SACRAMENTO Senator Scott Wieners (D-San Francisco) Senate Bill 923, the TGI Inclusive Care Act passed the Assembly by a vote of 60-11. It now heads to the Senate for final sign-off before going to the Governors desk.

This first-in-the-nation legislation will help create a more inclusive and culturally competent healthcare system for TGI (transgender, gender diverse, and intersex) people in California by requiring:

We need to provide culturally competent healthcare for trans people, saidSenator Wiener. That is the bare minimum when it comes to supporting TGI patients health and wellness. No one should have to go to the doctor only to be misgendered or have their identity undermined in other ways. California needs to be a bulwark against the anti-trans laws and sentiment growing in states like Texas. SB 923 is a first-in-the-nation bill that will set the tone for TGI-inclusive care across the country.

That physician Continuing Medical Education (CME) include evidence-based culturally competent curriculum to help physicians provide inclusive care for TGI people

That the Health and Human Services Agency issue enforceable quality standards for treating TGI patients and recommend curriculum working collaboratively with Departments and TGI-serving organizations

That health insurance companies provide TGI cultural competency training for their staff and delegated entities who are in direct contact with patients

That health insurance companies, in their network directories, include a list of in-network providers who offer gender-affirming services, so that TGI people know where to go for specialized care

That the relevant oversight agencies track and monitor complaints relating to TGI-inclusive care and publicly post findings in their annual reports or website

SB 923 comes at a time when LGBTQ people and particularly transgender children are under attack across the country by right-wing state leaders. Many of those attacks seek to criminalize gender-affirming care. In February, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order making it illegal for parents to allow their trans kids to receive gender-affirming care. These parents could have their children taken away and be sent to prison simply for allowing their children to be who they are and receive this necessary care. Abbott called gender-affirming care child abuse. Alabama just enacted a law imposing ten-year state prison sentences on parents and physicians who allow or provide gender-affirming care to their children. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Dont Say Gay law, banning discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation from public school classrooms.

While LGBTQ kids are under attack in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Arizona, and other states, SB 923 shows a different path forward one in which quality gender-affirming care is provided for anyone who needs it, with providers going above and beyond to treat TGI patients with the respect and care they deserve.

Healthcare discrimination and a lack of access to culturally competent care is a major problem that many TGI people regularly face. The National Center for Transgender Equality reports that one-third of all transgender individuals who saw a healthcare professional in 2014 had at least one negative experience related to being transgender, with even higher rates for people of color and people with disabilities. These negative experiences include being refused treatment, verbally harassed, physically or sexually assaulted, or having to teach the provider about transgender people in order to receive appropriate care.

This is especially problematic given that TGI people, compared with the general population, suffer from more chronic health conditions. TGI people experience higher rates of health problems related to HIV/AIDS, substance use, mental illness, and sexual and physical violence, as well as a higher prevalence and earlier onset of disabilities that can also lead to long-term health issues. Sadly, 23% of transgender individuals reported that fear of discrimination caused them to postpone or not receive necessary medical care.

Moreover, while all health plans are required to cover gender-affirming care, it can be difficult for TGI patients to actually find providers who routinely offer this care. This is a major impediment to TGI people accessing the care they need.

Every person deserves to receive quality, compassionate health care from understanding, informed, and respectful providers providers who dont make assumptions about their gender or sexuality, and who honor their bodily autonomy. TGI people already face so many obstacles outside of the healthcare system, including higher rates of violence, workplace discrimination, ostracization from families and religious communities, and housing discrimination. Going to the doctor should not mean facing additional discrimination or unnecessary hardship.

TGI people should have access to positive healthcare experiences. This includes seeing providers who are able to give them the care they need in a non-judgmental and supportive environment, and being able to search for providers who provide gender-affirming services (gender-affirming services include but are not limited to: chest reconstruction, mastectomy, facial feminization surgery, hysterectomy, voice masculinization or feminization, hormone therapy related to gender dysphoria or intersex conditions, gender-affirming gynecological care, or voice therapy related to gender dysphoria or intersex conditions). Gender-affirming care is critically important health care, and anyone who needs it should be able to find and access it.

The TGI-Inclusive Care Act will help create a healthcare system that meets the needs of TGI people, and provide a more positive patient experience.

SB 923 is sponsored by the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, Equality California, National Health Law Program, Trans Community Project, TransFamily Support Services, and Western Center on Law & Poverty.It is co-authored by Assemblymembers Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), Evan Low (D-San Jose), Alex Lee (D-Fremont), and Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens).

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Senator Wiener's 1st-in-Nation Transgender-Inclusive Health Care Act Passes Assembly - Senator Scott Wiener

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When people go plant-based, it's often not the idea ofgiving up meat that proves difficult. It's cheese. There's a reason for that.In a study on food and addiction, Yale researchers found thatcheese triggers the same neuroreceptors for pleasure that drugs do since cheese contains casein, a dairy protein that during digestion releases casomorphine, which plays directly on the brain's dopamine receptors. So if you think you're addicted to cheese, you probably are. Like most addictions, this one isn't healthy.

If you have ever tried to give up anything addictive, whether it's cigarettes, caffeine, or alcohol, you know that there is usually a painful period of withdrawal followed by a sense of improved health and even natural euphoria. The same is true ofwhat happens when you give upburrata, brie, Jarlsberg, or parmesan. First, it's hard, then you feel so much better. Here's why.

While a handful of studies have come out to say that dairy is not inflammatory, at least some of those have been funded by milk producers. In "fact-checking"the research and its funding,Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), has found that even a serving a day of dairy is not good for you and that the proteins in dairy are inflammatory, especially if you areamong the nearly 70 percent of the world's population that has some levelof lactose malabsorption.

When you stop eating dairy, Barnard asserts, inflammation drops on a cellular level, allowing long-sore joints and swollen body parts to deflate and feel relieved. You may lose your under-eye bags, your skin is likely to clear up and the pain in your joints or muscles will subside. You may also find your face and belly become less bloated, all of which is a healthy reactionafter getting rid of an allergen.

Experts estimate that 68 percent of the world's population suffers from some level of lactose malabsorption,a milder degree of lactose intolerance. The best way to figure out if you are in that group is to cut out dairy, especially cheese, and see how you feel after a week or two.

Lactose malabsorption is more common incertain parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia, where the majority of the population have some level of lactose malabsorption.In northern Europe, many people carry agenethat allows them to digest lactose after infancy but babies can have a very hard time with cow's milk, and some are sensitive if the lactating mother is eating dairy and cow proteins are in her body.

In the U.S., less than 40 percent of the population has lactose intolerance. Lactose malabsorption is not full-blown lactose intolerance and can cause symptoms that are mild or moderate, but many of those with lactose malabsorption also have lactose intolerance.

Other than inflammation, whichis driven up by eating cheese and goes downwhen you give up dairy, you may also find that your hormonal balanceshifts for the better when you give up dairy, especially cheese. That's because cheese contains traces of hormones like estrogen and growth hormone, both passed from the lactating cow's milk to humans, according to Dr. Barnard.

Barnard, who wrote a bookcalled Your Body In Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health,has explored the ways thatthe traces of estrogen in dairy and cheese can impacthumans and especially women who have struggled with hormonal problems that affect their periods, fertility, and their endocrine system (as is the case with PCOS).

In his book, Barnard tellsstories of patients who have given up dairy and had their symptoms abateand hormonal health restored.While Barnard is notasserting that dairy causes PCOS or that giving up grilled cheese and pizza can cure all menstrual woes, if you look at the overall impact of cheese on the body, less appears to be better, he says.

Back in 2019 Barnard and dozens of other doctors joined together with PCRM to recommend that the FDA require warning labels on cheese,to caution consumers that eating this food raises their risk of breast cancer.

"Dairy products contain traces of estrogens from cows, and as milk is converted to cheese, the estrogens are more concentrated," according to PCRM. "While they are only traces, they appear to be biologically active in humans, increasing breast cancer mortality."

Dairy cows in the US areroutinely injected with Bovine Growth Hormone to increase their production of milk, which is allowed by the FDA, but this also may increase the levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1that gets passed to humans. IGF-1 promotes cell growth, including cancer cells, according to research published in the UK.

Milk, cheese, yogurt, and anything made from these ingredients can contain varying levels of IGF-1, which regulators at the FDA claim is safe for human consumption. Organic milk does not contain these growth hormones, and neither does non-dairy milk and cheese.

Cows are injected with hormones to keep them lactating for longer and to produce more milk every month. So modern-day milk has more hormones in it than the dairy your grandparents drankfrom their local old-fashioned dairy farms of a century ago.

The FDA explains that this is completely fine. An article on the government agency's sitecalled,"Steroid Hormone Implants Used for Growth in Food-Producing Animals" asserts that since the 1950s, theFDAhas approved a number of steroid hormone drugs for use in beef cattle and sheep, includingnatural estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and their synthetic versions.

Since dairy producers started giving cows massive amounts of growth hormones in the early 1990s, consumers have speculated that these trace amounts that get passed to children could have health impacts such as early puberty, antibiotic-resistant infections, and a higherrisk of cancer. Studies now find that it's likely that obesity is a contributing factor to early puberty, but in a study on IGF-1 and cancer, there was a link.

In the UK, a group of researchers found that IGF-1 was linked to the growth of second primary cancers. That means if you are a cancer survivor, IGF appears to find those cells and help them grow.

To quote the study: "IGF-1 is known to promote cancer development by inhibiting apoptosis and stimulating cell proliferation. Epidemiological studies have reported a positive association between circulatingIGF-1 levels and various primary cancers, such as breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer," but they set out to figure out how IGF helps secondary cancers grow. They found that this hormone helps convert normal cells into cancer cells.

Yet theFDA assertsthat food or dairy from animals who are given growth hormone is fine, and that "studies have shown that the food from the treated animals is safe for people to eat and that the drugs do not harm the treated animal or the environment."

If you are eager to avoid growth hormones in your morning coffee or cereal, choose almond, soy, or oat milk instead.

The public's perception is that soy, which contains plant estrogen, or phytoestrogens, could raise the risk of breast cancer, but in fact, women who eat more soy have less incidence of cancer, studies have found. That's becausephytoestrogens mimic estrogen in a good way and essentially pump the brakes on the body's estrogen uptake.

In large studies of Asian populations in which the women eat a lot of soy, the evidence is strong that the more soy you eat,the lower your overall risk of breast cancer. Soy appears tohave a protective effectin keeping estrogen production in check.

Read More:Does Soy Cause Breast Cancer? Here's What An Expert Says

In a 2021 study that followed nearly 53,000 women for 8 years, tracking daily consumption of milk, a serving a day (or more) was associated withanelevated risk of breast cancer. Consuming as little as one-quarter to one-third cup of dairy milk per day was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer of 30 percent, lead researcher Gary E. Fraser, Ph.D., of Loma Linda University explained. Soy had the opposite effect, the study found.

By drinking up to one cup [of dairy] per day, the associated risk went up to 50 percent, and for those drinking two to three cups per day, the risk increased further to 70 to 80 percent. Most cheese is made from dairy, so while the study was about milk, cheese would be considered dairy food and the results would correlate to cheese.

Read More:Study: One Daily Serving of Dairy Linked to Higher Risk of Cancer

Men who consume dairy are also at elevated risk for cancer. Dr. Shireen Kassam, Ph.D., founding director ofPlant-Based Health Professionals UKwantsmen toknow that there is also an association between dairy and prostate cancer risk, according to scientific studies.

"Acombined analysisof 32 observational studies found that for every 400 grams of dairy consumed daily (justover 1 1/2 cups)correlated with a 7 percent increased risk of developing prostate cancer, and this risk applied to both milk and cheese, she says.

In another review of studiesonplant-based foodsand cancer risk, researchers found that the consumption of plant-based foods reduced the risk of prostate cancer.

Read More:Dairy Increases Risk of Prostate Cancer. What to Eat to Lower It

Cheese is high in saturated fat, linked to an increased risk of heart disease. In the UK, researchers have recommended that people eat no more than a matchbook size sliver a day, and even that may be too much for someone battlinghigh blood pressure, a symptom and a risk factor forcardiovascular disease, according to heart doctors.

Saturated fat has been linked to high cholesterol, blockages that make heart attack and stroke more likely, and calcium deposits that can be fatal if blood flow to the brain, heart, or lungs is hindered. Dr. Joel Kahn, a plant-based cardiologist, says the less sat fat you eat the better.

A study inThe Cochrane Reviewdemonstrated that reducing dietary saturated fat intake lowered the risk of combined cardiovascular events by 21 percent, andthe greater the reduction in saturated fat, the greater the drop in the risk ofcardiovascular events.

This was true both for peoplewho hadno prior history of heart events,and those who had a history of heart disease, Dr. Kahn added. In fact, the reduction in satfat was evenmorepowerful for those who did have known heart disease.

Read More:The Fat Wars Are Over and Sat Fat is a Killer, Says Dr. Joel Kahn

A plant-based diet can lower your risk of heart disease since saturated fat is only found in animal fat and some tropical oils such as palm oil and coconut oil. TheAmerican Heart Associationstates that decades of sound science has proven [saturated fat] can raise your bad cholesterol and puts you at higher risk for heart disease.

The ADA recommends keeping daily saturated fat intake to 5 percent of your daily calories. That means if you eat 2,000 calories a day, no more than 100 of those should come from animal fat, which essentially means going plant-based.

In Dr. Barnard's book

It can take up to 21 days for alltraces of dairy protein to leave your system, according to experts at La Leche League, which helps women who have babies that are intolerant to cow's milk. (Human milk contains lactose but not dairy protein, so it is in a form that babies can tolerate.)

To see the full results of giving up cheese and dairy, you need to give upmilk, cheese, yogurt, and all forms of cow's milk for three full weeks.

But thepositive effects of giving up cheese and dairy will start to be felt much earlier, as soon as just a few days.Still, if you want to know whether dairy is causing your joint pain or inflammation, allow it to fullyleave your system and have zero dairy products for 21 ways and wait until the three weeks are up to evaluate the results.

Will you miss cheese? Does a former smoker. miss cigarettes? Yes, you will miss cheese. But less and less as the days go by and it loosens its grip on you.

Cheese is linked to inflammation in most people, and contains hormones such as growth hormone and traces of estrogen, known to increase the risk of cancer. It takes 21 days for all traces of dairy to leave your system but you can see the benefits when you give up dairy. Just a few changes are that your hormones get back into balance and you'll live free ofjoint pain and bloating.

For the best cheese alternatives, visit The Beet's review of vegan cheese slices and non-dairyvegan cheese shreds.

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Here's What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Eating Dairy - The Beet

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

John Otwell was driven by desperation five years ago to search online for a non-pharmaceutical treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Thats when he stumbled onto a social media page about the Coimbra protocol.

He read testimonies including one by a young man who was playing piano after being unable to even lift his head, and another by a woman who woke up blind on her 40th birthday but was now back at work and walking four miles a day. She shared an MRI brain scan that showed she had no signs of having had the disease.

Otwells multiple sclerosis (MS) only continued to decline after his diagnosis, even with medication. He ended up in a wheelchair and in mental and physical misery. The neurologist says to you there is no cure. The best hope for you is slow progression, Otwell said. Its a terrible, terrible disease.

His neurologist had told him medicine might slow progression by 40 percent. Yet his physical and emotional health were instead rapidly declining, and the side effects of pharmaceuticals were as wretched as the disease. In April 2017, he started the Coimbra protocolhigh dosing of vitamin Dwith nothing to lose.

Vitamin D is a hormone that is produced in the skin when its exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D is also found in lesser amounts in food. Higher vitamin D levels lower the risk of developing multiple sclerosis, and boosting vitamin D also appears to be beneficial for curbing disease relapsesand even putting symptoms into remission. The Coimbra protocol is based on one of the highest prolonged doses of vitamin D.

Within 41 days of starting the protocol, I wanted to go outside and scream, It works. It works. Oh my God, it works, Otwell said. When I got well, I knew I had my lifes calling. I thought, Everybodys going to listen to me.

It hasnt been easy, though. Hes been mocked and called into question because he isnt a physician.

Otwell is frustrated because some MS patients demand published studies of the protocol. There isnt one, though theres plenty of evidence and published research on vitamin D preventing MS and relapses of the disease.

People will say the meanest things, he said. Theyll repeat the same things their doctors have told them. I say, Thats not true. Research it yourself.

Nevertheless, he isnt deterred from shaking the pharmaceutical industry by the core and spreading the word on the Coimbra protocol. He started a YouTube channel and Facebook group to publish interviews with doctors who are using it to treat their patients, as well as people who are experiencing dramatic symptom reversals.

No, I dont have on a white coat that says Dr. Otwell, he said. One reason [the Coimbra protocol] is going to take off is, Big Pharma is filling us with drugs, and were not getting better. My job is to go up against them.

Dr. Ccero Coimbra, a neurologist and professor at the Federal University of So Paulo in Brazil, refined the protocol after using vitamin D10,000 international units (IU) per dayon patients with Parkinsons disease starting in 2001. He was particularly interested in vitamin D because the hormone is known to stimulate the production of regenerative substances in the brain.

A dose of about 10,000 IU per day is safe to use without medical supervision. This is the amount made by the body when exposed to about 20 to 30 minutes of midday sun.

Using medical literature on the effects of vitamin D on the immune system, Coimbra began treating MS patients with higher amounts of the hormone, which came to be known as the Coimbra protocol. His approach is based on a therapeutic dose of 40,000 to 300,000 IU per day, regular lab tests, medically supervised care, and support supplements that vary by patient.

He was especially interested in MS because its the most common neurological disease. A 2019 study in the journal Neurology estimated that there were more than 900,000 adults living with MS in the United Statesmore than twice the number reported in a 1975 national study.

On his website, Coimbra states: When we started with vitamin D and found out that it was effective, we made a life choice. We left academia behindthis thing of drugs here, drugs there, launches of drugs, testing of new drugs, allegedly satisfactory successes. We put it all aside and thought only of the interest of the patient who was there, at our office, in that moment It has been very gratifying.

As Otwell points out, patients like him dont care about the studies when the disease is raging.

When you hit that wheelchair, you dont give a rip about anybodys study, he said. You just want to get better.

He has been told to be grateful because MS isnt a death sentence. As far as Otwell is concerned, that makes it worse.

Its a suffering sentence. You can lay in a nursing home for 10 years immobilized, he said. Its a terrible disease, and it slowly robs you of physical abilities, mental abilities. Its a slow torture.

Otwell, a 57-year-old former antiques dealer, had many symptoms for 15 years before his diagnosis, including an impinged nerve that resulted in hand surgery yet returned a couple years later.

It wasnt until he staggered into an emergency department in St. Louis with stroke-like symptoms that he got an MRI and a diagnosis.

His first thought was that he could work through his MS if that was the worst it would get. Even his wife commented that he looked happy after finally knowing there was, in fact, a reason for all his symptoms and doctor visits.

Unfortunately, Otwells disease became worse. Within a year and a half of his diagnosis and on a common MS medication, Copaxone, he was in a wheelchair. The side effects of the drug, administered three times a week by a shot in his stomach, made him feel like he was constantly fighting influenza. At times, he thought hed rather die than continue to suffer.

Involuntary movements happened frequently for Otwell, who struggled emotionally as the disease destroyed his body and he realized there was nothing he could do about it. The hardest part for him was the memory loss, because hed had such a great memory before.

My mind was so bad. Your brain moves slow, Otwell said. I would set my credit card on my lap, look at four numbers, pick up the phone to punch it in and could only remember two of four numbers.

He was also constantly stuttering, coughing, choking, twitching, and spasming. His skin was itchy, he was intolerant of heat, and he had severe brain fog.

Otwell spoke bluntly about the symptoms that robbed him of his dignity, like defecating and urinating on himself and scratching his scalp so much that blood dripped down his face. These are not uncommon MS symptoms.

Others include dysesthesia (a squeezing sensation around the torso), fatigue, numbness, tingling, stiffness or spasms in the leg muscles, weakness, vision problems, vertigo, significant pain, and emotional changes, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Also common are sexual problems and depression.

One criterion for diagnosing MS is to exclude other potential diagnoses. Physicians must also find evidence of damage in at least two areas of the central nervous system, which is composed of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Evidence must exist that the damage occurred at different times.

Otwell has been using the Coimbra protocol for five years, and nearly all of his symptoms have disappeared.

To get anything back is a victory, he said. Different things came back over months and years, but within 2.5 years everything came back except my ability to walk. My left leg is paralyzed. Fifteen years of misdiagnosis will do that to you.

Coimbra protocol patients are reporting a faster return to normal for those who begin vitamin D earlier in their disease course. Some damage to the central nervous system may be irreversible.

I feel great. I feel better than I did 20 years ago, Otwell said. I cant wait for my eyes to open up every day and share my story.

The Coimbra protocol seems to be just as effective at lowering and ceasing symptoms of other progressive autoimmune diseases. This is because the dysregulated immune system is brought into balance by vitamin D, believed to have a role in T lymphocyte cell production. T cells are produced in response to fighting disease and pathogens.

Coimbra discovered, for instance, that vitiligo lesions diminished in a patient using the protocol for Parkinsons disease. And the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and MS is well-established in scientific, peer-reviewed studies.

Coimbra supervised a study in 2013 on the effect of prolonged high-dose vitamin D supplementation with nine psoriasis and 19 vitiligo patients. They received 35,000 IU daily for six months with a low-calcium diet and high hydration. The condition of patients significantly improved during treatment, with no negative side effects.

In 2011, a study conducted with 209 patients of systemic lupus erythematosus by the Ohio State University Medical Center found that the majority of patients included in the study had vitamin D deficiency. The authors found the more vitamin D in the blood, the lower the lupus disease activity, and vice versa.

As for MS and vitamin D, studies continue to accumulate revealing even higher doses can be safely administered with beneficial results. A study presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology found that high doses of vitamin D dramatically cut the relapse rate in people with MS. Patients in the high-dose groupgiven between 14,000 and 40,000 IU dailyhad lower relapse rates, and their T cell activity dropped significantly, when compared to the group that took lower doses.

The Coimbra protocol website indicates effectiveness for common autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, Crohns disease, and others.

Coimbra protocol patients live all over the world. A map on CoimbraProtocol.com indicates that physicians overseeing the treatment protocol are located in North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africathough the total numbers are low.

Patients use social media sites to refer newbies to doctors. Otwell and others are helping to spread the word and hoping to inspire more doctors to accept Coimbra protocol patients.

Ana Claudia Domene, author of Multiple Sclerosis and (Lots of) Vitamin D, details her eight-year experience on the Coimbra protocol.

Year after year, the imaging tests confirm that I have made the best possible decision, she writes in the book. Many lesions simply disappeared, others are still there, like scars, but theres been no progression of the disease. Absolutely no progression at all! This fact in itself is already cause for celebration, and my most profound gratitude to this doctor who has dedicated his life to his patients.

Otwell suspects there are about 100,000 patients being treated with the protocol. There are about 70 physicians in South America and more than 50 in Europe, but only 10 in North Americasomething that frustrates him.

We know that vitamin D heals people. To purposefully withhold it would be malpractice, he said. Ive seen MRIs that are miraculous.

Otwell is motivated by patients to keep posting interviews and speaking out. Too many people with MS believe they may never see their childrens dance recitals or sporting events. He calls his YouTube and Facebook sites MS, There Is Hope!

Theres too many mothers or fathers out there sitting in a chair thinking, My life is over. They already lost their job. Their husband or wife doesnt want anything to do with them, Otwell said.

Otwell longs to deliver hope, but he isnt dispensing medical advice. He reads a disclaimer before every interview he does.

Its vital that Coimbra protocol patients work with a doctor. Underlying conditions may affect whether or how they are treated. Each case is unique. Otwell takes one pill four times a day that includes the correct dosage of vitamin D, and other supplements designed for him personally.

He must drink 2 1/2 liters of water daily, because one of the side effects of high doses of vitamin D is lowered calcium levels, which could cause osteoporosis or kidney stones. He has a blood draw for lab tests every 90 days.

And while hes a big advocate for sunshine, Otwell pointed out that the challenges for people diagnosed with MS include sensitivity to heat, as well as contradictory guidelines.

The recommended daily allowance in the United States is surprisingly no more than 600 to 800 IU and only 2,000 IU by the Vitamin D Council, which warns against high doses of vitamin D, claiming it to be toxic.

Depending on where you live, all you need to get 10,000 to 15,000 IU of vitamin D is to swim outside for about 10 to 15 minutes two or three times a weekwithout sunscreen, according to Overcoming MS, which has a ultraviolet light calculator on its website for determining the amount of sunlight you need based on where you live.

I encourage people to get out in the sun as much as they can, Otwell said. It feels good, and its good for you.

See the article here:
A Simple Protocol Is Stopping the Progression of MS - The Epoch Times

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Novartis will spin-off its generics division Sandoz, which includes a portfolio of eight biosimilar products.

In 2018, Novartis granted its generic and biosimilar medicine division Sandoz more autonomy while claiming to be completely committed to the business. Since then, analysts and investors have been hedging their bets as to when the inevitable spin-off would therefore occur. Following a strategic review last year, the Swiss firm has now cemented a separation plan to be completed by the second half of 2023.

Our strategic review examined all options for Sandoz and concluded that a 100% spin-off is in the best interest of shareholders, said Joerg Reinhardt, chair of the Board of Directors of Novartis.

A spin-off would allow our shareholders to benefit from the potential future successes of a more focused Novartis and a standalone Sandoz, and would offer differentiated and clear investment theses for the individual businesses.

Novartis will now dedicate itself to innovative medicines, including its antibody and cell and gene therapy portfolio. It will, however, lose a robust portfolio and pipeline of biosimilars a modality focused on lower-cost biologics it was instrumental in bringing to the fore in both Europe and the US.

In 2006, the firm achieved approval of Omnitrope (biosimilar recombinant human growth hormone [rhGH]) in Europe, and nine years later became the first commercial biosimilar developer to bring a biosimilar to the US Zarxio, a version of Amgens Neupogen (filgrastim).

Beyond these two, the firm has won approval for six other biosimilars across various regions: Erelzi (etanercept), Binocrit (epoetin alfa), Ziextenzo (pegfilgrastim), Rixathon (rituximab), Hyrimoz (adalimumab), and Zessley (Infliximab).

Furthermore, the firm has been instrumental in advocating for such medicines, through industry, physician, and payor programs such as the recently launched Act4Biosimilars roadmap that hopes to increase global adoption of biosimilar medicines by at least 30% in 30+ countries by 2030.

For Novartis, the separation of Sandoz would further support our strategy of building a focused innovative medicines company, with depth in five core therapeutic areas, and strength in technology platforms, said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis.

In addition, both companies would be able to focus on maximizing value creation for their shareholders by prioritizing capital and resource allocation, employing separate capital structure policies, and increasing management focus on their respective business needs.

Read more here:
Novartis waves bye to biosimilars with Sandoz split - BioProcess Insider - BioProcess Insider

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The ban is based on a 173-year-old law, but a lawsuit has challenged it on the grounds it violates a 1985 law permitting abortions before a fetus is viable outside the womb. Other abortion-related news comes from Texas, Indiana, and North Carolina.

AP:GOP Asks Judge To Toss Lawsuit Challenging Abortion BanRepublicans who control the state Legislature asked a judge Tuesday to dismiss Democratic Attorney General Josh Kauls lawsuit challenging Wisconsins 173-year-old abortion ban. Kaul filed the lawsuit in June after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision that essentially legalized abortion across the country. The ruling gave states the authority to regulate abortion on their own, putting Wisconsins ban back into play. The ban prohibits abortions in every instance except to save the mothers life. (8/23)

In other abortion news from Texas

The Texas Tribune:Abortion Funds Sue To Help Pregnant Texans Get Abortions Outside The StateReproductive rights groups on Tuesday filed a federal class-action lawsuit to head off possible prosecution from Texas officials for helping Texans gain access to legal abortions in other states. (Harper, 8/23)

Dallas Morning News:Under Texas New Abortion Ban, How Will Dallas-Fort Worth DAs Treat Cases?North Texas prosecutors are divided over how to apply a new law that criminalizes abortion, setting the stage for a patchwork of enforcement that varies by county. While Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot vowed not to bring charges under the abortion ban, prosecutors in neighboring Denton and Tarrant Counties said they will handle the cases like any other felony. Collin County did not respond to requests for comment. (Morris, 8/23)

From Indiana and North Carolina

Indianapolis Star:Indiana Abortion Law: Foster Care, Adoption Services Left In LurchGov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation on Aug. 5 that earmarks about $75 million for pregnant women and children programs in tandem with the state's new abortion restrictions,but child advocates such as Missler say it's just not enough money to solve a major need in the state. (Fradette, 8/24)

AP:Top NC Senator Prefers Abortion Limits After 1st TrimesterNorth Carolinas most powerful state senator said Tuesday he would prefer to have approved restrictions on abortion after roughly the first three months of pregnancy. Senate leader Phil Berger, speaking before convening another round of no-vote General Assembly sessions this week, also said he would support exceptions to any prohibition following the first trimester, such as in situations of rape and incest or when the mothers life is in danger. (Robertson, 8/23)

In other news about reproductive rights and sex education

Bloomberg:Black Women Are Hardest Hit By Abortion Restrictions Sweeping The Deep SouthAcross the country Black patients have an abortion rate roughly four times that of their White peers,in part due tolower use of contraceptionthat leads to higher rates of unintended pregnancies.In the states that have moved quickly to enact restrictions, Black women make up a far larger proportion of abortion seekers than in places where abortion remains legal.(Johnson and Butler, 8/23)

The 19th:Weakening Title X Would Hurt Contraception Access And Gender-Affirming CareJulieAnn Fitzy couldnt ask her doctor for help. She wasnt out yet to her family, many of whom went to the same primary care practice as she did. What if they found out? And besides, her physician wouldnt know where to find someone who offered hormone therapy. (Luthra, 8/22)

The Washington Post:After Roe, Teens Are Teaching Themselves Sex Ed, Because The Adults WontSome teens are part of a burgeoning movement of high-schoolers nationwide who, after Roes fall, are stepping up to demand more comprehensive lessons on reproduction, contraception and abortion and who, if the adults refuse, are teaching each other instead. (Natanson, 8/23)

View post:
Republicans Try To Get Suit Opposing Wisconsin Abortion Ban Thrown Out - Kaiser Health News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By State Rep. Paul Schemel

Gov. Tom Wolf recently grandstanded while signing an executive order he says will protect Pennsylvania residents from the boogeyman of conversion therapy.

Conversion therapy is loosely defined as a medical or psychological treatment intended to help a person with same-sex attraction realign to a heterosexual orientation. Although conversion therapy is frequently associated with long-discredited practices such as electric shock or food depravation, these techniques were abandoned in the 1970s.

Rafael Alvarez Febo, director of the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ affairs, speaks at a press conference regarding Gov. Tom Wolf's executive order discouraging conversion therapy on Aug. 16, 2022.

Conversion therapy can also refer to a method of psychotherapy called talk therapy, where an individual explores feelings and emotions with a therapist in search of realigning with a heterosexual orientation. There are several academic studies demonstrating the general ineffectiveness of conversion therapy as a treatment for homosexuality, which is why this form of therapy is nearly non-existent today.

Gov. Wolfs executive order resurrects the old saw of conversion therapy and significantly broadens its definition to include protections for all manner of other identities, including children experiencing gender dysphoria, a condition more commonly called transgenderism. Under the governors order, children who assert they are transgender must be affirmed in their new gender identity, a treatment method known as the Dutch Protocol or affirmation therapy.

Affirmation therapy begins with accepting and supporting a childs new identity and, in most cases, leads to the child being prescribed drugs to block their natural puberty followed by cross-sex hormones, which give them some permanent outward characteristics of their non-biological gender. These are powerful drugs being prescribed off label with little long-term research to ensure safety. Understandably, many parents have reservations concerning affirmation therapy.

Gov. Wolf would have us believe that affirmation therapy is so universally accepted by medical and mental health professionals that any physician, psychologist, or counselor who uses traditional therapeutic approaches for treating gender dysphoric children is a purveyor of conversion therapy and junk science and thus must be stopped using the full force of the government. However, the world of gender science is not nearly as settled as the governor maintains.

In 2020, I held a series of hearings of the House Subcommittee on Healthcare. Those hearings were designed to inform the General Assembly of the debate within the medical and psychological community concerning the appropriate course of treatment for gender dysphoric children. The subcommittee received testimony from four physicians with significant experience in this field.

Two of the testifiers, both psychiatrists, supported affirmation therapy, whereas the other two, a psychiatrist and a pediatric endocrinologist, did not. In addition to hearing testimony from experts, the subcommittee also reviewed hundreds of pages of data, peer-reviewed journal articles and studies conducted by government agencies in several nations.

What the subcommittees work revealed is that the field of science surrounding affirmation therapy is far from settled. Although many major medical associations and journals promote affirmation therapy, scientists and researchers with evidence challenging this approach report being marginalized, blocked from presenting their research or denied the opportunity to publish their work. In a world that typically welcomes critical input, the dissenting voices of scientists and doctors who are not on board with the latest trend are being silenced.

The governors order extends the same barrier to dissent over healthcare professionals here in Pennsylvania.

Gov. Wolf doubles down on affirmation therapy, referring to it as medically necessary and directing state agencies to investigate providers and insurance companies not toeing the affirmation therapy line. The governors order prevents state resources from being used for any treatment method deemed by the governor to be conversion therapy, which he makes clear is any treatment that does not accept a childs assertion that they are transgender. That may be the opinion of the governor, but it leaves no room for traditional treatment approaches such as watchful waiting and psychotherapy, both of which are well researched and commonly used by professionals in the field.

What does this mean in practical terms? The governors gag order significantly limits the options available to parents by threatening the very professionals on which families with troubled children rely for help. Although some families embrace affirmation therapy for their children, others do not. Now, parents seeking options will find none in Pennsylvania.

This executive order is another example of Gov. Wolfs autocratic brand of governing, repeating the same, I know whats best for you approach rejected by voters in the 2020 referendum checking his emergency powers.

The sad effects of the governors most recent initiative will only become apparent when todays children mature into adults and find themselves permanently scarred and lifelong clients of the drug companies that supply their hormones. By then, Gov. Wolf will be enjoying retirement while families bereft of options today pick up the pieces of their childrens broken lives.

Rep. Paul Schemel represents the 90th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is Chairman of the House Health Committees Subcommittee on Healthcare.

Read the original here:
Gov. Wolfs order denies families reasonable options to help children exploring their sexual identity | Opini - PennLive

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Mothers Depression Does Not Worsen Childrens Behavior Symptoms, Study Finds

About 50% of all mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had elevated levels of depressive symptoms over 18 months, while rates were much lower (6% to 13.6%) for mothers with neurotypical children in the same period, UCSF researchers report in a new study published August 26 inFamily Process.

In addition, while past studies suggest having a parent with depression increases the risk that children will have mental health and behavior problems, this study found something different.

We found mothers higher symptoms of depression did NOT predict increases in childrens behavior problems over time, including among families with a child with autism who experience a lot of stress, saidDanielle Roubinov, PhD, UCSF assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and first author of the study. That was surprising and good news.

Being the parent of a child with special needs is inherently challenging every day, notedElissa Epel, PhD, UCSF professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, and senior author of the study. It is a prototypical example of chronic stress, which is why we have been focusing on caregiving moms in our studies that examine effects of stress on health.

We already know from this sample that mothers with more depression tend to have signs of faster biological aging, such as lower levels of the anti-aging hormoneklothoandolder immune cells, on average, added Epel. Here, we wanted to understand the impact of their depression on their child, and vice versa.

A One-Way Street

The researchers found that child behavior problems predicted higher levels of maternal depression down the road, regardless of ASD status. They didnt see the inverse effect, however; prior maternal depression didnt predict child behavior problems later.

The finding that maternal depression does not lead to worsened child symptoms is especially important for mothers of children with ASD to help alleviate guilt many mothers feel about their childrens diagnosis and behavior problems, said Roubinov. We hope these findings will reassure mothers that its both common to struggle with some depression in this high-stress situation of chronic caregiving, and that their depression likely isnt making their childs behavioral issues worse.

Self-blame and guilt among parents of ASD children is common andpredicts worsening depression and lower life satisfactionover time, the teams past research shows.

In the current study, the researchers repeatedly measured maternal depression and childrens behavior problems in 86 mother-child dyads across 18 months. Half of the mothers had children with ASD and half had neurotypical children. The age range of children in the study was two to 16 years old, though the majority (75%) of the children were elementary age or younger.

Maternal depression was measured using the Inventory of Depressive Symptoms, a self-report scale completed by mothers. Child behavior was measured through maternal report on the Childs Challenging Behavior Scale, which focuses on externalizing behaviors such as tantrums, aggression and defiance. The researchers said future studies should also look at associations between maternal depression and childrens internalizing symptoms (e.g., withdrawal, anxiety, emotional reactivity).

Few studies on maternal depression, child behavior in ASD context

Bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child behavior problems have been reported in prior research. However, few studies have examined these relationships in families with autism.

Families with autism tend to experience more marital conflict, lower relationship satisfaction, and many other challenges, said Roubinov.

A stressful family environment may spill over onto family members and could change the ways mothers and children relate to each other, she said. We wanted to see whether the link between maternal and child mental health was different in the context of a high-stress family system, such as when a child has autism.

Although the study acknowledged that families with a child with ASD experience high levels of stress, the authors were cautious to note that stress is not their only defining characteristic.

Many mothers of children with autism also report high levels of emotional closeness and positive interactions with their children, Roubinov said. These are important experiences that supportive programs can build upon.

Following the study, the researchers offered mindfulness classes to all parents to help manage parenting stress. The parents were grateful to share common challenges and learn inner strategies to cope, Epel said. Many studies have shown that mindfulness training can help with parenting stress, and we also found our parents showed improved mental health.

It is important to experience and notice positive emotions and joy, despite having a more challenging life situation, said Epel.

Given the effects of chronic stress on health and mood, caregiving parents need extraordinary emotional support in addition to the special services for their child, she said. Its as vital to provide support for parents mental health as it is for childrens mental health.

Physicians should be on the lookout for parental distress and ready to offer resources for parents, especially for parents of special needs children, she said. In the Bay Area, support groups can be found atthe National Alliance on Mental Illnesss California chapter,Support for Families of Children with Disabilities, and through some health insurers.

Co-authors:Brian Don, PhD, and Robin Blades, BS, both from UCSFs Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Funding:The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant K23MH113709); the National Institute on Aging (grants R01AG030424 and R24AG048024);Althea Foundation; Chapman Family Foundation; and John and Marcia Goldman Foundation.

Disclosures:Please refer to the study.

About UCSF:The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center,includestop-ranked specialty hospitalsand other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF School of Medicine also has a regional campus in Fresno.Learn more athttps://ucsf.edu, or see ourFact Sheet.

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Follow UCSFucsf.edu|Facebook.com/ucsf|YouTube.com/ucsf

See original here:
Half of moms of kids with autism have high depressive symptoms - EurekAlert

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

My perspective on medical gaslighting is interesting because I am a woman physician, and there are multiple studies that show that we tend to listen more to our patients, we tend to do more counseling, we tend to respond more to our patients in general.

I'm also an African American physician, and there are few of us in the United States.

And so patients often come to our office because of those two factors, and because they feel a kinship that we will sit and will listen to them, we will help seek answers to their questions.

I see it every day: Patients who had joint pains and were told that it was simply obesity or overweight, and it turns out they have some kind of autoimmune disease. Or people who have abdominal painchronically, and they just needed a particular image and it turns out they had a cancer. That's an extreme example.

The other angle of this, especially as a woman physician and an African American physician, is that we too undergo gaslighting.

When I was interviewing for MD/PhD programs, I was being told that clearly I was just in this for the money because of the background that I came from. I was told that I didn't have the academic strength to be in the field, despite my grades.

Professionally, when I bring up issues related to pay equity or work-life balance, I've been told that I'm just not working hard enough or efficiently enough.

So, we too can empathize with patients about gaslighting, and we too are patients.

I've been dismissed or ignored or treated in a way that was rough.

For example, I likely had fibroids for many years prior to medical school.If you're a little bit younger, then it's, "Oh you probably don't have fibroids" or "you're just busy" or "you gained some weight."

One obstetrician, when I told her about the increase in bleeding, pressure, and pain during my menstrual cycles, insisted that I likely had a sexually transmitted infection. The first time she asked, it was appropriate. But she continued to ask multiple times in multiple ways about my sexual history, and when I clarified that those were not relevant in this instance, she continued to insist.

I was not offered the consideration of an alternative diagnosis, nor was I offered evaluation, like ultrasound, or treatment options, like hormonal contraceptives, for the symptoms.

I managed my cycles on my own until I got to medical school at Howard, where the physicians listened and more fully evaluated my concerns.

Once I partnered with a clinician who actually communicated well with me, I got the answer I needed and the treatment options I wanted.

The physician relationship is a partnership, so it's very important at the outset that both the clinician and the patient establish their expectations.

We wanna know: What are you hoping to accomplish? What are you concerned about? What did you Google?

Then we can say, "OK I hear that, let me hear more about the story, and these are the kinds of tests that we can do to try to answer the question."

If you've felt dismissed in the past, say, "I've been in another practice, I don't feel like I was being heard." That helps us better understand the urgency you feel. It helps us to understand how you prefer to communicate.

So be upfront in the beginning. Say, "I'd like to solve this issue, and if we have time, I'd like to also cover these other issues." That way both of you are on the same page.

The other reason it's important to establish expectations in advance is because we do our research, too.

If you say you're coming in for back pain, I'm looking for old X-rays, physical therapy reports, how your mobility is, whether you've had a colonoscopy or a pap smear. My mind is already doing all of that before you get to the visit.

So sometimes the miscommunication can be that I've done all the prep work for one issue, but then you say, "I also want my elbow and my knee and my head checked out."

I need to say, "OK, I hear these other things are bothering you. Is it OK for us to touch base on that on another day?"

Sometimes patients have an expectation that everything will be done, when that's now how we're trained.

If that was the case, we would just do full-body MRIs for everyone. As soon as someone walks in the door, we would just order everything. But we don't do that.

We're trained to do "if-then" thinking (If you're experiencing this and this, then it could be this. If you're experiencing these three things, then it could be this or this or this.) And then we come up with what's the likeliest thing based on the duration of the condition and previous evaluations.

It's on the clinician to communicate to the patient, "I hear what you're saying. Let's go down this route. If that route is not the case, then we'll go down this route. And if that route is not the case, we're gonna have to bring in specialist care."

If you get to the end of that initial evaluation and you're still not at the answers you need, ask:

Communicate to the doctor how it's affecting you. For example, say:

I can help with that.

I want patients to be empowered to seek the kind of care and the relationships that they want.

There are thousands and thousands of clinicians out there who love what they do, who love helping patients, who love answering their questions and getting those diagnoses, who love helping to prevent disease, who love helping people to overcome their illnesses and get through their illnesses every day.

The 10-plus years we put into just training to be able to do this, almost all of us are doing it because we actually do want to help.

Continue reading here:
I'm a doctor, and I've been gaslighted as a patient. Here's how I deal with it. - Insider

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

You probably know vitamin D is important. Its vital to bone health, muscle movement, nerve connections to the brain, and immune system function.

Studies suggest vitamin D also may help protect us from infections (including COVID) and major diseases like cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes, and dementia. Because its often in the news and is available on store shelves, vitamin D seems like an easy way to bolster your health. But is it?

Endocrinologist John Bilezikian, MD, answered common questions about vitamin D to explain what it can and cannot do.

Vitamin D, like all vitamins, is a nutrient thats essential for life.Our bodies produce active vitamin D after exposure to sunlight, and we get some vitamin D from food.

Vitamin D is also a hormone. Hormones help control how cells and organs function. However, we do not call vitamin D hormone D because without it we cannot live. Latin lesson: vita means life.

Two forms of vitamin D are available in supplements: vitamin D3 and vitamin D2. Both can help correct vitamin D deficiency, but most doctors recommend D3 because it is slightly more active and therefore slightly more effective. Vitamin D3 is naturally produced by animals, including humans. Vitamin D2 is the plant form. Using the form made in our bodies is another reason for recommending vitamin D3.

Vitamin D makes our bodies better at absorbing other nutrients, namely calcium and phosphorus, both important for bone health. Vitamin D also helps to restore and maintain the calcium in our bones, where 99% of it resides. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become weak and fragile.

Some studies show a possible connection between vitamin D and protection against cancer, heart disease, bacterial and viral infections, COVID, and more. But more research is needed to substantiate these links.

A recent study on the use of vitamin D supplements in reducing the risk of fractures showed taking vitamin D had no effect on the rate of broken bones in 25,000 healthy people who had enough vitamin D in their bodies naturally and no known bone problems.

This study has been widely quoted as "proving" vitamin D supplements are not needed. However, the study was not designed to address the many individuals with vitamin D deficiency, for whom vitamin D might well be helpful. It is self-evident that giving more vitamin D to people with normal vitamin D levels is unlikely to be beneficial.

This study does not provide any information about individuals who have low levels of vitamin D.

The primary source of vitamin D is sunlight. Our skin produces vitamin D after sun exposure, depending on the suns intensity and angle. People who live closest to the equator have the best exposure to vitamin D. In regions farther from the equator, particularly in the winter, the sun's rays are less effective.

If you live in New York and the surrounding area:

Wherever you live, you're probably thinking that spending more time in the sun is good for your bones. Thats true, but vitamin D must be activated in the body to work. After getting vitamin D from the sun or a supplement, the body uses a two-step biochemical processstarting in the liver and ending in the kidneyto convert it to active vitamin D.

When bodies cant activate vitamin D, deficiencies occur. This is particularly important for individuals who have advanced kidney or liver disease.

If you do not have enough vitamin D, your body doesnt absorb calcium in food. If the body does not absorb calcium from food, bones become a source of calcium. The body is always seeking the level it needs and takes calcium where it can get it. The result: loss of calcium from bone.

The average healthy person loses about 500 milligrams of calcium every day from bones and replaces it with the same amount of new calcium. When someone is vitamin D-deficient, calcium is not replaced adequately, which leads to weak and fragile bones.

Measuring the form of vitamin D made in the liver, called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, is the best way to find out whether you are deficient. Ask your doctor if you should do the blood test to check your 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.

Bone density tests measure how much calcium is in bones. Low bone density signals a condition called osteoporosis. Severe vitamin D deficiency can be a sign of osteomalacia (Greek lesson: soft bones). In children, severe vitamin D deficiency appears as rickets.

Your lowest level is likely to be in the middle of winter. Measure then. If you start taking in sun or supplements, measure again two to three months later. It takes about that long to get to a steady level.

Few foods contain vitamin D, unless its been added (adding nutrients to food is called fortification). Orange juice, milk, yogurt, and cereal are often fortified with vitamin D. Check labels. To minimize processing, many organic products are not fortified.

Vitamin D is naturally present in fish, especially fatty, oily fish like salmon. Choose wild over farmed when you can: A study showed farmed salmon had about 25% of the vitamin D content as wild salmon. You can also get vitamin D from fish liver oils.

Its best to get nutrients through natural sources, but vitamin D is vitamin D: Get it however you can.

If youre not getting enough vitamin D from the sun or food, you can take pills, capsules, drops, and other forms of vitamin D. Many multivitamins contain vitamin D.

How much vitamin D you need depends on factors like age and health issues. Talk to your doctor. Celiac disease and other conditions associated with malabsorption of food make it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. People with these conditions and who have had gastrointestinal tract surgeries need more vitamin D.

These recommendations meet the bone health needs for most people.

In most situations, taking more than 4,000 units per day is not recommended.

Vitamin D plays an important role in health but its just one vitamin people need. Simply taking vitamin D will not fix everything that might be wrong with your health.

Read more here:
What's the Deal with Vitamin D? - Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Testosterone is a fascinating hormone. Its one of the most critical hormones in the body, and it plays an essential role in both mens health and reproduction. Testosterone is responsible for various body changes, such as increased muscle mass, bone density, and sexual desire.

However, if youve been feeling low on Testosterone, you may be interested in trying a naturally occurring amino acid supplements that will boost your testosterone level. Testosterone has been proven to make you more attractive, sexually desirable, and powerful. But can it boost your sex life? It sure can.

Testoprimetestosterone supplement is a rejuvenating product that helps increase testosterone level, making you much more youthful and healthier. Testosterone is your manly messenger in the body that enables you to build muscle and burn fat. It also improves your sexual function, leading to better sex.

To know more about the natural testosterone production, now we decide to conclude the testoprime review. So read on to find out more about natural testosterone production.

Whether youre a man or a woman, theres no denying the power of Testosterone.

Its recommended for men over 18 who want to boost their healthy testosterone levels naturally without using prescription drugs, testosterone production or other harmful substances.

You see, Testosterone is a hormone that plays an essential role in many aspects of life. It helps regulate things like blood flow, lean muscle mass and bone density, sexual function, and fertility.

But Testosterone booster also impacts your moodand it can be hard to find the right balance between feeling depressed and happy. Thats where Testoprimecomes in!

TestoPrimecontains ingredients like green tea extract that have been shown to help increase your testosterone levels while also helping to balance out your moods and make you feel more upbeat.

And with so many people suffering from low libido due to depression or anxiety these days, this is something worth checking out.

If youve been feeling tired and sluggish, theres a good chance that your testosterone levels are low. Testosterone booster is the hormone that drives your sex drive and helps you live longer.

Testoprimewill also help to increase the natural testosterone booster levels by providing a safe, effective method of accomplishing these goals while ensuring your body receives all the nutrients and minerals it needs to function properly throughout life.

This testosterone booster supplement is also suitable for those suffering from low testosterone levels or hypogonadism. So, if youre one of those people, this could be the perfect supplement.

=> Click here to visit the official website TestoPrime

TestoPrimeis a brand of testosterone supplement made by a Cyprus-based company, Wolfson Berg Limited. Wolfson Berg Limited is a leading supplements industry giant that makes testosterone supplement and other male enhancement products, including the TestoPrime brand.

Wolfson Berg, the company that developed TestoPrime, has been in business since 2009. The company is vastly experienced in the testosterone boosters supplements industry and has helped many men worldwide improve their health and sex life through its products.

TestoPrime is a supplement that can help men of all ages increase their natural testosterone booster levels and improve their sexual performance. The product is made with natural ingredients such as green tea extract and is safe to use.

The TestoPrimewebsite is easy to use and provides lots of information about the product, including what it can do for you, how it works, how much it costs, where you can buy it, and more. You can also find out about the testoprimereviewof the company and read about its mission statement here.

The formula for TestoPrime has been designed by a team of experts who have combined modern science with ancient Chinese medicine techniques. As a result, they have created something that will work well with your bodys natural testosterone production processes instead of forcing them unnaturally, as many other supplements might do.

The supplement is much safer to take than most others on the market today. Its no secret that the age of your Testosterone boosters is directly correlated to your overall health, energy levels and wellness. TestoPrimeis a brand dedicated to helping you get the most out of your testosterone levels to feel your best.

TestoPrime is a potent testosterone boosters that can help you boost your test levels and energy levels. Here are the top things to love about TestoPrime.

Here are a few negs of the TestoPrime testosterone supplement:

TestoPrimeis a new testosterone supplement designed to help you get the desired results and healthy testosterone levels. It is formulated with natural ingredients, so you can be sure it wont cause any harmful side effects. It contains 12 significant ingredients. The ingredients are:

Panax ginsengor true ginsengis a perennial herb native to China, Korea, and North America. It is an extract from the root of the Asian ginseng plant.

It is believed to be an adaptogen, meaning it helps your body cope with stressful situations by increasing energy and stamina, improving mental function and concentration, and boosting mood. It may also have antioxidant properties and help regulate blood sugar levels.

An essential amino acid that can boost testosterone levels by up to 42% is D-Aspartic Acid. In addition, this substance is an amino acid that can help increase your bodys production of luteinizing hormone (LH), a hormone that stimulates testosterone production.

Amino acids are proteins building blocks, which help build muscle mass. One type of amino acid called D-Aspartic Acid (or DAA) has been shown to increase testosterone production by over 50% in just 12 days.

Ashwagandha extract is a traditional Indian medicinal herb. It has been applied in Holistic medicine for Ayurvedic medicine for centuries as an adaptogen to help balance the bodys natural response to stress.

Its believed to help improve blood sugar levels and reduce stress, affecting testosterone levels. Ashwagandha also increases energy levels, sexual performance, and fertility.

Fenugreek is a naturally existing herb that has been used for centuries to boost testosterone levels. It contains diosgenin, a compound that can be converted into steroid hormones such as Testosterone and estrogen.

Fenugreek also contains saponins. Saponins are typically found in plants that have a cleansing effect on the body and help to detoxify it.

Pomegranates are rich in vitamins C, K, B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), and B6 (pyridoxine). They also have minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. In addition, pomegranates contain ellagic acid and punicalagin, which are potent antioxidants.

Testosterone is made from cholesterol in the testicles, so anything that increases cholesterol levels in the body can also boost testosterone production. In addition, green tea extract is rich in catechins and antioxidants, which have been shown to help boost testosterone levels by up to 20% and improve sperm quality.

Green tea has been shown to have many health benefits, including boosting the immune system and improving cardiovascular health. In addition, recent studies have, to a reasonable extent, proven that green tea can help with weight loss by increasing metabolism and reducing body fat.

Zinc is an essential natural mineral that helps with many bodily functions, including growth, healing, and reproduction. It is also helpful for healthy sperm production in men and proper brain function in both sexes.

Zinc is also needed for immune system function and wound healing, as well as playing an essential role in tissue growth, maintenance, and repair, including healthy sexual function. Fenugreek Extract

Vitamin D is one of the main ingredients in TestoPrime. This vitamin helps your body convert cholesterol into Testosterone, increasing your T levels. Vitamin D also improves muscle strength and bone density, which makes it great for athletes who want to build muscle and improve their performance.

Garlic has been shown to boost T-levels in men with low T-levels due to age or other factors. An active element in garlic is allicin, which boosts nitric oxide production in the body. Nitric oxide promotes blood flow through vasodilation (the widening of blood vessels), which increases oxygen delivery to muscles and organs.

Allicin also helps to enhance your testosterone levels by increasing the luteinizing hormone in the body. In addition, the Luteinizing hormone stimulates healthy sperm production, which may also increase fertility when taken regularly.

Garlic also contains selenium, a mineral that helps prevent oxidative damage caused by free radicals in the body.

Black pepper extract is a potent antioxidant that helps protect your body from free radicals that cause oxidative stress. It means you can gain more energy, and it will also help increase your testosterone levels by helping the body to reduce its level of free radicals.

Black peppercorns contain a polyphenol called Piperine, which is responsible for many health benefits. Piperine is an alkaloid that can help boost overall metabolism and fat burning while boosting energy levels, mood, and memory. Piperine has been found to have up to 100 times more bioavailability than regular black pepper.

Vitamin B6 is a critical ingredient in TestoPrime. It converts the amino acid L-arginine into nitric oxide, which helps widen blood vessels and increase blood flow. And can help maximize your workouts and increase testosterone levels.

Vitamin B6 also has many other health benefits. For example, it can help with energy metabolism, immune function, glucose tolerance, and sleep quality.

Vitamin B5 is an essential vitamin that plays a vital role in many body functions, including the production of Testosterone.

The testicles and adrenal glands produce the testosterone hormone. And the testosterone hormone controls male sexual development and maintains muscle mass, sperm production, and fertility.

Vitamin B5 helps the body produce more Testosterone by increasing the circulating androgens in the bloodstream. However, it also reduces cortisol levels, lowering testosterone levels in men.

Vitamin B5 has increased testosterone levels by up to 50 percent in just one week.

TestoPrimeis a supplement that contains 12 natural ingredients. This extract has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years to treat various conditions, including fatigue, infertility, and low libido.

Testoprimeworks by increasing the production of luteinizing hormone (LH), which is responsible for stimulating testosterone secretion in the testicles. It means youll have more of it in your body, which can help boost energy and libido.

These ingredients increase the amount of luteinizing hormone (LH) released by the pituitary gland, which leads to more testosterone production by the testicles. As well as boosting testosterone levels, the ingredients also increase nitric oxide (NO) production, improving blood flow to the muscles and helping them recover faster after exercise.

The recommended dose of TestoPrimeis four capsules per day, taken with food or on an empty stomach. It would be satisfactory if you took the capsule 30 minutes before eating or 2 hours after eating.

You can also take this supplement at any time during the day if you prefer, as long as you follow the instructions above: take four (4) capsules 30 minutes before eating or 2 hours after eating with food or on an empty stomach (not at night).

What makes TestoPrimeso unique? Well, its made up of all-natural ingredients that have been proven to increase testosterone levels naturally.

TestoPrimeis designed to help men who want to improve their performance in the bedroom as well as their overall health and energy levels.

The product can provide benefits like:

With a boost in Testosterone and libido, you can experience more intense sexual experiences. A higher sex drive is one of the most common effects people experience after using TestoPrime.

You can also notice that your sex drive has increased due to the additional Testosterone you get from this supplement. Many men who have been using TestoPrime for some time now claim that they have a more active sex life than before they started taking it.

Another benefit of using TestoPrime is that it increases mental clarity, which means you will have fewer problems with your memory and reduced stress levels. This effect is because hormones are responsible for keeping our brain healthy and functioning at its best.

If there are any hormone levels issues, you will start experiencing problems such as memory loss or mood swings due to stress or depression. However, if your hormone levels remain high, your brain will stay healthy and functioning at its best.

Due to this, you will gain the ability to handle any stressful situation better than before without getting stressed out about it during the process itself.

One of the main benefits of using TestoPrimeis that it will help you improve your sperm count. Sperm counts tend to be low in men over 45, leading to fertility issues later in life.

By taking this supplement, youll be able to improve the quality and quantity of your sperm and increase their count.

One study of 42 men showed that those who took the supplement had more healthy sperm than those who didnt take it. This study also proved that higher levels of testicular tissue were present in those who used TestoPrime compared with those who didnt use it.

Testosterone is a vital hormone that plays an essential role in developing and maintaining male characteristics. Therefore, to ensure that you realize the best out of your life, you must work on improving your testosterone levels.

By taking this supplement, youll experience better physical performance during workouts. In addition, since its a testosterone booster, it will help you gain lean muscle mass while improving your overall strength.

And it, in turn, will give you an added edge when competing against other athletes in sports like football or basketball.

The hormone that carries out the essential role in how your body functions is Testosterone. For example, it activates the male sex drive and stimulates the growth and development of the masculine trait.

It also helps maintain bone strength and muscle mass, boosts libido, enhances cardiovascular health, and boosts energy leveI. The more Testosterone you have circulating in your blood, the better you feel.

Testosterone also has a role in fat loss. Taking TestoPrimewill naturally increase your testosterone levels by around 50% which means more muscle-building power than ever! The result? Youll burn up to 300 extra calories per day without even trying.

The natural ingredients in this product are known for their ability to increase energy expenditure and suppress appetite, which means you may not feel hungry all day long. As a result, it makes it easier to achieve weight loss goals over time.

There are no known side effects of TestoPrime. However, you should note that the supplement is not intended to be used by individuals under 18 years old. If you are unsure of your current age, please consult with a doctor before taking any supplement.

If you get any adverse side effects from this product, stop taking it and contact your physician immediately.

Here are some recurring side effects that may occur when you start using a Testosterone supplement:

Even though the ingredients in TestoPrimeare naturally occurring ingredients, some unique people may have bodies that do not have an affinity for these ingredients.

Therefore, if you are one of the unique people allergic to any ingredients used in making TestoPrime, you shouldnt use it.

You should see a doctor if you also have allergic reactions after using the TestoPrimeSupplement.

Supplement overdosing is a crucial point to note with any testosterone-boosting supplement. Men commonly take more than the recommended amount of any supplement, especially when it comes to testing boosters.

Supplements overdosing can lead to unwanted effects such as anxiety or restlessness and even a feeling of being wired. Once you notice these symptoms, stop taking the supplement immediately and contact your doctor if they persist.

While TestoPrimecontains ingredients that you can find naturally, not all men can use them. Do not use TestoPrime if you have any known or suspected medical conditions that may interact with it.

Before taking this product, confirm if you fall into any of these categories:

People with heart conditions: Do not take this product if you have any of the below conditions:

Heart failure (congestive heart failure)

Angina pectoris or severe chest pain due to coronary artery disease (such as angina caused by coronary artery disease or chest pain that becomes worse with exercise)

Peripheral arterial disease (e.g., intermittent claudication, intermittent pain in a limb)

If you had Coronary artery bypass graft surgery or angioplasty in the past year (and your doctor told you that you are at high risk of a heart attack). If you are taking medications for these conditions, consult your doctor before taking this product.

Some ingredients in this product have been associated with potential effects on the developing brain and nervous system. For example, supplementation of DHEA may enhance learning and memory. Still, it can also cause adverse effects on the developing brain and nervous system when taken during critical periods of development.

To minimize possible adverse effects on the developing nervous system, do not take this product if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

TestoPrimeis not recommended for men with prostate cancer. You should ask your doctor before you start any testosterone supplementation if you have or have ever had cancer of the prostate, the membrane around the prostate (prostatic epithelium), or in the area of the rectum near the prostate.

You should tell your doctor before starting TestoPrimeif you are taking medications for treating erectile dysfunction (ED) or other conditions. The use of any medication that may interact with TestoPrime is not recommended during treatment with TestoPrime.

The manufacturers of this product recommend that men over 30 use TestoPrime. However, they also note that women can use the supplement as well.

While theres no scientific evidence that suggests women should not take TestoPrime, its best to consult with a doctor before using this product if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

TestoPrimehas a powerful supplement that is known as testosterones and it also promises to boost energy and improve overall health. You can take it with or without food, and you can feel the effects in as little as 60 minutes.

Its made with all-natural ingredients, including ginseng, which helps increase your natural testosterone levels. TestoPrime is also designed to be taken on an empty stomach, so you dont have to worry about any nasty side effects.

The manufacturers of TestoPrimerecommend a dosage of four capsules before eating breakfast for maximum effectiveness.

You can boost your Testosterone naturally by eating foods rich in zinc. You can also take supplements containing D-aspartic acid or DHEA, which are both naturally occurring forms of the male hormone.

However, these supplements arent regulated by the FDA, so buying them from an unregulated source could risk getting something harmful into your body.

TestoPrimestands out as it is created in regulated environments as suggested by the FDA requirements for testoprime supplement.

You can buy TestoPrime Supplement from the official website of TestoPrime.

There are many ways to get the supplement, but we recommend buying it online.

Read the original here:
TestoPrime Reviews: An Effective Testosterone Booster - The Southern Maryland Chronicle

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A new gene therapy has offered hope for a cure for hemophilia B patients.

The results of an early clinical trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.

The 26-week trial took place in 2020. By its end, nine of 10 patients that received the one-off treatment no longer needed regular injections to treat the condition.

The treatment is still in very early stages of development and ten people is a small sample size. But a doctor who developed the treatment was optimistic about its wider potential, saying that it could cure most adults with hemophilia B within three years, per the BBC.

A patient association described the results as encouraging but said that more research was needed before using it more widely. Experts on chronic conditions are often wary of talking about "cures" in their early stages for fear of giving false hope.

Hemophilia B is a genetic condition that affects blood clotting. It means people with the condition will bleed for longer. In severe cases, it can cause spontaneous bleeding into the organs and joints.

To counteract these effects, patients are given regular injections of material to help their blood clot, a cumbersome process.

Elliot Mason, a patient in the trial, told the BBC he felt like he grew up "anxious of getting hurt." At one point, he had to receive an injection every other day, the BBC reported.

Mason received the treatment as part of the clinical trial. He said he hasn't needed an injection since and has taken up skiing and motorbiking.

"My life is completely normal, there's nothing that I have to stop and think 'how might my haemophilia affect this?'," he told the BBC.

"It's all a miracle really, well it's science, but it feels quite miraculous to me," he said.

The treatment works by delivering several copies of the gene that codes for the clotting factor to liver cells. It gives the body the blueprints to make the protein itself instead of needing it from an external source.

The theory is that a single injection of the gene treatment could treat the condition for years or decades. Receiving the treatment took about an hour, Mason told the BBC.

Trial participants received doses of varying strengths alongside immunosuppressants.

Per the trial results, five of the ten patients had normal levels of blood-clotting material after the treatment. Three had increased levels, but still less than what is considered normal.

One had abnormally high levels of factor IX which led to the development of a blood clot, per the New England Journal. One patient saw his levels decrease over the 26 weeks and had to resume injections.

Prof Pratima Chowdary, a hematologist at the Royal Free Hospital and University College London and lead author on the study, told the BBC she thought most adults with hemophilia B could be cured within three years.

"Removing the need for hemophilia patients to regularly inject themselves with the missing protein is an important step in improving their quality of life," Chowdary said in a press release.

Clive Smith, chairman of the UK-based patient association Haemophilia Society, was more cautious: "This initial data is promising, but we continue to monitor gene therapy trials closely and cautiously, as with all new treatments," the BBC reported.

The trial participants agreed to be followed for another 15 years to check on how long the treatment would last and to monitor potential effects that may emerge later, according to an accompanying press release.

The treatment was not been tested on children, whose livers are still developing until age 12, per the BBC.

The next step in pharmaceutical product development is typically to test the product on a wider set of people in what is known as a Phase III trial.

The rest is here:
Hemophilia B: Gene Therapy May Offer Cure for Many, Doctor Says

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Espaol

The genes in your bodys cells play a key role in your health. Indeed, a defective gene or genes can make you sick.

Recognizing this, scientists have worked for decades on ways to modify genes or replace faulty genes with healthy ones to treat, cure, or prevent a disease or medical condition.

This research is paying off, as advancements in science and technology today are changing the way we define disease, develop drugs, and prescribe treatments.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved multiple gene therapy products for cancer and rare disease indications.

Genes and cells are intimately related. Within the cells of our bodies, there are thousands of genes that provide the information to produce specific proteins that help make up the cells. Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things; the human body is composed of trillions of them.

The genes provide the information that makes different cells do different things. Groups of many cells make up the tissues and organs of the body, including muscles, bones, and blood. The tissues and organs in turn support all our bodys functions.

Sometimes the whole or part of a gene is defective or missing from birth. This is typically referred to as a genetically inherited mutation.

In addition, healthy genes can change (mutate) over the course of our lives. These acquired mutations can be caused by environmental exposures. The good news is that most of these genetic changes (mutations) do not cause disease. But some inherited and acquired mutations can cause developmental disorders, neurological diseases, and cancer.

Depending on what is wrong, scientists can do one of several things in gene therapy:

To insert new genes directly into cells, scientists use a vehicle called a vector. Vectors are genetically engineered to deliver the necessary genes for treating the disease.

Vectors need to be able to efficiently deliver genetic material into cells, and there are different kinds of vectors. Viruses are currently the most commonly used vectors in gene therapies because they have a natural ability to deliver genetic material into cells. Before a virus can be used to carry therapeutic genes into human cells, it is modified to remove its ability to cause infectious disease.

Gene therapy can be used to modify cells inside or outside the body.When a gene therapy is used to modify cells inside the body, a doctor will inject the vector carrying the gene directly into the patient.

When gene therapy is used to modify cells outside the body, doctors take blood, bone marrow, or another tissue, and separate out specific cell types in the lab. The vector containing the desired gene is introduced into these cells. The cells are later injected into the patient, where the new gene is used to produce the desired effect.

Before a gene therapy can be marketed for use in humans, the product must be tested in clinical studies for safety and effectiveness so FDA scientists can consider whether the risks of the therapy are acceptable considering the potential benefits.

The scientific field for gene therapy products is fast-paced and rapidly evolving ushering in a new approach to the treatment of vision loss, cancer, and other serious and rare diseases. As scientists continue to make great strides in this therapy, the FDA is committed to helping speed up development by interacting with those developing products and through prompt review of groundbreaking treatments that have the potential to save lives.

Read more here:
How Gene Therapy Can Cure or Treat Diseases | FDA

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Biree Andemariam, MD: There are several factors that impact availability of therapeutic options for individuals with sickle cell disease [SCD]. No. 1 is that, until recently, weve had just very few therapeutic options. Until 2017, we only had 1 FDA [Food and Drug Administration]-approved drug for [SCD], that being hydroxyurea. And then in 2017, we had our second drug approved, L-glutamine. Then in November 2019, we had 2 drugs FDA approved: voxelotor and crizanlizumab. Although were living in a time of accelerated discovery and approvals, we have a long way to go. We are embarking on a time when we have a lot of clinical trial investigations of a lot of different therapies that are targeting many different pathophysiological pathways associated with [SCD] and [SCD]-related complications. There are sort of 2 buckets of approaches. [One approach is] to ameliorate the disease to, for example, reduce the amount of pain individuals experience [and] reduce the degree of anemia they live with.

The other bucket is treatments [with] curative intent, such as the different gene therapy strategies. Were looking at disease modification [and] potentially curative options in an investigational fashion right now, which is super exciting. Im hoping that as the years progress, well have an exponential growth of new available treatments. One issue patients contend with is just not having a lot of therapeutic options. But [another issue that] may be more devastating and more important is not having access to physicians who either have the expertise or desire to care for individuals living with [SCD]. Thus, if we dont fix that problem, which is improving access to specialists with knowledge on how to take care of individuals with [SCD], it doesnt matter how many new drugs we bring to the market, because we need [individuals who] are knowledgeable about the disease to be able to prescribe these new therapies [and] monitor patients for complications to prolong their survival. [Thus, this is a] 2-pronged approach to improving access to care for individuals living with [SCD]: new drugs and more specialists.

When I initiate conversations with my patients about their therapeutic optionsI think its important to understand that even though individuals with [SCD] share a common mutation that gives rise to their disease, the phenotypic manifestations of the disease [and] the individual impact of the disease on the 1 particular patient can vary. Its important to take a patient-specific approach when talking about therapies with patients. Thats how I approach my patients. Not everybodys the same, not everybodys had the same shared, lived experience with [SCD]. There are some patients whose major manifestation of disease are painful crises, and thats their focus. Their focus is to reduce the number of pain episodes they experience, to reduce the number of times they end up in an emergency department or [are] hospitalized. For many patients, thats their goal. For some patients, they dont experience as many pain crises, but they have profound fatigue, have had a stroke and are trying to prevent another stroke, or they have complications such as skin ulcers or priapism episodes. There are some patients who have recurrent manifestations of the acute chest syndrome and end up in the [intensive care unit], intubated and fighting for their lives. And they never want to experience that again.

Every patient has a different manifestation of their [SCD], and when I sit down with a particular patient, [I try] to talk about how their [SCD] affects them. We talk about how it affects them clinically and how it affects them in their everyday lives, their functioning, [and] their quality of life. Are they meeting their lifes goals? What would need to be done in terms of their [SCD] treatment to try to get them toward meeting their lifes goals? Luckily, we now have therapies available that do target some of these key manifestations that are problematic or bothersome to patients. We have 3 drugs that have been approved to reduce pain crisis episodes: hydroxyurea, L-glutamine, and crizanlizumab. And we have 1 drug thats been approved that increases the hemoglobin level by decreasing the hemolytic rate. Improving anemia [and] reducing pain episodes are things that are important to patients, and these are the things I discuss with them.

Wally R. Smith, MD: The therapeutic options associated with [SCD] care were quite limited until [approximately] 15 years ago. At the time, we had very little to offer. We had 1 drug, hydroxyurea, which was approved in 1998 after [many] years of study. We had oxygen [as well as] fluids to try to decrease the concentration of hemoglobin S inside the cell and to keep up with losses via the kidney, [as well as] insensible losses. We [also] had palliative care in the form of opioids and other analgesics for patients who came to the hospital. Until [recently], we werent doing many curative therapies [or] bone marrow transplantations, and we had no other drugs to offer. In 2017, that all changed; we got our second drug. In 2019, we got 2 more drugs approved. Now there are 40, if you will, drugs in the pipeline, all intending on getting approved for patients with [SCD]. Now there is gene therapy to add to bone marrow transplantation as a viable therapeutic option under experimental protocol. Thus, now when a patient comes in and says, What can you do for my [SCD]? we answer that completely different than we did 15 years ago. It is now [approximately] an hour-long conversation to walk through those 4 drugs.

They [have] very different mechanisms of actions [and] [adverse] effect profiles. [The] logic about how to decide which drug to take is not very well worked out. There is no such thing as this drug is best for this kind of patient in my mind. We tell them about each of the drugs. We let them make some choices based on their likelihood of taking them, because sometimes taking the drug is just as much of a problem as prescribing the drug, especially if you dont get a benefit immediately. [There is] no problem taking opioids because you get a pain benefit immediately. [There is a] big problem taking hydroxyurea, the first drug thats available, or even taking the newer drugs that have been approved. Thus, we try to explain it to patients. We even talk to them about curative options. Some of them want to go through with it. Some of them do not because all curative options, at this point, require chemotherapy, a long wait, and a lot of hospital visits and patient visits to the doctor. Thats a turnoff for a lot of patients. We dont just go through a single visit to help [patients] decide what to do therapeutically; we take them through the process and give them time to think, then ask them to either call us or come back and let us know what they want to do because these are lifetime commitments they are making.

Transcript edited for clarity

Read the original post:
Approaching Therapy for Patients With SCD - MD Magazine

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When I dont know how to do something, Im the type of person to go figure it out. YouTube has taught me skills ranging from fixing a leaky faucet to trail running. My wife and I applied the same method when it came to speech therapy training.

Speech seemed like a distant goal for our daughter, Rylae-Ann, who has aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency. This is because AADC deficiency causes more severe symptoms that take precedence. However, we tried our best to work on speech when we had time. Thankfully, my wife is a special education teacher and has some training, but even she was at a loss in terms of developing a treatment plan for our daughters unique case.

When Rylae-Ann was diagnosed at 8 months old, we knew she would have speech problems. We wanted to meet this challenge head-on and begin early intervention. We sought outside assistance at speech therapy clinics, but the doctor told us that Rylae-Ann was still developing, and therefore too young to receive treatment.

It seemed like we were being told to wait until there was a more significant problem before proceeding. This method did not sit well with us, and there was no way we would sit idly by. We found many helpful videos on YouTube, but one led us to a specific form of speech therapy called oral placement therapy, or OPT.

There was no speech intervention guide for AADC deficiency, so we also connected with other rare disease support groups and researched programs that supported cases involving similar symptoms and challenges as our daughter. OPT was mentioned within the groups and seemed like a perfect match.

OPT is a speech therapy approach that combines visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation to improve speech and feeding skills. It focuses on all the muscles involved in speech, not just the mouth.

What caught our attention about this program was that it looks at early intervention and offers treatment to young children before they have speech problems. This is exactly what we were looking for.

We visited the website of TalkTools, an organization that provides resources and training for oral motor placement therapy, and appreciated all of the helpful information, much of it free of charge. The site also links to a directory of licensed OPT speech therapists around the world. It encouraged us to take things a step further by enrolling in a program and completing their training courses.

We wanted to learn and apply the strategies directly. The courses arent free, and we also needed to pay for equipment sold separately. But doing so empowered us to confidently provide treatment for Rylae-Ann at home. This, combined with our other therapies, led to noticeable improvements by our daughter.

While completing oral placement therapy training, Richard and his wife, Judy, began using the assigned tools with their daughter, Rylae-Ann. (Courtesy of Richard E. Poulin III)

TalkTools was founded by Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, an internationally recognized speech and language pathologist. She also was the teacher for our course.

Rosenfeld-Johnson began our first class by sharing a story about a baby with Down syndrome. The baby was experiencing feeding difficulties but was not receiving speech therapy intervention due to young age. Rosenfeld-Johnson was surprised about this and felt action should be happening from birth, especially when it was known that the child would have speech difficulties later. This story felt almost identical to what my wife and I had experienced.

In a 1997 article in Advance Magazine,titledThe Oral-Motor Myths of Down Syndrome, Rosenfeld-Johnson explained how the facial features of a child with Down syndrome are not a symptom of the disease but a manifestation of not taking early action, and therefore allowing the body to develop the characteristic myths of Down syndrome. The stereotypical characteristics were not apparent in the cases she had worked with, because OPT uses an early intervention and prevention approach.

The goal of OPT is to prevent the symptoms from occurring in the first year of life. So, although children cannot yet speak, speech therapy is used. OPT relies on understanding the mechanics and physiology of the mouth to achieve certain goals. These goals may be initially related to sucking and feeding, but the same muscles are used for speech.

We began when Rylae-Ann was 8 months old, but it should have started when she was born. By beginning sooner, mothers of newborns with AADC deficiency can experience successful breastfeeding, which leads to improved feeding for toddlers. They wouldnt have to worry about weight gain or providing their child with a feeding tube. Eventually, speech has a greater likelihood of happening.

Rylae-Ann improved her feeding due to oral placement therapy, which eventually led to speech. (Courtesy of Richard E. Poulin III)

Another reason we believed OPT was the best match for our daughter is because it aids several special needs cases, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and those with motor-sensory impairments. This list featured similar challenges faced by our daughter. In addition, the multisensory approach aligned with our experience with early education and learning support curriculums.

Special needs children benefit from tactile and proprioceptive components, which are very different from traditional speech therapy. In special education, educators use a similar technique of combining multiple senses and learning styles to reach individual children. So while we were working on speech, we also improved her senses, overall articular awareness, placement, stability, and muscle memory.

The results for us began slowly, but we did not rush the sequence. Rylae-Anns first milestone was allowing us to use the tools in and around her mouth to help her build muscle awareness. Her sensory processing issues did not make this an easy task, but she did it.

Then, she quickly learned to drink from a straw and blow bubbles. This was a huge leap, and the progress continued.

After she had gene therapy, the progress was even quicker, which I believe was due to early intervention with OPT speech therapy.

Success with this method strengthened our resolve to support our daughter and other parents who want to do the same with their children. Oral placement therapy is one component of speech and language. To maximize results, it should be led by a licensed therapist and not done in isolation. All paramedical therapies work together to allow a child to make the most significant progress possible. As always, consult your healthcare team before making any treatment or therapy decisions.

Thanks to Rylae-Anns dedication and hard work during speech therapy, she is able to eat independently while talking with her friends at lunch. (Courtesy of Richard E. Poulin III)

Note:AADC Newsis strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice,diagnosis, ortreatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice,diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those ofAADC Newsor its parent company, BioNews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining toaromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency.

Read the original:
Why We Chose Oral Placement Therapy to Address AADC Deficiency... - AADC News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

There are a lot of theories as to why people change as they get older. Some claim that aging is caused by injuries from ultraviolet light over time, wear and tear on the body, or by-products ofmetabolism. Other theories view aging as a predetermined process controlled by genes.

No single process can explain all the changes of aging. Aging is a complex process that varies as to how it affects different people and even different organs. Most gerontologists (people who study aging) feel that aging is due to the interaction of many lifelong influences. These influences include heredity, environment, culture, diet, exercise and leisure, past illnesses, and many other factors.

Unlike the changes of adolescence, which are predictable to within a few years, each person ages at a unique rate. Some systems begin aging as early as age 30. Other aging processes are not common until much later in life.

Although some changes always occur with aging, they occur at different rates and to different extents. There is no way to predict exactly how you will age.

Some studies have shown that Regeneration treatments have a better effect on people over the age of 35, however this has no clinical evidence to back it up. What we do know is that as we age our bodies do not renew cell turnover at the same rate as it did in our younger years. There appears to be no end age for these treatments to have some effect.

Read more from the original source:
Cell Rejuvenation and Cell Therapy | Cell Regeneration Perth

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

For example, pharmaceutical companies and research institutions are conducting research on various diseases, trying to develop new treatments and new drugs. However, progress is limited by the availability of cell samples that can be collected from any one patient. Indeed, a single donors cell sample may not be enough for even one study, in one single institute. Thus, it is often not feasible to expand the scope of a study or allow for others around the world to reproduce or advance results. Without renewable sources of accessible patient cell samples, there is a chronic shortage of research materials, which slows research and development efforts. Many of the inquiries received by I Peace express an eagerness and hope to advance research by providing their iPS-cells to research institutions, but find it difficult as a prospective donor to make such a connection with a research institution. We wish to bridge a prospective donors goodwill and the needs of research institutions by using I Peace platforms.

Since iPS cells can proliferate indefinitely, a patients iPS cells can be grown in large quantities, then differentiated into various cell types. In this case, any cells needed for research could be obtained from a renewable source on demand, such as I Peace, so that research programs are dramatically accelerated.

Similarly, to drive advances in personalized regenerative medicine, I Peace aims to provide donors with accessible and affordable medical-grade personal iPS cells, and with your consent, provide your cells to pharmaceutical companies, research institutions or for joint development programs with I Peace. We believe this partnership, facilitated by I Peace, will accelerate the realization of personalized and autologous transplantation and regenerative medicine for various diseases. We want to build a future that helps patients suffering from these diseases receive new cell-based therapies as soon as possible.

Original post:
cGMP iPSCs & Cell Therapy Manufacturing | CDMO | I Peace, Inc.

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

One of the most common questions I get from patients is about stem cell therapy for knees. Can it help knee arthritis and pain? Todays post is a fact-check of where things stand today in 2022 on stem cells for knee issues.

You can watch a video overview of this post on our Stem Cell YouTube Channel below.

Stem cell therapy for knees | Look at the Data |Some biased studies? |Clinical trials: no clear benefit | Cost: $5,000-$10,000 | Risks & Efficacy | 2022 and Looking Ahead | References

Quick Article Summary and Claim Review.Stem cells are a still unproven approach to knee problems like pain and arthritis, but many clinics market this approach, claiming it works and is safe. While risks appear low overall for stem cell knee injections, there have been problems on occasion. The cost of around $5,000-$10,000 at unproven stem cell clinics is not covered by insurance or Medicare. Overall, this experimental therapy may not be worth the cost and risks at this time. More data are needed from ongoing trials. Certain patients are far more likely to benefit from knee replacement instead of stem cells depending on their age and severity of disease, but joint replacement has its own risks. You should consult your doctor.

With all those patients asking about this, perhaps then its not surprising that for-profit clinics have zeroed in. One of the most common claims made by unproven, for-profit stem cell clinics is related to knees.

They sell the idea that their stem cells can help knee arthritis and associated pain, but what is the evidence to back this up? What about other products like platelet rich plasma (PRP) for knees?

There are many problems with the claims of stem cells and other regenerative products.

In many cases what is being sold as stem cells isnt even real stem cells. It often is an amniotic extract.

Such products are probably not made from actual stem cells anyway and are dead.

But what about cases where real, live stem cells are being injected every day for knee arthritis? For other kinds of joint problems? What about PRP?

Mostly the answer seems to be no, with a few maybes.

One of the challenges in this area is that there is so much noise out there. The data are a real jumble.

With just one search on PubMed I found more than 400 articles. Such articles often report conflicting big-picture findings as well.

And there are likely many more articles depending on how one does the literature search.

The first three results popping up with that search are all themselves meta analyses or reviews. I could also easily find many recent clinical trial reports. Many on the surface suggest there might a small benefit to various kinds of stem cell injections, but the studies are often too small or have other issues to be sure. One phrase in this particular study kind of sums up many others: Larger sample size and long-term follow-up are required.

I interpret that to mean that this is not ready for prime time. Its not a convincing replacement for knee joint replacement. While joint replacement has its own issues, the data indicate it gives most patients back the functionality they want.

A Cochrane review of stem cells for knees appears to be ongoing without results so far. It could have a big impact.

Another meta kind of study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine identified potential challenges to many of the regenerative studies on knees. The issue is the risk of bias in many of the stem cell for knees studies. The authors conclude:

Six trials with high risk of bias showed level-3 or level-4 evidence in favour of stem cell injections in KOA. In the absence of high-level evidence, we do not recommend stem cell therapy for KOA.

I know that stem cell clinic doctors can find plenty of studies supposedly supporting what they are offering for knees, but the question is which studies are the strongest? Also, is there some coherent signal of benefit and safety rising above the noise overall? I didnt see it.

Many universities and medical centers including the Mayo Clinic are studying stem cells for various orthopedic injuries including knee problems. These clinical trials so far have not produced clear data supporting regenerative approaches as a new standard of care.

Some reasons include that some trials to date havent been designed or powered to measure efficacy, other trials produced inconclusive results, and many trials are still ongoing. As to the first reason, an example is The completed Phase 1 Mayo Clinic trial.This study of bone marrow stem cells for knees was very preliminary.

The published Mayo study itself was direct about the inconclusive results:

Study patients experienced a similar relief of pain in both BMAC- and saline-treated arthritic knees.

In other words, the stem cells did nothing more than just an injection of salt water.

A search I did on Clinicaltrials.gov found more than 100 listings of studies of stem cells for knees. I did the search on March 29, 2021.

Other trials are examining PRP for knee issues. PRP could actually be more promising here than MSC-type cells as they are currently being used.

The CIRM Blogrecently covered the issue of stem cells for knee arthritis at clinics. In large part the post seemed inspired by a new at that time comprehensive study that sheds major doubt on this approach.

Some of the main take-homes from the study on clinics were nicely summarized by Kevin McCormack of CIRM, including on cost:

In a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, researchers contacted 317 clinics in the US that directly market stem cell therapies to consumers. They asked the clinics for information on the cost of the procedure and their success rate.

Only 36 clinics responded with information about success rates.

None offered any evidence based on a clinical trial that supported those claims, and there was no connection between how much they charged and how successful they claimed to be.

Patients are paying around $5K-$10K for a kind of stem cell treatment where clinics are largely claiming 70-100% success yet have little or no strong clinical trial evidence to back it up. The average cost data here fit wellwith the numbers in a poll I did on The Niche of what patients say they paid for stem cell therapies more generally. Note that this approach is not covered by insurance or Medicare.

McCormack has quotes both from the lead authors,Nicolas Piuzzi andGeorge Muschler, of the study entitled, The Stem-Cell Market for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Patient Perspective, which is published in Journal of Knee Surgery with some big picture perspectives and thoughts on the meaning of their work. Check it out.

Basically, theres a disconnect between the state of the clinical science in this area and what is being widely marketed for profit. Im not aware of massive patient side effects in this area so safety, while not assured by any means, is perhaps not the biggest issue.

Risks. A possible risk comes from poor injection methods. I have had patients report that injections to the knee went badly after the needle ended up outside the knee joint. Some clinics using imaging to guide the process so thats a plus. Many are not. Probably the other main risk is infection. It is unclear if the stem cell materials themselves pose specific risks like incorrect tissue growth.

Efficacy. Overall, there is minimal evidence of efficacy from properly controlled studies. For instance, the authors ofthis stem cells for knees studysuggest potential benefit of bone marrow stem cells for knee arthritis, but although it did have a control group, it wasnt blinded and was underpowered.Heres a more recent, blinded studyarguing for some moderate benefit, but it was underpowered as well and no benefit was seen after 12 months. Clinics will point to yet other studies that purportedly report benefits, but the big picture is just not very clear.

I hope in the future we get that data as a field so we can have better clarity here. You can see some past posts including on knee arthritis. Its apparent that for up to 8 years or more this issue has been percolating.

Other alternatives including knee replacements, especially for older patients, can offer great outcomes. The Mayo Clinic and others are using approaches beyond stem cells. They are also testing approaches using cartilage cells called chondrocytes instead of stem cells, which also show promise.

My viewis that stem cell injections for knee arthritis from clinics directly marketing to consumers is most often going to be a big waste of money for patients and again there are risks. This is not to say that theres no hope of stem cells for arthritis or specifically for knee arthritis, but caution is in order right now on this front.

Im optimistic about the future of this area, but most of whats going on now commercially is not ready for prime time.

Disclaimer: this post is not medical advice. Consult with your doctor before making medical decisions.

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Stem cell therapy for knees: fact-check, costs, risks

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New York, Aug. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kenneth Research has published a detailed market report on Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market for the forecast period, i.e., 2022 2031, which includes the following factors:

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market Size:

The global cell banking outsourcing market generated the revenue of approximately USD 7200.1 million in the year 2021 and is expected to garner a significant revenue by the end of 2031, growing at a CAGR of ~18% over the forecast period, i.e., 2022 2031. The growth of the market can primarily be attributed to the development of advanced preservation techniques for cells, and increasing adoption of regenerative cell therapies for the treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer. Additionally, factors such as growing demand for gene therapy, and increasing worldwide prevalence of cancer are expected to drive the market growth. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 10 million people died of cancer across the globe in 2020. The most recurrent cases of deaths because of cancer were lung cancer which caused 1.80 million deaths, colon, and rectum cancer which caused 916 000 deaths, liver cancer which caused 830 000 deaths, stomach cancer which caused 769 000 deaths, and breast cancer which caused 685 000 deaths. Furthermore, it was noticed that about 30% of cancer cases in low and lower-middle income nations are caused by cancer-causing diseases such the human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis.

Get a Sample PDF of This Report @ https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10070777

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market: Key Takeaways

Increasing Geriatric Population across the Globe to Boost Market Growth

Increasing demand for stem cell therapy, and increasing biopharmaceutical production are estimated to fuel the growth of the global cell banking outsourcing market. Among the geriatric population around the world, the demand of stem cell therapy is at quite a high rate. Hence, growing geriatric population across the globe is also expected be an important factor to influence the market growth. According to the data by World Health Organisation (WHO), the number and proportion of geriatric population, meaning the people aged 60 years and older in the population is rising. The number of people aged 60 years and older was 1 billion in 2019. This number is estimated to increase to 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050.

In addition to this, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, supportive initiatives by governments around the world, and growing awareness about stem cell banking are predicted to be major factors to propel the growth of the market. The growth of the global cell banking outsourcing market, over the forecast period, can be further ascribed to the rising investments in the R&D activities to continuously bring up more feasible solutions for medical procedures. According to research reports, since 2000, global research and development expenditure has more than tripled in real terms, rising from approximately USD 680 billion to over USD 2.5 trillion in 2019.

Browse to access In-depth research report on Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market with detailed charts and figures: https://www.kennethresearch.com/report-details/cell-banking-outsourcing-market/10070777

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market: Regional Overview

The global cell banking outsourcing market is segmented into five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa region.

Advanced Healthcare Facilities Drove Market in the North America Region

The market in the North America region held the largest market share in terms of revenue in the year 2021. The growth of the market in this region is majorly associated with the increasing number of pharmaceutical companies & manufacturers in the region, and increasing awareness for the use of stem cells as therapeutics. Increasing number of bone marrow and cord blood transplants throughout the region is also estimated to positively influence the market growth. It was noted that, 4,864 unrelated and 4,160 related bone marrow and cord blood transplants were performed in the United States in 2020.

Increasing Prevalence of Chronic Diseases to Influence Market Growth in the Asia Pacific Region

On the other hand, market in the Asia Pacific region is estimated to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The market in this region is driven by the increasing investment in biotechnology sector by government and private companies specifically in countries such as China, India, and Japan. Moreover, the increasing pool of patient with chronic diseases, such as cancer, and the ongoing research & development activities for cancer treatment is expected to propel the growth of the market. Further, increasing percentage of regional health expenditure contributing to the GDP is also estimated to be a significant factor to influence the growth of the cell banking outsourcing market in the Asia Pacific region. As per The World Bank, in the year 2019, share of global health expenditure in East Asia & Pacific region accounted to 6.67% of GDP.

Get a Sample PDF of the Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market @ https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10070777

The study further incorporates Y-O-Y growth, demand & supply and forecast future opportunity in:

Middle East and Africa (Israel, GCC [Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman], North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa).

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market, Segmentation by Bank Phase

The bank storage segment held the largest market share in the year 2021 and is expected to maintain its share by growing with a notable CAGR during the forecast period. The market growth is anticipated to be driven by the development of effective preservation technologies such as cryopreservation technique. Cryopreservation is a technique in which low temperature is used to preserve the living cells and tissue for a longer time. With the growing healthcare expenditure per capita across the world, demand for bank storage increasing notably. As sourced from The World Bank, in 2019, worldwide health expenditure per capita was USD 1121.97.

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Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market, Segmentation by Product

The adult cell banking segment is estimated to hold a substantial market share in the global cell banking outsourcing market during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the significant prevalence of chronic diseases among the adults around the globe. For instance, according to the National Library of Medicine 71.8% of adult population suffered from cardiovascular diseases, 56% had diabetes, and 14.7% adults had arthritis as of 2020.

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market, Segmentation by Cell Type

Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market, Segmentation by Bank Type

Few of the well-known market leaders in the global cell banking outsourcing market that are profiled by Kenneth Research are SGS SA, WuXi AppTec, LifeCell International Pvt. Ltd., BSL Bioservice, LUMITOS AG, Cryo-Cell International, Inc., REPROCELL Inc, CORDLIFE GROUP LIMITED, Reliance Life Sciences, and Clean Biologics and others.Enquiry before Buying This Report @ https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10070777

Recent Developments in the Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market

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Global Cell Banking Outsourcing Market to Grow at a CAGR of ~18% during 2022-2031; Market to Expand Owing to the Development of Advanced Cell...

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These tips and tricks will make the identification process a breeze

As with most plants, animals, and other life forms, marijuana plants have distinct genders. They can have either male or female reproductive parts. In rare cases, you will find hermaphrodite plants. These are plants with male and female traits. In cannabis, it relates to plants that develop male and female flowers.

The sex of a crop does not always matter, but with marijuana grows, knowing the gender and the sex of your plant is vital to both growers and breeders. The type of weed is crucial to the quality and value of the end product. Seedless buds are worth more than lower-quality cannabis, for example.

Only the female marijuana crop is capable of producing potent buds. Additionally, it is useless to sell product from male plants, as they will not provide much of a high.

Unplanted, regular seeds will typically possess a 50/50 chance of producing a male or female plant. Most seed banks and companies offer genetically altered feminized seeds, which diminishes some of the risks of pollination if a male phenotype lacking resinous buds gets mixed in.

If a male plant sneaks into your cannabis garden, it can contaminate the healthy females and fertilize them. This is not good when youve dedicated so much time, money, and effort into the cultivating process. When a female plant is pollinated, it will start producing seeds rather than focusing its energy on growing robust flower.

By eliminating the issue early on and quickly removing a male from the garden, you can ensure that your result is healthy female plants.

Keep reading to discover how to differentiate between male and female plants.

Homegrown CannabisCo are the masters when it comes to seeds. Offering a massive variety of cannabis seeds that are well categorized, not only does this company create a resource for superb quality options including feminized seeds, it also provides extensive growing information for those looking for some support along their journey.

A female cannabis plant means you will have better nugs! If you intend to cultivate marijuana, the most likely goal is to produce usable, smokable, or sellable product in the end. Therefore, you only want the female plant.

This is why the production of feminized seeds has become such a big thing. Instead of leaving it to luck, you know the seeds you plant will produce female marijuana plants.

Regular seeds give you a 50% chance of either gender. If you plant ten seeds, for example, the laws of probability state that you may have five male plants. In this instance, you waste potentially half of your time and resources on male plants. This guide is for individuals who dont want to pay extra for feminized seeds. Also, differentiating between male and female plants is a useful skill.

Feminized seeds dont offer a 100% success guarantee, either. If you are growing cannabis outdoors, there is a chance that male pollen could float over and all but ruin your female crops.

sAs we said, this article is for those who grow cannabis plants from seeds they pulled from their nugs. You will also find this guide useful if you have random seeds that you know are not feminized.

The old saying goes that there is no stigma on a female clone for plants that look like marijuana, and this rings true even to this day.

When growing indoors, you cant go wrong with clones if you want to avoid the male weed plant altogether. Theyre a little more fragile than seedlings (mainly because they dont produce a strong taproot). However, for efficiency and ease-of-use, theyre typically your best bet. As long as theyre appropriately rooted, clones are pretty hard to screw up.

Also, they make sexing cannabis and knowing how to tell if your plant is male or female before flowering totally irrelevant. On the downside, clones are expensive. While theres typically a big difference in cost for recreational or medical patients (MMJ cardholders usually get a 50% price reduction or thereabouts), you can expect to pay around $20-$30 for a single plant.

With a clone, you get to take a lot of guesswork out of the equation. As long as your growing operation is stable, you theoretically should know the exact type of yields youll get. Moreover, for one individual (unless youre Snoop Dogg), a single plant will generally provide more than enough bud for a long, long time.

Were fully aware that the majority of weed lovers in the U.S. dont have access to a dispensary where they can buy a clone. Fortunately, many of the best grows in the world begin from seedlings. Please note that patience is essential when trying to identify male and female plants.

It takes years and years of experience. It is worth it because knowing what to look for in the pre-flower formation is often as important as merely removing males, in terms of overall yield quality.

Homegrown CannabisCo are the masters when it comes to seeds. Offering a massive variety of cannabis seeds that are well categorized, not only does this company create a resource for superb quality options including feminized seeds, it also provides extensive growing information for those looking for some support along their journey.

Marijuana has two primary growing stages; the vegetative stage and the flowering stage. The vegetative stage begins when the cannabis seed starts to sprout and grow. It lasts around six weeks. At that point, the plant displays signs of pre-flowering and will enter into the second (flowering) life stage.

Some individuals call the vegetative stage the childhood of the plant because the primary purpose of the crop during this time is to grow taller and stronger. It is not yet necessary for the crop to focus on yielding or flowering.

During the vegetative stage, it is incredibly challenging (if not impossible) to determine the gender of each plant. Therefore, a grower needs to wait until the signs of pre-flowering are visible, a sweet spot between the vegetative and flowering stages. Catching the males during this short period and separating them from the female crops could minimize many future problems.

Once the plant has gone through its childhood, it will then enter adulthood, otherwise known as the flowering stage. Now, the crop no longer focuses on getting any taller or thicker. Instead, its sole focus is to produce pistils and calyxes, otherwise known as buds. Male plants produce something called pollen sacs, which look like little peas and are easy to identify if you know what to look for.

After the first six weeks, you will begin noticing little pre-flowers near the growth tips. They will either appear slightly pointed at the ends or more rounded. With some strains, it is more challenging to see a difference right away. A female plant will have a calyx which is the slightly more pointed option. A male will have the aforementioned mini pollen sacs that are round or roughly oval.

If you cannot tell the difference yet, wait a few more days. If the green pre-flower grows a white hair, known as a pistil, it is female. Pistils are never green in color, so look for something light-colored and fuzzy.

Females typically take a bit longer to express their gender than the male cannabis plant does. As a result, be patient with your crops and regularly check them so you can manage any males in the bunch accordingly.

The male plants little green balls will continue to grow larger, filling up with more pollen until they eventually burst and leak pollen everywhere. You need to catch the male before this happens, as the spread of pollen will fertilize the females. At this point, their buds will stop developing.

In adverse situations (i.e., if the plants are stressed or hungry), portions of a crop can become hermaphroditic. This means they develop both male and female characteristics to self-pollinate and reproduce. It is not the end of the world for those that are growing for personal use because you can still produce buds. The downside is that you receive a far lower concentration of resin.

It is a potentially catastrophic situation for commercial growers, however, as hermaphrodites (or herms, as some people call them), are full of seeds and not sellable or desired. Just keep in mind that the male cannabis crop is not entirely useless; a fact we discuss in the next section.

Despite their reputation, a male crop is not as hopeless as many may think. Sure, these crops are not as potent as female crops in terms of their THC production, but they contain their fair share of cannabinoids. As some of the sugar leaves are slightly resinous, you can potentially enjoy a mild high too.

If you want an all-female crop, remove the male plants from the females once identified. Then, separate them to reduce the risk of contamination.

While some growers want to dump these plants, there are some non-bud related uses for the male cannabis plant. You can use the stems and water leaves for juicing and teas. It is also possible to process male plant parts into material for therapeutic creams and lotions.

If you do not feel inclined to produce anything with the male plants, the easiest option is to compost the remains. This reduces waste production, is more environmentally friendly, and potentially provides nutrition for your future crops.

Until now, we have not talked much about hermaphrodite cannabis plants in our little plant sex discussion. A hermaphrodite is a plant that has both male and female reproductive parts. An example is a female marijuana plant that can produce both flowering buds and male pollen sacs. Hermaphrodites are just as dangerous as male plants because they can pollinate an entire female crop.

What a lot of people dont realize, however, is that these unique plants only become hermaphroditic when exposed to unusual stress or damage. There are loads of different ways that an otherwise healthy female weed plant can grow stressed or damaged.

From left to right: Male, Female, and Hermie

Amsterdamgenetics.com

Excess heat, for example (i.e., prolonged temperatures above 88 degrees Fahrenheit) can undoubtedly cause a plant to become stressed. So can excess cold (i.e. prolonged temperatures below about 55 degrees) and light leaks that expose plants to excessive levels of light energy.

Physical damage can also cause a female plant to develop male characteristics. Examples include exposure to high winds and breaking a limb off. You can add intruders such as dogs, deer, and other animals to the list of dangers. Even excess amounts of rain can cause marijuana plants to become hermaphroditic.

Over-saturation is one of the leading causes of female and male crop failure among all levels of growers. It can lead to root disease. Make sure you only water your plants when necessary, and remove any stressed plants you find. Check the drainage of your growing medium, and that the plants container has ample holes in it.

There are plants that develop both flowering buds and male pollen sacs, and those that produce anthers, otherwise known as bananas.

While both of these varieties can release pollen and potentially fertilize an entire female crop, they differ in the way that they form and store the pollen. True hermaphrodites will grow actual pollen sacs (just like mature male marijuana plants). Antler-producing herms will produce what is essentially a pollen-producing stamen.

Lastly, its important to point out that some low-quality marijuana strains will herm out, no matter how much care and love you put into them. This is usually down to poor genetics, so dont get too upset with yourself if it happens.

Male pollination is no joke! A single pollen sac is incredibly potent, and can potentially pollinate dozens of females from hundreds of feet away. In other words, hermaphrodite plants wont affect portions of your garden; they will pollinate the whole darn thing.

Before we conclude, we have to include a quick story of a good friend of ours that recently carried out his first grow. He was a total rookie and came to us with all the basic first-timer questions:

Anyway, after spending almost a month setting up his operation, he was ready to get started. He chose a lovely spot for an indoor grow, a nice walk-in closet (probably about 8 ft x 4 ft) that was easily sealed off from all external light sources. He even went to the trouble of foiling out the inside walls and installing an external ventilation fan to keep the temperature and humidity at optimal levels.

The first few weeks went perfectly, and he kept the seedlings in their vegetative state for almost an entire month (he was growing four plants in total). Finally, after several painstaking weeks of relentless love and care, he invited us for the pleasurable chore of helping him trim the buds. He was disappointed that one plant didnt produce any flowers at all.

Oh no, we thought.

Sure enough, as soon as we got there, we saw that one of the plants in the closet a tall, skinny sativa variety had fully hermed out. It had pollinated the other three plants!

While he was pretty devastated, he chalked it up to a learning experience and vowed not to make the same mistake the next time around.

You can smoke buds that have seeds in them; its just that they are a royal pain in the ass to work with. Also, they dont have nearly the flavor or quality that sinsemilla (non-seeded) buds do.

Hopefully, this guide has helped you better understand the differences between male and female marijuana plants. A dream yield of healthy, robust female buds is the objective for nearly all growers. Learning the basics is the first step in becoming a master cannabis cultivator. One of these lessons involves spotting a pesky male marijuana plant from a mile away!

A male cannabis plant has very little value if your primary goal is producing potent nugs with high THC content. Male cannabis is, of course, crucial if youre doing something like cross-breeding to develop a new strain, but in general, its 100% females that you want.

Please remember, the consumption of marijuana is the sole responsibility of the user.

Homegrown CannabisCo are the masters when it comes to seeds. Offering a massive variety of cannabis seeds that are well categorized, not only does this company create a resource for superb quality options including feminized seeds, it also provides extensive growing information for those looking for some support along their journey.

Read the original:
Female vs Male Cannabis: How to Determine the Gender - WayofLeaf

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There's more than 100 different types of autoimmune diseases and according to John Hopkins Medicine, an estimated 23.5 million Americans have one. "Any disease caused by a person's immunity attacking healthy cells and tissues is autoimmune disease. The immune system is our personal army whose job is to keep invaders out. If the army starts attacking its own, we end up suffering the consequences of this destruction," Dr. Suman Radhakrishna, Director of Infectious Disease with Dignity Healthy California Hospital tells us. Oftentimes autoimmune diseases can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms are subtle and easily overlooked or ignored, but knowing signs to look out for is key to finding a quicker diagnosis and getting treatment. Dr. Radhakrishna shares with us signals to pay attention to and who is at risk for an autoimmune disease. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID.

Dr. Radhakrishna says, "Our immune system is part of us, except for several abnormal/rogue cells which can be found in healthy asymptomatic individuals as well. Symptoms of autoimmune diseases can be very nonspecific and could occur due to many reasons, not all of them suggesting illness. Diagnosis is based on the presence of several of these abnormal immune cells in the setting of symptoms suggestive of autoimmune diseases. Sometimes the symptoms of autoimmune disease can be vague. Suffering with no end in sight is frustrating and lack of validation often results in the wrong impression that this is a mental health issue. Persons suffering from crippling disease and multiple organ damage feel trapped in their bodies. In addition to physical restrictions these diseases take a mental toll as well. Autoimmune diseases also increase risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, lung disease and cancer. Regular follow-up with your health care provider and with specialists when appropriate will prevent complications from developing."

Dr. Radhakrishna explains, "Some of the risk factors for autoimmune diseases include female sex (~ 80% in women), genetics (other family members more likely to have autoimmune diseases), previous diagnosis of autoimmune disease (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and others can overload), certain infections (Epstein Barr virus, COVID, Group A Strep infection), obesity, smoking and exposure to toxins (air pollutants, organic solvents), medications (certain blood pressure medications, cholesterol medications, antidepressants, etc)."6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

"Yes, autoimmune disease can affect both the quality of health as well as overall health," Dr. Radhakrishna states. "Pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and fever can cause a person to feel drained and unable to work and carry on with daily activities. Irreversible damage to organs such as joints, kidneys, and the brain can leave a person crippled and on dialysis."

Dr. Radhakrishna says, "Fatigue this is almost universal and very frustrating to patients and doctors. This symptom is very difficult to quantify and there are many causes of fatigue that are not attributable to autoimmune diseases. Lack of sleep, stress physical and mental are commonly experienced by all of us and usually improve after the stressor is removed and sleep deficit is corrected. However, if fatigue persists in the setting of other symptoms, it is best to discuss it with your healthcare provider."

"Joint pain and swelling, which is often felt in the hands and large joints, can indicate an autoimmune disease," Dr. Radhakrishna explains. "Stiffness in the morning which improves during the day is also common. Difficulty holding the toothbrush and brushing hair is uncommon. Please consult your healthcare provider. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent crippling arthritis and maintain quality of life."

Dr. Radhakrishna shares, "Rash on skin Can be limited to sun-exposed areas or the entire body. It can be flaky resembling psoriasis, intermittent or constant. If you notice a rash that recurs or persists, please discuss it with your healthcare provider."

According to Dr. Radhakrishna, "Abdominal pain and digestive complaints including diarrhea and constipation, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite can be quite common due to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Fluctuation in weight can be a consequence of this."

Dr. Radhakrishna tells us, "Intermittent fever and swollen glands are often experienced. These symptoms are again nonspecific and can be commonly seen. Please talk to your healthcare provider if these are recurring."

Heather Newgen

Continued here:
Sure Signs You Have an Autoimmune Disease Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

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UW-Madison scientists studying the genetics of orangutans in zoos were stumped. The lineages they found didnt match those made public when the orangutan genome was sequenced in 2011.

When they pulled a photo for one animal from the 2011 research, supposedly a female, it had cheek pads, a distinctly male trait. In further digging, they learned a label for one orangutan was really for a pig. Another orangutan, marked as Doris from Dallas Zoo, was actually Sibu from Zoo Atlanta.

Things just didnt add up, said Graham Banes, who now directs the Madison-based Orangutan Conservation Genetics Project. Our data just could not reconcile with what had already been published.

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At the same time, the related journal Nature Scientific Data included a paper by Banes and his colleagues detailing their finding that nine of 10 samples in the 2011 research were inadvertently switched.

I was aghast, said Michael Sweet, who researches coral genomes at the University of Derby in England and worries that recent examples of scientific fraud have already increased public skepticism about topics such as climate change. The general public is going to start mistrusting science.

Marc Tollis, whose research at Northern Arizona University involves bioinformatics and genomics, called the orangutan genome mishap a nightmare scenario for almost all scientists.

The revelation about the orangutan research doesnt only raise questions about scientific error, public trust and the validity of subsequent studies based on the genome work. Banes said it has implications for the management of orangutans in zoos, as there is now proof that at least several orangutans in American zoos are from a new third species announced only in 2017. Should they be prevented from breeding with other species, which he argues can increase the risk of disease and birth defects?

This is a really massive problem for zoos, Banes said. If zoos allow different species of the animals to mate freely, at that point, its not a conservation breeding program, he said. Its an experiment.

Rob Vernon, spokesperson for the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said the group would review the research and consult with experts for advice. Ronda Schwetz, leader of the associations Orangutan Saving Animals from Extinction program and director of Vilas Zoo in Madison where orangutan Chelsea had a baby in June did not respond to requests for comment.

Devin Locke, lead author of the 2011 genome paper and of the recent correction, could not be reached for comment. Formerly with Washington University Genome Center in St. Louis, which headed up the genome-sequencing project, Locke is now with the Massachusetts-based cancer research company Foundation Medicine, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Sweet, one of numerous scientists who have raised concerns about the new report on social media, is part of a group that published standards on sequencing coral genomes to help prevent such mistakes. He said misconduct recently identified in investigations of a University of Delaware coral scientist and a spider behavior ecologist at McMaster University in Canada have already damaged scientific credibility.

The whole mess (about the orangutan genome) underlines the need for careful curation of genomic data, including checking apparently solid identification in the genomic databases, said Michael Cobb, a zoologist at the University of Manchester in England.

Different species

It wasnt until the 1980s, decades after orangutans were first captured from the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia for placement in zoos, that two distinct species were identified: Bornean orangutans and Sumatran orangutans.

Interbreeding was discouraged and zoos separated the populations, Banes said.

Graham Banes heads up theOrangutan Conservation Genetics Project, based in Madison, and was part of a research team that discovered orangutan genome mix-ups.

The genome published in 2011 was based on a Sumatran female. Ten other orangutans five identified as Sumatran and five as Bornean were also sequenced in less detail, serving as reference samples of the diversity of orangutan genetics.

The orangutan was the third nonhuman primate genome to be sequenced, after the chimp and the rhesus macaque. The analysis showed humans and orangutans share about 97% of their DNA, compared with 99% between humans and chimps.

Banes, who left UW-Madisons Wisconsin National Primate Research Center in May but still conducts primatology research in Madison, focuses on the effects of inbreeding, or mating between closely related groups, and outbreeding, or mating between divergent groups.

In 2016, his research showed a non-native subspecies of Bornean orangutan, released into Tanjung Puting National Park on Borneo in Indonesia, bred with apes in the park, creating a cocktail hybrid species. One of two non-native females rescued from the pet trade, Siswoyo, had fewer surviving offspring than any other female in the park.

Banes said preliminary data suggest outbreeding may be connected to birth defects he saw among intermixed orangutans at zoos in China and chronic respiratory disease found in some captive orangutans.

It appears theyre ill-adapted to each others novel pathogens, he said.

Science sleuths

In 2018, Banes UW-Madison research team was testing orangutans in U.S. zoos to determine the extent of interbreeding. Graduate student Alyssa Karklus, now a veterinarian with the Wisconsin Humane Society, noticed that the genetics of some animals didnt line up with the reference genomes from 2011.

A female orangutan reintroduced to the wild is pictured carrying her wild-born offspring. UW-Madison researchers found a mix-up in a genome-sequencing research project that could have implications for orangutan-breeding programs at zoos.

Banes and Karklus, along with post-graduate researcher Emily Fountain, became sleuths, sifting through volumes of data and eventually finding that even the sex reported for five animals in the 2011 paper was wrong. Three researchers from Washington University, who participated in the initial genome work, assisted the UW-Madison group and are co-authors of the paper about the mix-ups.

Its not clear who made the mistakes or how, Banes said. The errors likely occurred at several stages, from when samples were collected from animals and labeled in vials to when sequencing data was linked to individuals, he said.

It was probably multiple people, he said. It was a series of unfortunate events.

Banes said hes not out to vilify the genome researchers and is glad they agreed to do the correction. He said his goal is to improve the integrity of science.

Theres no shame in making mistakes. What is critically important is that we correct them, he said. I personally mixed up three samples on Wednesday last week, but I caught it.

Tapanuli orangutans

Banes said one of the switches in the genome samples has implications for managing Tapanuli orangutans the newly discovered third species, from part of Sumatra.

One of the five animals identified as Sumatran in the 2011 paper turned out to be Tapanuli, which scientists wouldnt have been expected to know at the time. But it wasnt Baldy, a long-deceased male animal from the Sacramento Zoo that had only two offspring and no second-generation offspring, as identified by the genome researchers, Banes said. The Tapanuli was Bubbles, from the San Diego Zoo, a female that had eight descendants, some of which are still alive and in zoos, he said.

That led Banes and his colleagues to discover additional Tapanulis in zoos in the U.S. and elsewhere, with studies underway in Europe. He plans to publish a report soon on the extent of Tapanulis found, which he said raises questions for the future of orangutans in zoos.

What are the zoos going to do if 50% of their population now has to be taken out of the breeding program? he asked.

Visitors enter Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Deynah Thao, 7, gets a close look at a grizzly bear during a trip to Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening of the zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Visitors to Henry Vilas Zoo follow one way walking paths on the first day of the reopening of the zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Visitors stop to see the grizzly bears on the first day of the reopening of Henry Vilas Zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Visitors follow the paw prints as they check out animal exhibits on the first day of the reopening of Henry Vilas Zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Visitors enter Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

The first day of the reopening of Henry Vilas Zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Employee Ryan Brockner, right, shows off an umbrella cockatoo named Reggie to visitors Samia Sanders, 4, front, Nazilah Lites, 4, and Miyauna Sanders, 10, on the first day of the reopening of Henry Vilas Zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Nicole Josi Lema, with her daughters Arianna, 7, and Akemi, 5, right, are greeted by Courtney Cordova, educational specialist, as she explains the rules before entering Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Employee Debbie Scheffel cleans picnic tables after they are used by guests on the first day of the reopening of Henry Vilas Zoo since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Dan Tortorice, center, sits with his grandchildren, Aria Oettiker, 9, left, and her brother, Anthony, 6, as they eat ice cream during a visit to Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Signs reminding visitors to social distance are seen at Henry Vilas Zoo on the first day of the reopening since it closed due to COVID-19 in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 18, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

The whole (genome) mess underlines the need for careful curation of genomic data, including checking apparently solid identification in the genomic databases.

Michael Cobb, University of Manchester zoologist

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Mike Szydlowski| Columbia Daily Tribune

The Earth is warming. There is no doubt about that.

With that warming comes melting glaciers, sea level increases, stronger storms and now, lots of female sea turtles!

What?Thats right:another strange consequence of climate change is that the male/female ratio of some animals is becoming skewed at an alarming rate.Buthow does this happen?

In most animals, the gender of the animal is determined by genetics passed down by parents. However, in some fish and reptiles, the temperature during a very specific time duringincubationdetermines the gender.Sea turtles are just one species where gender is controlled by temperature.

In sea turtles, that very specific time of sex determination is during the middle third of the incubation period. With the sea turtle incubation period being about 60 days, the temperature of the egg during days 20-40 determines the gender of the turtle hatchling.

Scientists say if the egg is below about 82 degrees Fahrenheit during days 20-40, the turtle will hatch as a male. If it is above about 88 degrees, it will come out female. In between those temperatures, the gender could go either way.

Scientists at a Florida turtle sanctuary reported they have seen almost no male sea turtlehatchlings in the last four years. Those four years have also been the hottest four years on record on the beaches where the sea turtles lay their eggs.

Scientists studying sea turtles in Australia have found the very same circumstance. In that case, 99% of all turtle hatchlings were female. The changing climate has caused the sandy nests to constantly stay above the critical 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists have found it isn't just turtles being affected by climate change. A recent study found some species of bearded dragons are also shifting to disproportionally female populations due to the rising temperatures.Other studies have found the same thing happening to some species of fish.

Obviously, a population of sea turtles that is 99% female is not a great thing for the future. There is no doubt this is troubling for populations of sea turtles that are already struggling from habitat loss. There is no good news in this scenario, but there are some other circumstances that offer hope.

First, in the animal world, males can fertilize quite a few females. While bad, the mostly-female scenario we have now is better than a mostly-male scenario. The population would still suffer, but maybe not quite as much as one would think.

Second, not all populations of sea turtles are experiencing this phenomenon. Some populations are in regions that are warming, but not as drastically as in other places. This is not good news for the Florida or Australia turtle populations, but could mean other populations remain more stable.

Third, it is possible over time that sea turtles will migrate to cooler waters farther north. This would solve that problem.However, the adult turtles do not know there is a problem, so there really is no reason for them to migrate.

Some have suggested humans relocate some turtle populations farther north. While this could help, there are countless examples of negative things that occur when you move a species into a new ecosystem to solve a problem.That solution often causes other problems.

While this is sad for the sea turtles future, does it really impact humans? It does! What humans are just now starting to realize(scientists have always known this) is that everything in the plant and animal world is connected. Humans are part of that world, and every change ends up impacting us in some way.

Lets hope for some cooler weather for our nesting sea turtle eggs.

Mike Szydlowski is a science teacher and zoo facilitator at Jefferson STEAM School.

TIME FOR A POP QUIZ

1.What is temperature-dependent sex determination?

2.What types of animals have genders that are determined by the temperature?

3.Why is it unlikely that female turtles will travel north to lay eggs in cooler areas?

4. While still bad, why is a mostly-female population better than a mostly-male population?

5.What is one strategy that humans could try to help this problem?

LAST WEEKS POP QUIZ ANSWERS

1.What is a hellstrip?

A hellstrip is a nickname for the strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk. It was given this name because of how much abuse this area receives.

2.What are the benefits to planting trees in your yard?

Trees provide habitat for our important species, cool your yard and house in the summer, and increase the value of your home.They also make your home look much better.

3.While trees feed caterpillars, what needs to be done to help them to turn into butterflies and moths?

Most caterpillars burrow into soil to pupate and turn into butterflies and moths. Our lawns are not easy to burrow into. Turning the areas below trees into native areas will help them complete their lifecycle.

4.Why is the soil below our lawns often difficult to dig into?

Lawns have very shallow roots (which is why they dry out so quickly). The shallow roots do not break up the soil the way native plants would.

5.Why would people want to save insects? Dont we try to get rid of them?

Insects support all life on Earth.If insects continue to disappear, so will humans. Most insects do not cause any issues for humans.

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Why a warming Earth affects the gender ratio of sea turtles - Columbia Daily Tribune

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Fernanda, the only known living Fernandina giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus, or fantastic giant tortoise), now lives at the Galpagos National Parks Giant Tortoise Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island. Credit: The Galpagos Conservancy

Stephen Gaughran, a geneticist at Princeton University, has verified that Fernanda is related to a tortoise that was taken from Fernandina Island more than a century ago and that both of them are genetically distinct from all other Galpagos tortoises.

A tortoise from a Galpagos species that was long thought to be extinct has been discovered alive. The tortoise is the first of her kind to be discovered in more than a century and has been given the name Fernanda after her home on Fernandina Island.

A single specimen of the Fernandina Island Galpagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus, or fantastic giant tortoise) was discovered in 1906. The chance to ascertain if the species is still alive came with the discovery of a female tortoise on Fernandina Island in 2019.

Stephen Gaughran from Princeton University demonstrated that the two known Fernandina tortoises are members of the same species and genetically distinct from all other members by sequencing the genomes of both the living individual and the museum specimen and comparing them to the other 13 species of Galpagos giant tortoises. He co-authored a recent paper in the journal Communications Biology that established the survival of her species.

For many years it was thought that the original specimen collected in 1906 had been transplanted to the island, as it was the only one of its kind, said Peter Grant, Princetons Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology, Emeritus and an emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who has spent more than 40 years studying evolution in the Galpagos islands. It now seems to be one of a very few that were alive a century ago.

Fernanda, named after her Fernandina Island home, is the first of her species identified in more than a century. Princeton geneticist Stephen Gaughran successfully extracted DNA from a specimen collected from the same island more than a century ago and confirmed that Fernanda and the museum specimen are members of the same species and genetically distinct from all other Galpagos tortoises. Credit: The Galpagos Conservancy

Many ecologists questioned if Fernanda was really a native phantasticus tortoise when she was first found. She lacked the male historical specimens notable saddleback flare, but experts theorized that she may have had deformed features due to her clearly stunted development. Even though they cant swim, tortoises can be transported from one Galpagos island to another during hurricanes and other strong storms because they can float. The tortoises have also been transported across islands by seafarers, according to historical records.

Like many people, my initial suspicion was that this was not a native tortoise of Fernandina Island, said Gaughran, a postdoctoral research fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton.

To determine Fernandas species definitively, Gaughran sequenced her complete genome and compared it to the genome he was able to recover from the specimen collected in 1906. He also compared those two genomes to samples from the other 13 species of Galpagos tortoises three individuals from each of the 12 living species, and one individual of the extinct C. abingdonii.

We saw honestly, to my surprise that Fernanda was very similar to the one that they found on that island more than 100 years ago, and both of those were very different from all of the other islands tortoises, said Gaughran, who conducted the analyses after arriving at the University in February 2021.

In 2019, he was in the lab of Adalgisa Caccone at Yale University, the senior author of the paper. The finding of one alive specimen gives hope and also opens up new questions, as many mysteries still remain, said Caccone. Are there more tortoises on Fernandina that can be brought back into captivity to start a breeding program? How did tortoises colonize Fernandina, and what is their evolutionary relationship to the other giant Galpagos tortoises? This also shows the importance of using museum collections to understand the past.

Part of my postdoc is developing a tool that analyzes DNA from ancient museum specimens so we can compare them to modern samples, Gaughran said.

His tool is flexible enough to work on almost any ancient specimen. The software doesnt care if its a seal or a tortoise or human or Neanderthal, he said. Genetics is genetics, for the most part. Its in the interpretation where it matters what kind of creature the DNA comes from.

The Fernandina Island Galpagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus, or fantastic giant tortoise) was known only from this single specimen, collected in 1906, before Fernanda was found in 2019. Credit: California Academy of Sciences

At Princeton, Gaughran works with Andrea Graham and Bridgett vonHoldt to unravel the mysteries of pinniped (seal and walrus) evolution.

Stephen solves conservation mysteries, in species ranging from tortoises to pinnipeds, with the deft and careful application of genetic and bioinformatic tools, said Graham, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

He has such a curiosity for discovering the messages and codes tucked away in ancient remains, said vonHoldt, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. Stephen has been collecting specimens from several hundred years old to a few thousand, and these really hold the keys for understanding the history of when and how genomes changed over time. It is not surprising to me that he also led the effort to unravel the mystery of Fernanda, the fantastic ghost tortoise that has been rediscovered through molecular research. What a cool discovery!

Since 1906, scant but compelling evidence has hinted that giant tortoises might still live on Fernandina Island, an active volcano on the western edge of the Galpagos Archipelago that is reputed to be the largest pristine island on Earth.

A single specimen of C. phantasticus the fantastic giant tortoise was collected by explorer Rollo Beck during a 1906 expedition. The fantastic nature refers to the extraordinary shape of the males shells, which have extreme flaring along the outer edge and conspicuous saddlebacking at the front. Saddlebacking is unique to Galpagos tortoises, and the phantasticus tortoise shows it more prominently than the other species.

Since its 1906 discovery, the survival of the Fernandina tortoise has remained an open question for biologists. In 1964, 18 scats attributable to tortoises were reported on the western slopes of the island. Scats and a possible visual observation from an aircraft were reported during the early 2000s, and another possible tortoise scat was seen in 2014.

The island has remained largely unexplored, due to extensive lava fields blocking access to the islands interior.

Fernandina is the highest of the Galpagos islands, geologically young, and is mainly a huge pile of jagged blocks of brown lava; Rosemary and I once climbed to the top, said Grant, referring to his wife and research partner Rosemary Grant, an emeritus senior research biologist at Princeton. At lower elevations, the vegetation occurs in island-like clumps in a sea of recently congealed lava. Fernanda was found in one of these, and there is evidence that a few relatives may exist in others.

Scientists estimate that Fernanda is well over 50 years old, but she is small, possibly because the limited vegetation stunted her growth. Encouragingly, recent tracks and scat of at least 2 or 3 other tortoises were found during other recent expeditions on the island.

Two or three million years ago, a storm carried one or more giant tortoises from the South American mainland westwards. Because they dont swim, the tortoises bred only with others on their own islands, resulting in rapid evolution following the pattern of the better-known Galpagos finches. Today, there are 14 different species of giant Galpagos tortoises, all descended from a single ancestor.

(Some scientists debate whether these should be considered species or subspecies, but the Princeton-Yale team concluded that they are different enough, with thousands of distinctive genetic markers, to be separate species.)

Diversification of Galpagos tortoises reveals a continuum of shell shapes, with the easternmost islands showing rounder, domed shells, and the westernmost island Fernandina showing the most dramatic saddlebacking. The domed tortoises live in more humid, higher elevation ecosystems, while their saddlebacked cousins inhabit drier, lower elevation environments. All 14 are listed on the IUCN Red List as either vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, or extinct.

The tortoise populations were decimated by European seafarers who hunted them for food, having discovered that they could keep tortoises alive on their ships with minimal effort, as the reptiles could survive with little food or water. They were a great source of fresh meat for the sailors, but it meant that many of the species were severely overhunted, said Gaughran. And because they have such a long generation time, the populations have a hard time recovering quickly.

The genetic work provides intriguing hints of a mixing of genes with members of another population, said Grant. It would be fascinating if confirmed by future detective work on the genome. Another thought-provoking finding is the nearest relatives are not on the nearest very large island (Isabela) but on another (Espaola) far away on the other side of Isabela. The question of how the ancestors reached Fernandina is left hanging.

Fernanda is now at the Galpagos National Park Tortoise Center, a rescue and breeding facility, where experts are seeing what they can do to keep her species alive.

The discovery informs us about rare species that may persist in isolated places for a long time, said Grant. This information is important for conservation. It spurs biologists to search harder for the last few individuals of a population to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

Reference: The Galapagos giant tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus is not extinct by Evelyn L. Jensen, Stephen J. Gaughran, Nicole A. Fusco, Nikos Poulakakis, Washington Tapia, Christian Sevilla, Jeffreys Mlaga, Carol Mariani, James P. Gibbs and Adalgisa Caccone, 9 June 2022, Communications Biology.DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03483-w

The study was funded by the Galpagos National Park Directorate, the Galpagos Conservancy, the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Re:Wild, Island Conservation, the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Yale Center for Research Computing.

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Nearly a quarter of men and one-fifth of women in India have hypertension that increases the risk of cardiovascular, kidney disease and premature death, according to NFHS 5 data .

In women, along with the factors like high salt and fat intake, sedentary lifestyle, genetics, chronic conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, high cholesterol level and obesity, aging and hormonal imbalance, prolonged use of oral contraceptive pills, pregnancy and menopause all play an active role in the manifestation of the condition. Besides, they experience stress from their jobs as over the years their position in the family has gradually changed from bread-maker to breadwinner.

In women, the types of hypertension that may manifest before or during pregnancy are chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. The older a woman gets, she is more likely to develop hypertension and the associated cardiovascular disease. `

It is to be noted that women with chronic hypertension are at risk of experiencing serious complications during pregnancy. There is always a chance that 510% of pregnancies will become complicated by hypertension, and rates are likely to rise if the patient is obese. Women who have chronic hypertension can also get preeclampsia in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. However, hypertension in pregnancy does not occur exclusively and it is imperative to diagnose pre-existing cases, which either precedes pregnancy or develop before 20 weeks of gestation and generally lingers beyond 42 days, i.e.; after the postpartum period.

Occasionally, chronic hypertension may be superimposed by preeclampsia. Such high blood pressure can be dangerous for both the child and mother. In rare cases, symptoms may not start until after delivery.

Gestational hypertension can develop into preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder that can occur during pregnancy stressing the heart and other organs, and can cause serious complications like proteinuria, derailing the blood supply to the placenta, impairing liver and kidney function and fluid build-up in the lungs. Whilst, Eclampsia is a severe complication of Preeclampsia- a rare but serious condition where high blood pressure results in seizures during pregnancy.

Therefore, careful monitoring of blood pressure in a pregnant woman by a medical practitioner before, during and after pregnancy is essential as it tends to exist silently in the body.

Taking the stalk of the situation, the government launched the Newborn Action Plan (INAP) in June 2014 which aspires to bring neonatal mortality to a single digit by 2030 by providing continuum care for neonatal survival starting from preconception and continuing up to postpartum care. Pre-conceptional care requires blood pressure monitoring for every woman who is planning to get pregnant by a medical practitioner and also charting the blood pressure during and after pregnancy. Even the National health programmes work for adolescent health, safe motherhood and new born care.

In India, 25% of women who exhibit the tendency of mild high blood pressure during pregnancy continue to be hypertensive after childbirth and visiting the hospital twice or thrice during pregnancy may not be enough.

In addition, when a woman reaches the peri-menopausal and menopausal stage, she becomes prone to hypertension due to hormonal changes. Hence, it is essential to monitor blood pressure along with her other medical vitals, and if the readings are continually high, she should be put on medication.

To prevent pre-hypertension from progressing to full-blown hypertension, one should make lifestyle adjustments such as increasing physical activity, eating a low-fat, low-sodium diet, abstaining from smoking and drinking, and maintaining ideal body weight.

Since it has been observed that the majority of women are not socially or financially able to pay for the prescription or bring someone with them to the hospital, therapy should start with one pill and be adjusted as needed.

Sometimes, treatment compliance remains challenging for a woman as she is a working professional and visiting the nearest primary healthcare centre for a refill of her blood pressure medication becomes a humongous task for her and irregular access to anti-hypertensive medicines often leads to non-adherence to treatment and a fall-out.

In this case, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfares (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI) initiative at the start of the Covid in March 2020, proved to be fruitful. It wrote to all states and Union Territories (UTs) recommending making anti-hypertension drugs available for free and in sufficient quantities at all Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (ABHWCs), at sub-centre and Primary Health Centres (PHCs). All known diagnosed patients with hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mental health to receive a regular supply of medicines for up to 90 days through ASHAs or health sub-centres on prescription. This extended refill prescription approach for chronic diseases proved to be an innovative and sure-shot step towards ensuring the last-mile delivery of drugs and the continuation of such module can help go long way in tackling hypertension in women. Also, ASHAs and other health sub-centers should regularly check the blood pressure of women as it can help in the monitoring of female hypertension.

Most importantly, when a woman is told she has high blood pressure, its crucial that she follows through with the recommended treatment, medications, and check ups. It is essential to provide the patient with counselling and make clear to her the significance of adhering to her medication throughout her life, citing the risks of a stroke, damaged kidneys, damaged heart, and vision impairment.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

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Background reading:Transcript:

[0:00:04.3] Welcome to On the Issues with Michele Goodwin at Ms. Magazine. You know, were a show that reports, rebels, and tells it just like it is.

On this show, we center your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. Join me as we tackle the most compelling issues of our times because on our show history matters. We examine the past, as we think about the future. That couldnt be more relevant for this episode, and as we think about where we are in this country.

Out of the studio, were joined with special guest at the National Womens History Museum for an incredibly important episode that addresses reproductive health rights and justice from a historical point of view, but as we think about matters of history, as we go forward for our future podcasts, thank you for sticking in with us, as we had a little bit of a break over the summer.

Theres so much for us to think about in the coming election term, the 2022 midterms, so much to think about in light of the hearings on the storming and insurrection against the capital and our government, so much to think about in the wake of the post Dobbs era in the United States where weve seen a 10-year-old girl fleeing the state of Ohio to get to Indiana in order to terminate a pregnancy after rape. As weve seen in the state of Wisconsin with a woman who bled for days, more than 10 days, with an incomplete miscarriage going near death before doctors could provide her the standard medical treatment. A woman in Louisiana whos forced to carry a pregnancy with a fetus developing without a skull. A girl in Florida being denied the opportunity to terminate her pregnancy by a judge, who says that shes too immature to decide to have an abortion but somehow mature enough to carry a pregnancy for nine months risking her health and safety and then becoming a mother before even graduating from high school.

Theres so much more in terms of this landscape thats now capturing our country, and so it is important that we think about history, its important that we think about our future, and its important for us to think about what comes next, what can we do to create the kind of future that we want for our country.

I couldnt be more pleased than to be joined by very special guests for this out-of-studio special broadcast. Im joined by Professor Mary Ziegler. You know her as one of the worlds leading historians of the US abortion debate. Shes the author of Abortion and the Law in America: A Legal History, and her new book couldnt be more timely, Dollars for Life: The Antiabortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment.

Im also joined by Sarah Dubow, a professor of history at Williams College and author of the award-winning book, Ourselves Unborn: A History of the Fetus in Modern America.

Also, with us today, is Deborah White. Professor White is the Board of Governors Professor of History and Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Rutgers University. Shes also the author of Arnt I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South.

Thank you for joining us for this special episode. Sit back and take a good listen.

[0:03:41.6] Michele Goodwin:

I want to start first by engaging with you, Professor Deborah White, and I hope its okay that we can all be on first names for todays show.

Deborah, during your decades of work, you have studied the intersections of race, and sex, and gender. Your work has looked at the very origin story of Black women and their kidnap, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and in fact, your book, Arnt I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South, such a powerful and important book with helping to level set.

I want to start first with a question that seems to have been overlooked in history and that is how Black women navigated the sexual harms, assaults, and rapes that they encountered when being kidnapped and brought to this new world, and what does that mean in terms of thinking about conversations of reproductive autonomy.

[0:04:53.2] Deborah White:

Thats a big one.

[0:04:54.7] Michele Goodwin:

It certainly is. Its a lot, and you know, youre one of the best people that I could find to start us off and answer that question.

[0:05:04.3] Deborah White:

Yeah. So, I know this is about abortion rights, but it really is about bodily autonomy and who controls whose wombs. From the very beginning, African American women were set apart from White women, in this nation, and so that Black women, basically, at the very beginning, in 1662, there is a law that it says that the child follows the condition of the mother, and in as much as the issues of slavery and race had not really been worked out and they were being worked out, you could actually see the progression of how African American women and the control of African American womens wombs really was that that was going to be how or whether or not slavery was even going to survive.

All right, so the very beginning of this nations history, the British, in particular, they decided that the child would follow the condition of the mother, and that meant that, I mean, you know, in Britain, the child followed, you know, based on inheritance rules

[0:06:45.9] Michele Goodwin:

The status of the father.

[0:06:47.0] Deborah White:

The status of the father, and so what they were saying was that it was really if the woman was a slave

[0:06:56.6] Michele Goodwin:

Her children would be slaves.

[0:06:57.8] Deborah White:

Then her child would be a slave, and if the woman was free, then the child would be free, so if you were setting up a system of slavery, based on color, you want to make sure that the babies that Black women have are Black or Brown, but they are of color, and that the children that White women have, that they are White, so if you look at the very founding laws of this country, you find that, you know, there was an attempt to control African American and White womens reproduction.

[0:07:40.4] Michele Goodwin:

So, I want to build upon that because what youre opening the door to are other matters, as well. So, very recently, just a couple years ago, reported in The New York Times and other media, was a study done by 23andMe along with myriad other researchers to study the DNA of Black people, and what they found were incredibly high links to White male genetics, part of that historic story of slavery, and it seems to me that that connects with what it is that you are saying because if children will inherit the status of their mothers, then that means that Black women are increasingly vulnerable to what would be these kind of perverse incentives. If you want more enslaved people on your plantation, then you force this Black woman to reproduce, and it also then means that if youre White, you dont have to worry about that child claiming some inheritance from your estate or your property because that child is the status of that woman. In fact, Black women were considered property, that property that birthed it.

[0:09:00.9] Deborah White:

Yeah. Of course, I mean, that was the thought, and that was the desire, but it never worked out that way. Obviously, White women had children with Black men, and so some of their children were Brown and some Brown children, particularly some women, were the children of White mothers, but I mean, in theory, if you could control the race or the color of the children that were born, then you could essentially control how slavery would proceed, but it was always very, very, very messy, so in some of the very early laws of this nation, you had White women being penalized for having children that were Brown.

[0:10:02.0] Michele Goodwin:

Well, it is messy, isnt it?

[0:10:03.7] Deborah White:

And they were fined, and sometimes, they were put in jail, and there were all kinds of laws.

I think the bottom line really is that children carry, in some peoples ideas, in some peoples ideology, in fact, children carry the nation, and the way of the nation is determined by the children that come out of womens wombs, and therefore, its been very important to control who marries who, and its been very important to control who has sex.

I mean, so the issues of sexual integrity and the issues of reproduction are all tied up together, and with issues of nationalism.

[0:11:02.3] Michele Goodwin:

Sure. Well, you know, it also strikes me, too, by what youre saying, is the hypodescent rules, you know, otherwise, known as the one drop rule, which, otherwise, colors, no pun intended, exactly what it is that youre saying here.

[0:11:19.8] Deborah White:

Yes. Yeah.

[0:11:21.3] Michele Goodwin:

And then the anti-miscegenation rules, as well, in terms of who can marry whom, I mean, which existed and persisted long beyond slaverys abolition.

[0:11:31.9] Deborah White:

_____ [0:11:32.1].

[0:11:32.3] Michele Goodwin:

Long, deeply beyond Jim Crowe. I mean, 1967 is when the Supreme Court finally strikes down the anti-miscegenation laws.

[0:11:41.0] Deborah White:

Yeah.

[0:11:41.8] Michele Goodwin:

Yeah, and whats interesting about that, and then were going to come back to this, Im going to turn to Sarah for a moment here, but what strikes me is as being very interesting about 1967 with the Supreme Court finally striking down anti-miscegenation laws is that Virginia came kind of, you know, with full force defending its laws,

wanting to persist into the late 1960s and 70s with anti-miscegenation on the books. Its fascinating, and to your point, one of the ways in which they defend the law is to say that theyre protecting children, theyre protecting future offspring, so fascinating.

Well, Sarah, Im so happy that youre joining us for this very important dialogue and conversation. Interestingly, you too have roots at Rutgers, as well, which is really terrific. Rutgers has really just been showing such mightiness across these spaces. Some of our viewers and listeners will know that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, before she was a justice, Ginsburg taught at Rutgers, and so what a fascinating history and present at Rutgers.

So, youve taught at a number of places, and your work examines the intersections of gender, law, and politics in the 20th century, and your book, Ourselves Unborn: A History of the Fetus in Modern America, just an incredible page turner, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering learning more, wanting to know more in this space.

So, how do we build upon this history that Deborah just started us off with? I know with your work it covers the space before Roe v. Wade. What is the leadup? How do we further contextualize exactly what the concerns were with regard to reproductive health rights justice, if you can, before Roe?

[0:13:58.0] Sarah Dubow:

Thanks. Im really glad that we began this conversation with Deborahs longer history and context because I think its really impossible to sort of separate the story of the history of reproductive politics, reproductive justice, abortion politics from the history of slavery, of race, of controlling womens bodies, controlling Black womens bodies in particular ways, and that history is really completely absent from the Dobbs decisions majority opinion, and I know that were not just here to talk about Dobbs, but I did want to sort of start

[0:14:33.7] Michele Goodwin:

Oh, please start. I mean, because that would talk about a hot mess, you know, opportunistic readings of history, you know, hopscotch around history. I mean, it was an unfortunate just in terms of the quality of the research and the quality of analysis was really far shortened in that opinion.

[0:14:57.8] Sarah Dubow:

Yeah, and I think, at the same time, it was so committed to framing itself as a historical analysis, so I think that the decision reallyI mean, I think, it cites the word history sort of 67 times, at least, and you know the conclusion is sort of that he says, you know, theres this unbroken tradition of prohibiting abortion on pain of criminal punishment from the earliest days of common law through 1973.

[0:15:21.9] Michele Goodwin:

Which is an error.

[0:15:23.9] Sarah Dubow:

Its an error.

[0:15:24.3] Michele Goodwin:

Its false.

[0:15:25.1] Sarah Dubow:

Its an error.

[0:15:27.2] Michele Goodwin:

Thats a polite way of saying it, right, Sarah, it is an error.

[0:15:30.7] Sarah Dubow:

Its an error. Its a contradistinction to sort of the consensus view of most historians, and so I thought it might be helpful to just sort of lay out what that consensus really is.

[0:15:41.7] Michele Goodwin:

I think thats a great place to begin, and as you do, I think its worth noting that to the extent that Justice Alito frames himself as an originalist and textualist, and says, well, abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution, its worth noting that pregnancy isnt mentioned in the Constitution, labor and delivery arent mentioned in the Constitution, that there are things that are just so normalized in terms of human existence that werent mentioned in the Constitution, you know, suggesting that labor, pregnancy, or abortion should be mentioned in the Constitution as if saying male erection should be listed in the Constitution, and Im not being sloppy or humorous with that, but its just that, you know, why exactly this sort of examination of the womans body in the Constitution and not a mans body in a document that was written by and for men, largely.

[0:16:40.5] Sarah Dubow:

Yeah, and I think, I mean, the narrowness of it is a choice, right, I mean, so the premise of the decision is to sort of look at these written laws that were passed around the time of the 14th amendments ratification, and to sort of say, look, all of these state laws are criminalizing abortion, and theres some degree of truth to that, that in the late 19th century there were a series of laws that were passed in the states that were picking up on common law and codifying it, and criminalizing abortion and statutes, and a lot of those laws. I mean, I think the motivation behind those laws is also really important to think about, actually.

[0:17:20.6] Michele Goodwin:

Oh, share, Sarah, because we know what those motivations were. Those were laws that came up in the wake of the demise of slavery.

[0:17:28.0] Sarah Dubow:

Yeah, so they came up in the wake of the demise of slavery, the 14th amendment is passed. I mean, I guess, it goes without saying, although Ill say it, you know, its the laws being codified.

[0:17:38.1] Michele Goodwin:

Say it, Sarah. Say it.

[0:17:40.2] Sarah Dubow:

The laws were being codified are, you know, written by White men, theyre being ratified in legislatures where women are not voting, where Black women are not voting, where many Black men, at this point in time, were not voting, and so, you know, to pick that moment

[0:17:54.9] Michele Goodwin:

And just nothing not voting because they cant vote, right, like not voting because, oh, youre just so apathetic, and youre just not exercising your right to vote, right?

[0:18:04.4] Sarah Dubow:

Correct. Correct. I mean, so women cannot vote, and theres a lot of violence and voter suppression following the 15th amendment that makes it extremely dangerous for Black men to vote, and so those laws are passed, and those laws also do retain though some distinctions between stages in pregnancy, and they impose different penalties depending on the stage of pregnancy, and when you look at the actual implementation of those laws, you actually see that theres a big gap between how those laws are written and how those laws are interpreted by juries, for example.

I mean, first of all, very few cases are actually ever prosecuted, at that time, but also, when juries decide, they often dont uphold those laws, and they find that theres not a crime actually being committed that they want to punish, and at the same time, theres also the motive behind the laws, which is drivenI mean, there are a couple of reasons for it, and we can sort of flesh them out, but they were led by a doctor named Horatio Storer, was one of the leading _____ [0:19:10.6].

[0:19:10.5] Michele Goodwin:

Absolutely, Horatio Storer and Joseph DeLee, I mean, you know, they write about how urgent it is that White women use their loins and go east, north, south, and west. It kind of reminds me of the contemporary rhetoric that we hear from the kind of self-described White nationalist and White Christian nationalist, who are concerned about replacement and the whole replacement theory, this idea that as soon as Black people are freed from the chains and boughs of slavery that somehow, theyll just darken the United States and White people will be replaced.

[0:19:47.5] Sarah Dubow:

I mean, thats a huge anxiety for these people, who are passing the laws, and Alito acknowledges it, and he says, but really, like we dont know what they really meant. I mean, they were telling us what they really meant.

[0:19:58.9] Michele Goodwin:

They were writing it. Horatio Storer couldnt have been morethe thing that I find fascinating, Sarah, oh, and Im just loving this conversation, but the thing that I find fascinating is the misreading, rereading of the explicit things that people wrote, right.

[0:20:11.7] Sarah Dubow:

Right.

See the original post here:
63. History Matters: Understanding Abortion Rights in the U.S. and What Comes Next (with Mary Ziegler, Sarah Dubow and Deborah White) - Ms. Magazine

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith