The Gary Null Show - 07.08.22

Video:

1. Jonathan Pie: The World’s End
2. New Rule: OK, Zoomer | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
3. Forget the Great Reset. Embrace the Great Escape. – Zach Weissmueller of ReasonTV (8:20
4. An Imminent Threat from Artificial Intelligence | Aidan Gomez | TEDxOxford

 

Study finds people who practice intermittent fasting experience less severe complications from COVID-19

Intermountain Healthcare, July 7, 2022

Intermittent fasting has previously shown to have a host of health benefits, including lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Now, researchers from Intermountain Healthcare have found that people who regularly fast are less like to experience severe complications from COVID-19.

In a new study published this week in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, Intermountain researchers found that COVID-19 patients who practiced regular water-only intermittent fasting had lower risk of hospitalization or dying due to the virus than patients who did not.

“Intermittent fasting has already shown to lower inflammation and improve cardiovascular health. In this study, we’re finding additional benefits when it comes to battling an infection of COVID-19 in patients who have been fasting for decades,” said Benjamin Horne, Ph.D., director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Healthcare.

They identified 205 patients who had tested positive for the virus. Of those, 73 said they regularly fasted at least once a month. Researchers found that those who practiced regular fasting had a lower rate of hospitalization or death due to coronavirus.

“Intermittent fasting was not associated with whether or not someone tested positive COVID-19, but it was associated with lower severity once patients had tested positive for it,” Dr. Horne said.

Fasting reduces inflammation, especially since hyperinflammation is associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes. In addition, after 12 to 14 hours of fasting, the body switches from using glucose in the blood to ketones, including linoleic acid. “There’s a pocket on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that linoleic acid fits into—and can make the virus less able to attach to other cells,” he said.

Low CoQ10 levels linked with neurodegeneration: Study University of Tokyo , July 4, 2022

Researchers have found low levels of CoQ10 in people with multiple system atrophy, and suggested supplementation could help.

The study , published in JAMA Neurology, shows a link between low levels of blood coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA). 

The data backs recent hypotheses that CoQ10 deficiency could be linked with development of the neurodegenerative disorder, and that supplementation could be beneficial for MSA sufferers, the team said.

The study included 44 Japanese patients with MSA (average age of 64) and 39 Japanese control patients (average age 60).

CoQ10 has properties similar to vitamins, but since it is naturally synthesized in the body it is not classed as such. With chemical structure 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-decaprenyl-1,4-benzoquinone, it is also known as ubiquinone because of its ‘ubiquitous’ distribution throughout the human body.

The coenzyme is concentrated in the mitochondria – the ‘power plants’ of the cell – and plays a vital role in the production of chemical energy by participating in the production of adenosince triphosphate (ATP), the body’s co-called ‘energy currency’.

A role beyond the mitochondria is also acknowledged, with CoQ10 acting as a potent antioxidant. The coenzyme plays an important role in preserving levels of vitamin E and vitamin C.

They found plasma levels of CoQ10 were significantly lower in MSA patients, regardless of age, sex and Coenzyme Q2, polyprenyltransferase (COQ2) genotype. COQ2 is a protein coding gene which plays a part in the biosynthesis of CoQ10, Dr Tsuji explained.

Gardening can cultivate better mental health University of Florida, July 6, 2022

Many longtime gardeners will tell you that the garden is their happy place. New research suggests that many people may indeed reap mental health benefits from working with plants — even if they’ve never gardened before.

In a study published in the journal “PLOS ONE,” University of Florida scientists found that gardening activities lowered stress, anxiety and depression in healthy women who attended twice-weekly gardening classes. None of study participants had gardened before.

Our study shows that healthy people can also experience a boost in mental wellbeing through gardening,” said Charles Guy, principal investigator on the study and a professor emeritus in the UF/IFAS environmental horticulture department.

Thirty-two women between the ages of 26 and 49 completed the study. All were in good health, which for this experiment meant screening for factors such as chronic health conditions, tobacco use and drug abuse, and having been prescribed medications for anxiety or depression. Half of the participants were assigned to gardening sessions, while the other half were assigned to art-making sessions. Both groups met twice a week for a total eight times. The art group served as a point of comparison with the gardening group.

“Both gardening and art activities involve learning, planning, creativity and physical movement, and they are both used therapeutically in medical settings. This makes them more comparable, scientifically speaking, than, for example, gardening and bowling or gardening and reading,” Guy explained.

Given the relatively small number of participants and the length of the study, the researchers were still able to demonstrate evidence of what medical clinicians would call the dosage effects of gardening — that is, how much gardening someone has to do to see improvements in mental health.

Vitamin B3 reduces the risk of skin cancer

University of Sydney, July 5, 2022

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine offers new hope to those at high risk of developing the most common types of skin cancer. The study found that a form of vitamin B3 significantly decreased the chance of high-risk patients developing non-melanoma skin cancer.

Nicotinamide, the active form of vitamin B3, was found to reduce the rate of non-melanoma skin cancer by 23 percent. Commonly available in over-the-counter supplements, it has been found to be very well tolerated without unfavorable side effects.

12-month study points to reduced skin cancer risk with vitamin B3

Lab and animal studies have already shown nicotinamide to hold promise in preventing skin cancers, particularly the most common, non-melanoma variety that are the subject of this latest human study. But even though it was suspected that taking vitamin B3 could reduce skin cancer risk, the results were surprisingly dramatic.

The 12-month study involved 386 healthy subjects, all with a history of at least two non-melanoma skin cancers over the past five years, making them at risk for further skin cancers. Subjects were assigned to one of two groups: one receiving 500 mg of nicotinamide twice-daily and the other receiving only a placebo.

After 12 months, the rate of new non-melanoma skin cancers was reduced by 23 percent in those receiving the nicotinamide supplement compared to subjects receiving the placebo. It is unusual for a single, natural change to have such a significant impact.

An Avocado A Day Helps Keep Bad Cholesterol At Bay

Penn State University, July 7, 2022

An avocado a day helps keep bad cholesterol away, a new study reveals. Researchers from Penn State have found that eating an avocado daily for six months decreased unhealthy cholesterol levels. The “healthy” fats in avocados also had no negative effect on a person’s belly fat or waist circumference, though it didn’t lead to any weight loss either.

Previous studies have pointed to the benefits of eating avocados for losing weight, but the current study  is the largest to date that looks at multiple health effects of avocados.

“While the avocados did not affect belly fat or weight gain, the study still provides evidence that avocados can be a beneficial addition to a well-balanced diet,” says Penny Kris-Etherton, an Evan Pugh University Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State, in a university release. “Incorporating an avocado per day in this study did not cause weight gain and also caused a slight decrease in LDL cholesterol, which are all important findings for better health.”

Doing good deeds helps socially anxious people relax

Simon Fraser University (Canada) July 1, 2022 

Being busy with acts of kindness can help people who suffer from social anxiety to mingle more easily. This is the opinion of Canadian researchers Jennifer Trew of Simon Fraser University and Lynn Alden of the University of British Columbia, in a study published in Springer’s journal Motivation and Emotion.

Sufferers from social anxiety are more than just a little shy. Dealings with others might make them feel so threatened or anxious that they often actively avoid socializing. Although this protects them from angst and possible embarrassment, they lose out on the support and intimacy gained from having relationships with others. They have fewer friends, feel insecure when interacting with others, and often do not experience emotional intimacy even in close relationships.

Performing acts of kindness to the benefit of others is known to increase happiness and may lead to positive interactions and perceptions of the world at large. The present study investigated if, over time, the pro-social nature of kindness changes the level of anxiety that socially anxious people experienced while interacting with others, and helped them to engage more easily. It extends previous findings by Alden and Trew about the value that doing good deeds holds to socially anxious people.

Undergraduate students who experience high levels of social anxiety were enrolled in the study. The 115 participants were randomly assigned into three groups for the four-week intervention period. One group performed acts of kindness, such as doing a roommate’s dishes, mowing a neighbour’s lawn, or donating to a charity. The second group was only exposed to social interactions and was not asked to engage in such deeds, while the third group participated in no specific intervention and simply recorded what happened each day.

A greater overall reduction in patients’ desire to avoid social situations was found among the group who actively lent a helping hand. The findings therefore support the value of acts of kindness as an avoidance reduction strategy. It helps to counter feelings of possible rejection and temporary levels of anxiety and distress. It also does so faster than was the case for the participants who were merely exposed to social interactions without engaging in good deeds.