Inappropriate Stents
A final report on the official outcomes of the ISCHEMIA Studies was recently published. It suggests that most people with clogged arteries do as well with medication and lifestyle changes as they do after undergoing invasive procedures to reopen their blood vessels such as stents, balloon angioplasty or bypass surgery
Do Not Overdose on Vitamin D
You cannot be poisoned by vitamin D through sun exposure or diet alone, but vitamin D poisoning can occur when people take high-dose supplements for an extended time. Excess vitamin D can cause blood calcium levels to rise and after several months of having high blood calcium levels and having no symptoms at all, you can develop kidney failure and not even know it.
Inhaled COVID-19 Vaccine Being Tested
Oxford University researchers have started testing inhaled versions of their COVID-19 vaccines compared to those given by intramuscular injection (Associated Press, Sept 14, 2020). An inhaled vaccine could be more effective than those given by injection because it may cause a stronger local immunity in the throat and nose, which are the primary entryways for the virus.
Bicycles Are Most Energy Efficient
A positive outcome of the many COVID-19 restrictions has been a huge boom in bicycling. If you are a regular cyclist or are new to the sport, be proud. Humans riding on bicycles are more energy-efficient than any other form of transportation and any other animal. Vance Tucker of Duke University compared bicyclists to people and animals running, birds flying and fish swimming, as well as to people in motor-powered cars, boats, trains and planes
Why Humans Can Run Marathons and Apes Cannot
Extensive research by Dr. Ajit Varki at UC/San Diego suggest that 2-3 million years ago, our pre-human ancestors had a single genetic mutation that could explain why humans can outrun their primate relatives.
Joseph Melnick, Another Vaccine Pioneer
Many of you think that Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin stopped the polio epidemics with their killed polio Salk vaccine or the live and weakened Sabin polio vaccines. However, you don’t see polio anymore primarily because of Joseph Melnick, who supervised the field trials of the vaccines and made sure that most of the entire American population was vaccinated against polio.
Low Vitamin D Can Increase Risk for and Severity of COVID-19
Vitamin D deficiency increases risk for becoming infected with COVID-19, and for complications and death from the disease.
A study of 500 patients showed that those who had low blood levels of hydroxy vitamin D were twice as likely as those with normal levels to develop COVID-19.
Resistance Training for Endurance Sports
A recent review of 22 scientific studies shows that adding a resistance program such as lifting weights to endurance sports such as running or cycling can increase muscle size and strength, with greater benefit from low volume, high-resistance weight lifting than high volume, lower-resistance exercise.
Chadwick Boseman, The Black Panther
Chadwick Boseman was a movie actor who brilliantly portrayed baseball player Jackie Robinson (2013), singer James Brown (2014), and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (2017). In 2016, at age 40, he was diagnosed with colon cancer and never told the public about his serious diagnosis.
Eating at Night Increases Risk for Obesity and Diabetes
A study of 20 healthy, normal-weight people found that changing their evening meal from 6PM to 10PM significantly increased their markers for becoming obese and developing diabetes.