Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/1aJTM5_FIkg

The FDA and Banner Smoked Fish Inc. are recalling Banner and other brands of smoked fish, salads, pickled fish, and cream sauce products.  These items are contaminated with listeria monocyogenes.  This bacterium can cause serious or fatal infections in the young, elders, or those who are immunocompromised.  Listeria may trigger miscarriages or stillbirths.  These products were distributed and sold in NY, NJ, IL, PA, CA, FL, NE, AZ, MA, MD, VA, OH, NV, OR, WI, MI, WA, NC, SC, and GA.  Return these products to the point of purchase for a full refund.  For more information, contact Banner and 1-718-449 –1400.

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/banner-smoked-fish-expends-recalls-smoked-fish-products-salads-pickled-fish-products-and-cream-sauce

#banner #smokedfish #listeria #recall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/9X9GbsgKfsU

The CPSC and Kalorik announce the recall of Kalorik Pro 1500F Electric Steakhouse Grills.  Defective electroplated grill knobs create an electric shock hazard after the grill has completed preheating.  About 3,525 of these girls were sold in the US.  Stop using this grill and contact Kaloric at 1-844-847-4556 or via email at [email protected] to receive a free repair kit to replace the defective control knobs.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2021/Kalorik-Recalls-Electric-Steakhouse-Grills-Due-to-Shock-Hazard-Recall-Alert

#kalorik #grill #knobs #shock #recall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/_ydWV0beTCs

The CPSC and Fisher Price are recalling the Fisher-Price 4-in-1 Rock ’n Glide Soother.  Infants placed in this device unrestrained may turn over onto their stomachs and suffocate.  About 120,000 of the 4 in 1 units were sold and 55,000 of the 2 in 1 units were sold at stores nationwide and online via Walmart, Target, and Amazon.  Immediately stop using these produces and contact Fisher-Price at 1-855-853-6224 or online at service.mattel.com to arrange a refund.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2021/Fisher-Price-Recalls-4-in-1-Rock-n-Glide-Soothers-After-Four-Infant-Deaths-2-in-1-Soothe-n-Play-Gliders-Also-Recalled

#fisherprice #soothers #rocknglide #soothenplay #suffocation #recall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/eimWMqvdxks

Going to sleep one hour earlier can reduce the risk of major depression by 23%.  So say investigators at Harvard and the University of Colorado at Boulder following their study of nearly 850,000 persons.

The data shows that a propensity to falling asleep at an earlier time was associated with a reduced risk of major depressive illness.  The average bedtime for those in the study was 11 pm.

Other studies show night owls can be twice as likely as early risers to suffer from depression.  As the pandemic ends during which many worked remotely, slept lately, and stayed up later, we hope that our sleep patterns will contribute to happier moods.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2780428

#sleep #mood #depression #pandemic

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/OVhnRPT-mAI

An experimental CoVid vaccine based on the the B.1.351 South African variant appears to induce protective neutralizing antibodies against all principal CoVid variants and the original strain.  Chinese investigators studied this novel vaccine in a mouse model.

The B.1.351 spike protein contains 3 of the principals mutations found in CoVid variants of concern including the British B.1.117 and the Brazilian P.1.  The best antibody levels against original CoVid and the variants was induced by two doses of the B.1.351 vaccine.  Two doses of the original vaccine and boosting with either a 3rd dose of the original or the B.1.351 vaccine produced comparable protection.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.16.444369v1.full.pdf+html

#CoVid #variants #vaccine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/s6TXMBwzLyU

Bunking with a pet appears not to disrupt a healthy night’s sleep.  Canadian pediatric sleep researchers studied 188 kids 11 to 17 years of age with data culled from standardized sleep questionnaires, a formal home sleep study, and two weeks of electronic nighttime monitoring.

Of the total, 34.6% of children slept with their pets frequently or sometimes.  Those sleeping most often with pets showed the highest overall sleep quality, but the data showed it took them the longest to fall asleep.  Otherwise, the presence of pets had no significant effect on sleep patterns including nighttime awakenings.

Some children have difficulty falling asleep without a parent. A pet may be a healthier alternative.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352721821000280?via%3Dihub

#sleep #parenting #children #pets

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/rV8GGA-o26E

Children and adolescents of any age who contract CoVid are as likely as infected adults to spread the virus and its variants to others.  Researchers at Harvard and MIT studied 97 children with a median age of 10 and an age ranging from 2 weeks to 22 years.

CoVid positivity and viral loads were determined by PCR testing.  As with adults, the children had the highest measurable viral loads during the first 5 days of their illnesses.  Those children hospitalized with more symptomatic disease had viral loads similar to those found in hospitalized adults.  The viral variants isolated from the children were similar to those isolated from adults.

Since our kids are the last group to be vaccinated, we all need to be aware that they could be potential spreaders of CoVid including those variants that are of greatest risk to the very young, elders, and the immunocompromised.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.30.21258086v1

#CoVid #children #adolescents #variants #spreaders

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/7qhJMVpyav

Adding a second dose of the Pfizer mRNA CoVid vaccine yields better and more uniformly protective viral neutralization antibodies.  Portuguese investigators studied the responses of 1245 health care workers and 146 nursing home residents ranging in age from 19 to 99 years.

After the first dose, 98.6% of younger recipients 19-29 years developed antibodies while only 25.4% of the older recipients 70-100 years of age developed them.  Adding the second dose bumped the antibody development up to 100% for the young and to 94.9% for the older and led to more uniform levels of protective antibody in all age groups.

A second dose benefits all, but especially our elders.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.19.21253680v2.full.pdf+html

#CoVid #vaccine #mRNA #pfizer #antibodies

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/lqDzwBXKfb4

An implantable chip is 6 times better than external cardiac monitoring for detecting bouts of atrial fibrillation that could trigger a devastating stroke.  Cardiologists at Harvard’s Mass General Hospital and Northwestern University draw this conclusion from their study of 492 patients who suffered a first stroke with no identifiable cause.  

Half the group were randomized to receive a tiny implantable cardiac monitoring chip and the others were monitored with conventional methods.  The chip detected runs of atrial fibrillation in 12.1% of cases versus only 1.8% by conventional means.  Based on this result, the investigators suggest that any stroke patient with a history of atrial fibrillation should be monitored with this high tech implant.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2780490

#atrialfibrillation #stroke #monitoring #implant

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cAmUQlHW8kE

Today’s medical discoveries that point to future therapy.

Elephants May Help Us PREVENT Cancer

Making Plant-based Meats Healthier

Genetically Enhanced Heart Attack Therapy

Smart Device Monitoring Of Your Psyche

Antibiotics Could Treat Cancer

Elephants are one-third as likely to die from cancer even though they have 100 times as many potentially cancerous cells.  Geneticists at the University of Chicago have unraveled the mystery by their discovery that elephants possess a gene that triggers a cytokine called LIF6 to destroy cancer cells. We humans have one copy of the tumor suppressor gene p53, versus 20 copies in elephants, and we also have a version of the LIF cytokine.  Work is underway to harness for humans the gene-driven cancer preventive that works so well in elephants.

Plant-based meat and fish substitutes are all the rage, but they are not healthier than the real thing due to their abundance of saturated fat, salt, and sugar.  Food scientists at UMass Amherst are reengineering products like Impossible Meat and Beyond Meat to include key micronutrients including Vitamin D, calcium, and zinc while omitting the harmful ingredients.  These refined substitutes will be the next generation of plant-based meat and fish, and when they arrive, you’ll be the first to know.

Successful therapy after heart attacks involves reestablishing blood flow by chemically or surgically eliminating the clots that prevent coronary blood flow. The problem is that enzymes in the damaged tissue prevent successful recovery. Experiments by pharmaceutical scientists at the Washington State University have elucidated this process, and they are now studying necrosis suppressor genes that, if properly activated, can prevent these destructive enzymes from preventing heart muscle healing.

A state of hyperarousal forecasts a mental health decline.  Texas A&M researchers have developed a smart device-based platform that provides early warnings that hyperarousal is underway.  The technology analyses facial clues and voice patterns from your phone’s camera and microphone as well as tell-tale changes in your vital signs that your smartwatch’s sensors detect to predict and warn of a impending psychic meltdown.

Certain antibiotics including the macrolides erythromycin and Zithromax kill bacteria by deactivating their ribosomes, those intracellular protein factories the act on the instructions from messenger RNA or mRNA.  Biomolecular scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a mechanism by which these antibiotics could possibly stop the growth of human cells and specifically human cancer cells.  We’re a very long way from workable therapy, but its another example of thinking outside the biological box.

These and other cutting edge solutions are coming to your doctor’s office and our hospitals…….some day soon!

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(18)31145-8?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124718311458%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-021-00099-y