U.S. HEALTCARE EARNS a D MINUS

Dated article from Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH.  July 26, 2000

The fact is that the US population does not have anywhere near the best health in the world.  Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the United States ranks an average of 12^th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators.  Countries in order of their average ranking on the health indicators (with the first being the best) are Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, the United States, and Germany.  Rankings of the United States on the separate indicators are:

  Ø 13^th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages.

  Ø 13^th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall.

  Ø 11^th for post-neonatal mortality.

  Ø 13^th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)

  Ø 11^th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12^th for males.

  Ø 10^th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12^th for males.

  Ø 10^th for life expectancy at 40 years for female, 9^th for males.

  Ø 7^th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7^th for males.

  Ø 3^rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3^rd for males.

  Ø 10^th for age-adjusted mortality.

Okay, so it’s not good news if you live in the United States.  A World Health Organization report found that the United States ranked 15^th among 25 industrialized countries.  Could that figure be more condemning?  And who usually gets the blame for the country’s poor performance?  Healthcare practioners?  Nope.  Are you kidding?  Doctors and nurses and medical personnel get most of the praise.  Not, it’s the public that behaves badly and that’s why the US ranks 15 out of 25.  “Common explanations for this poor performance fail to implicate the health system.  The perception is that the American public “behaves badly” by smoking, drinking, and perpetrating violence.  The data show otherwise, at least relatively.  The proportion of females who smoke ranges from 14% in Japan to 41% in Denmark; in the United States, it is 24% (fifth best).  For males, the range is from 26% in Sweden to 61% in Japan; it is 28% in the United States (third best).” 

via Jon Rappoport

CANNABIS USERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT VIOLENT CRIME

from the Daily Mail

Study found there was a ‘more constant relationship’ between cannabis and violence than between alcohol or cocaine use and violence

Cannabis users are more likely to commit violent crime, pioneering research has shown.

It warned those who smoke the drug regularly run an increased risk of using violence against others.

The project is the first to demonstrate that cannabis is not only linked with violent crime but is the cause.

Violent incidents monitored by the study based on the lives of more than 1,100 American psychiatric patients included assaults, attacks with weapons and rapes.

PICTURED: A CCTV image of the Somali-born Muhiddin Mire, 30, (left) during a shocking rampage at Leytonstone Tube station. A court heard his addiction to skunk cannabis had altered his brain to make him believe he was being followed by MI5

Researchers said that cannabis causes violence and they found no evidence that the link is the other way round – ie that violent people are more likely to use cannabis.

There was no support, they added, for theories put forward by campaigners anxious to free the drug from the taint of links with crime.

The academics said the effect of cannabis use was clear and not diminished by other factors such as patients who were heavy drinkers of alcohol.

The study comes after a series of American states have decriminalised cannabis – despite it being stronger and more potent than the hash smoked by hippies in the Sixties – or made it available for medical use. 

A number of influential figures have backed a campaign for British laws banning the drug to be relaxed, including Richard Branson, Sting and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Even Prince William gave a boost to the liberalisation lobby last month when he asked a group of recovering addicts at a drugs charity about legalising banned drugs.

The Prince observed: ‘There’s obviously a lot of pressure growing on areas about legalising drugs.’  

THE SHOCKING TOLL OF ATTACKS LINKED TO CANNABIS USERS

A string of serious crimes has been committed by users of skunk cannabis.

Muhiddin Mire, 30

The schizophrenic was jailed for life for the attempted murder of commuters at Leytonstone Tube station, East London, in 2016. A court heard his addiction to skunk cannabis had altered his brain to make him believe he was being followed by MI5.

Walter Pantellaro, 27 

The kung fu champion was tried for kicking his way into a London flat in March and attacking a woman, 22, with a knife. She was saved by her 15-year-old brother, who was hurt as he defended her with a chair.

Pantellaro, a schizophrenic who thought he was God, told police he had taken cocaine. But tests showed the only drug in his system was cannabis.

PICTURED: Walter Pantellaro, a schizophrenic who thought he was God, told police he had taken cocaine but tests showed the only drug in his system was cannabis.

Nicholas Salvador, 25 [see his story here]

A cage fighter, he was detained indefinitely at Broadmoor for beheading an elderly woman with a machete on a rampage through gardens in North London in 2015.  He was a heavy user of skunk cannabis and thought his victim was Adolf Hitler or a demon in the form of an old lady.

Matthew Graham, 29 

The office worker was detained after stabbing a prostitute in the neck with a seven-inch knife in Rochdale in 2015.  He struck her with such ferocity that the handle snapped off while the blade remained lodged in her neck. The court was told he was a schizophrenic whose attack had been triggered by his use of cannabis.

Michael Adebowale, 22

The Islamist extremist was jailed for the murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, South-east London, in 2013. His trial heard that his symptoms of psychosis were increased by heavy use of cannabis.

Frederick Russell, 28  [here is his story]

He was tried for stabbing a homeless man near Putney Bridge Tube station, West London, in 2013. Russell was said to be a schizophrenic with a history of alcoholism and cannabis use.

Nicola Edgington, 32 [her story is here]

She was convicted of murder after stabbing a stranger Sally Hodkin, 58, in the street with a 12-inch butcher’s knife in 2013.  Edgington had been in detention for killing her mother but had been freed. Before the stabbing, she had told a psychiatric nurse she had stopped taking her medication and had used skunk cannabis.

The latest study by five researchers from institutes based in Montreal, Canada, examined the lives of 1,136 men and women who were patients at psychiatric hospitals in Missouri, Pittsburgh and Massachusetts.

Records were gathered from interviews carried out every ten weeks for a year after their discharge.

It said patients who were using cannabis at each of these five checks were nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to have turned to violence than those who had not used the drug.

The study pointed to ‘significant findings regarding the adverse effects of cannabis use on violence’.

It found there was a ‘more constant relationship’ between cannabis and violence than between alcohol or cocaine use and violence. The researchers said the link between cannabis and violence was not two-way but ‘uni-directional’.

Contrary to claims that violent people were drawn to use cannabis, researchers found ‘it was cannabis use that predicted future violent behaviour’.

The academics said psychiatrists and medical staff should watch for cannabis users among those who had been in hospital for mental health problems. The team, led by Dr Jules R Dugre, said existing evidence on the links between cannabis and violence was ‘limited’ but their project had ‘clinical and violence risk management implications’.

Kathy Gyngell, a fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, welcomed the ‘definitive study’ and called for official action. ‘Government has been seriously negligent,’ she said.

‘Where is the public health campaign on the risks of cannabis? If ministers had any sense they would know that we cannot afford this public health and safety crisis.

‘It must lead the Government to review their community care policy for such potentially violent individuals to better protect the public.’

The study in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry flies in the face of claims of former drugs tsar Professor David Nutt.

He was sacked by the Labour government in 2009 for opposing the decision to reclassify cannabis from Class C to Class B. Prof Nutt has long argued that alcohol was ‘considerably more dangerous’ than the drug.

More than 20 US states have in recent years legalised cannabis for medical purposes.

Four–Colorado, Alaska, Oregon and Washington–have allowed its recreational use.

After the relaxation in 2012 in Colorado, cannabis use by students aged 12 to 18 has become the highest in the country. Figures show 57 per cent tested positive in high school tests.

Resveratrol is a better substitute.  See why and how here.

EXERCISE DOUBLES, EVEN TRIPLES NUMBER OF NEW [BRAIN] CELLS COMPARED TO SEDENTARY MICE

The evidence could not be clearer.  Get up.  Put on your workout clothes and running shoes and run.  Just run.  Have fun but run.  Run for fun.  Count the miles.  Do this every morning.  Track your progress.  Find out your improvements by week's end.  Just do it.

from the New York Times. 

Because we can never have enough reasons to keep exercising, a new study with mice finds that physical activity not only increases the number of new neurons in the brain, it also subtly changes the shape and workings of these cells in ways that might have implications for memory and even delaying the onset of dementia.

This is good.  Increasing the number of new neurons in the brain is a good thing.  

As most of us have heard, our brains are not composed of static, unchanging tissue. Instead, in most animals, including people, the brain is a dynamic, active organ in which new neurons and neural connections are created throughout life, especially in areas of the brain related to memory and thinking.

The brain is dynamic only if you're dynamic.  Get up.  Off your duff.  And get on with a dynamic, energizing day.  

Okay, this next point, if true, is amazing . . . 

This process of creating new neurons, called neurogenesis, can be altered by lifestyle, including physical activity. Many past studies have shown that in laboratory rodents, exercise doubles or even triples the number of new cells produced in adult animals’ brains compared to the brains of animals that are sedentary.

"Exercise doubles . . . even triples the number of new cells produced in adult animals' brains compared to the brains of animals that are sedentary."  So, what's the message?  Don't settle.  Incorporate this in your day.  I love this statement, 

But it has not been clear whether the new brain cells in active animals are somehow different from comparable new neurons in inactive animals or if they are just more numerous.

At least one difference between active and sedentary folks is that you'll have more brain cells!  Could there be a stronger indictment for folks sitting around?  If I had my druthers, I would be up and at 'em all day from running to swimming to hiking.  That is if I had my druthers. 

That question has long interested scientists at the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging, who have been examining how running alters the brains and behavior of lab animals.

Last year, in an important study published in NeuroImage, the researchers found for the first time that young brain cells in adult mice that spent a month with running wheels in their cages did seem to be different from those in animals that did not run. For the experiment, the scientists injected a modified rabies vaccine into the animals, where it entered the nervous system and brain. They then tracked and labeled connections between brain cells and learned that compared to the sedentary animals’ brain cells, the runners’ newborn neurons had more and longer dendrites, the snaky tendrils that help to connect the cells into the neural communications network. They also found that more of these connections led to portions of the brain that are important for spatial memory, which is our internal map of where we have been and how we got there.

Interesting.  So the new neurons had more and longer dendrites that build neuronal communication. 

Okay, so these results don't occur until after 1 month. 

This type of memory is often diminished in the early stages of dementia.

But these findings, while intriguing, involved animals that had been running for a month, which is the equivalent of years of physical activity by people. The researchers wondered whether such changes in neurons and connections might actually begin earlier and maybe almost immediately after the animals began to exercise.

Runners' brains teemed with far more new neurons than your aunt or uncle who prefers watching the morning news hours. 

So for the new study, which was published last month in Scientific Reports, most of the same researchers gathered a group of adult, male mice. (Males were used to avoid accounting for the effects of the female reproductive cycle.) The animals were injected with a substance that marks newborn neurons. Half were then allowed to run for a week on wheels in their cages, while the others remained inactive. Afterward, some were also injected with the modified rabies vaccine to track new synapses and connections between the neurons.

When the scientists then microscopically examined brain tissue, they found that the runners’ brains, as expected, teemed with far more new neurons than did the brains of the sedentary animals, even though the runners had been exercising for only a week.

Running makes your brain cells larger and more mature. 

Interestingly, these neurons also looked unique. They were larger and, as in the study of mice that ran for a month, displayed more and longer dendrites than similar neurons in the other animals. In effect, the young neurons in the runners’ brains appeared to be more mature after only a week of exercise than brain cells from inactive animals.

These young cells were better integrated into the overall brain circuitry, too, with more connections into portions of the brain involved in spatial and other types of memory. Most surprising to the scientists, these cells also proved to be less easily activated by neurochemical messages to fire rapidly, which is usually a hallmark of more mature neurons. They remained calmer and less prone to excitability than new neurons in the inactive animals’ brains.

So, wait, what does this mean, "neither [study looked] into whether the running mice thought and remembered differently than mice that were sedentary for most of the day"?  Does this mean that the shape and form were impressive, but the function of these nerves, at least in terms of how they execute learning or memory or other cognitive function, were not determined from this study?  It appears so.

What these differences in cell structure and connection mean for brain function remains uncertain, though, says Henriette van Praag, a principal investigator at the National Institutes of Health and senior author of this and the earlier study. Neither study was designed to look into whether the running mice thought and remembered differently than mice that were sedentary for most of the day.

So it's just a matter of the study being "more evidence" that brain cells are more numerous but with functionality are more, what, vigorous or efficient?

But the current study “provides more pieces of evidence that brain cells produced under running conditions are not just quantitatively but qualitatively different” than other neurons, she says, “and these differences are evident very soon” after exercise begins.

Well, now this is hopeful.  Folks with brain injuries can expect these exercised brain cells to "integrate into and bulk up portions of the brain . . . associated with memory loss and dementia."

Perhaps most important, the new brain cells in the runners tended to integrate into and bulk up portions of the brain that, if damaged by disease, are associated with early memory loss and dementia, she adds.

Oh, but because we're people and the study was done on mice, then the conclusions, all the fanfare or being "BREAKING NEWS" still only lives in the world of theory.

Of course, this experiment used mice, which are not people. While some past neurological studies with people have hinted that exercise might alter our brain structure in similar ways, she says, that possibility is still theoretical.

Still, she says, “I think it is a very good idea for the sake of the brain to be moving and active.” 

I think it's safe to say that running, walking, swimming, hiking, biking, yoga and others are going to build your brain. 

And don't forget the benefits of Benfotiamine to enhance your efforts.  

THE VAGUS NERVE . . . CONNECTS THE BRAIN TO ALMOST ALL THE VITAL ORGANS IN THE BODY

This is a hopeful report.  Terrible about the young man, but also hopeful for him and his family as well.  

from The Guardian, via LewRockwell

A 35-year-old man who had been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for 15 years has shown signs of consciousness after receiving a pioneering therapy involving nerve stimulation.

The treatment challenges a widely-accepted view that there is no prospect of a patient recovering consciousness if they have been in PVS for longer than 12 months.

Since sustaining severe brain injuries in a car accident, the man had been completely unaware of the world around him. But when fitted with an implant to stimulate the vagus nerve, which travels into the brain stem, the man appeared to flicker back into a state of consciousness.

He started to track objects with his eyes, began to stay awake while being read a story and his eyes opened wide in surprise when the examiner suddenly moved her face close to the patient’s. He could even respond to some simple requests, such as turning his head when asked–although this took about a minute.

Angela Sirigu, who led the work at the Institut des SciencesCognitives Marc Jeannerod in Lyon, France, said: “He is still paralysed, he cannot talk, but he can respond. Now he is more aware.”

Niels Birbaumer, of the University of Tübingen and a pioneer of brain-computer interfaces to help patients with neurological disorders communicate, said the findings, published in the journal Current Biology, raised pressing ethical issues. “Many of these patients may and will have been neglected, and passive euthanasia may happen often in a vegetative state,” he said.

“This paper is a warning to all those believing that this state is hopeless after a year.”

The vagus nerve, which the treatment targeted, connects the brain to almost all the vital organs in the body, running from the brain stem down both sides of the neck, across the chest and into the abdomen. In the brain, it is linked directly to two regions known to play roles in alertness and consciousness.

In surgery lasting about 20 minutes, a small implant was placed around the vagus nerve in the man’s neck. After one month of vagal nerve stimulation, the patient’s attention, movements and brain activity significantly improved and he had shifted into a state of minimal consciousness.

Recordings of brain activity also revealed major changes, with signs of increased electrical communication between brain regions and significantly more activity in areas linked to movement, sensation and awareness.

Similar stimulation has already been shown to help some patients with epilepsy and depression.

Sirigu and her team now hope to apply the same technique to patients with less serious brain injuries, where even more substantial improvements might be possible. There may even be patients, she said, whose cortex (the part of the brain used for cognitive tasks) is intact, but who have brain stem injuries that have led to limited awareness or consciousness.

The findings offer hope to the families of patients in PVS that it may one day be possible to re-establish some basic form of communication. However, some might also question whether such patients would wish to be made more acutely aware of being in a severely injured state.

“I cannot answer to this question,” said Sirigu. “Personally I think it’s better to be aware, even if it’s a bad state, to be conscious of what’s happening. Then you can have a decision if you want to go on or if you want [euthanasia].”

Damian Cruse, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Birmingham, described the findings as “pretty exciting”, adding that in future it might be possible to combine vagal nerve stimulation with other forms of rehabilitation.

“If you can just push the patient over the threshold so they can start responding to external stimulation you can maybe help them follow speech therapy and get them to a level where they can start to communicate,” he said.

During the past decade, scientists have made major advances in communicating with “locked in” patients using various forms of brain-computer interface.

These have allowed paralysed patients, some of whom had been assumed to be in PVS, to answer “yes” or “no” to questions to let their family and friends know their wishes and their state of wellbeing.

But there may be something even more powerful than Vagus Nerve stimulation and it comes in a pill.  It's a fat soluble B Vitamin that comes in a pill, called Benfotiamine.  Bill Sardi has the details.  See this graph:

But the only B vitamin that works on nerve regeneration is the fat soluble B Vitamin called Benfotiamine.  Don't forget that name.  Look for it online and in your health food store.  The nice thing about this product is that the brand name does not matter.  Several foods deplete our Vitamin B stores, coffee, tea, and alcohol are among them.  Still, even if you drink these beverages, if you take the Benfotiamine it means that you're still getting something.  Know, too, that we don't naturally make B1, that we need to get this from our diet.  But if you want to maintain your health, then take the Benfotiamine.  

30 MINUTES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 5 DAYS A WEEK REDUCES RISK OF DEATH BY 28%

Largest study on physical activity involving 130,000 people in 17 countries showed that household chores such as vacuuming, or walking to work, provided enough exercise to protect the heart and extend life, with 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week reducing the risk of death by 28%  

Not bad. 

From the New Scientist. 

One in 12 deaths could be prevented with 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week. That’s the conclusion from the world’s largest study of physical activity, which analysed data from more than 130,000 people across 17 countries.

At the start of the study, participants provided information on their socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviours and medical history. They also answered a questionnaire about the physical activity they complete over a typical week. Participants were followed-up at least every three years to record information about cardiovascular disease and death for almost seven years.

Over the period studied, Scott Lear, from McMaster University in Canada and his colleagues found that 150 minutes of activity per week reduced the risk of death from any cause by 28 per cent and rates of heart disease by a fifth.

Being highly active was associated with even greater benefits: people who spent more than 750 minutes walking briskly each week reduced their risk of premature death by 36 per cent.

Results showed that it was not necessary to run, swim or work out at the gym. Household chores such as vacuuming or scrubbing the floor, or merely walking to work provided enough exercise to protect the heart and extend life.

“Going to the gym is great, but we only have so much time we can spend there. If we can walk to work, or at lunch time, that will help too,” says Lear.

The World Health Organisation recommend that adults aged 18 to 64 do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity throughout the week, as well as muscle strengthening exercises at least two days a week.

The study found that if the world’s population met these guidelines, 8 per cent of global deaths over seven years would be prevented.

“The clear-cut results reinforce the message that exercise truly is the best medicine at our disposal for reducing the odds of an early death,” says James Rudd, senior lecturer in cardiovascular medicine, at the University of Cambridge. “If a drug company came up with a medicine as effective as exercise, they would have a billion-dollar blockbuster on their hands and a Nobel prize in the post.”

Journal reference: The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31634-3