The obesity rate among primary and secondary schoolchildren in Seoul has increased since the surge of the COVID pandemic, and now one in five or six schoolkids has high blood pressure, fresh data suggest.An earlier government survey found that obesity among children increased as they engaged in fewer activities and their eating habits changed in lockdown.The new data from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also show that risk factors of major chronic diseases such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels and liver somatic index worsened.
Health
Japanese Scientists Find Protein That Determines COVID Severity
Here:
A team of Japanese researchers identified a protein that can foretell severe COVID-19 cases, potentially making it possible to determine the severity of a patient’s symptoms.
Scientists from Chiba University said they discovered the protein–called myosin light chain 9 (Myl9)–rose in volume in blood vessels among patients with more serious signs of the novel coronavirus. Myl9 is one of the components that make up blood platelets.
The research was carried out primarily by a team headed by Kiyoshi Hirahara, an immunology professor at the university’s graduate school.
“If a simple kit could be developed that could measure the concentration of Myl9, the severity of patients’ conditions could be predicted,” Hirahara said at an Aug. 1 news conference. “That would help determine which patients to hospitalize first.”
The findings have been published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Creating a therapeutic agent featuring an antibody against Myl9 could help doctors prevent symptoms from worsening,” Hirahara said.
Hirahara and his colleagues examined inflammation around the pulmonary blood vessels of individuals who deaths were due to COVID-19.
The researchers then found the virus damaged blood vessels, leading to the platelet-constituting Myl9 to swarm around blood clots generated in the process.
Analyzing the blood samples of 123 hospitalized patients from 11 medical centers, including Chiba University Hospital, the scientists discovered Myl9 levels were three to five times higher among those with moderate conditions than seen in mild cases.
It was 10-fold among patients who died of the virus.
Patients who showed higher Myl9 levels when they were admitted to hospital ended up being hospitalized for longer periods, according to the team.
Myl9 exists in the blood of healthy people but in only limited amounts.
According to the team, Myl9 levels among COVID-19 patients rise more markedly than in those with severe blood vessel problems, such as sepsis, and underwent cardiac and other surgical procedures that took a heavy toll on their bodies.
Depression is ‘not caused by chemical imbalance’
Major review suggests low serotonin levels are not a factor and the condition is more likely to be linked to stressful life events
Depression is not a chemical imbalance in the brain and scientists have no idea how antidepressants work, a review by University College London has concluded.
Although one in six adults in England are currently prescribed antidepressants – most of which act by maintaining serotonin levels – the new analysis suggests depression is not actually caused by low levels of serotonin.
Instead, depression may be more strongly equated with negative life events which lower mood, the review found.
This post is by no means meant to be used to belittle or discount anyone’s mental health matters.
If anti-depressants work for you then great nothing more need be said.
Trust me on this, we all know someone who has or does use them.
Autism Rate Now 1 in 30 Among American Children
A new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that the number of children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States has risen to 1 in 30. The study, which was conducted by public health researchers at Guandong Pharmaceutical University in China, looked at data from the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It estimated there was a 52 percent increase in ASD diagnoses among children and adolescents in the U.S. during 2017-2020.
h/t Mauser 98
‘Fat Sex Therapist’ compares fitness trainers to Nazis, children’s dieting to sexual assault
“I truly believe that a child cannot consent to being on a diet the same way a child cannot consent to having sex,” Sonalee Rashatwar, whose Instagram username is “The Fat Sex Therapist,” proclaimed Thursday from the main stage of St. Olaf College.
The FDA is wrong to pull life-saving COVID-19 antibody treatments
The Food and Drug Administration suddenly decided to withdraw its emergency use authorization of two COVID-19 antibody treatments this week, leaving hundreds of patients who depend on them in the lurch.
UK Gov’t App Offers Rewards for Walking, Eating Vegetables, Fruits
The “Times”, a British daily, wide circulated newspaper, said that nationals of the UK (known also as Britons) will get discounts on shopping if they walk for longer periods, and eat healthy vegetables, and fruits at least five times a day, as part of a new health application that the British government seeks to develop.
Concerns about flu increase as COVID measures are reduced
With fewer COVID restrictions in place, the flu virus is spreading once again, according to a Toronto health official.
Unlike last year when Toronto residents were locked down, many restrictions have been eliminated, giving people more freedom to mingle and spread influenza.
Outrage at WHO’s call to prevent ‘child-bearing age’ women from drinking
The controversial advice was laid out in WHO’s draft of its Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030, which urges countries to raise awareness among the public about the risks and harms associated with alcohol consumption, with particular focus on how children are impacted when exposed to alcohol while still in the womb.
In order to lessen these impacts, the organisation suggests preventing not only pregnant women from drinking alcohol, but any woman of “child-bearing age”.
BONOKOSKI: A COVID-19 opportunity knocks if governments will listen
Germicidal UVC installed in HVAC systems will kill virtually every virus, bacteria and spore in the air — including COVID-19.
Masks used in Quebec schools may have been toxic
Health Canada has issued a warning after face masks issued to schools and daycares in Quebec were found to contain a toxic chemical.
Where did these masks come from? As if we need to ask.
Six Questions About Masks Our Overlords Refuse to Answer
As the first few days of Joe Biden’s “100 days of mass mask-wearing” go by, I have no doubt you are seeing lots more mask-wearing than you did prior to January 20, right? Maybe you’re seeing people with two masks instead of the now-outdated one. Hopefully, you are seeing more masks in personal vehicles, in private homes, on hiking trails, in parks, and in all the other places and situations where people may have been lax before. Masks worn by joggers, gym-goers, and even children playing team sports should be the norm, probably forever. Universal, constant mask-wearing, after all, is the most effective way to curb the spread of the LITERAL PLAGUE, and that’s pretty much all you peasants need to know …
Quebec’s COVID-19 curfew challenged by health experts, advocates
Government should address sites of outbreaks instead of stripping away freedoms, Ligue des droits says.
Cosmo Magazine Runs Series Of Obese Women On February’s ‘This Is Healthy’ Cover
The February 2021 edition of Cosmopolitan features women of various body sizes with superimposed text reading “This is healthy! 11 women on why wellness doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all.”
Fauci Admits He Lied About Covid-19 Herd Immunity Threshold
Fauci an epidemiologist who is had of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease is revered as a hero by mainstream media outlets and Democrat politicians
His intentional deception involved estimates about what percentage of the population would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity against the virus and enable a return to normalcy.