping longer or more often didn't deliver any additional health benefits. Lead author Nadine Husler says it's still unclear how napping might influence heart health. "Our best guess," she says, "is that a daytime nap just releases stress from insufficient sleep."

Eating mushrooms could lower your chances of developing memory problems in later life. A study involving 663 Chinese men and women found that those who ate one or two 5-ounce portions of mushrooms a week had a 43 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment a precursor to Alzheimer's than participants who consumed less than one. Those who ate more than two portions had a 52 percent reduced risk. Lead author Lei Feng says the most likely explanation for this "dramatic effect" is that the fungi contain antioxidants that protect neurons from damage.

Having kids makes you happier once they've grown up and moved out. Previous research has shown that, earlier in life, people with children are less happy and more prone to depression than childless peers, partly because they get less sleep and experience more stress. But a study of 55,000 Europeans found that parents were more likely to be happier when they got older, provided their offspring had flown the nest. Researchers say grown kids can offer parents more social and emotional connection, as well as care and other support. "There is no simple answer on whether children bring happiness," says lead author Christoph Becker. "It depends on which stage of life your children are at."

Running just once a week could significantly cut your risk of a premature death. Researchers in Australia looked at 14 studies that tracked the health of some 230,000 people for up to 35 years. Those who did any running at all were 27 percent less likely to die early. Surprisingly, the runners who ran longer distances or at a faster pace didn't see their risk decline any further just 50 minutes of jogging a week was enough. "If you are physically inactive and don't have much time on your hands for exercise," says lead author Zeljko Pedisic, "running might just be the right activity for you."

NSAIDs such as aspirin and ibuprofen may help relieve depression. In an analysis of previous studies, researchers in China found that a daily dose of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was 79 percent more effective than a placebo at eliminating depressive symptoms. Several studies have linked depression to brain and body inflammation, leading to speculation that an overactive immune system which can cause inflammation could be a factor. Alan Carson, who edited the study, says depression "may simply be the price we pay for having an immune system."

Northern Irish soil could have healing properties. Residents of the Boho Highlands have been using the alkaline dirt from a local churchyard as a folk remedy for 200 years. An analysis of this "sacred clay" revealed that it contains a previously unknown strain of Streptomyces bacterium that can halt the growth of four of the top six superbugs resistant to conventional antibiotics. Scientists believe such traditional medicines may prove to be a useful source of new antibiotics. "Some of these cures might have been perfectly effective," says co-author Gerry Quinn. The people "just didn't have any knowledge of the scientific principles or biochemistry behind them."

High-fiber foods can shrink your risk of dying early or developing a chronic condition. A scientific review commissioned by the World Health Organization noted that people who ate the most fiber found in fruit, vegetables, and whole-grain cereals, pasta, and bread were 15 to 30 percent less likely to die prematurely than those who ate the least. Heavy fiber consumers were also 16 to 24 percent less likely to suffer a stroke or develop heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or colorectal cancer. The optimal fiber intake was 25 to 29 grams a day; American adults consume an average of 15 grams.

Playing soccer may increase your risk of neurodegenerative disease. Researchers in Scotland compared the deaths of 7,676 male former pro soccer players with those of more than 23,000 people from the general population. The ex-players had a longer life expectancy overall, but a 3.5 times higher risk of dying from diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. While soccer players don't endure the same kind of crashing tackles that can cause degenerative brain disease in football players, frequent heading of the ball can alter the makeup of the brain. "It is not just the 'big hits' resulting in symptomatic concussions that increase the risk of neurologic disorders later in life," says neurologist Robert Stern.

Aspirin could significantly raise the chance of dangerous bleeds in the gut and skull. A daily dose of the blood-thinning drug can help prevent heart attacks and strokes for those with existing cardiovascular issues. But a review by British scientists of 13 previous studies found that for people with no issues, the cons outweigh the pros. Overall, aspirin reduced the risk of cardiovascular problems by 11 percent but was linked to a 43 percent increase in significant bleeding events. Co-author Sean Lee Zheng says that before prescribing the drug, physicians should weigh "any small potential cardiovascular benefits [against] the real risk of severe bleeding."

Ultraprocessed foods can shorten your life. A French study found that every 10 percent increase in consumption of these foods such as chicken nuggets, potato chips, and ready-to-eat meals was linked to a 14 percent higher risk of early death. The researchers say some additives in ultraprocessed products are carcinogenic and that chemicals from packaging may leak into the foods. Co-author Mathilde Touvier recommends people "avoid these foods as much as they can."

Getting a tattoo can put toxic metal fragments in your body. German scientists examined 12 new steel tattoo needles with a high-powered microscope, both before and after use. They found that chromium and nickel particles break off during the tattooing process and become embedded in the skin. Those metals can travel through the body and build up in lymph nodes, potentially triggering an allergic reaction. Anyone thinking of getting inked, says lead author Ines Schreiver, should be aware they could be exposed to "impurities that might be allergenic or carcinogenic."

Vaping may damage blood vessels. Using MRI scans, University of Pennsylvania scientists monitored blood flow in 31 nonsmokers. After participants had several puffs on an e-cigarette without a flavor or nicotine, their blood flow was noticeably worse. Overall, vaping temporarily constricted arteries in the legs, heart, and brain by more than 30 percent. The researchers believe glycerol and propylene glycol, the core ingredients of vape fluid besides water, can irritate the lining of blood vessels. More than 2,400 people have been hospitalized over the past year for vaping-related lung illnesses, and at least 52 have died. Scientists suspect many had vaped illicit liquids containing THC the psychoactive compound in marijuana that had been cut with vitamin E acetate, a sticky oil that can cling to the lungs.

Also from The Week: The best things you didn't watch, read, and listen to in 2019

Doctors' coats are often contaminated with dangerous bacteria and other pathogens. A review of previous studies found that up to 16 percent of the garments tested positive for MRSA, and up to 42 percent for Gram-negative rods antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can cause skin and blood infections, sepsis, pneumonia, and other health issues. Researchers found that stethoscopes, phones, and digital tablets can also be contaminated with dangerous bacteria. Previous studies have found that most American physicians wash their coats less than once a week; up to 17 percent go more than a month between washes.

White meat may raise your cholesterol levels as much as red meat. Researchers put 113 adults on three rotating monthlong diets: one centered on lean cuts of beef, the second on lean cuts of chicken, and the third on plant proteins. Half the participants' diets irrespective of their main protein source were high in saturated fats, while half were low. Overall, white meat raised levels of LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol that clogs arteries, just as much as red meat even when saturated fat levels were equal.

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The best health advice from 2019 - The Week

Consciousness exists everywhere in the Universe and inside all of us.

All of us are immersed in cosmic consciousness, a field of conscious awareness which extends across the Universe.

We can bring this realization into our everyday life in the world by adopting a spirituality which is less about belief and more about practice, in particular the practice of inwardly focussing our attention.

This momentary inward focussing of our attention helps us be more aware of our intuitions, which are always emerging out of the cosmic space inside us and these intuitions can help us make great choices in the world and live well.

This is easy to do and something we can fit into stray moments of our everyday life, helping us get in tune with the single consciousness-space that orchestrates and binds together the whole Universe.

This cosmic intelligence is transforming itself into all life everywhere in the Universe and into our own unique human form, for the duration of a human life.

Tuning in to this conscious cosmic space and being present, here and now in the moment, helps us dissolve the thought boundaries around our separate self and we can begin to see ourselves as active participants in the evolution of conscious awareness.

Active participants in this evolution because were tuned into or joined into, we could say, the intelligence of the living and conscious Universe, the cosmic intelligence which is transforming itself into all life everywhere.

Key to this is taking a bit of time every day to become consciously present in the moment, by focussing our attention inwardly.

When we lose our inner connection into consciousness in the Universe, we can see ourselves as separate from the world and from other people, apparently alone inside the boundaries of our own mind, experiencing the world through the lens of a personal and insecure ego self.

Ego is insecure because its just a collection of thoughts and images in our mind, a shallow conceptual fiction about ourself, created since childhood, which has no grounding in the universal consciousness inside all of us.

As we tune in to and intuitively realize this universal consciousness within ourselves by inwardly paying attention to it, we can know it as the cosmic aware space inside all of us.

When we do this, we realize that theres no actual other. Theres only the appearance of others, all of us within one seamless field of conscious awareness in all space everywhere.

What we are, the spacious consciousness at the core of all of us, is what is looking through all life everywhere into the world.

A field-experiencing cosmic intelligence is generating all life across the Universe, experiencing every moment within all of us and becoming more aware of itself by doing so.

Its transforming itself, moment by moment, into the precisely orchestrated biochemistry of our human body and knows every transient moment of our life.

Each one of us is like a visible music, as streaming flows of vibrational information that are emerging out of cosmic consciousness, create the realtime, visible materialization we can observe as precisely orchestrated living cell biochemistry.

While several trillion complex biochemical reactions, all in precise sync with one another, are occurring throughout our human body, coherent neural processing, within trillions of synapses in our brain, is generating the impression of a three dimensional world around us.

In our busy, contemporary world, we often lose touch with a conscious, everyday connection into cosmic intelligence and no longer have an awareness of being woven into each other and at home in the Universe.

We can recover our inner connection into consciousness in the Universe by paying attention to the aware space inside us, the cosmic spatial awareness in all of us and throughout the Universe.

We can allow the thought boundaries around our separate sense of self to dissolve away, leaving us with the realization that consciousness exists everywhere, inside all of us.

A cosmic consciousness that knows all of us as itself.

29_12_19

Paul Mulliner is a writer and digital artist

Read more at : https://thriveglobal.com/authors/paul-mulliner/

Originally posted here:
Consciousness Is Everywhere in the Universe - Thrive Global

P. Todd Stukenberg, PhD, of UVAs Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and the UVA Cancer Center, works in his lab. Credit: Dan Addison | UVA

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a strange new organelle inside our cells that helps to prevent cancer by ensuring that genetic material is sorted correctly as cells divide.

The researchers have connected problems with the organelle to a subset of breast cancer tumors that make lots of mistakes when segregating chromosomes. Excitingly, they found their analysis offered a new way for doctors to sort patient tumors as they choose therapies. They hope these insights will allow doctors to better personalize treatments to best benefit patients sparing up to 40 percent of patients with breast cancer, for example, a taxing treatment that wont be effective.

Some percentage of women get chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer that are not very effective. They are poisoned, in pain and their hair falls out, so if it isnt curing their disease, then thats tragic, said researcher P. Todd Stukenberg, PhD, of UVAs Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and the UVA Cancer Center. One of our goals is to develop new tests to determine whether a patient will respond to a chemotherapeutic treatment, so they can find an effective treatment right away.

The organelle Stukenberg and his team have discovered is essential but ephemeral. It forms only when needed to ensure chromosomes are sorted correctly and disappears when its work is done. Thats one reason scientists havent discovered it before now. Another reason is its mind-bending nature: Stukenberg likens it to a droplet of liquid that condenses within other liquid. That was the big wow moment, when I saw that on the microscope, he said.

These droplets act as mixing bowls, concentrating certain cellular ingredients to allow biochemical reactions to occur in a specific location. Whats exciting is that cells have this new organelle and certain things will be recruited into it and other things will be excluded, Stukenberg said. The cells enrich things inside the droplet and, all of a sudden, new biochemical reactions appear only in that location. Its amazing.

P. Todd Stukenberg, PhD, of UVAs Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and the UVA Cancer Center, discovered an unknown organelle in our cells that helps ensure genetic material is sorted correctly when cells divide. Credit: Dan Addison | UVA

Its tempting to think of the droplet like oil in water, but its really the opposite of that. Oil is hydrophobic it repels water. This new organelle, however, is more sophisticated. Its more of a gel, where cellular components can still go in and out but it contains binding sites that concentrate a small set of the cells contents, Stukenberg explained. Our data suggests this concentration of proteins is really important. I can get complex biochemical reactions to occur inside a droplet that Ive been failing to reconstitute in a test tube for years. This is the secret sauce Ive been missing.

While its been known for about eight years that cells make such droplets for other processes, but it was unknown that they make them on chromosomes during cell division. Stukenberg believes these droplets are very common and more important than previously realized. I think this is a general paradigm, he said. Cells are using these non-membranous organelles to regulate much of their work.

In addition to helping us understand mitosis how cells divide Stukenbergs new discovery also sheds light on cancer and how it occurs. The organelles main function is to fix mistakes in tiny microtubules that pull apart chromosomes when cells are dividing. That ensures each cell winds up with the correct genetic material. In cancer, though, this repair process is defective, which can drive cancer cells to get more aggressive.

He has also developed tests to measure the amount of chromosome mis-segregation in tumors, and he hopes that this might allow doctors to pick the proper treatment to give cancer patients. We have a way to identify the tumors where the cells are mis-segregating chromosomes at a higher rate, he said. My hope is to identify the patients where treatments such as paclitaxel are going to the most effective.

Having looked at breast cancer already, he next plans to examine the strange organelles role in colorectal cancer.

###

Stukenberg and his colleagues have described their discovery in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology. The research team consisted of Prasad Trivedi, Francesco Palomba, Ewa Niedzialkowska, Michelle A. Digman, Enrico Gratton and Stukenberg.

Reference: The inner centromere is a biomolecular condensate scaffolded by the chromosomal passenger complex by Prasad Trivedi, Francesco Palomba, Ewa Niedzialkowska, Michelle A. Digman, Enrico Gratton and P. Todd Stukenberg, 3 September 2019, Nature Cell Biology.DOI: 10.1038/s41556-019-0376-4

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grants R01GM124042, R24OD023697 and P41-GM103540; and the National Science Foundation, grant MCB-1615701.

Here is the original post:
Strange New Organelle That Helps Prevent Cancer Discovered in Our Cells - SciTechDaily

From the dreadful study experience in Ekiti State to receiving the highest honour awarded to a graduating Ph.D. student at the Oklahoma State University, Babajide speaks on how he conquered the odds and rose to become an outstanding student with multiple awards.

Thirty-one-year-old Babajide Ojo has a Bachelors Degree in Biochemistry at Ekiti State University (EKSU) but his pursuit for richer knowledge made him proceed to Oklahoma State University (OSU) in the United States of America.

Recounting his experience while in EKSU, Ojo said it was a fun and challenging experience especially as a science student who was continually loaded with theories but with minimal hands-on laboratory experience.

I understand this was not entirely the fault of the staff as they could only use what was made available to them at the time due to inadequate funding.

Nevertheless, the final year project and writing experience I had with my supervisor, Professor (Mrs.) F.L Oyetayo was very instrumental to my experience and decision to pursue a graduate degree in an area related to nutritional biochemistry, Ojo said.

Other factors that made learning dreadful for him in Nigeria include the studying conditions marred by the epileptic power supply.

Studying conditions were dreadful at the time, as we usually lacked electricity and had to study in the lecture theatres at night using candles. No one deserves to study under those conditions and I can only hope the situation has improved.

Ojo is passionate about understanding how certain foods and nutrients interact with the beneficial bacteria in human intestines, and the implications on the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes markers.

All humans live with millions of bacteria in our intestines. These bacteria were recently shown to play an important role in the initiation or prevention of several diseases, including type 2 diabetes induced by obesity, he said.

Since obesity is an epidemic in both developed and developing countries, his hope is that identifying nutrients that benefit the human intestinal bacteria will assist in the management of obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

His dissertation also sought to understand how supplementing a western diet with whole foods may improve outcomes of diet-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes by modulating the intestinal bacteria and immune system.

Interestingly, the United States Department of Agriculture took an interest in his findings during the research and sponsored further studies that are currently ongoing in humans.

Ojo may not be able to speak for all US or Nigerian students but he cherishes his academic experience in the United States.

In comparison with Nigeria, students in Ojos school in the US are given a voice at every-decision making process and even review their professors. This review determines the promotion or retention of the lecturer.

Here in the US, students are given a genuine voice at every decision-making step, like identifying the direction of your research, the employment of new professors, and sometimes have a say in course design through regular class feedbacks

You are allowed to review your class and professor at the end of the semester which counts towards promotion or retention of the professor. As such, everyone takes the job seriously and they realise that they are employed because of the students, he boasted.

Looking back at his experience while in Nigeria, Ojo believes the academic template in Nigerian institutions is a sharp contrast with that of the United States.

I feel like its the other way round in my personal and acquired experience in some Nigerian universities where some professors are not easily approachable and students feel helpless in cases of misconduct.

There are also structures in place in US universities to improve the physical and mental health of students to better cope with academic stress.

Ojo believes the Nigerian education sector can be improved if lecturers, professors, teachers and members of staff adopt, embrace and believe that education is a service industry.

His advice is that structures be put in place to ensure that lecturers and others realises that the sole purpose of their employment is all about providing quality service to the students who mostly foot their salaries.

Education is a service industry and they are occupying those privileged positions mainly because of the availability of students to teach and not the other way round.

This can be achieved, in part, by developing a system for anonymous course reviews after each semester and making sure the reviews matter in some way.

He also believes that Nigeria needs to improve funding to universities especially for research and development, conferences, and periodic training of staff.

For example, the budget for Oklahoma State University for fiscal year 2019 was $1.3 billion, while that of Nigeria as a whole was about $1.72 billion (N620.5 billion).

However, we will only be kidding ourselves if we continually pump money into our universities and do nothing to get rid of loopholes that enhance systemic corruption with little consequences in our society.

His experience in white-dominated Oklahoma can be described as smooth sail. He described residents of his host community as the nicest people to be around both on and off-campus.

I have a very much collegial relationship with my classmates and professors.

Here, professors treat us as colleagues, with much dignity and respect. Their doors are always open for discussion and they will sometimes come over to your desk to discuss as well if they know you have developed expertise in an area.

He explains that this was a huge culture change for him in comparison with his home country Nigeria.

The way some of our professors in Nigeria relate with their students can sap all the confidence in your ability to relate with older professionals if you dont experience life elsewhere.

Ojo is a student who has worked his way to the top. Upon arrival in the US, he had to improve his hands-on laboratory experience from EKSU standard to the standards in the US due to the huge differences.

Among tackling other challenges, his doggedness and diligence earned him the Honorary Marshal award which is the highest honour awarded to a student during the graduation season.

He explains how he got the highest honour.

Each program in the university nominates one applicant for this award and the university selects only two candidates noted for their academic achievements, scholarly contributions, and service to the university and community.

I was deeply honored with this award which meant that I got to lead my esteemed colleagues in the procession at graduation, have reserved seats for my proud family, recognized at the ceremony among other perks, he explained.

Other awards Ojo received during his Ph.D. include the 2016 top five Minority Investigator award by the American Society of Nutrition, the 2017 most outstanding Ph.D. student award by the College of Human Sciences, and the 2018 excellence in mentoring undergraduates in research award also by the College of Human Sciences, in Oklahoma State University.

His next program centers around inflammatory bowel disease research with a team led by Michael Rosen at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center, Ohio.

In addition, he hopes to continually use his Bestman Academy platform to enlighten good students all over the world on how to take advantage of graduate degree opportunities that exist all over the United States.

See original here:
From Ekiti to Oklahoma: How A Nigerian Conquered The Odds - Channels Television

If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner

Psychiatric and neurodegenerative illnesses are becoming more and more prevalent as we march into the 2020s. We dont have to spend much time pondering as to why this phenomenon has come to the fore, when we consider the extreme mismatch between our ancient physiology and the western diet and lifestyle. Most readers will be familiar with some of the reasons for this dilemma: insufficient physical exercise, spending too much time in an artificial environment, emotional traumas, stress overload, a bad diet, nutrient deficiencies, smoking, excess alcohol consumption, and so on.

Poor biological functioning from addictions such as smoking, can (in the case of the latter), rapidly age our lungs, our arteries, our oxygen/CO2 exchange, our liver, and many other organs and processes, not to mention our antioxidant defences, thus rendering them a far higher biological age than their (our) chronological age. And sadly, the damage done to our arteries, alveoli, and so on, is normally irreparable. Naturally, this can have a very negative impact on our mental health. A recent large scale study on biological aging, which applied age-prediction models using blood biochemistry, cell counts, and AI, to 149,000 smokers, showed that: smokers exhibited [far] higher aging rates than non-smokers, regardless of their cholesterol ratios and fasting glucose levels. From my point of view, biomarker analysis is the future, as it is likely to provide a: quantitative assessment of the effect of environmental factors on [our] rate of biological aging, and hence, our mental well-being.

The WHO has now reclassified RF EMFs as a class 2B carcinogen, placing it in the same carcinogenic class as lead & the pesticide DDT

These electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which are invisible clouds of electricity emitted by radio frequency (RF), radio, Wi-Fi internet, and mobile phones, are a huge problem, and as research indicates, one that is about to get far more serious. Indeed, two-time Nobel nominee, Dr. Robert Becker, MD, the author of The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life, stated: I have no doubt in my mind that at the present time, the greatest polluting element in the earths environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields.

Switzerland replaced wireless internet in schools with wired internet. Germanys public health department recommends citizens switch off WiFi when not using it

Although electrical impulses generated by our biological processes travel through our bodys cells, muscles, nerves, and virtually every system and cell within us, and carry a charge; substantial research (over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers), has nonetheless, proved that artificial EMFs can be responsible for: memory and thinking difficulties; attention/concentration dysfunction; tiredness/fatigue; anxiety/restlessness; malaise; irritability, listlessness; dizziness; brain fog; tinnitus; depression; insomnia/sleep disturbance; and negative changes in EEG (which show electrical activity/brain wave patterns), and even our DNA.

Alzheimers & Dementia

And the news just keeps getting worse, there are in excess of: 70 studies linking EMFs to dementia. The research also includes several epidemiological studies and meta-analyses that link exposure to EMFs and Alzheimers onset. [Indeed], overnight exposure to EMFs significantly increases the secretion of a protein that is involved in the development of Alzheimers disease. [Further], EMF exposure also negatively affects the entorhinal cortex, the area of the brain that is first affected by Alzheimers disease. But, as taking a holistic perspective is not part of the agenda, will your doctor tell you this?

These days, it is crucial to think outside the box. So to that end, if you have WI-FI at home, turn it off when you go to bed, and simply put it back on when you get up. And when it comes to your mobile, dont keep it next to your body when you are not using it, and when you go to bed, if you need to keep it on, then ensure that you put it at least 12 feet away from you, and at best, in another room! The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, and if you do this, then you are very likely to feel a very positive mental and physical change.

Read more from the original source:
How WiFi, EMFs and Other Negative Factors Degrade Our Mental Health - E-counseling