Innate immunity – barriers set up in the eyes, mucus membranes, and the epithelium or lining of the gastrointestinal tract – function, as the first line of defense from an invading pathogen – with phagocytes, neutrophils, dendritic and natural killer cells that neutralize the foreign invader, setting the stage for the next phase of the immune response – the adaptive immune system.The adaptive phase is characterized by responses from T and B cells, who remember the battle, in case of future ch...

Researchers from the Department of Medicine and Center for Health and the Social Sciences, University of Chicago, reported in the September 3rd. 2020 online edition of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open that, “in this single-center, retrospective, cohort study, likely deficient vitamin D status was associated with increased COVID-19 risk, a finding that suggests that randomized trials may be needed to determine whether vitamin D affects COVID-19 risk.”Vitamin D de...

It’s no secret that moderate intensity, continuous training (MICT) – usually in the range of a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 11 to 13 on the Borg scale of 6 to 20 – has demonstrated significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness – for both healthy individuals and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).While high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is known to improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), as measured by the maximum volume of oxygen consumption (VO2Max), in a healthy...

From COVID-19's inception in China in December of 2019 to the present time, those individuals with comorbidities, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary dysfunction were at greater risk to become severely ill.As the virus spread around the world, it became apparent that a much higher number of people, who were overweight and obese, were being admitted to the hospital—with advancing illness, or critically ill at the time of admission.The statistics from ...

Abnormal blood lipids—such as alterations in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C)—are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Known collectively as dyslipidemia, these abnormal lipid fractions have a prevalence of 38.6% among individuals aged 40 and above—with alterations of one out of five US children and adolescents aged 8 to17 years—according to research—Ubiquinol (CO Enzy...

The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology reported in August of 2020 on Journals.sagepub.com that, “the consumption of chocolate at least once a week is associated with a reduction in the risk of CAD (coronary artery disease).”According to CDC.gov, CAD, a blockage of the arteries that supply blood to the heart, is the most common type of heart disease – killing 365,914 people in 2017. It’s estimated that 18.2 million adults age 20 and older have CAD – with roughly 2 in 10 deaths from CAD ...

According to the World Health Organization, the worldwide estimate of influenza-related, severe illness is 3 to 5 million cases, which require hospitalizations—with roughly 290,000 to 650,000 deaths annually. Acute respiratory illnesses approximated 2.8 million deaths worldwide in 2016.Severe, lower respiratory tract infections, such as the SARS-CoV-2 infection leading to COVID-19 disease, were the most common cause of sepsis-related deaths globally from 1990-2017.Mayoclinic.org says, “sepsis...

Human body water functions include aiding the digestion process, circulation of nutrients and substances across cell membranes, influencing our metabolic rate, and balance of electrolytes, which are controlled much in part through the central nervous system – all of which are under the auspices of the brain.The percentage of water in the human body ranges from 50 to 75% - depending on age and gender – with an average adult having 57 to 60 percent. Mayoclinic.org comments that men need about 1...

According to research – Early Morning Food Intake as a Risk Factor for Metabolic Dysregulation – which appeared in the March 2020 issue of the online journal Nutrients, “individuals who begin work in the early morning hours [i.e., between 04:00 and 07:00] make up the largest population of shift workers in the United States.” It’s also known that overweight and obesity is prevalent among shift workers, which may have to do with elevated fasting insulin resistance – causing the storage of ...

In the Covid-19 world, research shows that being older – over 65 – with hypertension – high blood pressure – increases the risk to complications associated with this SARS-2 virus. In addition to older age, another associated-risk to hypertension has to do with arterial stiffness (AS) – which represents a decrease in the compliance of large, central arteries.According to research – Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Muscular Strength on Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults – which appears in the Augu...