Archive for December, 2020

ALBANY, N.Y, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Transparency Market Research has published a new research report that provides detailed information about the global amniotic membrane market. The research report tried to shed light on different growth factors, prominent growth challenges, key segments, geographical outlook, and vendor landscape of the global amniotic membrane market. According to the research report, the amniotic membrane market is projected to reach a valuation worth US$2.4 Bn by the end of 2027. Initially, the valuation of the global market was around US$980 Mn, in 2018. In order to achieve such huge surge in terms of revenue, the market is projected to showcase a massive CAGR of ~10% over the course of the given period of assessment ranging from 2019 to 2027.

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market Key Takeaways

Explore a report with detailed research, incisive insights, and in-depth country levels estimations. Gain business intelligence on global Amniotic Membrane Market by Product: Cryopreserved Amniotic Membrane, Lyophilization Amniotic Membrane; Application: Surgical Wounds, Ophthalmology, Others; End User: Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Specialized Clinics, and Research Centers & Laboratories at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/42059

Global Amniotic Membrane Market Prominent Growth Drivers

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market Prominent Trends

Global Amniotic Membrane Market Geographical Outlook

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market Notable Players

Some of the notable names operating in the global amniotic membrane market are Amnio Technology, LLC, Katena Products, Inc., MiMedx, Skye Biologics, Inc., Integra LifeSciences, Applied Biologics, Human Regenerative Technologies, LLC, Tissue Tech, Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., and Stryker.

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market: Segmentation

Amniotic Membrane Market by Product

Amniotic Membrane Market by Application

Amniotic Membrane Market by End User

Amniotic Membrane Market by Region

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry:

Genetic Testing Services Market: According to the report, the global genetic testing services market was valued at US$ 41.2 Bn in 2018 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2019 to 2027, high incidence & prevalence of chronic diseases such as autoimmune, oncology, infectious and others are propelling the growth of global market

Bioprocess Technology Market: According to the report, the global bioprocess technology market was valued at US$ 21.9 Bn in 2018 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2019 to 2027, The global bioprocess technology market is driven by increase in prevalence of chronic pain, and rise in demand for home monitoring.

Oligonucleotide Synthesis Market: According to the report, the global oligonucleotide synthesis market was valued at US$ 1,966.2 Mn in 2018 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 9.5% from 2019 to 2027, increasing use of synthesized oligonucleotides in diagnostics and research applications, and Technological advancements in synthetic chemistry are projected to drive the global market

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Constantly Growing Applications and Innovations to Push Sales of Amniotic Membrane Market Up To ~US$2.4 Bn by 2027, Observes TMR - PRNewswire

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) contain cell therapy, gene therapy, and tissue engineered products. Cell therapy products include cellular immunotherapies and autologous and allogeneic cells for certain therapeutic indications such as adult and embryonic stem cells. Human gene therapy includes products that induce genetic material into individuals DNA in order to treat a disease or abnormal medical condition by replacing faulty or missing genetic material. ATMPs can be a boon for the treatment of diseases that have currently limited or no therapeutic options such as hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, metabolic disorders, muscular dystrophies, skin burns, Alzheimers disease, and cancer. ATMPs are an emerging technology and are in an early stage of development. The approach has potential to cure chronic conditions than standard treatments, which is expected to increase adoption of ATMPs in the near future. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) regulate and authorize marketing of ATMPs in the U.S. and Europe, respectively.

Increasing prevalence of Alzheimers disease is expected to boost growth of the advanced therapy medicinal products market

Increasing prevalence of Alzheimers disease is expected to drive growth of the advanced therapy medicinal products market. For instance, according to Alzheimers Disease International, in 2017, around 50 million people were estimated to suffer from Alzheimers disease across the globe. Moreover, increasing demand for gene therapies used in the treatment of ocular, neurodegenerative diseases, and several cancers and technological advancements in genetic engineering tools such as RNAi is also expected to propel growth of the advanced therapy medicinal products market.

However, inadequate transparency and lack of investments and regulatory guidance for biopharmaceutical companies to manufacture these therapies and products is expected to hamper growth of the advanced medicinal therapy products market.

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products Market Taxonomy:

Advanced therapy medicinal products are segmented on the basis of therapy, diseases, and geography

On the basis of products, the global advanced therapy medicinal products market are segmented into:

On the basis of diseases, the global advanced therapy medicinal products market are segmented into:

On the basis of region, the global advanced medicinal therapy products market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America is expected to hold a dominant position in the global advanced medicinal therapy products market. This is attributed to significant advancements in the field of cell and gene therapy. For instance, the innovative gene therapy known as CAR-T or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy harnesses the bodys own immune cells to recognize and attack malignant cells. The T-cells are harvested and modified with a new gene. The new gene contains a protein that directs the T-cells to target and kill leukemia cells that have a specific antigen on the surface.

Moreover, increasing approval of new therapies is also expected to boost the market growth. For instance, in 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved first gene therapy in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases. Moreover, in 2017, the U.S. FDA approved Kymriah, a cell based gene therapy in the U.S. for the treatment of patients with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Such developments are expected to boost growth of the market in North America. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth, owing to increasing cases of skin burns and cancer.

Major players in the market are focused on adopting merger and acquisition strategies to expand their product portfolio. For instance, Pfizer acquired Bamboo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for the treatment of patients with diseases related to neuromuscular conditions and the diseases affecting central nervous system. The acquisition is expected to significantly expand Pfizers expertise in gene therapy by providing clinical and pre-clinical assets to balance the rare disease portfolio of company with advanced recombinant Adeno Associated Virus vector design and production technology, which is fully functional phase I/II gene therapy with manufacturing facilities.

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Key players operating the advanced therapy medicinal products market include, Uniqure, Pfizer, Bluebird Bio Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Novartis AG, GE Healthcare, Shire Biotechnology, and Kite Pharma.

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Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products Market 2019 Global Industry Analysis By Size, Share, Trends and - PharmiWeb.com

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Europe Tissue Engineering Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Material Type, Applications, and Country" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Europe tissue engineering market is expected to reach US$ 7,368.93 million by 2027 from US$ 2,798.86 million in 2019; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.2% during 2020-2027.

The market growth is primarily attributed to the increasing incidences of chronic diseases, road accidents, and trauma injuries, and technological advancements in 3D tissue engineering techniques. High cost associated to the tissue engineering process is one of the major factors restraining the growth of the market. Additionally, increasing financial contributions by government and private sector are likely to fuel the growth of the Europe tissue engineering market during the forecast period.

Tissue engineering is a blend of material methods and cellular activities. This approach involves the use of physicochemical and biochemical attributes of humans to replace the biological tissues and strengthen them. It is an innovative technology that works either separately or in conjunction with scaffolds, stem cells, regenerative medicine, and growth factors or negotiators. The process utilizes molecular and cellular processes in combination with the principles of material engineering to surgically repair and restore tissue.

The tissue engineering market in Europe is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period, and the growth is driven by the increase in research activities, growing demand for organ transplants, escalating number of initiatives by market players for expanding their presence in the region, and higher adoption of stem cell research in several European countries.

In the Europe, due to an increasing number of COVID-19 patients, healthcare professionals and leading organizations are rechanneling the flow of healthcare resources from R&D to primary care, which is slowing down the process of innovation. Further, the pandemic is also hindering the conduct of clinical trials and drug development, and the operations of diagnostic industry in Europe.

For instance, Stryker Corporation, a well-known player in the tissue engineering industry, has diverted operations to manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics and PPE kits. Moreover, according to a recent survey published by Medscape in July 2020, substantial disruption has been witnessed in routine research activities that include tissue engineering and regenerative medicines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid increase in the number of the infected patients in the Italy and Spain is likely to result in the slowdown of the market growth in the near future.

In 2019, the biologically derived material segment accounted for the largest share of the Europe tissue engineering market. The growth of the market for this segment is attributed to the rising adoption of biomaterials due to their natural regenerative potential to restore tissue functioning and ability to facilitate the on demand release of chemokines with the procedure. Further, the synthetic material segment is likely to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

1.1 Scope of the Study

1.2 Report Guidance

1.3 Market Segmentation

2. Europe Tissue engineering Market - Key Takeaways

3. Research Methodology

4. Europe Tissue engineering Market - Market Landscape

4.1 Overview

4.2 PEST Analysis

4.3 Expert Opinion

5. Europe Tissue engineering Market - Key Market Dynamics

5.1 Key Market Drivers

5.1.1 Increasing Number of Road Accidents and Trauma Injuries, and Elevating Incidence of Chronic Diseases

5.1.2 Technological Advancements in the Field of 3D Tissue engineering

5.1.3 Government and Private sector funding

5.2 Key Market Restraints

5.2.1 High Cost associated with tissue engineering

5.3 Impact Analysis

6. Tissue engineering Market - Europe Analysis

6.1 Europe Tissue engineering Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis

7. Europe Tissue engineering Market Analysis - By Material Type

7.1 Overview

7.2 Europe Tissue engineering Market, By Material Type 2019-2027 (%)

7.2.1 Europe Tissue engineering Market Material Type Segment Revenue and Forecasts to 2027, By Material Type (US$ Mn)

7.3 Biologically Derived Material

7.4 Synthetic Material

7.5 Other

8. Europe Tissue engineering Market Analysis - By Application

8.1 Overview

8.2 Europe Tissue engineering Market, By Application 2019-2027 (%)

8.2.1 Europe Tissue engineering Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2027, By Application (US$ Mn)

8.3 Orthopedic, Musculoskeletal and Spine

8.3.1 Overview

8.3.2 Europe Orthopedic, Musculoskeletal and Spine Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2027 (US$ Mn)

8.4 Skin

8.5 Cardiology and Vascular

8.6 Neurology

8.7 Others

9. Europe Tissue engineering Market Revenue and Forecasts To 2027 - Regional Analysis

10. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Europe Tissue Engineering Market

10.1 Europe: Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic

11. Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ppygkp

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Europe Tissue Engineering Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Material Type, Applications, and Country -...

NHS England has now ordered a full clinical review of each GIDS patient offered puberty blockers under the age of 16. I was told privately by some the case was hopeless, that the bar had been captured by transgender activists, that institutions had been captured by ideologically driven charities, says Evans. Certain trans groups have really cultivated an atmosphere of fear among children and their families. But Im just very relieved and obviously pleased with the ruling.

Evans has worked for the NHS her entire life, and met her husband, Marcus, who was also in the field of psychoanalytic practice, when training in Springfield Hospital in Tooting Bec, south-west London. What drew me to therapeutic practice was trying to understand the internal emotional worlds of other people, she says, because with understanding comes an improved experience of life. I had an instinct that drugs and physical treatments were never going to provide an answer for people in emotional distress.

When Evans started at the Tavistock in 2003, she was proud to be working in a tiny team at a pioneering organisation. But on hearing a colleague describe how, after only a few assessments, they had referred a distressed 16-year-old boy who thought of himself as female for hormone treatment, her jaw dropped. She recalls feeling something was very, very wrong with the GIDS approach.

In her early years as a psychiatric nurse, she had witnessed treatments, such as electroconvulsive therapy, that are now widely condemned: I know enough of the history of psychiatry to always be cautious about intervention.

Evans had assumed she would be able to use her psychotherapeutic skills to support the scores of children referred each year. When she raised the possibility of alternatives to medication, Evans was advised the service would not have any patients without the offer of puberty blockers. Last year, GIDS had 2,590 children referred for them, compared with 77 patients a decade ago.

Evans began to become concerned by the influence of transgender organisations on clinical practice at the Tavistock. It was becoming increasingly difficult to discuss the needs of the patients who displayed clinical curiosity. The beginnings of the more affirmative model of care [whereby the cross-sex identity of a child with gender dysphoria is affirmed by referring to the child as if it were the opposite sex]were taking root.

To this day, Evans believes this practice has not been proven to alleviate mental distress, and that its use within the GIDS is based on political pressures and fears of litigation, rather than what would be clinically, professionally appropriate.

Back in January, Evans launched a crowdfunding campaign with Mrs A to cover legal costs for the judicial review. Immediately, she received letters from distressed parents who had been told that they were at fault when their children had harmed themselves.

Due to personal circumstance, Evans withdrew, passing on her role as claimant to Keira Bell, who was prescribed puberty blockers by GIDS when she was 16. She had a double mastectomy aged 20, and now regrets transitioning, which has left her with no breasts, a deep voice, body hair, a beard, affected sexual function and who knows what else that has not been discovered. She may well be infertile as a side effect of the drugs.

More than a decade after she had walked out of the Tavistock, Evanss husband convinced her to push for a judicial review about some of the practices both had witnessed there.

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Why I was right to blow the whistle on the Tavistock Clinic over puberty blockers - Telegraph.co.uk

As the latest wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rises, the first day of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2020 opened up with a session that examined how the pandemic is disproportionately affecting care for minority patients.

Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute, opened the session with an anecdote from April when she was doing rounds at the institute and met a Black woman in her 60s who was hospitalized for COVID-19. Three years prior, the woman had undergone a lumpectomy and radiation for hormone-positive breast cancer; she was currently on hormonal therapy with an aromatase inhibitor.

While in the hospital, the patient was growing short of breath and showing signs of being tachypneic and hypoxic; this led Doroshow to ask a rapid response team for high-flow nasal cannula. However, Doroshow was met with a response of, She was a cancer patientwhy be so aggressive?

The response, said Doroshow, rasied a larger question: What role might gender and race also be playing here?

Its well documented that race and ethnicity carries weight when it comes to outcomes across a myriad of conditions, and COVID-19 is no exception. Doroshow gave the example of a 3600-patient cohort from Louisiana, of which Blacks accounted for 70.4% of the COVID-19 infections despite representing less than one-third of the population.1 Similarly, among 28,000 tested patients in New York, 6000 tested positive for COVID-19, with Blacks accounting for nearly 1 in 4 infections and Hispanics accounting for 29% of infections while representing 19.2% and 12.8% of the population, respectively.2

Data from the CDC show that American Indians/Alaskan natives, Blacks, and Hispanic/Latinos are at higher risk of developing COVID-19, being hospitalized for the virus, and dying from COVID-19 infection.3 However, the agency does note that race/ethnicity are risk markers for other underlying conditions that impact health, such as socioeconomic status and access to healthcare.

Now, enter cancer. Having cancer or a history of cancer alone leaves a patient is at significantly higher risk of dying if they are infected with the virus. Data from nearly 4000 patients included in the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium showed that 30-day all-cause mortality hit 14% overall and 23% among those hospitalized with the virus.4

So, both race/ethnicity and cancer on their own are associated with poorer COVID-19 outcomes, but what happens when you combine the 2?

Doroshow is an investigator in the COVID-19 and Cancer Outcomes Study, a multicenter, prospective study looking at the impact of the pandemic on cancer care delivery and outcomes among patients with active cancer or a history of cancer. The study includes 2300 patients who visited Mount Sinai Hospital or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute between March 2 and March 6, 2020. The team of researchers performed a 3-month retrospective analysis going back to December 2019 (baseline period), as well as a 3-month prospective analysis going through early June (pandemic period).

What they found was Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to have telehealth visits and were far more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19, with an odds ratio of 1.86 and 3.19, respectively. When looking at pandemic-related delays in cancer care, Hispanic patients were far more likely to delay care, while Black patients had a trend toward this.

Why these disparities? questioned Doroshow. One can certainly point to a variety of factors. One might say that increased vulnerability to COVID could be related to the fact that minority patients are more likely to be frontline workers or perhaps to live in multigenerational homes. Could the possibility of poorer outcomes be related to poorer baseline health or disparities in health literacy or insurance, leading patients to seek care later on?

With a focus on the continuity of care, Doroshow outlined several focus points for closing these disparities. She argues providers should not assume all patients:

We must be persistent in not losing out most vulnerable patients to follow up, urged Doroshow. Ask about living and social situations; educate and support safe public health practices to the extent they are possible; provide nonjudgmental, supportive education; help our patients get to the clinic and stress the importance of not delaying urgent care; ensure telehealth is provided to patients who are able to participate fully and who are open to this mode of care; and ask of patients what they need from us.

References

1. Price-Haywood E, Burton J, Fort D, Seoane L. Hospitalization and mortality among Black patients and White patients with COVID-19. New Engl J Med. 2020; 382:2534-2543.

2. Wang Z, Zheutlin A, Kao Y, et al. Hospitalised COVID-19 patients of the Mount Sinai Health System: a retrospective observational study using the electronic medical records. BMJ Open. 2020;10(10):e040441.

3. COVID-19 Hospitalization and Death by Race/Ethnicity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html. Updated November 30, 2020. Accessed December 8, 2020.

4. Assessment of clinical and laboratory prognostic factors in patients with cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection: The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19). Presented at: ESMO 2020; September 19-21, 2020. Abstract LBA72. doi: 10.1016/annonc/annonc325

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The Role of Race, Ethnicity, and Cancer in the Time of COVID-19 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

By Rich Larson, News Director

The Northfield Public School District has announced that they have terminated an employee of the Early Venture Childcare Center for administering melatonin to at least one infant without consent of that childs family.

Northfield Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Matt Hillmann said that, once alerted, the district moved swiftly to investigate.

We know that she placed at least one tablet into the bottle of an infant, and possibly others. And so, we consulted with the Northfield Police Department on Wednesday, who suspect that its a child size dose of Melatonin. And of course, we made the appropriate reports to the Minnesota Department of Human Services as well as Northfield Police Department. And [on Wednesday] we did terminate that employee based on the investigation results. We have no evidence that anyone else was involved.

Hillmann also said that the district will offer help and resources to the families of the victim,as well as the other children enrolled with EarlyVentures.

Were going to be providing support for those families. Thats the sense of urgency we have right now, to make sure we are supporting those families in that classroom. Theyre going to have access to parent educators and medical personnel to help provide them with education and support.

We just cant emphasize how angry and appalled we are as a district that an employee would violate the trust that parents put in us every day to care for their children.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Melatonin is a hormone that plays a role in sleep and is commonly used to treat sleep disorders such as insomnia and jet lag.

Dr. Hillmann acknowledged the breach of faith that this incident may have caused and said that the district will work very hard to meet the communitys expectations.

We understand that an incident like this diminishes trust with our families, specifically the families involved. And we will work as hard as we can to rebuild that trust with those families and our community.

Early Ventures is achildcarecenter for infants, toddlers and preschoolers that is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and operated by the Northfield Public Schools. Dr. Hillmann said Ms. Woodcock had been employed there for four years.

Rice County break up theft ring

Rice County law enforcement has announcedthat they have broken up a theft ring that was involved in more than 20 different burglaries across the state.

Authorities said Troy Thomas Cook and Angela Michele Degrood, both of Faribault have been taken into custody after stolen property was discovered at their home. Both areCHARGEdwith receiving stolen property, additionally, Cook is charged with Ineligible Possession of a Firearm and 5thDegree Possession of a Controlled Substance.

On November 25th, members of theRice County Sheriffs Office, the Faribault Police Department and the Cannon River Drug and Violent Offender Task Force executed search warrants at 1016 Division Street West in Faribault and discovered a stolen residential water heater, a stolen arc welder, and an oxygen and acetylene torch. Further investigation led the authorities to property that they say was involved in more than 20 different burglaries across the state. Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn said much of the property recovered was high quality equipment.

Everything from hand tools theamountof tools they recovered was unbelievable. There were very expensive tampers that you would use prior to putting down concrete. There were auto levelers, the things that landscapers and construction companies use to make sure that the grade is level, which are GPS equipped.

Dunn also commented on the work done by the detectives, investigators and agents involved in the case, calling them tenacious, and explaining why stopping an operation like this one is so important.

Some calls come into my office sometimes, say Sheriff I need to report a theft or a burglary. And we talk to these people. Our investigators share this with [thieves and burglars] when theyre arrested: youre not only stealing peoples items,youretaking away their feeling of security. Kids cant sleep. They run into theirparents room at night because theyre afraid somebodys going to break into their house and steal something. When you think of it that way, youre doing more than just stealing someone elses property. You are taking away someones sense of security and affectingthirquality of life.

If found guilty, Degrood is facing 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

With the additional charges and his prior history, Cook is facing a fine of as much as $50,000 and 25 years in prison.

Big Woods park closed for special deer hunt

And the Big Woods State Park will be closed this weekend due to a special deer hunt that will take place in the park.

The DNR announced last month the park would close on December 5th& 6thin order to facilitate a special hunt designed to manage the parks deer herd and protect its natural resources.

Too many of one animal or plant species in an area can start to throw off the balance of other species in that area, said Tavis Westbrook, natural resource program coordinator for the Minnesota DNR. When there are too many deer in a park, they feed too much on certain trees and native plants, so occasionally we allow deer hunts as a way to thin the herd.

The hunt is open to firearms, muzzle loaders and archery, however the deadline to apply for a permit for a special hunt like this one has long since passed.

Big Woods State Park will resume regular hours of operation at 8am on Monday.

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Northfield school district employee terminated for unauthorized treatment of infant; Rice County law-enforcement breaks theft ring; Big Woods State...

PCOS is "a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age," the Mayo Clinic notes. "Women with PCOS may have infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods or excess male hormone (androgen) levels. The ovaries may develop numerous small collections of fluid (follicles) and fail to regularly release eggs."

In Keke Palmer's December 2020 Instagram share, in which she revealed she's been suffering from the disorder her "entire life," she also explained how she finally found out what she's been dealing with after numerous acne treatments failed.

" ... It took ME taking a personal look into my family that has a history of diabetes and obesity, to understand what was ACTUALLY happening with me," she divulged, explaining that she "did the research" and took her findings to a doctor, which led to "a proper diagnosis" of PCOS.

"I'm not saying trust web md for everything haha," Palmer joked, "but what I am saying is no one can help us like we can help ourselves." There's nothing like being your own advocate, and in Palmer's case, her deep dive into her medical history led to an important discovery about herself.

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How Keke Palmer found out the truth about her PCOS - Nicki Swift

This article was originally published here

J Turk Ger Gynecol Assoc. 2020 Dec 4;21(4):272-278. doi: 10.4274/jtgga.galenos.2020.2020.0119.

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has reduced the availability of health resources which will affect treatment of gynecological cancers. The present study aimed to provide a treatment protocol for patients with gynecological cancers during the global COVID-19 pandemic. International databases with keywords of COVID-19; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome; gynecologic cancer; cervical cancer; and vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, tumor, elective surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, cancer, guideline, guidance, women, management, outpatient clinic visits, and triage were comprehensively searched. All the obtained guidelines were studied and the contents were summarized. During the COVID-19 pandemic, early stage endometrial cancer was preferably treated with hormone therapy while radiotherapy was given in preference in later stages. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions should be treated immediately after diagnosis using at least a loop electrosurgical excision procedure while any major surgery should be postponed by 10-12 weeks. In the early stage of cervical cancer, surgery may be delayed by 2-4 weeks, and radiotherapy prescribed for the intervening period. In cases of an ovarian mass with negative tumor markers, no sign of cancer on imaging investigations, no ascites, a low serum CA-125 level, and no papillary projection or vegetation in the base of the cyst, the patient may be given hormone therapy for 2-3 months. In cases of newly diagnosed confirmed ovarian cancers, surgery should be performed as early as possible (maximum: 2-3 weeks). Vulvar and vaginal cancers can be treated within 10-12 weeks of diagnosis, but radiotherapy should be given in preference in this situation. A molar pregnancy is an oncological emergency for which a suction curettage is mandatory; the patient must be monitored for metastases. Information concerning the choice between open or laparoscopic surgery is limited. Given that any patient may be an asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus, major surgery should be preceded by chest computerized tomography, with and without contrast medium, in order to detect lung lesions. Evidence concerning these recommendations is limited because of the novel and unknown nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, data pertaining to ethical debates about delayed treatment and treatment approaches deviating from current guidelines are also limited.

PMID:33274617 | DOI:10.4274/jtgga.galenos.2020.2020.0119

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Gynecological cancers and the global COVID-19 pandemic - DocWire News

Being sleep deprived is hard for parents of a new baby, but very young kids typically dont sleep long stretches at night. iStock / Special to On the Minds of Moms

Other than warming our hearts, infants and very young children spend more time sleeping than doing anything else. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends children 4 months to 12 months get between 12 and 16 hours in each 24-hour period more than half the day. Before 4 months, there's a wide range of normal so the general advice is to let them do what it seems like their little bodies want to do, since sleep is integral to all the work of growing their bodies and developing brains.

Very young children aren't supposed to sleep through the night, or even for more than a few hours at a time for the first several months of life. Waking is usually a sign of another biological need, such as food or a diaper change. During the night, the simplest way to get them back to sleep is simply to take care of their needs quickly and quietly without turning on the light if possible and get them back to bed.

Studies show that having a nightly bedtime routine is associated with better sleep in children of all ages. For babies, that routine can be as simple as a few minutes of rocking and sharing a favorite lullaby.

Tots who are learning more about boundaries and control can start taking a more active role in their bedtime routine at this age. iStock / Special to On the Minds of Moms

When your baby gets a little bigger, routines are still very important, but they'll want to have more power over things in their life. At this age they're starting to test boundaries, so giving them control over small choices around sleep like what book to read, which side of the bed to put their head on or which stuffed animal to to snuggle. This helps them feel like they have some authority while avoiding power struggles which we all learn eventually that no one really wins.

At this age, kids should be sleeping between 11 and 14 hours a day, including two naps a day at the start of this period, dropping to one nap a day as they turn 2.

Night terrors start appearing in some children around this age. Kids may wake up screaming, unable to properly communicate. Experts recommend doing your best to quietly soothe your child, keep them in bed and help them get back to sleep. Usually children don't wake up fully during night terrors or remember them in the morning. They can be frightening for parent and child, but are generally normal. If they're frequent or are causing daytime sleepiness, talk to your pediatrician.

Preschoolers tend to stall the bedtime process, but there are ways to make things go smoothly. iStock / Special to On the Minds of Moms

We all know it when we see it tantrums, emotions running high and hyperactivity. Its what a lack of sleep looks like in a preschooler. When they dont get the recommended 10 to 13 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, thats when these fun times can rear their ugly heads. While we make our best attempts at getting those squirrly littles safe and sound asleep at a decent time, there are often many hurdles to jump through: the bathroom breaks, the unquenchable Im- going-to-die-if-I-dont-get-a-drink thirst, and the just one more thing pleas.

We get it. Were all tired from a full days worth of adulting, but throwing in the towel here may have some drawbacks because its not only about preventing a bad day. A lot of functions important to growth, health, memory and cognitive development happen during sleep. Nerve cells are rewired, muscles are restored and human growth hormone is released.

Basically, kids need their sleep so they can grow and learn at an optimal rate. If your kid is dealing with some serious FOMO during bedtime that keeps them springing out a bed for just one more thing here are a few things to try:

Prep the brain by turning off screens about one hour before bedtime.

Create a calm environment. As bedtime nears, dim the lights and choose relaxing activities, such as reading or talking.

Stick to a consistent sleep schedule throughout the entire week. Yes, even on weekends, as much as possible.

Involve them in planning their bedtime routine. Whatever relaxing activities you choose to make part of their bedtime ritual, be sure to explain the rules, e.g. number of books, time limits, etc.

Kids age 6 to 9 still need a good amount of sleep, which may require some experimentation before you find the right amount for your child. iStock / Special to On the Minds of Moms

These are some big years for big kids. Theyre becoming more immersed in the large world around them, which means theyre also experiencing more learning, social and emotional challenges than ever before. All the more reason getting the American Academy of Sleep Medicines recommended nine to 12 hours of sleep a day is important.

According to AASM when kids are able to regularly get this amount of good quality sleep their attention, behavior, learning and memory operate at optimal levels. And like everyone else, their quality of life as well as overall mental and physical health are enhanced. Good, ample sleep is like setting the stage for their success.

So how do you know when your kids arent hitting their sleep sweet spot? Here are some signs to look out for from the Cleveland Clinic:

You need to awaken your child three to four times before they actually get out of bed.

Your child tells you they're tired during the day.

They need catch-up sleep on weekends.

They fall asleep during the day.

If these sound familiar, work toward getting back on track. Start bedtime earlier by about 15 minutes per day until you hit the right amount of sleep per night for your child. Also, be sure to stick to a similar schedule on the weekends, staying within the same wakeup and bedtime by 30 to 45 minutes. If you havent already, this may be a good time to start using an alarm clock. And finally, consider a relaxing bedtime routine, which can be helpful for anyone at any age really.

It may sound crazy, but tucking in your tweeners is still a great habit to set the stage for quality sleep. iStock / Special to On the Minds of Moms

This can be a busy time for kids this age, as school activities pick up and homework gets to be more of an actual thing. But parents should not let up on insisting on nice, early bedtimes because while they might seem a little bit old to do the traditional tuck-in, their growing bodies and brains still desperately need that good, quality sleep.

According to the sleepfoundation.org, tweeners require 9-11 hours of sleep per night. And while grumpiness and grogginess will certainly follow a night of inadequate sleep, thats the least of the worries. According to experts, children who do not get enough sleep on a regular basis are at a much higher risk of developing anxiety and depression. And what are kids this age often doing later at night anyway when they should be in bed? They might be sitting on their phones, which can not only contribute to depression and anxiety due to excessive social media, but the screens emit a blue light that stimulates the brain, making it even more difficult for children to fall asleep. Having them put the phones up in the kitchen and tucking them in like theyre little can do wonders for kiddos this age.

Inadequate sleep can also hit children physically in terms of weight gain. Studies show that when kids dont get enough sleep, it disrupts their hormone levels, which regulates appetite and food intake. This can lead to overeating and a craving for sugar and bad carbs. Moral of the story? Tuck them in. You read that right.

Its a common stereotype assigned to teenagers in movies and TV shows. They emerge from a messy bedroom, yawning and running fingers through disheveled hair oblivious to whats going on in the world. Hilarity ensues when mom or dad crack wise about the teen sleeping all day.

The truth is teenagers do need more sleep than the average adult. But despite what Hollywood implies, most teenagers are not getting enough of it.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that teenagers aged 13 to 18 years should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours. However, in a 2015 survey, the Centers for Disease Control found seven out of 10 teenagers were not getting the minimum eight hours of sleep a night.

If the lack of sleep only meant a few extra yawns at the breakfast table, it would be no big deal. However, doctors say teens who dont get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries, poor mental health, and problems with attention and behavior.

Parents can do their part to help their teen sleep better, including setting up a media curfew. Require your teen to get off SnapChat, TikTok and all social media and electronics no later than 9 p.m. The brain needs time to unwind and settle into a good nights sleep. And while teens are more likely than other age groups to have active social lives outside the family, encourage your teen to get the same amount of sleep every night. While it might feel good to catch up on your sleep on the weekends, in the long run, getting a solid eight to 10 hours a night is better for your teens mental and physical health.

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Here's how much sleep your kids need to stay healthy - INFORUM

Simply known as birth control pills, these pills are made out of hormones higher than a woman's normal body levels. These pills have to be taken daily to be effective. The constant intake of hormones will prevent ovulation (the release of the ovum) throughout the menstrual cycle and thus prevent pregnancy.

There are two types of pills - the combined (estrogen and progesterone) and the progesterone-only pills.

Both types can be bought over-the-counter from a pharmacist without a prescription. Ideally though, you should seek medical advice on both the hormones before using it as everyone has different contraindications, e.g. people with high blood pressure cannot take pills with estrogen in it.

OCPs are often advised for women who not only need birth control, but also if they have heavy and painful periods because these pills can make periods become more regular, shorter, less heavy, and less painful.

These pills can be used to treat acne too. However, it may also worsen the condition in some people, which is exactly why you should seek medical advice.

Drawbacks: Users have to take the pill at almost the same time every single day. It doesn't protect against STIs. It can cause weight gain and blood clotting issues (venous thromboembolism).

Effectiveness: 91% if used correctly

Cost: RM30 to RM60 for a box for one month

Common brands in Malaysia: Diane, Mirogynon, Regulon, Rigevidon, Yasmin, Yaz

Original post:
Here Are The Types Of Birth Control Available In Malaysia And How Much They Cost - SAYS

Image Credit: Pixabay

Some people are lucky. They binge on pizzas, burgers, ice creams, fries and chocolates, but dont seem to add an inch to their waistlines. And we wonder why they never put on weight. Its genetics, they say. True, their genes gives them high metabolism.

Thats only partly the truth. The other part is perception. We only see them wolf down high-calorie food, but we dont know what they do during the rest of the day. Maybe they have only one or two meals a day so that the calorie intake evens out. They could have an active lifestyle to burn the calories: they may be playing a sport regularly or at least going for long walks.

People with certain health conditions like hyperthyroidism and diabetes dont pile on the pounds. Eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia too can prevent people from gaining weight. So weight management is more than just genetics and portion control.

Weight gain and weight loss: What science says

Genetics: Does it decide your body weight?

Genetics plays a major role in managing body weight since it influences metabolic rate and hormone sensitivity, allowing some people to burn calories faster than others. It also may make them less sensitive to food cues, making it easy for them to resist cravings. But genetics is not the only reason why some people stay slim no matter what they eat.

There's no evidence that some people are born to burn more calories than others, Dr Ines Barroso, a researcher at the University of Cambridge in England, says, although researchers have identified over 250 different regions of DNA associated with obesity. In a 2019 study published in PLOS Genetics, thin participants were found to have fewer genes associated with obesity. But Barroso, a co-author on the study, says genes alone don't determine your weight. "We didn't find genes that were exclusively either protecting from obesity or predisposing someone to obesity.

Kathleen Melanson, a professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Rhode Island, US, concurs. Our tendency to gain weight or maintain our weight isn't pre-determined, but it's also not entirely under our control. There's genetic, nutritional, and even behavioral factors involved," she told Live Science.

Starvation hormone: How does it work?

Leptin is a hormone that helps in regulating appetite. People with higher leptin sensitivity tend to control cravings better. An absence of leptin or leptin resistance [when the body doesnt respond to the brain signals.] can lead to uncontrolled feeding and weight gain. So people with leptin deficiency can be obese.

Known as starvation hormone, leptin is a protein that tells the brain if theres enough energy stored in fat cells to carry out normal metabolic processes required to maintain the body. When leptin levels are above a certain threshold [higher sensitivity], the body burns energy at a normal rate, but when it dips, the body conserves energy and stimulates hunger pangs.

The thinness gene

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have identified a gene called Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) which they say plays a role in resisting weight gain. Dr. Josef Penninger and his team reported the discovery of a mutation in the ALK gene in a thin group of people in a study published in the journal Cell.

The gene is known to mutate frequently in several types of cancer, driving the development of tumours. ALK acts in the brain, where it regulates metabolism by integrating and controlling energy expenditure, says Michael Orthofer, the studys lead author and a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Vienna.

Digestive enzyme: How it regulates body fat

MGAT2 (monoacylglycerol acyltransferase-2) is a digestive enzyme that regulates fat in the body. So if the enzyme is absent and the body will be unable to use fat, helping them to stay thin. Scientists at the University of California in San Francisco found that mice without the gene for MGAT2 can eat whatever they want without getting fat. The results suggest that the enzyme has a pivotal role in lipid metabolism in the small intestine, and curbing MGAT2 can help in the treatment of obesity-related metabolic disorders, according to a journal published by the US National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine.

Basal metabolic rate: How it influences calorie spend

Basal metabolic rate is the minimal rate of energy burned per unit time by the body when its at rest. This energy is spent on normal metabolic processes like breathing, pumping of the heart, and functioning of brain. So people with high basal metabolic rate expend more calories at rest and they dont gain weight easily. The rate decreases as a person grows older and it increases when theres a spike in muscle mass.

Food choices: How it affects body weight

Weight gain is intrinsically linked to the quantity and quality of food consumed. If people eat large quantities of food thats less nutritious and low in calories, they wont gain weight. High sugar and highly processed food will have alarming levels of calories that will increase a persons weight. So the right amount of nutritious food is the key.

Physical activity: Why its important

An active lifestyle makes a huge difference. You dont have to hit the gym regularly, moving around a lot is good enough. Some people are predisposed to moving more and that extra movement can burn a lot of calories even though its not a workout. Even non-conventional exercises results in calorie burn over an extended period.

Non- conventional exercises: What are they?

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is an efficient way to manage body weight. NEAT constitutes body movements that do not qualify as exercise but can help expend calories. Walking around while talking over the phone, any kind of physical labour like cooking or cleaning, walking a dog, using a standing desk, climbing stairs, and fidgeting are some of them. It's also called non-exercise physical activity (NEPA). NEAT increases the metabolic rate, leading to a substantial energy loss over a long period.

Appetite regulatory system: How food intake is regulated

The nervous system and hormones in the blood interact to signal when a person is hungry or full. This is called the appetite regulatory system. When energy stores in the body are depleted, a stimulus for appetite will trigger the start of feeding, and its counterbalanced by satiety, the opposite stimulus to stop eating.

Sleep: Why its very important

The hormone cortisol plays a vital role in regulating hunger. So sleep deprivation sleep leads to stimulation of cortisol resulting in weight gain.

Skinny fat: The dangers that lie beneath

Skinny fat is medically known as metabolically obese but within a normal weight range for the height. Its a phrase used to describe people who look fit and healthy, but suffer from a range of health problems due to a lack of exercise or poor diet. These people can have the same diagnostic markers of diabetic patients like high blood sugar, low good cholesterol, high triglycerides, inflammation, and high blood pressure. They can also have vitamin deficiencies, resulting in fatigue and poor levels of concentration.

Underweight: Its as dangerous as obesity

If a persons BMI is below 18.5, he or she is said to be underweight. That body mass is not enough to sustain optimal health. According to studies quoted by Healthline, being underweight can raise the risk of early death in men by 140 per cent in men, and by 100 per cent in women. It can also decrease immunity, increase chances of infections, osteoporosis and fractures, besides causing fertility problems.

Eating disorders prevent weight gain and impact health

Eating disorders are medical conditions that adversely impact health. An excessive focus on body weight results in dangerous eating behaviours that deprive body of nutrition. This can affect the heart, digestive system and other organs, and trigger major diseases. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.

Anorexia nervosa

People suffering from anorexia nervosa have an excessive fear of gaining weight, even if they are severely underweight. So they may restrict their food intake or compensate it through various purging behaviours like forced vomiting or use of laxatives. Some others exercise obsessively to shed weight. Over time, the body may go into starvation and they could slip into depression.

Bulimia nervosa

This binge-eating disorder can go unnoticed as the patients may not be thin. These people eat frequently, gorging a huge amount of food high in calories without even tasting it. They feel out of control. Stomach pains and the fear of weight gain force them to vomit, use laxatives or exercise excessively. The frequency of such bouts are alarming.

Binge-eating disorder

Its similar to bulimia as patients consume huge amounts of high-calorie food in a short period. The crucial difference is that people with binge eating disorder do not employ purging behaviours to compensate for their binges.

Restrictive food intake

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) causes people to eat very less due to a lack of interest in food or an intense distaste for certain foods. This can lead insufficient calorie intake and the lack of nutrition could result in poor development of the body in youngsters.

How some health conditions affect body weight?

Weight loss can be a sign of illness. Some health conditions like hyperthyroidism and diabetes can cause unintentional weight loss. It could also be triggered by cancer, depression, certain infections, bowel diseases among many other ailments.

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland produces excessive thyroxine (a hormone). Mostly seen in women, an overactive thyroid accelerates body's metabolism, causing unintentional weight loss and a rapid or irregular heartbeat, according to Mayo Clinic.

Diabetes

In people with diabetes, the body fails to produce enough insulin to process the sugar in the bloodstream. So, the body starts burning fat and muscle for energy, causing a reduction in overall body weight.

Real life stories: How some people continue to remain thin

Samir Salama: Food and lifestyle have helped me stay slim

I have always had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 20. [BMI is weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres. A BMI of 18.5 24.9 is considered normal or healthy]. I am in good health, and have no medical conditions or eating disorders. My lifestyle plays a major role [in maintaining my weight], Samir Salama, Gulf News Associate Editor based in Abu Dhabi, says.

Genetics does play an important role in determining the body weight. My parents and siblings too are like me. They too dont gain weight easily.

- Samir Salama

Besides genetics, there are other things too. To stay in shape, one has to exercise. It doesnt have to be strenuous activity. When I was young, I used to walk to and from school 15kms a day, and enjoyed working in the field with my grandfather in Egypt. I have been eating a lot of herbs, which we grew ourselves, and many meals are eaten outdoors, or in the fields.

So when I moved to the UAE, I increased the fibre in my diet, which helps make me feel full and is beneficial to the microbiome in the gut. It has an impact on body weight too. In the UAE, my outdoor activities are not the same [as in Egypt]. I dont have the luxury of a garden, but I always get outside and move quite a bit (non-conventional exercise), which is very important. My daily fluid intake has been increased to at least three litres. I also ensure that I get enough sleep, which can impact appetite and metabolism.

I believe sustainable weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. It doesnt do any good if you lose 20kg, then gain it six months later. A good food regimen should be for life, and parents should recommend it to their children.

Mohammad Al Jashi: I tried to put on weight, and failed

People have always been in awe of my metabolism. No matter how much I eat, I can never gain weight, Mohammad Al Jashi, a freelance writer based in Toronto, Canada, says.

I was always fascinated by how quickly my friends put on weight. They end up adopting a stringent dietary regime of salads and no carbohydrates, something I could never wrap my head around since potatoes (crisps) and rice are a daily staples of my nourishment.

- Mohammad Al Jashi

At 57kg, Im very conscious about my lanky physique. I have tried to put on weight. There is one attempt that sticks out in particular: My skinny cousin suggested an appetite stimulant that worked wonders. I became hungry always and my portions grew even larger in size. I still remember how famished I used to be in the morning, to the extent that I would prepare my breakfast before even considering washing my face. It felt like my appetite could never be sated.

I would eat around five to six meals a day for over three months, resulting in the addition of 5.5kg. It was infuriating, because eating became a chore, and meals were no longer enjoyable as it became a means to tamp down the painful rumblings of my tummy.

Then Ramadan rolled along. Once it was over, I hopped onto the scale to find out that I lost my record gain of 5.5kgs. I realised that this is something beyond my control.

To me, gaining weight is difficult, but for my friends weight loss is a commitment that requires plenty of self-control and discipline.

Staying healthy: What the experts say

Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary, Senior Reporter

While most of us are huffing and puffing on the treadmill, counting calories and resisting our favourite foods, we have some people seem to have their cake and eat it too. In other words, these people not only eat well, but they also dont need to watch the scales. How do they achieve this impossible feat?

Gulf News spoke to a nutritionist, a gastrointestinal specialist and weight loss expert to learn what revs our metabolism. They pin it down to three main factors: behavioural patterns, sound nutrition and genetics.

Dr Fiona Cowie, Weight loss expert

Dr Fiona Cowie, an aesthetician with a certification in advanced weight loss management at the Dermalase Clinic, Jumeirah, Dubai, said weight loss and super-charged metabolism in many people could be due to NEAT. This is Non-Exercise Activity Related Thermogenesis. Some people may not be going to the gym but have an active lifestyle. From cooking, cleaning, looking after the kids, pacing in the office to even fidgeting with a pen, their activity levels can be high, leading to a constant calorie burn. It is estimated that NEAT can boost metabolism up to 50 per cent. Many people might go to the gym but overall follow a sedentary lifestyle.

Two other significant factors are sleep and eating pattern. Our nervous system and our hormones together work in tandem to create an appetite regulatory system. When people dont have good eight hours of sleep at night, it triggers cortisol release because of the stress. This activates the hunger hormone leptin, and they tend to snack a lot and put on weight. Others just have a huge appetite and tend to eat even when they are not hungry. Those with great metabolism are those who sleep well and eat only when hungry, Dr Cowie added.

Mitun De Sarkar, Clinical dietician

Mitun De Sarkar, a clinical dietician with Simply Healthy, Dubai, attributed to the slender physique of some people to mindful eating. While we might see many people eating heavy food, we are not privy to their total eating pattern. These people are likely to balance out their calories for the day. Therefore, even if you saw them eating and drinking at one particular time, they might be eating a light dinner or completely cutting out on snacking. This is behavioural. They are mindful of this behaviour and know how to compensate off the excess calories later.

According to Dr Rajesh Nambiar, specialist gastrointestinal (GI) surgeon from the International Modern Hospital, Dubai, some people are blessed with a good Basal Metabolism Rate (BMR), which helps them burn calories at a faster rate without activity. Of course, BMR can change according to ones lifestyle. However, it is a proven fact that a higher BMR can boost metabolism by up to 15 per cent.

Dr Rajesh Nambiar, Specialist gastrointestinal surgeon

The length of the gut matters a lot. The small intestine is the site where nutrition from food gets assimilated. The small intestine length can vary from 120-180 cm and in taller people; it is usually longer compared to those who are shorter. Taller people tend to have more lean muscle mass and better BMR that allows them to eat and also burn calories faster, Dr Nambiar added.

Other factors that can provide a robust metabolism is regular physical exercise and an active lifestyle. Physical activity, in general, can make a big difference. People who are up and about, always on the move, not necessarily gym freaks but with an active job or new mums chasing their toddlers and busy with household chores, are able to keep their weight off even while snacking around. All these movements rev up the metabolism, increasing the number and activity of mitochondria in the cells. More the mitochondria in your muscles higher the basal metabolic rate of your body, De Sarkar said.

But big eaters who are skinny must check their body composition. If the analysis reveals a higher body fat percentage, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, it is advisable to cut back on incessant eating and watch what they eat to avoid serious health repercussions, De Sarkar added.

10 tips to manage your weight

Dona Cherian, Assistant Online Editor

Farah Hillou, Integrative and functional nutritionist

Farah Hillou (MS, RD, IFNCP), Integrative and Functional Nutritionist at Chiron Clinic in Dubai gave Gulf News her top ten tips to prevent unhealthy weight gain.

1. Restrict the eating window

Practise time-restricted feeding for at least 14 hours a day. Research has shown that practising time restricted feeding and intermittent fasting can help reduce inflammation, control blood cholesterol and insulin levels, promote autophagy, boost brain health, and help maintain a healthy weight. For instance, dinner can be at 7pm while breakfast the next day is around 9am.

2. Limit snacking

Not only does this prevent grazing and taking in more foods than necessary, but it supports the MMC (migrating motor complex) which optimises digestion.

3. What you eat is crucial

Fill up half of your plates with nutrient-dense, high fibre, colourful vegetables. Include greens like spinach, kale and arugula, as well as cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Add vegetables to your smoothies, soups, and stews.

4. Satiety with proteins and fats

Include protein and/or healthy fats at every meal. This can help with satiety (feeling full) and promotes blood sugar balance. Protein foods include meat, fish, beans, lentils and quinoa while healthy fats include nuts, seeds and avocado.

Avoid foods high in sugar such as cakes, cookies and pastries. Excess sugar can be stored as excess body fat.

5. Support your gut

Studies have shown that an imbalance in gut microbes can stimulate weight gain over time. Add 1 tablespoon of probiotic-rich fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut and kimchi to your meals every day. Moreover, eat prebiotic foods such as garlic and onions to boost healthy gut microbes.

6. Mindful eating

Practise mindful eating by starting with three deep breaths before eating, chewing slowly, and placing your fork down between every few bites. Apply the Japanese proverb Hara Hachi Bu: eat until you are 80 per cent full.

7. Read the labels

Refer to the nutrition facts table and the ingredient list whenever your purchase any packaged foods. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, let go of anything with ingredients you cannot pronounce, and those that have sugar listed in the top few ingredients.

8. Meal planning to deal with cravings

Plan your meals ahead of time and batch cook on weekends. Sudden hunger pangs can have you reach out for anything in sight.

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Why some people never gain weight | Health Gulf News - Gulf News

SAN DIEGO & WELLESLEY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Illumina, Inc. (Nasdaq: ILMN) and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care announce a risk-sharing agreement to make whole-genome sequencing (WGS) available to certain Harvard Pilgrim members, effective January 1, 2021. The program will leverage WGS to support faster diagnoses of genetic diseases in children, potentially eliminating the long, costly diagnostic odyssey experienced by many families, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.

Diagnosing genetic diseases often takes many years and diagnostic testing costs can exceed $10-20,000 for some patients. Through this agreement, Harvard Pilgrim and Illumina will work together to evaluate how insurance coverage of WGS impacts patient care and healthcare costs. To date, there are more than 20 peer-reviewed publications demonstrating the clinical utility of WGS in over 3,000 patients with suspected genetic diseases. Health economic models predict that implementing WGS earlier in the diagnostic workup is likely to be cost-neutral or even save payers money.

Harvard Pilgrim proudly continues to lead the way in agreements designed to promote access for our members to leading-edge precision medicine technology, while containing costs for consumers and employers. We are delighted to have reached this value-based agreement with Illumina, said Michael Sherman, MD., Harvard Pilgrims Chief Medical Officer. Our members will be able to take advantage of this comprehensive technology, potentially saving themselves enormous frustration, heartache, and financial challenges. Moreover, Illumina gains the opportunity to demonstrate its value in a real-world setting through expanded use of WGS, while Harvard Pilgrim provides additional benefits but deters additional expenses that would otherwise increase costs for our members.

During the term of the agreement, Harvard Pilgrim will cover WGS, through their network of lab providers, for pediatric patients meeting specific criteria. Illumina and Harvard Pilgrim will share the risk on genetic testing costs. Achieving a rapid diagnosis will prove most valuable for allending uncertainty for patient families and potentially halting unnecessary spending on the clinical side. Together, Harvard Pilgrim and Illumina will analyze the data, adjudicate the financials, and prepare a peer-reviewed study for publication.

There are more than 7,000 known genetic conditions, and yet it can take years for patients and their families and physicians to diagnose their conditionfrequently at significant cost in terms of time, money, and emotion, as patients are referred from one specialist to the next, said Ammar Qadan, Vice President of Global Market Access at Illumina. WGS can dramatically reduce the time it takes to diagnose genetic conditions, which can improve patient outcomes, as well as economics.

About Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Harvard Pilgrim and its family of companies provide health benefit plans, programs, and services to more than 3 million customers in New England and beyond. A leading not-for-profit health services company, we guide our membersand the communities we serveto better health.

Founded by doctors over 50 years ago, were building on our legacy. In partnership with our network of more than 70,000 doctors and 182 hospitals, were improving health outcomes and lowering costs through clinical quality and innovative care management.

Our commitment to the communities we serve is driven by the passion of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. Through its work, low- and moderate-income families are gaining greater access to fresh, affordable fooda cornerstone to better health and well-being. To learn more about Harvard Pilgrim, visit http://www.harvardpilgrim.org.

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit http://www.illumina.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Illumina and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Expand Access to Whole-Genome Sequencing for Genetic Disease Testing - Business Wire

There is a common misconception that many genetic diseases are more common in Western countries than in India. For some, this has translated to an almost total disregard for some of the most common and deadly diseases in India.

A study conducted by MedGenome Labs, in partnership with Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, has found that, not only are disease-related genes more common in India than previously expected, they vary from those found in Western nations.

The study is, unfortunately, of limited scope, assessing a sample size of 200 unrelated individuals in the north Indian population over a period of 22 months. Of the 200 participants, 52 (26 percent) were found to be carriers of one or more rare genetic disorders. The title of rare disease in this regard is at least partially misleading. An estimated one in twenty Indians suffer from illnesses that fall under the classification of rare diseases. Children account for fifty percent of such cases.

Rare diseases affect around 350 million people worldwide. This figure includes roughly seventy million Indians. Each disease may individually affect just a few hundred, or a few thousand worldwide many affect even less. The sheer number of different conditions that fall under the umbrella term of rare diseases, however, means that cumulatively these conditions affect hundreds of millions. Funding for each individual disease is often all but non-existent due to the limited impact of funding research into a disease affecting so few people.

Three percent of individuals within the survey were found to be carriers for Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition that impacts muscle function. This often leads to issues with both breathing and eating. This is a high rate that could indicate the Indian population to be far more vulnerable than others. However, due to the limited scope of the study, this could be an overestimate due to the small sampling size, warranting further investigations on a broader scale.

Other notable discoveries from the study indicated a statistical difference in the disease causing variants observed for disorders such as deafness, cystic fibrosis, Canavan disease, primary hyperoxaluria, junctional epidermolysis bullosa, galactosemia, and medium chain acyl CoA deficiency compared to Western populations.

Dr Sunita Bijarnia-Mahay, author and senior consultant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospitals Institute of Medical Genetics & Genomics, said this study brought surprises by detecting those genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis which were not thought to be common. In future, such next generation sequencing (NGS)-based screening tests will bring benefit to not only the young couples who would be planning a baby, but also the healthcare officials in charting out the prevention strategies for our Indian population.

According to Dr Sheetal Sharda, a senior consultant in clinical genetics at MedGenome Labs in Bengaluru, couples may not even be aware that they could be carrying a genetic variant, which could lead to their unborn child developing a genetic disorder. In most cases, carriers of a genetic disorder are asymptomatic and may have no family history and unfortunately their carrier status is often confirmed only after an affected baby is born.

More genetic study is warranted within the Indian population. India represents almost twenty percent of the worlds population and is on track to become the worlds most populous nation in the coming decades. Despite this, only 0.2 percent of fully mapped genomes in global databanks are of Indian origin.

Success has been had in the past regarding genetic studies of the Indian population. One Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) found that there are six unique alleles present among the Indian population that causes a genetic predisposition to diabetes. This underlines at least part of the cause of high diabetes rates among Indians other causes being lifestyle factors such as diets rich in sugar and sedentary lifestyles with a limited degree of exercise.

Genetics form an underlying component of disease that interacts in a complex manner with environmental factors and lifestyle choices to create a risk factor for many of Indias most common and life-threatening diseases. Diabetes is just one example. Heart disease Indias most common cause of death is another.

Knowledge of unique, or common genetic risk factors among Indias population is vital to shaping health programmes tailored to Indias population. With greater knowledge, and greater availability of genetic testing, countless lives could be saved by providing early warning of potentially life-threatening diseases.

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Genetic disease in India: more prevalent than previously thought? - Hyderus Cyf

What are the emerging opportunities in the Point-of-Care Genetic Testing Market?

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Point-of-Care Genetic Testing Market Size, Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Forecasts to 2027 - Cheshire Media

Possible TMI alert: You know that sleepless feeling when youre curled up on your sleeping side and one nostril is so stuffed you cant breathe so you switch to the other side to give it a break then that one stuffs too? Tired of this cycle, I met with Jason Erdan, the head herbalist at Alchemist Kitchen in NYC, a botanical dispensary dedicated to connecting you with the power of plants. to find out the best supplements to fight fall allergies.

The benefit of herbalism is that often one can find a plant based equivalent for manyeven mostallopathic (or Western) remedies with fewer side effects, says Erdan. When it comes to finding relief for allergies, Erdan explains that the first step is to know exactly what youre up against. Seasonal allergies are the bodys immune responses to common allergens entering your system. This results in your body releasing T-cells (parts of the immune system that attack foreign particles) to clean up and remove the invader. This stimulates the inflammatory response and releases histamine, causing allergic symptoms. To find the internal balance to both relieve and prevent these symptoms, Erdan says one has to understand the symptoms, the system, and the individual. Allergies arent coming to me for a consultation, the person that has them is, says Erdan. And they want a personalized plan based on everything from their current habits, exercise routine, supplement regimen, sleep schedule, and diet.

While both over-the-counter and prescribed antihistamines are helpful to combating allergens, they can often come with side effects like drowsiness. Erdans main recommendation for the majority of individuals struggling with seasonal allergies is to consult with ones physician first, and then incorporate adaptogens like ashwagandha, and mushrooms, like reishi, into ones diet.

Why? Ashwagandha is an adaptogen that helps manage stress and inflammation in the body by controlling our cortisol (or stress hormone) and blood sugar levels. This means if the immune system is depressed, this anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting adaptogen enhances the immune response. If the immune system is overactivelike with allergiesit helps to regulate and promote homeostasis (the balance of bodily functions).

Reishi mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum), known as lingzhi in Chinese, are also high in antioxidants and can act as natures natural antihistamine. They are stimulants that help regulate the Th1 levels, which are responsible for battlingintracellular parasites within the body and inhibiting inflammatory compounds.

Erdan always recommends discussing any large changes with your physician, but he stresses that along with all of the more clinical remedies that we often turn to, the foods that you do and dont eat are a huge contributing factor to combating inflammation of all kinds, especially seasonal allergies. After taking Erdans advice, my ever-present allergy attacks have become more and more sporadic and much less aggressive, and I couldnt be more grateful. So the next time you feel those peskyor in my case, debilitatingallergies coming along, make sure to talk to your doc, but also take a peek at your diet and try to squeeze some adaptogens and healthy mushrooms into your routine.

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The Two Things an Herbalist Wants You To Take To Stop Cold-Weather Allergies in Their Tracks - Well+Good

Recent reports suggest that both clinical and genetic risk factors may contribute to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Catherine Ball, Chief Scientific Officer of Ancestry, discusses results of the companys COVID-19 Research Study, designed to explore non-genetic and genetic associations with disease outcomes.

ONE OF THE more puzzling aspects of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, is that infection can produce a remarkably diverse spectrum of outcomes, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal. In the US, most infections result in mild illness that can be managed at home, yet about 14 percent of cases are hospitalised and approximately five percent are fatal.

Known risk factors for severe COVID-19, as identified by epidemiological studies, include common health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity as well as older age and male sex. For example, reports of higher susceptibility to and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections in men could suggest important differences in immune response to the virus in men relative to women.

The growing toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgency of identifying those who are most at risk of infection and severe outcomes

Emerging evidence suggests that genetic variation may contribute to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. An early genome-wide association study (GWAS) of COVID-19 cases with respiratory failure identified two genetic loci that achieved genome-wide significance: one signal on chromosome 9 near the ABO gene, which determines blood type, and one signal on chromosome 3 near a cluster of genes with known immune function.1 Both genetic signals were later replicated by meta-analyses conducted by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (HGI), which combines more than 30 individual GWAS. The HGI additionally identified novel associations on chromosome 6, near FOXP4; on chromosome 12, near a gene cluster encoding antiviral restriction enzyme activators; on chromosome 19 near TYK2; and on chromosome 21, near IFNAR2. Multiple studies have also reported evidence of rare-variant associations, though such discoveries have not yet successfully been replicated in independent cohorts.

The growing toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgency of identifying those who are most at risk of infection and severe outcomes; hence, the need for further investigation to assess patterns of susceptibility and severity in large datasets. The Ancestry COVID-19 Research Study, one of the largest studies of infection susceptibility and severity to date, was designed to:

To replicate and discover non-genetic and genetic associations with COVID-19 outcomes, we engaged AncestryDNA adult members in the US a majority of the 18 million individuals in our global network. On 22 April 2020, we issued a 54-question COVID-19 survey intended to assess exposure, risk factors, symptomatology and demographic information that had previously been identified as associated with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Within four weeks, more than 500,000 AncestryDNA customers from all 50 states who consented to participate in research responded, including more than 4,700 individuals with COVID-19, as measured by a selfreported positive nasal swab test. All data were de-identified prior to subsequent analyses.

Rates of hospitalisation calculated from the self-reported positive cases in the Ancestry data are consistent with characteristics seen in a CDC data analysis (10 percent of individuals reported hospitalisation in the Ancestry data compared to 14 percent in the CDC dataset). In addition, these data represent a unique view of the US population, including the range of symptoms experienced by those who tested positive for COVID-19 as well as those who have been exposed to SARSCoV-2 but have not experienced any symptoms. From these self-reported outcomes, we assessed susceptibility by comparing those who reported a positive COVID-19 nasal swab test result to those who reported a negative swab test result. We also looked at severity by comparing COVID-19 positive individuals who were hospitalised to COVID-19 positive individuals who were not hospitalised.

We observed significant associations between several risk factors and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity outcomes.2 Given the scale of our database, we were able to account for known exposures to COVID-19 to try to understand potential risk factors not explained by differences in exposures, which has not been accounted for in most other work. We found males were more likely than females to test positive for COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR]=1.36), even among people with the same known exposures to COVID-19 and age. This exposureadjusted result is novel and distinct from previous reports of elevated severity risk in males. Among those who tested positive for COVID-19, males (6.6 percent) were more likely than females (3.9 percent) to report progression to a critical case of the virus, consistent with CDC findings.

People aged 18-29 reported higher exposure to COVID-19 than all other age groups and were at a slightly elevated risk (OR=1.28) for positive diagnosis compared to those aged 50-64, even among people with the same exposure and sex. People aged 65 and older were significantly more likely to be hospitalised (OR=1.60) compared to those aged 50-64, even when accounting for differences in health conditions, obesity and biological sex.

We identified three novel loci indicating genetic associations with COVID-19 outcomes

AfricanAmericans were more likely to develop COVID-19 (OR=1.23) and were also significantly more likely to report progression to a critical case compared to those with European ancestry (OR=2.34), after accounting for health conditions, obesity, age and biological sex. We developed risk models to robustly predict individualised COVID-19 outcomes and were able to accurately predict an individuals susceptibility risk based on self-reported demographics, exposures and symptoms. We trained a peer-reviewed susceptibility model3 on our training cohort and found that our models perform slightly better (Ancestry area under a curve [AUC]=0.94, Litmodel AUC=0.90). We were also able to accurately predict an individuals severity risk based on selfreported demographics, preexisting conditions and symptoms. The severity risk models performed slightly better than previously reported clinical models despite not relying on clinical risk factors (eg, bloodwork), suggesting that selfreported data can be used to accurately assess risk of both susceptibility and severity in lieu of clinical data. We assessed the risk models across different age, sex and genetic ancestry cohorts and we can report reasonably high performance in all cohorts; highlighting the potential utility and generalisability of these models to the broader population. To our knowledge, the assessment by genetic ancestry is the first of its kind in the COVID-19 risk modelling literature.

To explore possible differences in biological response to COVID-19 infection, we analysed both susceptibility and severity outcomes using sex-stratified GWAS and sex-combined meta-analyses to identify genetic determinants associated with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity from more than 500,000 respondents reporting COVID-19 symptoms, outcomes, risk factors and exposures. These analyses included over 2,400 individuals with COVID-19 and 250 hospitalised cases in a cohort of European ancestry individuals.

Importantly, we identified three novel loci indicating genetic associations with COVID-19 outcomes.4 The strongest association was near IVNS1ABP, a gene involved in influenza virus replication, and it was only associated in males. It is unclear why this association is present only in males, though it may provide a clue as to why males appear to be at higher risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and mortality. We speculate that sex hormones or behavioural differences might trigger different cellular responses to COVID-19 infection in men and in women, and one such difference may involve differential expression of IVNS1ABP. The other two novel loci harbour genes with established roles in viral replication or immunity.

Our results add to a growing body of evidence that individual genetic variation contributes to both susceptibility to COVID-19 and severity of illness. These results also suggest that identification of these genetic risk factors could provide profound insight into why COVID-19 manifests differently in individuals, particularly in men.

This research highlights the value of selfreported epidemiological data at scale to provide public health insights into the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Further, these survey responses, coupled with genomic data for over 500,000 individuals who have consented to research, provides Ancestry with the unique ability to quickly contribute to the global effort to better understand this disease. We are working to gain a deeper understanding of COVID-19 by investigating genomic and clinical components that influence how people contract and respond to the virus. We know that this information may be useful in the effort to develop treatments, preventatives or vaccines for the disease. In that spirit, we are making a subset of data from this study available to other qualified scientists through the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) to help inform their research.

Cathy Ball, PhD has served as Chief Scientific Officer for AncestryDNA, LLC since September 2016. She joined as Vice President of Genomics and Bioinformatics in 2011, helping to establish the companys approach to genetic genealogy leading to the launch of AncestryDNA. Cathy is a genomic scientist who has annotated and mined the genomes of various organisms and created resources to help clinicians, citizens and other scientists exploit and explore genome data. Cathy also led the Stanford Microarray Database, the largest academic database of its kind. She has presented seminars at leading universities and contributes to National Institutes of Health committees. She received a BS in Biology and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Cathy was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley prior to her research in the Departments of Genetics and Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine.

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Predicting COVID-19 susceptibility and severity - Drug Target Review

We know from history that traumatic experiences in childhood can have long-lasting effects, impacting both the physical body and our mental health. Research has shown that these stressful experiences in life can also impact the offspring of individuals whom have endured trauma.This contradicts some of the basic underpinnings of genetic hereditary. How can experiences in life affect our gametes the sperm and egg cells which pass on hereditary information through DNA to our offspring? Scientists are focusing on the role that the epigenome plays here.

The epigenome, which regulates gene activity by mechanisms which, put simply, involve "switching on" and "switching off" of genes, can be influenced by biological molecules.

A new study led by Professor Isabelle Mansuy at the University of Zurich's Brain Research Institute explored how circulating factors in the blood communicate with the embryonic precursors of gametes (germ cells) in both animal models and human participants.1Mansuy and colleagues focused their efforts on studying the biological impact of trauma. They found that traumatic experiences in early life cause changes in the blood composition namely metabolites that are passed on to the next generation.

Technology Networks spoke with Mansuy to learn more about the field of epigenetic inheritance, the specifics of the study and the possible impact these data may have on matters of public health.

Molly Campbell (MC): Your new study contributes to a research field known as epigenetic inheritance. For our readers that may be unfamiliar, can you please tell us more about this field of research, and its applications?Isabelle Mansuy (IM): This field of research studies a form of heredity that has hardly been studied before and that involves epigenetic factors. Heredity is classically known as depending on genetics, and our genetic code (or genome), which is transferred from parent to offspring through gametes (reproductive cells: oocyte and sperm cell). This is innate heredity, which is the inheritance of natural or intrinsic traits. But there is also acquired heredity, which is the inheritance of traits acquired during life upon exposure to the environment and life experiences. This form of inheritance depends on the epigenome, which are factors around the DNA sequence that regulate its activity. The applications are broad, and include a better understanding of diseases linked to the environment/experiences such as psychiatric disorders, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc whose causes and mechanisms remain poorly known and which have no treatment.

MC: Epigenetic inheritance is a field that has been deemed "controversial" in the past. In your opinion, are attitudes towards the research area changing? IM: Yes, because people realize how fundamental it is, and how it can answer questions that have remained unsolved for a long time, like the complex diseases, the transmission of the effects of life experiences (diet, stress or endocrine disruptors). Also, there is now a lot more evidence for its existence. Many studies and reports now document epigenetic inheritance in various species.

MC: Why did you decide to focus on the effects of trauma specifically in your study?IM: We are neurobiologists interested in brain functions and in the mechanisms of brain diseases, in particular psychiatric disorders. The possibility that adverse experiences in childhood can alter mental and physical health later in life and affect future generations is an extremely important public health issue. It needs to be understood mechanistically to help patients, doctors and the society.

MC: Why did you hypothesize that blood metabolites (an example of circulating factors) carry signals induced by exposure to germ cells? What previous research supported this hypothesis?IM: The hypothesis stems from our observation that many cells and tissues are affected by trauma exposure in early life and that some of the changes are comparable across tissues, suggesting that there is a common inducing factor. It was logical to think of blood since it provides nutrient to all tissues and cells across the body. The fact that blood factors can communicate with germ cells was not known before, it was even deemed impossible mid-19th century by August Weissmann, purely based on a theory he put forward that the soma cannot communicate with the germline (the Weismann barrier). It relied, for instance, on the observation that if you cut the tail of a mouse at each generation, the offspring will never be born with a cut tail. This theory was erroneous from the start but somewhat blocked proper thinking for a long time.

MC: In mice, you found that exposure to trauma upregulated certain metabolic pathways, and that this upregulation was also detected in the male progeny of these mice in adulthood. Can you expand on the metabolic pathways that you analyzed and why, and what the key results were?IM: Some metabolites are up-regulated but others are down-regulated. We analysed all metabolites by mass spectrometry (unbiased method) and observed that lipid metabolism is perturbed with polyinsaturated fatty acids metabolites being increased. We also saw that glucose and insulin are dysregulated.

MC: You also assessed the relevance of these findings in a cohort of children, specifically children from an SOS Children's Village in Lahore, Pakistan. Can you discuss the choice of human sample used in this study? Why is it representative? Are there any potential limitations?IM: The Pakistani cohort was selected to resemble as much as possible our mouse model. The children were separated from their mother after their lost their husband (father). Our mouse model uses unpredictable maternal separation combined with unpredictable maternal stress. It is representative of a severe family trauma. The limitations are that it is a small cohort (25 SOS and 14 controls) however we have now expanded this sample and that we have blood samples from only one time point. Ideally, we would like to follow the children across time. A positive point though is that we have a small group of adult men who were in the SOS village when younger and who do show changes in blood (this data is not published).

MC: How did the results of the human analyses compare to the results you obtained in mice?IM: There are lots of similarities in symptoms of trauma e.g. depression, and in physiological parameters e.g. altered glycemia, dyslipidemia, decreased HDL, etc

MC: What can the data tell us about how trauma is altering metabolic pathways, and why this might be passed on to the next generation?IM: We do not know exactly how trauma alters metabolic pathways, but it is likely by perturbing liver, pancreas, the endocrine system, etc. The effects are systemic, and every tissue is affected. The effects of trauma are passed to the next generation (demonstrated in mice) because germ cells (here sperm) carry molecular alterations e.g. altered RNA populations, that are passed to the embryo upon fertilization with the oocyte.

MC: What clinical applications might this research have?IM: Perhaps the identification of a signature of trauma in blood, saliva and/or sperm which could help diagnostics and treatment monitoring.

MC: Finally, what are your next steps in this research space?IM: Identify the mechanisms responsible for changes in germ cells (male and female) and how these changes are perpetuated/maintained in the offspring.

Professor Isabelle Mansuy was speaking to Molly Campbell, Science Writer for Technology Networks.

Reference:

1. van Steenwyk G, Gapp K, Jawaid A, et al. Involvement of circulating factors in the transmission of paternal experiences through the germline. EMBO J.. 2020;39(23):e104579. doi:10.15252/embj.2020104579.

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Exploring the Biological Inheritance of Childhood Trauma - Technology Networks

The Conversation

The world is eagerly awaiting the release of several COVID-19 vaccines, but Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is not. Im not going to take it. Its my right, he said in a Nov. 26 social media broadcast. Bolsonaro, who came down with COVID-19 in July, has also criticized face masks. He and his more faithful supporters oppose any suggestion of mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. Vaccine resistance has a long history in Brazil. In November 1904, thousands of people in the city of Rio de Janeiro protested government-mandated smallpox vaccinations in a famous revolt that nearly ended with a coup. Making modern BrazilThe smallpox vaccine had arrived in Brazil almost a century earlier. But the syringes were long, left skin pockmarked and could transmit other diseases such as syphilis. Between 1898 and 1904, only 2% to 10% of Rios population was vaccinated yearly, according to historian Sidney Chalhoub. In 1904, smallpox killed 0.4% of Rio residents a higher percentage of the population than COVID-19s victims in New York City this year.But these were not the only reasons Brazil made vaccinations mandatory in 1904. As part of a modernization plan to attract European immigration and foreign investment, President Rodrigues Alves was committed to eradicating epidemics not just smallpox, but also yellow fever and the bubonic plague.To rid Rio de Janeiro, then the nations capital, of sanitary hazards while opening space for Parisian-style avenues and buildings, hundreds of tenements were demolished between 1903 and 1909. Almost 40,000 people mostly Afro-Brazilians but also poor Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants were evicted and removed from downtown Rio. Many were left homeless, forced to resettle on nearby hillsides or in distant rural areas. Meanwhile, public health agents accompanied by armed police systematically disinfected homes with sulfur that destroyed furniture and other belongings whether residents welcomed them or not. Conspiracy and barricadesPoliticians and military officers who opposed President Alves saw opportunity in the outrage these health initiatives caused. They stoked discontent.With the help of labor organizers and news editors, Alves opponents led a campaign against Brazils public health mandates throughout 1904. Newspapers reported on violent home disinfections and forced vaccinations. Senators and other public figures declared that mandatory vaccinations encroached on peoples homes and bodies.In mid-November of that year, thousands of protesters gathered in public squares to rally against public health efforts. Rio police reacted with disproportionate force, triggering six days of unrest in the city. A racially diverse crowd of students, construction workers, port workers and other residents fought back, armed with rocks, housewares or the tools of their trade, flipping over streetcars to barricade the streets. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, conspirators were mobilizing young military cadets. Their plan: to overthrow Alves government. Their scheme was foiled when the president called upon both the Army and the Navy to contain protesters and detain alleged insurgents. Brazils great vaccine revolt was soon suppressed. The language of rightsAfterward, newspapers portrayed protesters as an ignorant mass, manipulated by cunning politicians. They deemed one of the uprisings popular leaders, Horcio Jos da Silva known as Black Silver a disorderly thug.But Brazils vaccine revolt was more than a cynical political manipulation. Digging into archives, historians like me are learning what really motivated the uprising.The violent and segregationist features of Alves urban plan are one obvious answer. In early 20th-century Brazil, most people women, those who couldnt read, the unemployed couldnt vote. For these Brazilians, the streets were the only place to have their voices heard.But why would they so virulently oppose methods that controlled the spread of disease?Delving into newspapers and legal records, I have found that critics of Brazils 1904 public health drive often expressed their opposition in terms of inviolability of the home, both on the streets and in courts.For elite Brazilians, invoking this constitutional right was about protecting the privacy of their households, where men ruled over wives, children and servants. Public health agents threatened this patriarchal authority by demanding access to homes and womens bodies.Poor men and women in Rio also held patriarchal values. But for them there was more than privacy at stake in 1904. Throughout the 19th century, enslaved Afro-Brazilians had formed families and built homes, even on plantations, carving out spaces of relative freedom from their masters. After slavery was abolished in 1888, many freed Afro-Brazilians shared crowded tenements with immigrants. By the time of Alvess vaccination drive, the poor of Rio had been fighting eviction and police violence for decades. For Black Brazilians, then, defending their rights to choose what to do or not to do with their homes and bodies was part of a much longer struggle for social, economic and political inclusion. Deadly learning experienceFour years after the 1904 revolt, Rio was struck by another smallpox epidemic. With so many people unvaccinated, deaths doubled; almost 1% of the city perished.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]It was a deadly learning experience. From then on, Brazilian leaders framed mandatory smallpox, measles and other vaccines as a means to protect the common good, and invested in educational campaigns to explain why. Throughout the 20th century, vaccinations were extremely successful in Brazil. Since the 1990s, 95% of children have been vaccinated, though the numbers are dropping.Today, Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. As in the past, Afro-Brazilians are hurting more than others.By invoking Brazilians individual right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, President Bolsonaro is ignoring the lessons of 1904 undermining a century of hard work fighting disease in Brazil.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Pedro Cantisano, University of Nebraska Omaha.Read more: * COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back toslavery * In Brazils raging pandemic, domestic workers fear for their lives and theirjobsPedro Cantisano does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Man caught breaking into Tom Brady and Gisele Bndchen's Massachusetts mansion - Yahoo News

Following a frustrating year plagued by transport restrictions caused by Covid-19 and tilapia lake virus, Til-Aquarecently decided to branch out from selling live tilapia fry a move that has netted them the first of a new breed of deal this week.

Like many other companies, we are currently confronted with transport issues limited available flights and closed borders due to the coronavirus. The import restrictions that some countries have imposed regarding the tilapia lake virus had already severely limited our current operations. As a result, we decided to change course drastically so as not to lose 25 years of genetic effort: we have put our genetics for sale to interested parties, explains Eric Bink, director of the Dutch firm.

Til-Aquas first deal in the new era has been signed with Gardsfisk, a fast-growing tilapia producer in Sweden. According to Bink, they will need about 3 million tilapia fingerlings for their own company and partners net year, which would make it a very significant deal by European standards.

They will start producing NMT soon and in a few months also YY production. There are several other YY genetic centres to be set up soon (Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, US, Tanzania) and we are now in advanced negotiations for transferring the YY technology to various parties worldwide, adds Bink.

Despite the radical shift, Bink's plans appear to have been validated.

We believe that transferring our YY technology to countries for local YY production is the best option. These parties would own YY-males and YY-females and would receive the information on how to maintain these lines. With these fish, they can produce their own YY-males; the broodstock that produces NMT [natural male tilapia] offspring. These YY-males can be both used for your own NMT production and distributed to interested parties. [our own] NMT production has since stopped. We will be able to supply our YY-males until the end of December 2020, he adds.

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The pivot that's helping a tilapia producer cope with covid restrictions - The Fish Site

The Conversation

The world is eagerly awaiting the release of several COVID-19 vaccines, but Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is not. Im not going to take it. Its my right, he said in a Nov. 26 social media broadcast. Bolsonaro, who came down with COVID-19 in July, has also criticized face masks. He and his more faithful supporters oppose any suggestion of mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. Vaccine resistance has a long history in Brazil. In November 1904, thousands of people in the city of Rio de Janeiro protested government-mandated smallpox vaccinations in a famous revolt that nearly ended with a coup. Making modern BrazilThe smallpox vaccine had arrived in Brazil almost a century earlier. But the syringes were long, left skin pockmarked and could transmit other diseases such as syphilis. Between 1898 and 1904, only 2% to 10% of Rios population was vaccinated yearly, according to historian Sidney Chalhoub. In 1904, smallpox killed 0.4% of Rio residents a higher percentage of the population than COVID-19s victims in New York City this year.But these were not the only reasons Brazil made vaccinations mandatory in 1904. As part of a modernization plan to attract European immigration and foreign investment, President Rodrigues Alves was committed to eradicating epidemics not just smallpox, but also yellow fever and the bubonic plague.To rid Rio de Janeiro, then the nations capital, of sanitary hazards while opening space for Parisian-style avenues and buildings, hundreds of tenements were demolished between 1903 and 1909. Almost 40,000 people mostly Afro-Brazilians but also poor Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants were evicted and removed from downtown Rio. Many were left homeless, forced to resettle on nearby hillsides or in distant rural areas. Meanwhile, public health agents accompanied by armed police systematically disinfected homes with sulfur that destroyed furniture and other belongings whether residents welcomed them or not. Conspiracy and barricadesPoliticians and military officers who opposed President Alves saw opportunity in the outrage these health initiatives caused. They stoked discontent.With the help of labor organizers and news editors, Alves opponents led a campaign against Brazils public health mandates throughout 1904. Newspapers reported on violent home disinfections and forced vaccinations. Senators and other public figures declared that mandatory vaccinations encroached on peoples homes and bodies.In mid-November of that year, thousands of protesters gathered in public squares to rally against public health efforts. Rio police reacted with disproportionate force, triggering six days of unrest in the city. A racially diverse crowd of students, construction workers, port workers and other residents fought back, armed with rocks, housewares or the tools of their trade, flipping over streetcars to barricade the streets. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, conspirators were mobilizing young military cadets. Their plan: to overthrow Alves government. Their scheme was foiled when the president called upon both the Army and the Navy to contain protesters and detain alleged insurgents. Brazils great vaccine revolt was soon suppressed. The language of rightsAfterward, newspapers portrayed protesters as an ignorant mass, manipulated by cunning politicians. They deemed one of the uprisings popular leaders, Horcio Jos da Silva known as Black Silver a disorderly thug.But Brazils vaccine revolt was more than a cynical political manipulation. Digging into archives, historians like me are learning what really motivated the uprising.The violent and segregationist features of Alves urban plan are one obvious answer. In early 20th-century Brazil, most people women, those who couldnt read, the unemployed couldnt vote. For these Brazilians, the streets were the only place to have their voices heard.But why would they so virulently oppose methods that controlled the spread of disease?Delving into newspapers and legal records, I have found that critics of Brazils 1904 public health drive often expressed their opposition in terms of inviolability of the home, both on the streets and in courts.For elite Brazilians, invoking this constitutional right was about protecting the privacy of their households, where men ruled over wives, children and servants. Public health agents threatened this patriarchal authority by demanding access to homes and womens bodies.Poor men and women in Rio also held patriarchal values. But for them there was more than privacy at stake in 1904. Throughout the 19th century, enslaved Afro-Brazilians had formed families and built homes, even on plantations, carving out spaces of relative freedom from their masters. After slavery was abolished in 1888, many freed Afro-Brazilians shared crowded tenements with immigrants. By the time of Alvess vaccination drive, the poor of Rio had been fighting eviction and police violence for decades. For Black Brazilians, then, defending their rights to choose what to do or not to do with their homes and bodies was part of a much longer struggle for social, economic and political inclusion. Deadly learning experienceFour years after the 1904 revolt, Rio was struck by another smallpox epidemic. With so many people unvaccinated, deaths doubled; almost 1% of the city perished.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]It was a deadly learning experience. From then on, Brazilian leaders framed mandatory smallpox, measles and other vaccines as a means to protect the common good, and invested in educational campaigns to explain why. Throughout the 20th century, vaccinations were extremely successful in Brazil. Since the 1990s, 95% of children have been vaccinated, though the numbers are dropping.Today, Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. As in the past, Afro-Brazilians are hurting more than others.By invoking Brazilians individual right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, President Bolsonaro is ignoring the lessons of 1904 undermining a century of hard work fighting disease in Brazil.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Pedro Cantisano, University of Nebraska Omaha.Read more: * COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back toslavery * In Brazils raging pandemic, domestic workers fear for their lives and theirjobsPedro Cantisano does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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The Conversation

The world is eagerly awaiting the release of several COVID-19 vaccines, but Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is not. Im not going to take it. Its my right, he said in a Nov. 26 social media broadcast. Bolsonaro, who came down with COVID-19 in July, has also criticized face masks. He and his more faithful supporters oppose any suggestion of mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. Vaccine resistance has a long history in Brazil. In November 1904, thousands of people in the city of Rio de Janeiro protested government-mandated smallpox vaccinations in a famous revolt that nearly ended with a coup. Making modern BrazilThe smallpox vaccine had arrived in Brazil almost a century earlier. But the syringes were long, left skin pockmarked and could transmit other diseases such as syphilis. Between 1898 and 1904, only 2% to 10% of Rios population was vaccinated yearly, according to historian Sidney Chalhoub. In 1904, smallpox killed 0.4% of Rio residents a higher percentage of the population than COVID-19s victims in New York City this year.But these were not the only reasons Brazil made vaccinations mandatory in 1904. As part of a modernization plan to attract European immigration and foreign investment, President Rodrigues Alves was committed to eradicating epidemics not just smallpox, but also yellow fever and the bubonic plague.To rid Rio de Janeiro, then the nations capital, of sanitary hazards while opening space for Parisian-style avenues and buildings, hundreds of tenements were demolished between 1903 and 1909. Almost 40,000 people mostly Afro-Brazilians but also poor Italian, Portuguese and Spanish immigrants were evicted and removed from downtown Rio. Many were left homeless, forced to resettle on nearby hillsides or in distant rural areas. Meanwhile, public health agents accompanied by armed police systematically disinfected homes with sulfur that destroyed furniture and other belongings whether residents welcomed them or not. Conspiracy and barricadesPoliticians and military officers who opposed President Alves saw opportunity in the outrage these health initiatives caused. They stoked discontent.With the help of labor organizers and news editors, Alves opponents led a campaign against Brazils public health mandates throughout 1904. Newspapers reported on violent home disinfections and forced vaccinations. Senators and other public figures declared that mandatory vaccinations encroached on peoples homes and bodies.In mid-November of that year, thousands of protesters gathered in public squares to rally against public health efforts. Rio police reacted with disproportionate force, triggering six days of unrest in the city. A racially diverse crowd of students, construction workers, port workers and other residents fought back, armed with rocks, housewares or the tools of their trade, flipping over streetcars to barricade the streets. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, conspirators were mobilizing young military cadets. Their plan: to overthrow Alves government. Their scheme was foiled when the president called upon both the Army and the Navy to contain protesters and detain alleged insurgents. Brazils great vaccine revolt was soon suppressed. The language of rightsAfterward, newspapers portrayed protesters as an ignorant mass, manipulated by cunning politicians. They deemed one of the uprisings popular leaders, Horcio Jos da Silva known as Black Silver a disorderly thug.But Brazils vaccine revolt was more than a cynical political manipulation. Digging into archives, historians like me are learning what really motivated the uprising.The violent and segregationist features of Alves urban plan are one obvious answer. In early 20th-century Brazil, most people women, those who couldnt read, the unemployed couldnt vote. For these Brazilians, the streets were the only place to have their voices heard.But why would they so virulently oppose methods that controlled the spread of disease?Delving into newspapers and legal records, I have found that critics of Brazils 1904 public health drive often expressed their opposition in terms of inviolability of the home, both on the streets and in courts.For elite Brazilians, invoking this constitutional right was about protecting the privacy of their households, where men ruled over wives, children and servants. Public health agents threatened this patriarchal authority by demanding access to homes and womens bodies.Poor men and women in Rio also held patriarchal values. But for them there was more than privacy at stake in 1904. Throughout the 19th century, enslaved Afro-Brazilians had formed families and built homes, even on plantations, carving out spaces of relative freedom from their masters. After slavery was abolished in 1888, many freed Afro-Brazilians shared crowded tenements with immigrants. By the time of Alvess vaccination drive, the poor of Rio had been fighting eviction and police violence for decades. For Black Brazilians, then, defending their rights to choose what to do or not to do with their homes and bodies was part of a much longer struggle for social, economic and political inclusion. Deadly learning experienceFour years after the 1904 revolt, Rio was struck by another smallpox epidemic. With so many people unvaccinated, deaths doubled; almost 1% of the city perished.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]It was a deadly learning experience. From then on, Brazilian leaders framed mandatory smallpox, measles and other vaccines as a means to protect the common good, and invested in educational campaigns to explain why. Throughout the 20th century, vaccinations were extremely successful in Brazil. Since the 1990s, 95% of children have been vaccinated, though the numbers are dropping.Today, Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. As in the past, Afro-Brazilians are hurting more than others.By invoking Brazilians individual right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, President Bolsonaro is ignoring the lessons of 1904 undermining a century of hard work fighting disease in Brazil.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Pedro Cantisano, University of Nebraska Omaha.Read more: * COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back toslavery * In Brazils raging pandemic, domestic workers fear for their lives and theirjobsPedro Cantisano does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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What Is Cryogenics?

Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at very low temperatures.

This field of study helps us understand the chemical changes which occur when a substance reaches the lowest possible temperature of -273.

Presently this knowledge has been applied to the field of death care as human bodies are now being frozen in hopes of reanimating them in the future.

About 350 people all over the world have chosen to have their bodies frozen immediately after death.

Lots of paperwork must take place long before death if the cryogenic process is to take place.

Clients must complete all the necessary documentation and make sure funding is in place well ahead of time.

The freezing process must begin within 2-15 minutes after the person has been declared legally dead.

Then the body is packed in ice and injected with chemicals to keep the blood from clotting.

A special machine called a heart-lung resuscitator artificially restores circulation and breathing.

The body is then transported to a long-term care facility for final cooling and perfusion, a process in which the patients blood is slowly and carefully replaced by special substances to protect against ice formation.

They are then slowly cooled to a temperature of -196 and preserved in liquid nitrogen in a special storage unit called a cryostat.

For most of us, this idea seems creepy yet weirdly hopeful at the same time.

It reads like the plot of the most far-fetched science fiction novel.

But is it possible that this science fiction may simply becomescience?

As you can imagine, the issue is by no means simple.

Here are the different schools of thought on whether this is medical science or wishful thinking.

In 2015, the MIT Technology Review published an article debunking cryonics as a false science.

Their main point is that human consciousness is much too complex to recreate.

Even reconstructing the consciousness of a roundworm, a far less complex organism than humans are, remains beyond us.

In addition, we have no evidence that major organs such as the heart and the kidneys could be successfully frozen and thawed.

Promoters of cryonics declare that indeed there are other specimens of life which have been frozen and reanimated.

These include insects, vinegar eels, and even embryos which later became human children.

Recent advances in biology point to the hope that we can do even greater things in the future.

We already know that victims of cardiac arrest can sometimes be saved through lowering body temperature. Who is to say that we couldnt use it to save more people at some later time?

As you can well imagine, there are many misunderstandings about this radical approach to post-death care.

Here we debunk some of these common myths.

Although its true that the process of cryonics involves lowering your bodys temperature substantially, its not at all the same process as simply throwing something in the freezer.

The chemicals placed in your cells (through a process called vitrification) actually protect tissue and organs from freezing.

The goal is simply to slow all molecular movement to a standstill so that the body can be preserved in its original state.

We now understand that death is not an abrupt event. In fact, its a lengthy process which happens in stages.

Medically, a person is declared dead when his/her heart stops beating.

However, life processes continue within cells and tissue until they gradually cease and begin to decay due to the lack of oxygenated blood.

In cryonics, the patient is stabilized before this gradual decay can begin. Tissue and organs are kept viable through artificial means, similar to the emergency procedures employed for cardiac arrest patients.

As with most controversial issues in the medical field, there are some experts who support cryonics and others who do not.

Unfortunately, the credibility of cryonics has been undermined by some bad press and over-sensationalized reporting.

Because of this controversial reputation, there are some scientists who have dismissed the idea without bothering to research it thoroughly.

In spite of this, there are at least 60 prominent scientists who have publicly endorsed cryonics by signing an open letter in support of it.

There is still a considerable amount of work to do to secure legal rights for cryonicists.

In most states, the next of kin has the right to determine what happens to a loved ones body after death. Even if the deceased person has a legal contract with a cryonics facility, their wishes are often undermined by family members who bury or cremate them instead.

However, representatives of cryonics facilities are diligent about going to court to fight for the rights of those with whom they have legal contracts. In many cases, they can even file an injunction to stop an autopsy.

Because this is still a new method, there are still some ethical questions around it which remain unclear.

For example, if the cryonic facility runs out of money or the technology fails, does it still have a duty to care for the patients entrusted to them?

On a more existential level, can we even preserve all the complex components of a persons true identity?

If someone is successfully reanimated 30 years from now, would they be able to function as their true self in a society thats sure to be radically different from what they remember?

These are all questions that the cryonics community still needs to grapple with.

So assuming you want to preserve your body after death for future revival, who can you go to?

There are two reputable American organizations worth looking into if this route holds any appeal for you.

The Cryonics Institute offers an impressive level of stability.

Here are some of the advantages to choosing this company.

The mission of the Cryonics Institute, as stated on their website, is to provide the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost.

As a non-profit, they are committed to benefiting their members.

The Institute asserts a passionate belief in the possibility of a radical extension of the human lifespan, giving patients a second chance at life, youth and health as expressed in Robert Ettingers 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality.

The Cryonics Institute was founded back in 1976 by Robert Ettinger, the scientist credited with starting the cryonics movement.

Ettinger became a celebrity after the publication of The Prospect of Immortality. He appeared on talk shows and spoke with newspapers and magazines on the topic.

In 2004, vitrification became part of the cryopreservation process, based on the work of researchers Greg Fahy and William F. Rall.

Since their beginning in 1976, the Cryonics Institute has cryopreserved a total of 100 patients who are still successfully preserved at the facility.

The Cryonics Institute is owned by the membership and governed by a board of twelve directors, all of whom demonstrate personal passion for the ideals of immortality that cryonics represents.

They have established a rapid and effective system incorporating the best aspects of emergency medicine and mortuary care.

They have teams of funeral directors specially trained in the science of cryonics. These highly skilled and effective teams can be dispatched anywhere in the world when their services are urgently needed.

Another leader in the newly-emerging field of cryonics, Alcor is a reputable organization to look into if you want to explore the option of cryopreservation.

Here are the things you need to know.

Alcor is a non-profit organization based in Scottsdale, AZ.

Founded in 1972, they specialize in cryonics research and technology.

Members have the ability to use life insurance towards the cost of cryopreservation.

Presently, Alcor is working on technology to preserve the information in the brain which comprises memory and identity.

Alcor has clearly prioritized the five components of their mission as follows:

Maintain the current patients in biostasis.

Place current and future members into biostasis (when and if needed).

Eventually restore all patients in Alcors care to health and reintegrate them into society.

Fund research into developing more cost-effective and reliable means for 1-3 above.

Provide public education as a means of fostering growth to support the goals of 1, 2, 3, 4 above.

As of the end of 2019, Alcor has a total of 177 patients in its care.

129 of these patients are male; 46 of them are female.

Their first suspension was in 1967, carried out while Alcor still went by the name of the Cryonics Society of California.

The most recent was a 77-year-old man who had been a member of Alcor since 2000.

The number of patients in cryonic suspension with Alcor has risen steadily since its founding.

The cost of cryonics can be prohibitive, as it is much more expensive than other deathcare options.

The Cryonics Institute typically charges a one-time cost of $28,000, which can be covered by life insurance. This cost includes storage as well as vitrification perfusion.

For a whole body cryopreservation, Alcor charges $200,000, also payable through a life insurance policy. There is also an option to preserve only the patients head for $80,000.

The practice of cryonics demands a radical reimagining of everything we thought we knew about death.

Maybe death isnt as final as we have always believed.

If this is true, then it opens up a whole new way of thinking about our post-death rituals.

Naturally this leaves us with many questions.

Here are some of the most common questions about cryonics.

As of this writing, no human has yet been revived after their body temperature has been lowered to a level far below freezing.

However, the point of cryonics lies in the hope that technology will eventually advance enough to allow this to happen.

There is an expectation that the field of molecular nanotechnology will discover ways to reverse any damage caused by the cryonics process.

To that end, cryonics patients are cared for until such time as they can be revived safely.

This question is tricky, because there are multiple definitions of dead.

By law, the cryonics process cannot begin until the patient is legally dead.

Usually, a medical professional declares someone legally dead if they have stopped breathing, their heart has stopped beating, or brain activity has ceased due to the removal of life support.

But the philosophy behind cryonics is that we will one day have the ability to resuscitate these patients.

Breathing and blood circulation are restored immediately after legal death so that essential organs continue to function.

For that reason, cryonics patients are not considered dead. Instead, the term cryopreserved is used.

Ideally, the cryonics process should begin as soon as possible after the heart stops beating, usually around one or two minutes and certainly not more than fifteen.

If it takes longer, the process of restoration could pose more of a challenge.

Thats because any decay of the circulatory system can make it more difficult to circulate the chemicals necessary to prevent ice formation.

The most affordable way to fund cryonic suspension is by purchasing a life insurance policy in which you name the cryonics facility as the primary beneficiary.

To do this, you just have to purchase a life insurance policy in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of cryopreservation. Then you make a monthly payment.

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Cryonics In 2020 Guide: Will It Replace Burial and Cremation?

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ByThe Associated Press

December 1, 2020, 5:17 PM

2 min read

LONDON -- Britains High Court ruled Tuesday that children under 16 years old who are considering gender reassignment are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to medical treatment involving drugs that delay puberty.

The ruling said that because of the experimental nature of the drugs, clinics should seek court authorization before starting such treatment, even in cases of teens aged 16 or over.

The case was brought by two claimants against a National Health Service trust that runs the U.K.s main gender identity development service for children. One of the claimants, who was prescribed hormone blockers at 16, argued that the clinic should have challenged her more over her decision to transition to a male.

Tuesdays ruling will protect vulnerable young people, said Keira Bell, who is now 23 and has stopped taking cross-sex hormones. She added that she was delighted to see that common sense has prevailed.

I wish (the judgement) had been made before I embarked on the devastating experiment of puberty blockers. My life would be very different today, she said outside the court.

Hormone blockers are drugs that can pause the development of puberty, and are sometimes prescribed to help children with gender dysphoria by giving them more time to consider their options.

Lawyers for Bell and the other claimant the mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl on the waiting list for treatment said that children going through puberty are not capable of properly understanding the nature and effects of hormone blockers.

They argued that children who start taking hormone blockers are highly likely to later take cross-sex hormones, which they say cause irreversible changes.

Health officials involved in the case argued that taking hormone blockers and later cross-sex hormones were entirely separate stages of treatment.

But on Tuesday, three judges ruled that children under 16 are unlikely to understand and weigh both the immediate and long-term consequences of the treatment to be able to consent to the use of puberty blockers. They said that puberty blocking drugs are a pathway to much greater medical interventions because a vast majority of patients taking the drugs go on to take cross-sex hormones.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the gender clinic, said it would seek permission to appeal against the ruling.

The trans childrens charity Mermaids said the ruling was devastating for trans young people in the country.

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