The Gary Null Show - 09.01.22

1. Vax Whistleblower – Mary Hollen
2. Anna Maria Mihalcea – D-Dimer elevation in the Unvaccinated. A Marker of Shedding?
3. Why You Should Have Faith 
4. Plandemic – Indoctrination 

 

Green tea compound shows promise for treating rheumatoid arthritis

Washington State University August 25, 2022

A compound found in green tea could be an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, according to the results of a new study.

Green tea being poured into a cup] EGCG – a compound found in green tea – could help treat rheumatoid arthritis, new research suggests. In the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology, researchers from Washington State University (WSU) in Spokane reveal how the compound – called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) – reduced ankle swelling in a mouse model of the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease that affects the joints of the body, most commonly the joints of the hands, feet, wrists, elbows knees and ankles. In RA, the immune system mistakingly attacks the synovial tissues surrounding the joints, causing inflammation, swelling and pain. This can cause damage to the cartilage and bone.

Current treatments for RA include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), corticosteroids and JAK inhibitors. But study leader Salah-uddin Ahmed, of the WSU College of Pharmacy, notes that some of these treatments are expensive, reduce immune system activity and can be unsuitable for long-term use. In their study, Ahmed and colleagues suggest that the compound EGCG may be a promising alternative to current treatments for RA. EGCG targets key signaling protein to reduce RA inflammation EGCG is a chemical compound that belongs to a class of flavanols known as catechins.

After giving EGCG to mouse models of RA for 10 days, the team noticed that treatment with the compound led to a significant reduction in ankle swelling. The researchers found that EGCG reduces the activity of TAK1 – a key signaling protein through which pro-inflammatory cytokines transmit their signals to trigger the inflammation and tissue damage found in RA. What is more, the team says that EGCG reduced inflammation in RA without interfering with other cellular functions – unlike some current medications for the disease. According to Ahmed, their study suggests the green tea compound may be highly effective against RA.

Antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice may aid blood sugar management for diabetics: Human data

Jordan University of Science and Technology, August 20, 2022

Daily consumption of pomegranate juice may help control blood sugar levels in type-2 diabetics, as well as improving the function of beta cells in the pancreas, say data from a human trial.

Scientists from the Jordan University of Science and Technology report that pomegranate juice at a dose of 1.5 mL per kg of body weight (or 105 mL for a 70 kg human) was associated with reductions in fasting glucose levels in type-2 diabetics.

“Studying the effects of pomegranate consumption (in a juice form) on the reduction of blood glucose levels in type-2 diabetes patients could lead to a dietary approach to control this disease,” they added. “Since there are many herbs and fruits that are easily available and of value in controlling this disease, this study may contribute to a better understanding and improved management of type 2 diabetes by the individual.”

To investigate this, they recruited 85 people with type-2 diabetes and assigned them to receive 1.5 mL of the juice per kg of body weight. Blood sugar and insulin levels, and beta cell function were assessed three hours after ingestion. (Beta-cells are found in the pancreas and their primary function is to store and release insulin.)

Results showed that pomegranate juice was associated with significantly lower fasting glucose levels (8.5 mmol/L) compared with the control participants (9.44 mmol/L). However, this result was an average for the whole cohort and about 20% of the participants did not experience this benefit.

Going with the flow: Study shows canals and rivers help boost your mood
King’s College London, August 31, 2022

Researchers report that the combination of blue and green space with wildlife, has a greater impact on well-being than spending time in an environment that is characterized by only green space.

The researchers used Urban Mind, a smartphone-based app, to collect thousands of real time audits about participants’ location and mental well-being.

Results from this first of its kind study showed positive associations between visits to canals and rivers and mental well-being, as well as a positive experience for feelings of safety and social inclusion relative to all other types of environments (such as indoors, or outside in an urban environment, or near green spaces).

Andrea Mechelli, Professor of Early Intervention in Mental Health, King’s College London, said, “Canals and rivers contain not only water but also an abundance of trees and plants, which means their capacity to improve mental well-being is likely to be due to the multiple benefits associated with both green and blue spaces. Canals and rivers also provide homes to a range of wildlife, and we know from other research that there is a positive association between encountering wildlife and mental well-being. Taken collectively, these findings provide an evidence base for what we thought about water and well-being and support the proposal that visits to canals and rivers could become part of social prescribing schemes, playing a role in supporting mental health.”

The study found that visiting canals and rivers was associated with a greater improvement in mental well-being, and this relationship was still present when accounting for individual variation due to age, gender, education, ethnicity, and a diagnosis of a mental health condition. People also reported continued improvements in their mental well-being for up to 24 hours after the visit had taken place.”The powerful mix of blue, green and wildlife-rich space shows that although built for industry, repurposed canals are actually amongst our most important places of health and well-being in our towns and cities.

Men, people over 65 sleep better when they have access to nature
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, August 24, 2022

Men and persons age 65 and older who have access to natural surroundings, whether it’s the green space of a nearby park or a sandy beach and an ocean view, report sleeping better, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Preventive Medicine.

In the study, Grigsby-Toussaint worked with both U of I researchers and scientists from the New York University School of Medicine. The team used data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveyed 255,171 representative U.S. adults, to learn whether there was an association between self-reported days of insufficient sleep and access to green space. The team also used a USDA index that scores the country’s geographical areas for their natural amenities, using hours of sunlight, which is important in regulating a person’s circadian rhythm, and temperature.

In response to the survey question about sleep quality in the last month, the researchers found that the most common answer was that respondents had slept poorly for less than one week.

“Interestingly, though, across the entire sample, individuals reporting 21 to 29 days of insufficient sleep consistently had lower odds of access to green space and natural amenities compared to those reporting less than one week,” she said.

For men, the relationship between sleep and exposure to green space was much stronger than for women. And males and females 65 and over found nature to be a potent sleep aid, she added.

Grigsby-Toussaint noted that living near green landscapes is associated with higher levels of physical activity and that exercise in turn predicts beneficial sleep patterns.

But men appeared to benefit much more from their natural surroundings. The researcher speculated that women may take less advantage of nearby natural settings out of concern for their safety, but she added that more research is needed.

New study links ultra-processed foods and colorectal cancer in men
Tufts University and Harvard University, August 31 ,2022

For many Americans, the convenience of pre-cooked and instant meals may make it easy to overlook the less-than-ideal nutritional information, but a team led by researchers at Tufts University and Harvard University hope that will change after recently discovering a link between the high consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

In a study published in the BMJ, researchers found that men who consumed high rates of ultra-processed foods were at 29% higher risk for developing colorectal cancer—the third most diagnosed cancer in the United States—than men who consumed much smaller amounts. They did not find the same association in women.

“We started out thinking that colorectal cancer could be the cancer most impacted by diet compared to other cancer types,” said Lu Wang, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. “Processed meats, most of which fall into the category of ultra-processed foods, are a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer. Ultra-processed foods are also high in added sugars and low in fiber, which contribute to weight gain and obesity, and obesity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer.”

The study analyzed responses from over 200,000 participants—159,907 women and 46,341 men—across three large prospective studies which assessed dietary intakeand were conducted over more than 25 years.

The analyses revealed differences in the ways that men and women consume ultra-processed foods and the prospective associated cancer risk. Out of the 206,000 participants followed for more than 25 years, the research team documented 1,294 cases of colorectal cancer among men, and 1,922 cases among women.

The team found the strongest association between colorectal cancer and ultra-processed foods among men come from the meat, poultry, or fish-based, ready-to-eat products. “These products include some processed meats like sausages, bacon, ham, and fish cakes. This is consistent with our hypothesis,” Wang said.

The team also found higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda, fruit-based beverages, and sugary milk-based beverages, is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer in men.

However, not all ultra-processed foods are equally harmful with regard to colorectal cancer risk. “We found an inverse association between ultra-processed dairy foods like yogurt and colorectal cancer risk among women,” said co-senior author Fang Fang Zhang, a cancer epidemiologist and interim chair of the Division of Nutrition Epidemiology and Data Science at the Friedman School.

Overall, there was not a link between ultra-processed food consumption and colorectal cancer risk among women. It’s possible that the composition of the ultra-processed foods consumed by women could be different than that from men.

“Foods like yogurt can potentially counteract the harmful impacts of other types of ultra-processed foods in women,” Zhang said.

8 Benefits of Pine Bark Extract for Your Brain
GreenMedInfo, August 31, 2022

Our brains can be harmed by many factors such as disease, stress from the environment, physical injuries or natural aging but pine bark extract may be one key to a healthier brain

Pine bark extract (PE), trade name Pycnogenol (pronounced “pig-nah-gen-all”), has many beneficial properties such as being anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective. It can help with memory, cognition, inattention, hyperactivity, mood, thinking and various symptoms of brain injuries, aging and neurological diseases.

1. Fights Inflammation and Protects the Brain

In a systematic review and meta-analysis of Pycnogenol supplementation on C-reactive protein (CRP) — a marker of oxidative stress — researchers examined five trials including 324 participants. Pycnogenol supplementation had a significant effect in reducing CRP and demonstrated a strong anti-inflammatory effect.[i]

In a study of gerbils, pine bark extract was administered at 100 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) once a day for seven days before the brain was submitted to a brain ischemic injury.

The PE treatment markedly inhibited the death of neurons in the brain, significantly decreased the pro-inflammatory cytokines — interleukin 1β and tumor necrosis factor α — and showed a strong activation effect on anti-inflammatory cytokines of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and interleukin 13 (IL-13). Pine bark protected the brain and decreased inflammation.[ii]

2. Improves Attention, Memory, Executive Functions and Mood in Healthy People

In a study over eight weeks, Pycnogenol supplementation improved sustained attention, memory, executive functions and mood ratings in 53 healthy students compared to an equivalent control group.[iii]

In a trial of 60 healthy professionals from 35 to 55 years old, half of the participants supplemented with Pycnogenol of 50 mg three times a day for 12 weeks in combination with a controlled health plan — regular sleep, balanced meals and daily exercise — and the other half followed only the health plan as the control group.

PE significantly improved mood by 16%, mental performance by 9%, attention by 13% and memory by 4%, and reduced oxidative stress by 30%, outperforming all results of the control group.[iv]

3. Prevents Brain Aging and Cognitive Decline

Brain aging is a complex process involving changes in the brain’s structure, neuron activity and biochemical profile that has been linked to age-associated variations in cognitive function. Increased oxidative stress may also be an important factor related to reduced cognition in older people.

In a systematic review of over 100 research trials and animal studies, the antioxidant Pycnogenol significantly improved cognitive function after chronic administration.[v]

4. Improves Cognition and Stress in the Mildly Impaired or Highly Oxidative Stressed

Eighty-seven healthy subjects with mild cognitive impairment scores were included in a trial with one group given standard management (SM) and the other half given Pycnogenol supplements for two months. The median increase in mild impairment scores was 18% with Pycnogenol compared to 2.48% in the SM group, largely due to its effects on oxidative stress levels.[vi]

In a study of 88 healthy patients ages 55 to 70 who had high oxidative stress, half were supplemented with 100 mg per day of Pycnogenol for 12 months and the other half were the control group followed as a reference point for a year. Those in the pine bark group had significantly improved cognitive function scores, attention and mental performance and lowered oxidative stress levels compared to those in the reference group.[vii]

5. Increases Cognitive Function and Helps Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease

Researchers studied 43 Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who had been diagnosed at least one year before the trial. The condition was considered “mild,” with minimal progression.

The standard management (SM) for PD — carbidopa/levodopa — was used in a similar-sized reference group of PD subjects for comparison purposes. The trial subjects were supplemented with Pycnogenol of 150 mg per day along with SM for a period of four weeks.

Cognitive function was significantly higher with the Pycnogenol group. Target symptoms including tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia — slow or impaired movements in limbs — and speech were improved in the PE group compared to the control group. Oxidative stress was also significantly lower in the pine bark group at four weeks.[viii]

6. Enhances Memory and Prevents Harmful Plaque and Tau Buildup in Alzheimer’s Disease

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the release of amyloid-beta (Aβ) is a marker. Aβ aggregates into oligomers, then plaques, which induce inflammatory responses, synapse loss and misfolding of tau, a second hallmark of AD. Accumulation of tau misfolding leads to tangles in the brain and neuron cell death impacting brain synapses in a pattern of progression closely related to cognitive decline, which can happen years before memory loss symptoms even appear.[ix]

Pycnogenol significantly decreased the number of plaques in both pre-onset and post-onset treatment paradigms and improved spatial memory in the pre-onset treatment only in an AD-induced mouse model.[x]

In an in vitro study of AD-induced animals, pine bark — Oligopin — prevented and halted the progression of AD preclinically by inhibiting oligomer formation of not only Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42, but also tau in vitro.[xi]

7. Reduces Inflammation and Improves Outcomes for Traumatic Brain Injuries

In a scientific trial of 67 traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), the intervention group received 150 mg of the PE supplement Oligopin with enteral nutrition — tube feeding through stomach or intestine — for 10 days while the control group received a placebo.[xii]

Pine bark supplementation significantly decreased inflammatory biomarkers of IL-6, IL-1β and CRP compared to the control group after 10 days. In addition, pine bark reduced clinical scores for acute physiology and chronic health evaluation as well as sequential organ failure. The Nutric score — a way to measure if a patient is under-nourished and at critical risk of dying[xiii] — was reduced compared to the control group as well.

Overall, the survival rate was 15% higher in the pine bark group compared to the placebo group. PE supplementation for TBI patients in ICUs reduced inflammation, improved their clinical status and malnutrition score and, thereby, reduced their mortality rate.

8. Improves Attention, Focus, Thinking, Behavior and Antioxidant Levels in ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impulsivity, distractibility and hyperactivity. One of the factors associated with ADHD is oxidative stress. Pycnogenol consists of bioflavonoids, catechins, procyanidins and phenolic acids.[xiv]

Pycnogenol acts as a powerful antioxidant stimulating certain enzymes, like superoxide dismutase (SOD) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which can defend against oxidative stress. In the pathophysiology of ADHD, damage to adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine metabolism occurs in the brain. These changes can modify attention, thinking and acting.[xv]

In a trial of 43 children ages 6 to 14 with ADHD, patients were administered Pycnogenol — 1 mg per kg of body weight every day — or a placebo of look-alike pills daily for a month. The PE group had a significant decrease in GSSG and a highly significant increase in GSH levels as well as improvement of GSH/GSSG ratio in comparison to the placebo group. The total antioxidant status (TAS) decreased in children with ADHD who took pine bark, showing a normalization of TAS in ADHD children.[xvii]

In a crossover study of 20 children with ADHD, participants experienced two experimental units — four weeks of pine bark supplementation with 25 or 50 mg PE and four weeks with placebo supplementation — separated by two weeks of a washout period. PE supplementation caused a significant reduction in inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity measures.