Health

Plant Based Diet Connected to Lower COVID-19 Rates

- Adam Clare Leave a comment

Covid-19 Transmission graphic

It’s been years that we’ve been living with COVID-19 and it looks like we missed the window to fully eradicate it, which means we need to adapt our lifestyles to ensure that rates of transmission are as low as possible. Of course, the obvious things involve collective action like improving indoor air quality and filtration. As an individual you should consider switching to a plant based diet.

Plant-based and vegetarian groups had a higher intake of vegetables, legumes and nuts, and lower intake of dairy and meat. After adjusting for important confounders, such as body mass index, physical activity and pre-existing medical conditions, the plant-based diet and vegetarian group had 39% (OR=0.61, 95%?CI 0.44 to 0.85; p=0.003) and 39% (OR 0.61, 95%?CI 0.42 to 0.88; p=0.009) lower odds of the incidence of COVID-19 infection, respectively, compared with the omnivorous group. No association was observed between self-reported diets and COVID-19 severity or duration.

Conclusion Plant-based and mainly vegetarian diets were associated with a lower incidence of COVID-19 infection. These dietary patterns may be considered protective against COVID-19 infection. (Study protocol registered in CAAE: 54351421.4.0000.0068.)

Read more.

mRNA Vaccine Used to Fight Brain Tumour

- Adam Clare Leave a comment

Brain tumours are scary and very difficult to deal with, current treatments include invasive surgery and/or radiation. The advent of mRNA based vaccines is making a difference in how we can treat various brain cancers and the early results are looking promising. A team just found a way to get the body’s immune system to start to find and address cancer within the brain. While the results are not yet usable the outlook is very promising.

“The demonstration that making an mRNA cancer vaccine in this fashion generates similar and strong responses across mice, pet dogs that have developed cancer spontaneously and human patients with brain cancer is a really important finding, because oftentimes we don’t know how well the preclinical studies in animals are going to translate into similar responses in patients,” said Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program and a co-author of the paper. “And while mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are certainly a hot topic since the COVID pandemic, this is a novel and unique way of delivering the mRNA to generate these really significant and rapid immune responses that we’re seeing across animals and humans.”

Read more.

Cancer Causing Roundup Maker Monsanto Must Pay $2.25 Billion in Damages

- Adam Clare

Bayer, the corporate owner of Monsanto, must pay $2.25 billion in damages due to Monsanto’s product called Roundup. The chemical spray kills insects very quickly (which is really bad for the planet) and due to it being permitted to use on residential properties the harm it has caused seems pretty great. One regular user of the chemical soup got cancer due to it and sued the company, thus leading the court ordering the payment. The lesson here: don’t use pesticides on residential properties. It’s good to see a massive corporation being held to account for its damaging actions.

“The jury’s punitive damages award sends a clear message that this multi-national corporation needs top to bottom change,” they said, calling the verdict “a condemnation of 50 years of misconduct by Monsanto.”
…
The claims rest on the ingredient glyphosate, introduced as a herbicide by Monsanto in 1974, which inhibits a certain enzyme in most plants, preventing them from growing. Monsanto also introduced genetically modified crops that are resistant to glyphosate.

Read more.

Engineered Stone Banned Down Under

- Adam Clare

AI generated image of energy efficient home

If you don’t work in one of the building trades then you might not know about engineered stone, but you have definitely seen it and probably touched it. It’s a type of stone made of crushed silica that is pressed together to make a new, and equally durable, stone (it’s like plywood made of stone). Many new builds use this type of modern manufactured stone for countertops and decorative surfaces. Australia has found that people working on this type of stone tend to develop health issues that can be life-ending, so the country has decided to ban the stone to protect those in the industry. This is a good thing to see and hopefully other countries will copy Australia’s new policy.

Trade unions, health organisations and personal injury law firms have all welcomed the ban, saying it will save lives.

“Engineered stone is a fashion product that is killing the workers who make it,” Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Liam O’Brien said.

“With alternatives readily available, why are we risking the lives of tradies for a fashionable finish in our kitchens?”
…
Dr Hoy said broader change was needed to make sure a similar crisis did not happen again.

“We can’t be waiting until people develop disease and they die from conditions related to work before we start acting,” he said.

“We really need to change the ways to identify problems at work, and act before people become sick.”

Read more.

Memes Saved the Lives of Anti-Vaxxers

- Adam Clare

Covid-19 Transmission graphic

COVID brought forth more than just a disease of the body, it also raised the profile of anti vaxxers so much so that they shut down Canada’s capital for weeks on end. How can we get this group of people who are opposed to critically thinking to actually, well, think? We can use memes. Memes literally saved lives by convincing anti vaxxers to get the jab; in particular humours memes were the most effective. For the next pandemic maybe we should put more effort into meme production so we can stop the spread before it becomes endemic.

“Little is known about the extent to which memes can shift beliefs or intentions,” Geniole told PsyPost. “Our studies provided some preliminary evidence that memes about vaccination — specifically, memes that were supportive of vaccination or unsupportive of antivaxxers — may increase the viewer’s intentions to be vaccinated. In other words, our studies suggest that exposure to memes, under certain circumstances, may actually shift beliefs or intentions.”

Read more.

Scroll To Top