What Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? I don’t believe the world will End in an Instance but my belief is that time could end in a moment the way we know life to be. If we don’t wake up and start living right! Which means to find solutions to the world problems and this doesn’t mean having people working thirty hour week with no benefit or motivation for a better life. In Revelation 6, Jesus opens the seven seals of judgment to begin the Tribulation period on earth. The first four seals he opens are the four horsemen, and each is released from heaven to usher in various judgments on the earth. While some apocalyptic judgments are specific events, these are overarching judgments that will last for periods throughout the Tribulation.
Here’s a look at each symbol individually: The White Horse “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2) The rider on the white horse is the Antichrist. He will arrive on the world scene at the beginning of the Tribulation and work to unite the nations, signing a peace treaty with Israel. He will be a charismatic leader that presents himself as the savior of the world. His power and authority will come from the dragon (Satan), and like Satan he is a great deceiver. The symbol of him on a white horse aptly illustrates this quality, then, for Jesus returns to earth on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-14). Satan’s purpose has always been to counterfeit the work of Christ. By the second half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will break his peace treaty and wage open war against believers. The Red Horse “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” (Revelation 6:4) The next horseman, the red horse, represents war and bloodshed. Nation will rise against nation during the Tribulation and individuals against each other. It is a time of murder, assassination, bloodshed, revolution, and war. The Black Horse “So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.’” (Revelation 6:5-6) Black is often connected with famine in the Bible; and food shortage is a typical byproduct of the war that will be happening. A denarius was the standard daily wage for ancient laborers. In the early days of the Tribulation period, food will be in short supply; people will have to work all day just to get enough food to eat. Yet the luxuries of the wealthy (“oil and wine”) will remain untouched. The famine will provide the way for the Antichrist’s rule. Later in the Tribulation, He will require the people to take his mark in order to buy or sell. Hunger will play into his hands and strengthen his control. The Pale Horse “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8) Death is the pale rider with Hades (hell) following behind. They will kill with the sword, hunger, disease, and wild beasts—the four judgments the Lord said he would send in Ezekiel 14:21. Death and Hades are mentioned together three times in Revelation, and the first time in Revelation 1:18 tells us that Christ holds the keys to Death and Hades. Though the companions will wreak havoc during the Tribulation, Jesus holds the ultimate power and will throw them both into the lake of fire after the Battle of Armageddon. Just the Beginning The four horsemen are just the beginning. The book of Revelation outlines many more judgments and events that will happen on earth in the End Times. This article is part of our larger End Times Resource Library. Learn more about the rapture, the anti-christ, bible prophecy and the tribulation with articles that explain Biblical truths. You do not need to fear or worry about the future! Here are some of Nostradamus’ prophecies for 2020 — paired with a leading psychic’s own predictions for 2020. PUBLISHED: Jun 4, 2020 By Sebastian Kettley >>>>> Battle of Armageddon Antichrist End Times Tribulation Prophecies of Jesus End Times Bible Prophecy Old Testament Bible Prophecy Signs of the End Times 666 Meaning Horsemen of the Apocalypse Purgatory What is Premillennialism? What is Amillennialism? What is Postmillennialism? The Second Coming of Jesus
So You Think It Won’t Happen Again; The main cause of the fall of the Roman Empire is still a topic of debate among historians, maybe because it is a symbol of what we fear about our own civilization. There are many different theories about why a superpower that ruled for 500 years crumbled and fell, but most scholars degree that it wasn’t one event, but a series of factors that caused a steady decline. Alexander Demandt, for example, had 210 different theories and even more emerged afterwards.
Possible Major Causes: Conflict between the Emperor and the Senate Weakening of the emperor’s authority ( the Emperor was no longer seen as a god) Political Corruption – there was never a clear-cut system for choosing a new emperor, leading the ones in power to “sell” the position to the highest bidder. Money wasting – the Romans were very fond of their prostitutes and orgies and wasted a lot of money on lavish parties, as well as their yearly “games” Slave labor and price competition – Large, wealthy farm owners used slaves to work their farms, allowing them to farm cheaply, in contrast to smaller farmers who had to pay their workmen and could not compete price wise. Farmers had to sell their farms, leading to high unemployment figures. Economical Decline – After Marcus Aurelius, the Romans stopped expanding their empire, causing in a decrease of gold coming into the empire. The Romans however kept spending, causing coin makers to use less gold, decreasing the value of money. Military spending – Because they wasted so much money and had to defend their borders all the time, the Government focused more on military spending than building houses or other public works, which enraged the people. Many stopped volunteering for the army, forcing the government to employ hired mercenaries, who were expensive, highly unreliable and ended up turning against the Roman Empire. A stop in technological advancement – The Romans were great engineers, but did not focus on how to produce goods more effectively to provide to their growing population. The Eastern Empire – The Roman Empire was divided in a Eastern and Western empire that drifted apart, making the empire easier to manage, but also weaker. Maybe the empire’s rapid expansion was its own downfall in the end. Civil War and Barbarian Invasion – Civil war broke out in Italy and the smaller Roman army had to focus all of its attention there, leaving the borders wide open for the barbarians to attack and invade. Barbarian bandits made travel in the empire unsafe and merchants could not get goods to the cities anymore, leading to the total collapse of the empire. This article is part of our larger resource on the Romans culture, society, economics, and warfare. Click here for our comprehensive article on the Romans. The Four Horsemen: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling!!! Being able to identify the Four Horsemen in your conflict discussions is a necessary first step to eliminating them and replacing them with healthy, productive communication patterns. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a metaphor depicting the end of times in the New Testament. They describe conquest, war, hunger, and death respectively. We use this metaphor to describe communication styles that, according to research, can predict the end of a relationship.
1. Criticism The first horseman is criticism. Criticizing your partner is different than offering a critique or voicing a complaint. The latter two are about specific issues, whereas the former is an ad hominem attack. It is an attack on your partner at the core of their character. In effect, you are dismantling their whole being when you criticize. The important thing is to learn the difference between expressing a complaint and criticizing: Complaint: “I was scared when you were running late and didn’t call me. I thought we had agreed that we would do that for each other.” Criticism: “You never think about how your behavior is affecting other people. I don’t believe you are that forgetful, you’re just selfish. You never think of others! You never think of me!” If you find that you and your partner are critical of each other, don’t assume your relationship is doomed to fail. The problem with criticism is that, when it becomes pervasive, it paves the way for the other, far deadlier horsemen to follow. It makes the victim feel assaulted, rejected, and hurt, and often causes the perpetrator and victim to fall into an escalating pattern where the first horseman reappears with greater and greater frequency and intensity, which eventually leads to contempt.
2. Contempt The second horseman is contempt. When we communicate in this state, we are truly mean—we treat others with disrespect, mock them with sarcasm, ridicule, call them names, and mimic or use body language such as eye-rolling or scoffing. The target of contempt is made to feel despised and worthless. Contempt goes far beyond criticism. While criticism attacks your partner’s character, contempt assumes a position of moral superiority over them: Research even shows that couples that are contemptuous of each other are more likely to suffer from infectious illness (colds, the flu, etc.) than others due to weakened immune systems! Contempt is fueled by long-simmering negative thoughts about the partner—which come to a head when the perpetrator attacks the accused from a position of relative superiority. Most importantly, contempt is the single greatest predictor of divorce. It must be eliminated.
3. Defensiveness The third horseman is defensiveness, and it is typically a response to criticism. We’ve all been defensive, and this horseman is nearly omnipresent when relationships are on the rocks. When we feel unjustly accused, we fish for excuses and play the innocent victim so that our partner will back off. Unfortunately, this strategy is almost never successful. Our excuses just tell our partner that we don’t take their concerns seriously and that we won’t take responsibility for our mistakes: Question: “Did you call Betty and Ralph to let them know that we’re not coming tonight as you promised this morning?” Defensive response: “I was just too darn busy today. As a matter of fact, you know just how busy my schedule was. Why didn’t you just do it?” This partner not only responds defensively, but they reverse blame in an attempt to make it the other partner’s fault. Instead, a non-defensive response can express acceptance of responsibility, admission of fault, and understanding of your partner’s perspective: Although it is perfectly understandable to defend yourself if you’re stressed out and feeling attacked, this approach will not have the desired effect. Defensiveness will only escalate the conflict if the critical spouse does not back down or apologize. This is because defensiveness is really a way of blaming your partner, and it won’t allow for healthy conflict management.
4. Stonewalling The fourth horseman is stonewalling, which is usually a response to contempt. Stonewalling occurs when the listener withdraws from the interaction, shuts down, and simply stops responding to their partner. Rather than confronting the issues with their partner, people who stonewall can make evasive maneuvers such as tuning out, turning away, acting busy, or engaging in obsessive or distracting behaviors. It takes time for the negativity created by the first three horsemen to become overwhelming enough that stonewalling becomes an understandable “out,” but when it does, it frequently becomes a bad habit. And unfortunately, stonewalling isn’t easy to stop. It is a result of feeling physiologically flooded, and when we stonewall, we may not even be in a physiological state where we can discuss things rationally. If you feel like you’re stonewalling during a conflict, stop the discussion and ask your partner to take a break: Then take 20 minutes to do something alone that soothes you—read a book or magazine, take a walk, go for a run, really, just do anything that helps to stop feeling flooded— and then return to the conversation once you feel ready.
The Antidotes to the Four Horsemen Being able to identify the Four Horsemen in your conflict discussions is a necessary first step to eliminating them, but this knowledge is not enough. To drive away destructive communication and conflict patterns, you must replace them with healthy, productive ones. Fortunately, each horseman has a proven positive behavior that will counteract negativity. Click here to learn about the antidotes.
People can expect to live longer than ever before but that leads to greater health concerns.
Catch-22 [catch-22] definition is – a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem that denies a solution. a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. NOUN: catch-22 (noun) · catch-22s (plural noun) · catch twenty-two (noun) · catch twenty-twos (plural noun) “a catch-22 situation”
Once you make it to 65, the data suggest that you can live another 19.3 years, on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However as we age we must accept the fact of life we must Rise Above Stress and Mood Illnesses. And we must be made aware of the root cause for hormonal imbalances, thyroid disorders, stress, weight or digestive issues, fatigue, auto-immunity, depression and anxiety. Throughout life we have learned from our life experience, therefore, allow for those experiences to give you guidance and understanding Bring loving intention also into your body as well. Life shouldn’t be about… Why are you doing that and what is wrong with you…Look at the positives you have in your life and don’t dwell on the negatives. Stop thinking everything is a problem to fix and start thinking it is a miracle to still be alive !!! William J. Mayo once stated: The Aim of medicine should be to prevent disease and prolong life. The ideal of medicine is to eliminate the need of a physician!!! 80% of people will die of chronic illnesses and 3 in 4 of those are preventable. So Be mindful — don’t be impulsive to your feelings. Figure out why you’re out of balance with reality ..you either suppress or deal with stress. I encourage you to watch the TedTalk become friends with your stress. It’s more important to believe what you believe then the actual thoughts you are having?
The more in the present you are with your stress in your life and why is it manifesting and trying to teach you something about yourself. The more you can deal with it and the better off you will be!!! Mindfulness Practices of bringing your self awareness to the present moment without judgment. Also realise when you’re hyper active it’s important to know that it depletes your digestive system of vitamins and minerals. Related Research Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction MBSR Pubmed (Is a practice that brings you to the here and now into the moment.)
Mindfulness Self-compassion… You have to have compassion, empathy, and gratitude in your life ~Itai Ivtzan For many, then, senior living includes carefully managing chronic conditions in order to stay healthy. Old age can be a terrifying concept for many people. It is true that the regenerative capacity of the body will decline with old age, making you more prone to old age related health issues. There are many studies going on about the various health problems of old age, which is called geriatrics. It is important to be prepared to face the various health issues that you may experience as you near your old age through an enhanced immune system. Making healthy lifestyle choices, like quitting smoking and losing weight, can help you avoid senior health risks, though “you need to be physically active and eat a healthy diet,” explains Jeanne Wei, MD, PhD, executive director of the Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Including a geriatrician, a doctor who specializes in the health concerns of aging, on your senior healthcare team can help you learn how to live better with any chronic diseases. Then you too can be among the 41 percent of people over 65 who say their health is very good or excellent, according to the CDC. RELATED: 6 Ways Your Body Gets Better With Age
Somedays I get up and don’t feel like doing it but I do it anyway …because once you stop you stop!!!
Some have defined a human as a creature who is capable of investigations regarding himself, his environment and his own meaning. In the scientific sense, to be human means to be a complex biological organism belonging to the species of Homo sapiens. It means to be capable of logical reasoning, abstract thought, learning and using languages and possessing self-awareness. Furthermore, being human means you are capable of culture, complex problem solving, creating advanced technologies and developing complex social institutions. However, while all of this is factually correct, some feel that it provides only a limited description, and does not really encompass the core of what it means to be a human. We are human when you break down that word: hu – means like and man means – among us. 0ne must experience the expansion and vastness of their own mind to become likemind Emerson Pugh once said that if the human brain was so simple we could understand it – we would be so simple where we couldn’t!
What influences the outcome of your brain is toxins, lack of oxygen, lack of food and water, blunt trauma, degenerative disease and the aging process. Another thing that can topple that belief is the health of your gut microbiome through mental disturbance through the western diet lacking in proper nutrition which includes toxins and reduce cognition, Identifying and repairing leaky gut. Dr. Thomas O Bryan states, “depression, anxiety, brain fog, migraines, schizophrenia, bi polar, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, multi sclerosis they are all caused by a mind on fire with inflammation, If your life is full of stressors and food triggers you create additional inflammation. At age 85, the average American has a 50% chance of having Alzheimer’s. Most inflammatory triggers are on the end of your fork (sugar flour and processed foods.) What you eat mostly determines your state of mind. Your body will crave what you eat regularly. You are what you eat and if you eat healthy you will have a healthy gut – mental function Peace and ease of mind and happiness leads to great heart health,
Dr. Titus Chiu states, your brain is 60% fat so feed it: Fish Oil – DHA EPA, Coconut MCT OIL Monounsaturated Fat Olive oil Polyphenols and antioxidants Root vegetables (rutabaga turnips parsnip radishes sweet potatoes carrots Jerusalem artichokes arracacha red beets should be on your palate.) Because the fiber in those veggies feed good bacteria in their raw form and are extremely important but make sure they are organic. Leafy greens also feed The good bacteria in your gut with insoluble and soluble fiber. Also on your refrigerator obtain a List of prebiotic foods Then everyday have two prebiotic foods and one root vegetable, Buy five fermented foods sauerkraut KombuchaKefir miso tempeh kimchi fermented beets dill pickles and have a fork full of that daily. Many vegetables are high in fiber and contain important vitamins and minerals. Vegetables that people commonly ferment include: okra broccoli beets ginger collard greens eggplant
Also season your food with curry, Curry has a unique flavor that is deep and earthy from the blend of savory spices, but also has certain brightness due to the sweet spices in it. It is actually a mix of spices that includes cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, mustard, ginger, clove, cardamom, bay leaf and fenugreek. Onions are members of the Allium vegetable family, which includes garlic, onions, leeks, chives, scallions and shallots. Is broccoli a root veg? No, broccoli is considered a cruciferous vegetable and a member of the Brassica plant family. Also one must remember Healing thinking and being; Mindfulness Meditation Connection: take the time to Stop smell the roses and to concentrate for 40 minutes a day on your memory and your focus which will bring happiness. Remember time management and energy efficiency — just 40 minutes a day — will be the end all be and you will still have 1400 minutes left in your day.
Heart Rate Variability: the physiological phenomenon of variations in time between heart beats is the difference between being angry frustrated stressed with impatience anxiety and becoming overwhelmed in your day versus genuine love, caring, appreciation and kindness — fight or flight balance out your emotions in your day…et…cetera.
You have to live in balance: Parasympathetic-– 90% of the time versus Sympathetic nervous system–10% of the time… The parasympathetic nervous system is one of the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the other being the sympathetic nervous system. The enteric nervous system is now usually referred to as separate from the autonomic nervous system since it has its own independent reflex activity. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for regulating the body’s unconscious actions. The parasympathetic system is responsible for stimulation of “rest-and-digest” or “feed and breed” activities that occur when the body is at rest, especially after eating, including sexual arousal, salivation, lacrimation, urination, digestion and defecation. Its action is described as being complementary to that of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for stimulating activities associated with the fight-or-flight response.
The sympathetic nervous system’s primary process is to stimulate the body’s fight-flight-or-freeze response. It is, however, constantly active at a basic level to maintain homeostasis homeodynamics. The sympathetic nervous system is described as being antagonistic to the parasympathetic nervous system which stimulates the body to “feed and breed” and to (then) you have to be at “rest-and-digest” to be healthy. In your posture when you sit more forward with open responses you breathe better and have better connections to interactions with other people. It is the coordination with mind body breath. Internal energy work – coordination of mind eyes body breath – something powerful happens that makes you more aware. What happens in your body – when you have a thought that trips the wire. The Tiger shows up for 3 seconds — then a hour later your back to normal = that’s the above below metaphor feeling to good health!!!
Self Regulate Your Anxiety… being in your own body is torture unless you feel a sense of anatomy and control over yourself. Reacting with an unclear decision making inability causes distress and dis’ease?
Stimulus Response Theory is a concept in psychology that refers to the belief that behavior manifests as a result of the interplay between stimulus and response. In particular, the belief is that a subject is presented with a stimulus, and then responds to that stimulus, producing “behavior” (the object of psychology’s study, as a field). Think about this: Any sentence that starts with And, But, JUST or Yet never helps anyone… a thriving animal has to be in control of one’s own emotions — all actions come from the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the front portion of the frontal lobes and manages complex cognitive process such as memory, planning, reasoning, and problem-solving. This area of the frontal lobes functions to help us set and maintain goals, curb negative impulses, organize events in time order, and form our individual personalities.
Stress Reduction: Tapping is also known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). It is a powerful holistic healing technique that resolves a range of issues. It’s based on the combined principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology.
The basic Tapping technique requires you to focus on a negative emotion at hand. This can be a fear, a worry, a bad memory, or any unresolved problem. You do this while maintaining your mental focus on this issue. Then you use your fingertips to tap 5-7 times on 9 specific meridian points of the body.
Tapping on these meridian endpoints, while addressing the root cause of distress, sends a calming signal to the brain. This allows you to feel relaxed and in control. Nick Ortner | The Tapping Solution
Tip #1 EFT Emotional Free Therapy Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a form of counseling intervention that draws on various theories of alternative medicine including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). It is best known through Gary Craig’s EFT Handbook, published in the late 1990s, and related books and workshops by a variety of teachers. EFT and similar techniques are often discussed under the umbrella term “energy psychology”.
Tip #2 Yashoda Devi Ma Expert in Vedic Meditation and Transcendence — don’t allow what others are doing to enter into your nervous system. The ancient Rishis realized that man could find tremendous resources through the development of his consciousness and the Vedic Meditation technique is the result of thousands of years of research and investigation into the subtle inner workings of the mind, body and being. Don’t get me wrong, there are many kinds of meditation and relaxation techniques. Homegirl loves a good self-care evening in. But Vedic-based meditation techniques have the most science behind its effectiveness. In fact, a meditation practice is associated with reducing blood pressure and reducing heart disease as well as its risk factors.
Tip #3 Carolyn McMakin MA DC reducing cortisol levels —> https://bebrainfit.com/ reduce-cortisol-stress-hormone/ Luckily, there are a number of ways to manage and overcome chronic stress, lower cortisol levels, reverse damage done to the brain, and improve your sense of wellbeing. This article includes the best foods, nutrients, herbs and supplements that reduce cortisol; as well as the best lifestyle habits, therapies that reduce cortisol.
Tip #4 Yoga comes from India Integration of the wisdom of Life Yoga allows us to be more aware of ourselves and feel connected. As such, yoga is a process of self-discovery. This leads us to self-mastery and self-realization. Yoga as a science. Yoga is a science that is, it is a body of techniques that lead us to consciously connect with ourselves and with the immortal cultural outcome!! , Living with freedom in all walks of life, health and harmony shall be the main objectives of Yoga practice. “Yoga” also refers to an inner science comprising of a variety of methods through which human beings can realize this union and achieve mastery over their own destiny.
1. postures and exercises 2. breathing practices 3. deep relaxation 4. meditative focus component
Tip #5 Tai chi and qi gong are centuries-old ancient practices related mind and body practices. that have led to improved health, fitness, wellbeing and longevity for countless individuals up to the present time. They both cultivate the Qi, also spelt Chi — the life energy that flows through the body’s energy pathways. They involve certain postures and gentle movements with mental focus, breathing, and relaxation. The movements can be adapted or practiced while walking, standing, or sitting. In contrast to qi gong and tai chi movements, if practiced quickly, can be a form of combat or self-defense.
If you think your way through any given situation you can heal yourself?
1. Arthritis Arthritis is a common condition that almost all old people have to face. This is mainly an autoimmune disease, which is characterized by joint pain and deformities. Arthritis commonly affects fingers, hips, knees, wrists, and spine. “Arthritis is probably the number one condition people 65 or older contend with,” says geriatrician Marie Bernard, MD, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Maryland. American Arthritis Foundation prescribes cbd oil. diet, exercise, tai chi or Qigong and water aerobics. The CDC estimates that it affects 49.7 percent of all adults over 65 and can lead to pain, memory loss and lower quality of life for some seniors. Although arthritis can discourage you from being active, it’s important to work with your doctor to develop a personalized activity plan that, along with other treatment, can help maintain senior health. Put the power of relief in your own hands with a Wahl’s hand-held massagers that can help relieve chronic pain, post-exercise aches, stress, arthritis, headaches, and migraines.
2. Heart Disease Heart Attack. In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds. 3 Every year, about 805,000 Americans have a heart attack. 3 Of these, . 605,000 are a first heart attack; 200,000 happen to people who have already had a heart attack 3; About 1 in 5 heart attacks is silent—the damage is done, but the person is not aware of it. According to the CDC, heart disease remains the leading killer of adults over age 65, accounting for 489,722 deaths. Also as a chronic condition, heart disease affects 37 percent of men and 26 percent of women 65 and older, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. SO EAT Heart Healthy and it is important to do cardio exercise after 50 years old!!!!
As people age, they’re increasingly living with risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that increase the chances of having a stroke or developing heart disease. Dr. Marie Bernard’s advice for addressing this senior health risk not only helps with heart disease but can improve senior health across the board: “Exercise (lifting a 2 pound weight helps to keep the heart muscle strong), eating healthy for nutrient replenishment, while getting adequate amounts of sunlight for vitamin D and a good night’s rest helps reduce the risk of a heart attack. Eating a well-balanced healthy diet and staying active are keys to success into your Golden Years.”
3. Cancer Cancer is the second leading cause of death. A total of 1,806,590 new cancer cases and 606,520 deaths are expected in the US in 2020, which is about 4,950 new cases and more than 1,600 deaths each day. The numbers are reported in “ Cancer Statistics, 2020 ,” published in the American Cancer Society’s peer-reviewed journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The CDC reports 28 percent of men and 21 percent of women over age 65 are living with cancer. If caught early through screenings, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and skin checks, many types of cancer are treatable. And though you’re not always able to prevent cancer, you can improve your quality of life as a senior living with cancer, including during treatment, by working with your medical team and maintaining their healthy senior living recommendations.
4. Respiratory Diseases Chronic lower respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are the third most common cause of death among people 65 and older, with 124,693 deaths in 2014, according to the CDC. Among people 65 and older, about 10 percent of men and 13 percent of women are living with asthma, and 10 percent of men and 11 percent of women are living with chronic bronchitis or emphysema, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. Although having a chronic respiratory disease increases senior health risks, making you more vulnerable to pneumonia and other infections, getting lung function tests and taking the correct medication, or using oxygen as instructed, will go a long way toward preserving senior health and your quality of life. Vitamin D has other benefits for people with COPD, said David G. Hill, MD, a pulmonologist with Waterbury Pulmonary Associates in Connecticut and a medical spokesperson at the American Lung Association.
5. Alzheimer’s Disease Cognitive impairment will cause memory loss and your ability to correlate things and do calculations will decrease over time. The affected person will be confused and the ability to take up more than one task at a time will be affected. Alzheimer’s disease accounted for 92,604 deaths of people over age 65 in 2014, according to the CDC. The Alzheimer’s Association reports that one in nine people age 65 and older, which is about 11 percent, have Alzheimer’s disease, but because diagnosis is challenging, it’s difficult to know exactly how many people are living with this chronic condition. Still, experts acknowledge that cognitive impairment has a significant impact on senior health across the spectrum, from issues of safety and self-care to the cost burden of care, either in the home or a residential facility. Alzheimer’s disease is another serious issue in the list of health problems of old age. Once you get Alzheimer’s disease, your ability to remember and think will be affected. Memory lapse is the common problem that will be noted in the early stage. Before you renew Amazon Prime, read this Wikibuy 2020 Is The Year We Stop Paying for TV. Watch Free TV Here. Sling TV Cancelled TV Shows: Effective Immediately www.thedelite.com Improving Memory. Proven ways to protect memory include following a healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, keeping blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar in check. Living a mentally active life is important, too. Just as muscles grow stronger with use, mental exercise helps keep mental skills and memory in tone.
6. Diabetes The CDC estimates that 25 percent of people ages 65 and older are living with diabetes, a significant senior health risk. According to CDC data, diabetes caused 54,161 deaths among adults over age 65 in 2014. Diabetes can be identified and addressed early with simple blood tests for blood sugar levels. The sooner you know that you have or are at risk for diabetes, the sooner you can start making changes to control the disease and improve your long-term senior health outlook. GOOGLE: How to reverse diabetes naturally and quickly by diet plan, Dr, Josh Axe, Jason Fung, Fenugreek or Banaba Leaf…
7. Influenza and Pneumonia Although the flu and pneumonia aren’t chronic conditions, these infections are among the top eight causes of death in people over age 65, according to the CDC. Seniors are more vulnerable to these diseases and less able to fight them off. Senior healthcare recommendations include getting an annual flu shot, and getting the pneumonia vaccine if recommended by your doctor, to prevent these infections and their life-threatening complications. Reason why more cases happen during the winter months is because Vitamin D levels lower and the immune system is colder. Warm weather produces an enhanced immune reaction!!!
8. Falls The risk for falls requiring emergency room care increases with age. Each year, 2.5 million people ages 65 and older are treated in emergency departments because of falls, according to the CDC. That’s more than any other age group. And, one-third of people who go to the emergency room for a fall may find themselves there again within one year, according to a study published in August 2015 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Also be aware that most falls occur in the home, where tripping hazards include area rugs and slippery bathroom floors, according to a study published in January 2013 in the Journal of Injury and Violence Research. Cataracts and glaucoma, which are both age related conditions, can decrease your depth perception and make you more susceptible to falls. Also, make sure to clean your glasses daily in order to help improve your visibility. Prescription drugs can become an obstacle as well? One of the best things that can be done to improve coordination and muscle strength is to start a regular exercise program. Did you know the inner part of your knee weakens first as we age. The reason a knee replacement is common in the elderly. Walking, water workouts and tai chi are great examples of exercises that help to build strength but are gentle to perform on your body. If you need more suggestions, talk to your chiropractor about what exercises you can do to help prevent a fall in your future. You also have to consider that as you age, your muscles strength lessens and lack of flexibility and tightness in your hips starts and can make it difficult for you to sit and stand or even walk. There are things you can do to help counter the impact aging has on your body, (Every part of your body works in unison and Hip Flexor Stretches for Tight Hip Relief and bicycling has been important for me in the last year for youthful regeneration.)
9. Osteoporosis Osteoporosis is one of the major health problems many old people face. Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become very fragile. This will increase the chance of fracture due to decreased bone density. The risk for osteoporosis is more in women after menopause. “Osteoporosis can contribute to becoming less mobile and potentially disabled should you fall and have a fracture or as the vertebral bodies collapse,” Bernard said. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that 54 million Americans over age 50 are affected by low bone mass or osteoporosis, putting them at risk for a fracture or break that could lead to poor senior health and reduced quality of life. What’s more, they estimate that by the year 2020 that number will rise to 64.4 million. Osteoporosis makes bones more susceptible to fracture in fall, which can be a problem. It is caused by hormonal changes, calcium and vitamin D deficiencies, as well as a decrease in physical activity. Make sure your diet is balanced and includes enough calcium to support your bone health. https://www.bing.com/search?q= how+to+reverse+osteoporosis+naturally&FORM=HDRSC1
10. Substance Abuse: An analysis of data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions suggests that one in five people over 65 have had a substance or alcohol abuse problem at some point in their lives. Alcohol and tobacco topped the list of nonmedical substances abused by survey participants. Substance and alcohol abuse are a concern for senior health because of possible interactions with prescription medication, their impact on overall health, and the increased senior health risks, such as falls, associated with intoxication.
11. Obesity Do you carry your weight well. If not think “Obesity” and other related issues during old age are mainly due to metabolic syndrome. This may further lead to Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and high blood pressure. Obesity is an important senior health risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer — all chronic conditions that impact quality of life. As the numbers on the scale increase, so does the risk for disease. Of the adults between 65 and 74, 36.2 percent of men and 40.7 percent of women are obese — meaning that their body mass index is greater than or equal to 30 — according to the CDC. It can also be a signal that an older adult isn’t as active or mobile as he or she once was. Two adaptogens that will help you stay balanced and calm | lean and trim are ashwagandha and reishi mushroom.
12. Depression According to the American Psychological Association, 15 to 20 percent of Americans over 65 have experienced depression. A threat to senior health, depression can lower immunity and can compromise a person’s ability to fight infections. In addition to treatment with medication and therapy, other ways to improve senior living might be to increase physical activity — 59.4 percent of adults 65 and older don’t meet CDC recommendations for exercise — or to interact socially more — seniors report spending just 8 to 11 percent of their free time with family and friends, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. One way to overcome depression is a positive outlook on life. Nothing positive comes from being negative.
13. Anxiety Disorders As we get older we experience a Sense of Loss if you live into your 90’s. One must also remember: In 1900, life expectancy in the United States was 47.3 years; in 2017, it was 78.6 and with this increase in life. Many of those people in their 90’s experienced their whole life. . . .vanish before them (A Husband or wife, brothers and sisters. Zoloft is a great way to cope as well as exercise three hours before bedtime to increase their ability to relax and reduce pent up anxiety and nervous energy throughout the day. Which produces better sleep and better memory…
14. Emotional Disturbance Health problems of old age are not limited to physical disabilities. Old age can affect your mental health also because of various social aspects. This may create discomfort both to you and your family. Make sure you share and discuss your problems with close family and friends that support you in every possible way. Risk Factors and Causes of Health Issues in the Elderly Population One major problem in diagnosing and treating seniors with mental illness is that elderly individuals are more likely to report physical issues than they are psychological issues (CDC). But even the typical emotional and physical stresses associated with aging can lead to depression or anxiety.
Here are some possible triggers for mental illness in senior citizens: • Chronic pain • Chronic disease • Physical impairments like thyroid or adrenal disease that affect emotion, thought, or memory • Physical disabilities • Loneliness • Major life changes • Grief • Widowhood • Certain medications • Heavy alcohol consumption or drug abuse • Malnutrition/poor diet • Dementia-causing illness
Elderly Mental Disorders or Effects of Old Age? Symptoms of Mental Illness in the Elderly As we grow older, it isn’t uncommon to see changes. General forgetfulness is normal, but persistent depression, anxiety, memory loss, or other cognitive issues can be signs of something more serious. If you are a caregiver or have an elderly loved one in your life, you can help spot indicators of a mental health issue. Here are some common warning signs to look for: A marked change in appetite, energy level, and/or mood • Feeling emotionally “flat” or finding it difficult to experience positive emotions • Trouble sleeping too much, or difficulty falling and staying asleep • Persistent thoughts of hopelessness, sadness, or suicidal thoughts • A desire or need for drugs or alcohol • Feeling on edge, restless, or having trouble concentrating • Increased feelings of stress or worry • Short-term/recent memory loss • Anger, agitation, or increased aggressiveness • Obsessive-compulsive behavioral tendencies or thoughts • Unusual behaviors or thoughts directed towards others • Behaviors or thoughts that affect social opportunities, work, or family • Persistent digestive issues, pain, or headaches not explained by other health problems • Difficulty managing finances or tasks involving numbers • Problems with grooming or household maintenance If a family member or someone under your care exhibits any of these symptoms, get in touch with the senior’s care team, including the primary care physician, to determine the best way to diagnose and treat possible mental health concerns before they become more serious. https://www.bing.com/videos/ search?q=emotional+ disturbance+in+the+elderly&FORM=HDRSC3
15. Oral Health Healthy teeth and gums are important not just for a pretty smile and easy eating, but for overall senior “microbiome” gut health. According to the CDC, 25 percent of adults over 65 have no natural teeth. As you age, your mouth tends to become dryer and cavities are more difficult to prevent, so proper oral health care, including regular dental checkups, should be a senior healthcare priority, Dr. Wei said.
16. Poverty In 2013, 45 percent of adults ages 65 and older had incomes below the poverty level, according to a 2015 Kaiser Family Foundation report. This number takes into account available financial resources, liabilities such as taxes, value benefits like food stamps, out-of-pocket medical expenses, geographic variations in housing expenses, and other factors. Older women are slightly more likely than men to be living in poverty, and that gap widens in those over 80. Single older adults are also significantly more likely to live alone with fewer resources. Poverty affects senior health if you’re unable to afford doctor visits, medication for chronic conditions, and other essential senior healthcare needs.
17. Bed Sores and Shingles Remember that bout of chicken pox you had as a kid? It can come back as shingles when you’re an adult. According to the National Institutes of Health, one out of three people over 60 will get shingles, and 50 percent of all Americans will experience it before they’re 80. It usually affects only one side of your body, shingles start out with severe pain or tingling and then developing into an itchy rash and possibly blisters. If you believe in vaccines [I Don’t]: There is a vaccine available, so talk to your doctor about it. Alternative: Manuka Honey…
18. Hearing Loss Hearing loss is an important issue that many senior citizens face. The most common form of age-related hearing loss is presbycusis. Older people may need a hearing aid because the ability to hear high frequency sound may decrease over time. Glaucoma Glaucoma is one among the health problems of old people, which is due to an increase in the fluid pressure inside the eye. This increased pressure will cause damage to the optic nerve resulting in loss of vision. First thing flush the wax build up in your ear canal?
19. Macular Degeneration | Cataracts Vision deterioration is one of the most common health problems in old people. In macular degeneration, the macula, which helps to sense and transmit images to the brain, is affected. This medical condition is usually found in elderly people above the age of 50. Solar Shields are one of the best ways to prevent vision loss after 60 years of age. Ocuvite Eye Performance delivers nutrients that help strengthen the eye’s natural protective filter and support overall eye health. Ocuvite Eye Performance contains 7 vital eye nutrients including Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Omega-3, and Vitamin D – more of the key eye nutrients than any other Ocuvite vitamin.
20. Kidney Failure It is estimated that older adults (ages 50+) eat more than 3,400 mg sodium each day – greater than 1,000 mg above their recommended levels. These high levels were confirmed by the recent release of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) Report , underscoring the need to pay close attention to our sodium intake. Many Americans have acquired a taste for a high salt diet. One way to cut back is to skip the table salt. However, most of the sodium in our diets comes from packaged, processed foods. Eating less of these foods (process soup) can help reduce your sodium intake, lower your blood pressure and/or prevent high blood pressure (HBP or hypertension) from developing in the first place. Overview of Sodium’s Role in the Body
Sodium Metabolism Disorders Caused when our sodium levels are too high or too low, sodium metabolic disorders can lead to muscle weakness, vomiting | excessive sweating. An electrolyte, sodium is an essential mineral that helps our muscles and nerves work, and helps regulate blood pressure and volume. When other conditions or our diet shifts the balance of our sodium to water levels, we can develop either hypernatremia or hyponatremia, both sodium metabolic disorders. Hypernatremia, often caused by dehydration or too much sodium in our diets, can lead to dizziness, fever and diarrhea. Hypernatremia may also be a sign of diabetes insipidus, a condition that makes it difficult to balance the body’s water levels. In hyponatremia, our body tries to make up for the low sodium levels by filling our cells with water. The additional water can cause brain swelling, which can lead to confusion and hallucinations. Heart failure, kidney diseases and cirrhosis of the liver can cause hyponatremia.
21. Charlie Horse and Cramps Drinking plenty of water is essential, since Charlie Horse and cramps are often caused by dehydration. A healthy diet with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit can help to decrease the frequency of cramps in your hands and legs. Additionally, certain vitamins and minerals impact muscle function, particularly potassium and magnesium. Lemon Juice and a banana can provide relief…
22. Urinary incontinence Is one of the most annoying health problems of old age people. Women are most likely to have this condition due to decreased strength of the pelvic muscle. Men who have enlarged prostate may also experience this difficulty. Home Remedies for Urinary Incontinence Pelvic Floor (Kegel) Exercises. Exercising your pelvic floor muscles can be a useful way… You can consider taking magnesium or cannabis to help treat incontinence,… Vitamin D can also be used to control urinary incontinence because it helps maintain muscle strength…. Early studies have shown that acupuncture can provide some short-term benefit, but more research is needed. Yoga helps tighten the muscles.
FAQs About Life Expectancy!!! In 1900, life expectancy in the United States was 47.3 years; in 2017, it was 78.6. Here’s why the numbers have gone up, plus advice from medical experts on how to add more healthy years to your own life. In 2017, nearly 25 out of 100 people in the United States lived to celebrate their 90th birthday.
Have you ever wondered how old you’ll be when you die? Even if it was just to estimate how much you should put away in your 401(k) or how much time you have to pay off your student loans?
Life expectancy represents the average number of years that someone can expect to live depending on the year they were born. For anyone born in the United States in 2017, life expectancy is 78.6 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). RELATED: Study Shows These 5 Healthy Habits Can Add More Than a Decade to Your Life Another way that experts measure life expectancy involves considering the percentage of people who live to specified ages. Using that approach, in 2017 nearly 25 out of 100 people in the United States lived to celebrate their 90th birthday, according to the CDC. Both those calculations are based on averages of the entire population and include all sexes, races, and parts of the country. How long each individual lives is determined by many factors, says Qi Sun, MD, a doctor of science and an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
He explains that life expectancy is influenced by genes, environment, and lifestyle choices: “We can look at how the life span has increased over the last 100 years and see that it’s modifiable,” he says. Read on for commonly asked questions about life expectancy and what you can do to live longer and healthier.
Do the ages that my parents or grandparents died make a difference in figuring out my life expectancy? Family history is a big predictor of longevity. “If you look at parents’ life span and compare it with their offsprings’, you’ll find certain correlations because sometimes they share the same genes,” says Dr. Sun. If some of those genes lead to certain diseases, it may shorten life span. “On the other hand,” he adds, “families that have good genes may live longer.”Some similarities in health patterns that may seem genetic could also be due to common habits and location. Family members often share the same environment, especially when children are young and still live at home. “Families eat a similar diet and have the same access to medical care, which are both factors that impact longevity,” Sun says. You just need to look at data from 100 years ago and compare it with current life expectancy to see that there’s more to longevity than simply genetics. According to the CDC, the life expectancy of someone who was born in 1900 was only 47.3 years. “Genetics wouldn’t really explain this jump,” Sun says, adding that a lot of things combined to cause this increase, including improved medical care and hygiene. RELATED: Processed Foods Linked to Shorter Life Span, Study Finds
What are the most important factors that determine how long you live? “Basically any factor that influences mortality also contributes to life expectancy, because mortality is how life expectancy is calculated,” says Sun. Blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body mass index, and diabetes are established risk factors for chronic diseases like heart disease & stroke, and people who have those diseases have a shorter life expectancy.
Okay, I haven’t had the healthiest lifestyle, and now I’m over 60. Am I doomed? “It’s never too late to adopt a healthier lifestyle,” says Sun. If a person has spent decades eating an unhealthy diet or being physically inactive, they may or may not have developed certain chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Still, “If those individuals move their diet and exercise habits from the unhealthier end of the spectrum to the healthier side, they can improve their life span,” Sun says. “Just follow common sense: no smoking, avoid alcohol or drug abuse, eat a healthy diet, engage in physical activity, and try to stay positive and optimistic.” If you need more incentive to make lifestyle changes, consider this: Research shows that older adults are enjoying themselves more than just about everyone else. According to a survey of 1,546 Californians ages 21 to 99, people in their nineties were the most content. The research, published in August 2016 in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, found that older people were happier and less depressed, with less anxiety than younger people.
By Carolyn L. Todd “Sometimes life is really hard, and right now things look really bleak,” social psychologist Judy Moskowitz, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of medical social sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern, and president of the International Positive Psychology Association, tells SELF. “Gratitude is not about diminishing how difficult and unprecedented this all is, or being all Pollyanna about it, or pretending you’re not anxious and that everything’s fine. Because things are not fine, for anybody.” As we’ll look at in-depth, gratitude is something that can exist “alongside the very real and understandable negative emotions that most of us are experiencing right now,” not in place of them, Moskowitz says. In fact, gratitude may help us better weather and recover from these hard times. Time is a universally accepted but little understood concept. Thoughty2 explores the history of time, what time actually is and whether we can travel through time. “Sometimes it’s hard in the midst of tremendous uncertainty and grief anxiety and anger about what’s happening to feel grateful,” Robin Stern, Ph.D., the co-founder and associate director for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and an associate research scientist at the Child Study Center at Yale, tells SELF. “But gratitude can be healing. “
The three ways we experience gratitude: We all have a basic understanding of what gratitude is, of course: the state of being grateful or thankful. But it’s revealing to consider how the people who study gratitude define it. Researchers generally look at gratitude in three different but intersecting ways, cognitive psychologist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, tells SELF. 1. An emotion This meaning may be the one we’re most familiar with. “Gratitude is often studied as a momentary emotional experience—a specific temporary state that happens when we realize that something good has happened, and often as a consequence of somebody else’s efforts or actions,” says Simon-Thomas, who helps run the Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude initiative at the Greater Good Science Center. 2. A trait Gratitude is also studied as a trait or dispositional characteristic—how grateful of a person you are. As Simon-Thomas puts it, “Do you tend to notice what’s good in your own life? Do you savor the goodnesses that are available to you? Do you recognize the extent to which things that are outside of yourself, whether it’s people or some kind of existential privilege or resource, are the origin of the positive things that you enjoy in life?” 3. A practice This framing of gratitude is connected to the first two—as something you can do to both evoke the emotion of gratitude and potentially strengthen it as a trait over time. “It’s an activity or exercise of deliberately reflecting on what’s going well or what kind of positive attributes one’s life might be providing at the time,” Simon-Thomas explains. “It’s a way of making the emotion of gratitude more readily available and more likely to occur in general.”
The science behind gratitude boosting your well-being!!! There is not an overwhelming amount of research on the psychological benefits of gratitude. “I think one of the reasons why gratitude maybe isn’t the most popular research topic of all time is that it’s not a very hard sell,” Simon-Thomas explains. The idea that gratitude is a good thing worth valuing and embodying is not exactly novel—it’s intuitive, well-regarded, and deeply embedded in our culture. “Most philosophical and spiritual traditions espouse gratitude as a core virtue,” Simon-Thomas points out, as does society-at-large. (Survey data showing that the vast majority of people in the U.S. place a high value on gratitude supports this.)
That said, we do have a good amount of compelling evidence suggesting gratitude may have some very real implications for people’s psychological well-being in a variety of ways. Much of this data is correlational, where researchers study gratitude as a trait in relation to various indicators of well-being. (Researchers have developed a number of surveys and scales to measure trait gratitude in people, such as the Gratitude Questionnaire, where you rate how much you agree with statements like “I have so much in life to be thankful for.”) “It seems that people who see the world through that lens, who are typically grateful, tend to suffer less stress and be happier in general,” Stern says. A 2010 meta-review published in Clinical Psychology Review looked at dozens of studies to assess the impacts of gratitude on a wide variety of outcomes across many different domains, including: Adaptive personality traits, mental illness, subjective well-being, social relationships, and physical health. Researchers found that people with higher trait gratitude were more likely to be more extroverted, agreeable, open, and conscientious and less neurotic. They were likely to experience less depression and greater subjective well-being, which includes high positive affect (mood), low negative affect, and high satisfaction with life. High trait gratitude is also associated with more positive social relationships and better physical health, especially in regards to stress and sleep. At least some of these relationships are thought to be unique: Gratitude can account for variations in the outcomes after controlling for 50 of the most studied traits in psychology. We also have some interventional research that studies the impact of gratitude as a practice, measuring change over time in various outcomes as a result of gratitude exercises that participants are assigned to perform. (Such as keeping a daily/weekly gratitude diary or writing a gratitude letter to someone.) The results here are still good but more mixed. A series of meta-analyses published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology in 2017 looked at 38 gratitude intervention studies to review the effects of gratitude on a variety of outcomes, immediately after the intervention and at follow-up points (ranging from one week to six months after the intervention ended). Compared to participants who had no intervention or a neutral one (like listing daily activities or interesting things), participants assigned to gratitude interventions fared better on a number of outcomes. They saw “evident differences” for well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, grateful mood, grateful disposition, positive affect, depression, optimism, and quality of relationships.
The role of gratitude in dealing with stress and trauma!!! There is a mounting body of particularly compelling evidence on the potential role of gratitude in coping with and recovering from trauma. “When we look at these kinds of studies, we see that even people who are going through or have gone through major traumatic experiences, something as simple as gratitude… can be helpful,” Moskowitz says. “The idea is that it might be helpful for us too to practice it.” The majority of the data here is correlational, Simon-Thomas says. Generally, researchers study populations that have experienced serious trauma, such as combat, natural disaster, or a cancer diagnosis, and assess how trait gratitude is connected to psychological outcomes, including one or two common outcomes of trauma: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic growth (PTG). You’re probably familiar with PTSD, a condition that can occur in people who have been exposed to a traumatic event, causing a number of serious symptoms, which can include flashbacks and intrusive thoughts about the event; negative beliefs about oneself; avoidant behaviors; trouble sleeping; feelings of numbness, guilt or depression; hypervigilance and reactivity; and trouble sleeping, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Researchers assess PTSD using clinically validated measurement tools such as interviews, self-reports, and symptom checklists. PTG is just what it sounds like: the experience of personal psychological growth or transformation that can follow trauma and post-trauma challenges (including PTSD), the American Psychological Association (APA) explains. PTG is measured by researchers with self-report scales like the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), per the APA, which assesses for positive growth in five key areas:
1) Appreciation of life 2) Relationships with others 3) New possibilities in life 4) Personal strength 5) Spiritual change.
Some researchers see gratitude as a factor associated with or leading to PTG. A number of research studies conceptualize gratitude as a “protective factor” against PTSD. A protective factor is basically the opposite of a risk factor—it is correlated with decreased likelihood of being diagnosed with a certain condition, fewer negative effects from stress, and better mental health, per the APA. Other studies frame gratitude as a potential factor associated with or leading to PTG. One of the first studies to spark the idea that gratitude may play a role in post-trauma outcomes, Moskowitz says, was published in Behaviour Research and Therapy in 2006. It investigated the relationship between gratitude (both trait and daily-reported) and well-being in Vietnam War veterans with and without PTSD. They measured trait gratitude and trait affect (generally positive or negative disposition) once at the beginning of the study. Then they had participants complete daily self-reports on their feelings of gratitude and their mood daily, along with other well-being measures like rewarding social activity). They found that in both veterans with and without PTSD, variations in trait gratitude corresponded with variations in their daily well-being—even more so than the relationship between well-being and things like mood, distress, and trauma-related stress. They also found that for veterans with PTSD, trait gratitude was a “significant, unique predictor of well-being” over and above someone’s general positive disposition. Researchers also looked into the role of gratitude in survivors of an earthquake that took place in the Ya’an region of Southwestern China in 2013. In one study, gratitude (along with social support) was a positive and stable predictor of PTG a year and a half after the earthquake. In another study, gratitude was associated with a decreased likelihood of PTSD and increased likelihood of PTG among the survivors, even three and a half years after the earthquake.
A 2017 study published in the journal Psychological Trauma investigated the role of resilience and gratitude in PTS and PTG among 359 survivors of a college campus shooting. They found that among people who scored high in gratitude, there was a much stronger relationship between PTS and PTG—the suggestion being that people high in gratitude are able to transform their stress into growth in the aftermath of trauma. There’s also research on the role of gratitude for people experiencing serious illness, like cancer. A 2013 study in the Journal of Happiness Studies found a strong positive correlation between gratitude and all dimensions of PTG in 67 people with breast cancer. And in a 2019 study in Frontiers in Psychology of 42 breast cancer patients, those who had a daily gratitude practice also reported higher self-esteem, optimism, acceptance of illness, and perceived social support, compared to those who just had a daily journal practice. “In a way, we have more faith in the power of cancer to kill us than we have faith in the power of God, the power of miracles, the power of infinite possibility, the power of any force other than what the eyes can see and the hands can touch to interrupt the power and trajectory of the disease,” says Williamson, spiritual teacher and author.
We are all inherently powerful healers “We are not victims of our genes, we are masters of our genetic activity,” claims stem-cell biologist Lipton. Much of what modern Western medicine does is treat the symptoms without getting to the root cause of the dis-ease, a term that describes the state of stress that exacerbates a physical illness. “Western medicine definitely has its time and place; for example, Western medicine is great for trauma,” Dr. Joe Dispenza, a chiropractor with extensive knowledge in brain chemistry and biology, states. “But when it comes to disease, most diseases are caused by stress-related conditions, and as we know, when our body experiences stress for extended periods of time, it moves out of homeostasis—the ideal state of internal balance and equilibrium. As the body moves out of equilibrium for long enough, it creates a cascade of negative effects.” HEAL tells the story of how we can collectively shift that paradigm, and individually take control of our own health. The film teaches us how to also use natural and alternative methods to activate the innate and powerful healer within.
It’s not just about positive thinking…. “Well everyone seems to be aware of the placebo effect, the results of positive thinking. The important question is this: What is the consequence of negative thinking? While a placebo—positive thinking—can cure you of anything, A nocebo, negative belief, can actually cause any illness and can cause death,” says Lipton. This is why the experts of the film encourage the audience to seek medical advice for an accurate diagnosis, but to not believe the prognosis. “Statistics are impersonal, and you are a person, and no one can tell you what you are capable of. Someone’s got to be that one percent and why couldn’t it be you?” says Kelly Turner, Ph.D. Director Noonan Gores’ intention for creating HEAL was to empower people by showing the science behind the body’s incredible intelligence and capacity for healing, and inspire them with powerful stories of healing from supposedly incurable conditions. If you have ever wondered about the power of the mind to heal your body, I would HIGHLY encourage and recommend that you to watch this fabulous documentary. (HERE.) The missing pieces of Netflix’s Documentary “Heal” – YouTube
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“With so many people suffering from chronic illness and being told by medical professionals that there is no conventional cure for their condition, it’s no wonder that there is an epidemic of fear,” says Noonan Gores. “I believe the people in this film reveal once we shift our perception from fear to hope, and detox our outer and our inner environments, we can heal no matter how late the stage or impossible we are told our condition is. And there is plenty of scientific evidence that supports this.”
There is some evidence that gratitude is associated with better outcomes in people who have experienced more common traumas or stressors. Take, for instance, a 2009 study published in the journal Anxiety, Stress & Coping that looked at 182 college students who identified as female and had a history of trauma, with the most common traumas reported being a car accident and life-threatening illness/injury. On average, their traumas happened a little over four years earlier, and only 12.6 percent of them met the criteria for PTSD. Still, those who reported higher gratitude also reported fewer and less severe PTSD symptoms—even when taking into account other factors like their coping styles or how severe the trauma was. A similar protective effect of gratitude was seen in college students in two joint longitudinal studies published in the Journal of Research in Personality in 2008. Researchers followed college undergraduates during their first semester at school (which, we can probably all agree is a pretty stressful time). They gave students questionnaires at the beginning and end of the semester that measured a few different variables: trait gratitude, perceived social support, stress, and depression. Then they analyzed the data with some sophisticated statistical footwork (structural equation modeling) to tease out the directions of these relationships: Did trait gratitude actually impact any of the other variables, or was it the other way around? Or were they all just related? They concluded that having a higher baseline gratitude actually directly led to higher levels of social support and lower levels of stress and depression.
On the flipside, it didn’t seem that any of the variables directly led to greater gratitude. So, maybe having higher gratitude really does lead to better well-being, even during really stressful times.
How exactly does gratitude help people cope better? So how do researchers explain the salutary effects of gratitude, especially as they pertain to trauma and coping? It’s not entirely clear yet. “We have a lot of behavioral and correlational data,” Simon-Thomas says, “But there’s still a lot left to be learned at a biological or mechanistic level.” For instance, we don’t know much about what precisely is occurring in our brains when we practice gratitude. While we have a handful of good studies pointing to a couple of brain circuits, “There’s not a huge amount of neuroimaging research on gratitude specifically,” neuroscientist, writer, and coach Alex Korb, Ph.D., tells SELF. Most of our understanding of what’s going on is theoretical. Many of these theoretical frameworks are rooted in a particular area of study called positive psychology. If most of traditional psychology is focused on treating mental illness and reducing suffering, positive psychology is focused on cultivating well-being and human flourishing. The Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania describes it as “the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive.” The American Psychological Association (APA) defines it as the study of the emotional states, individual traits, and social supports that “enhance people’s subjective well-being and make life most worth living”. One influential theory here is the “broaden-and-build” model of positive emotions, pioneered by positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson. We tend to view positive emotions—like joy, compassion, optimism, and gratitude—as merely evidence that someone is happy. But the broaden-and-build theory argues that the experience and cultivation of positive emotions, including gratitude, can actually produce benefits that lead to greater well-being in the long term—broadening our perspectives and building our psychological resources in ways that help us cope, bounce back, and thrive.
“Positive emotions aren’t just the inverse of negative emotions,” explains Moskowitz, whose own research is rooted in this model. “They actually have unique functions… and can actually help us build our resilience and help us cope.”
Here are a few ideas about how that might work:
Gratitude may help widen your perspective… Positive emotions, like those produced by gratitude practices, are believed to expand the lens through which you see the world. “Negative emotions like fear or anxiety can really narrow your focus on the problem (which can be very adaptive),” Moskowitz explains, whereas “positive emotions help you broaden your perspective and allow you to see more possibilities.” Looking outwards, positive feelings like gratitude can widen the scope of our attention to take more notice of the goodness (and good people) around us. “It sounds trite, but it’s really true that taking the time to practice gratitude can open your eyes to how extraordinary so many things in our everyday life are,” Stern says. “Many of the benefits of gratitude are simply about directing your attention in certain ways—what parts of your life, what parts of reality you pay attention to,” Korb says. “Your brain at the moment might not automatically pay attention to all the wonderful things in your life. But if you intentionally practice gratitude, you become more aware of these positive parts of your life that were always there and start to change that filter,” Korb explains. “We are, for lack of a better word, training our minds to notice more of what is outside of the self—who’s around us, what else we could be paying attention to, what’s happening beyond our own immediate needs and self interest… [and] the potential threats and worries we tend to ruminate on,” Simon-Thomas explains. The broadening effect of positive emotions is thought to apply looking inwards, too, to the way we think (and in turn, act). “Positive emotions and practices like gratitude can help you cope better by building your individual resources,” Moskowitz says. The idea is that by doing practices that consistently induce positive emotions, we can widen and deepen the psychological resources available to us in times of stress, Mostkowitz explains. This cognitive broadening includes greater creativity, flexibility, novelty, and openness in the ways we think and behave—allowing us to see and engage in more possibilities.
Gratitude might simply give you a little break from stress…. “Right now we are all steeped in the stress of COVID and having to isolate in our homes, and the worry we have for our loved ones and the country in general. It’s hard to get away from it,” Moskowitz says. “It’s not an option to check out and not deal with [stress and trauma].” On top of that, “Our reservoir of coping ability is really depleted because we’re constantly engaged in this negative stuff going on,” Moskowitz says. The theory here is pretty intuitive: Positive emotions like gratitude are thought to help us cope in the midst of stress and difficulty by providing a little respite. “We think of it as a strategy to help you shift from unpleasant emotions to more pleasant emotion,” Stern says. “What practices like gratitude that help you even momentarily increase your positive emotions do is give you a break from that [stress]. It’s like a breather,” Moskowitz says. When you’re practicing gratitude, you’re not practicing anxious or envious thoughts. In turn, “those moments of positive emotion can help sustain you, can help you stay engaged through the coping process… [and] bolster that inner reserve you have for continuing to cope with it,” Moskowitz says.
Gratitude may help you connect with other people…. According to the broaden-and-build model, positive emotions also promote another crucial kind of resource for well-being and coping: social support. “People who show more positive emotions tend to draw more social support when they’re stressed,” Moskowitz says There is also reason to believe gratitude is a unique prosocial behavior. “We develop a more prosocial and benevolent orientation towards others as we practice gratitude,” Simon-Thomas explains. “We’re practicing connecting the positive aspects of our life, the benefits that we enjoy, to the actions of other people.” Studies suggest that gratitude fosters prosocial behavior, strengthening social bonds, and forging new ones. This includes the 2006 Vietnam veterans study, which found that daily gratitude impacted the degree of daily rewarding social activity vets reported, as well as that pair of 2008 longitudinal studies of college freshmen we looked at earlier that concluded that gratitude seemed to “directly foster” social support. A 2017 Psychological Bulletin meta-analysis of 91 studies, including 18,342 participants, found “statistically significant, and moderate positive correlation between gratitude and pro-sociality.” This social support may in turn promote PTG. A 2008 meta-review of 103 studies looking at the role of optimism, social support, and coping strategies in contributing to PTG found that social support and social support-seeking behavior were moderately related to PTG. In this way, Simon-Thomas says, “gratitude can ultimately provide us with more support and safety in the world.”
There’s much we have yet to learn about how, exactly, the benefits of gratitude work under the surface (and, perhaps, benefits we have yet to discover). But experts agree that the body research thus far tells us, loud and clear, that gratitude is something we can practice and get better at over time—and that it is worth doing so. “We can deliberately invoke this state of appreciation or recognition of the positive things we experience in life,” Simon-Thomas says. “And that can become more habitual with practice.” How do you actually cultivate this state and trait in your own life? There are a few simple, effective, evidence-based ways that can begin to foster gratitude on a daily basis, and you can read about them right here. As Stern puts it, “Why not try it, and see if it makes a difference?”
Louise Hay (October 8, 1926 – August 30, 2017) made a life out of healing people… on (one’s) own steam. She lead the way since the 1980s until her passing on how you can heal your own life. At the forefront of the self-help field, Hay had become a Matriarchal figure to many in the business of self-help. In the 1980s Louise Hay self-published You Can Heal Your Life, a book that has sold over 30 million copies to date, and spurred her on to build her own publishing company ‘Hay House.’ Taking the philosophy one step further, Louise Hay has stepped along with the information age and put the theories behind her book into a complementing DVD with the same name. I think the book and the DVD would probably work best hand in hand; the book for reference once it is read, and the DVD as a frequent reminder when watched of the powerful resources we hold in our own hands. Louise Hay has gathered some of the best self-help teachers, most who have seen Hay as a guiding light in their own lives, to explain the thoughts behind (watch) You Can Heal Your Life. Very similar in format to The Secret, this (full) documentary is easily digestible information that is both empowering and constructive. Author of The Erroneous Zones Dr. Wayne Dyer, The Angel Lady Doreen Virtue, Life Makeover teacher Cheryl Richardson, Dream Interpreter Leon Nacson, medical authority and author of Women’s Wisdom Women’s Bodies Dr. Christiane Northrup, and medical intuitive Mona Lisa Schulz, along with a handful of other spiritual intellectuals, all give their perceptions on the philosophy that our “thoughts and our actions can equal miracles” as Richardson states. https://firstwefeast.com/eat/ best-food-documentaries-that-you-should-watch-right-now/
The latest weekly jobless claims figures were released on May 28. For the week ending May 23, just under 2 million Americans filed to receive unemployment benefits. While this marks the first week in over two months that unemployment claims fell below 2 million, it is still a staggering figure on top of a long stream of devastating weeks for U.S. workers. After the last 10 combined weeks of jobless claims, the number of Americans filing for unemployment since the coronavirus crisis began in earnest in mid-March is now approaching 40 million, or about 25% of the U.S. labor force. As unemployment claims have continued to surge by the millions with each passing week, 24/7 Wall St. has been compiling a state-by-state review of jobless claims. Job losses by state range from the tens of thousands to the millions over the 10 weeks beginning on March 15, amounting to anywhere from 10% to over 40% of each state’s total labor force before the pandemic hit. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April, a level not seen since the Great Depression. In a number of states, the April unemployment rate was much higher, with over one-fifth of Hawaii’s labor force and over one-quarter of Nevada’s labor force unemployed. These state rates will only worsen in May, as the jobless ranks continue to swell in every state. Bing COVID-19 tracker: Latest numbers by country and state The current economic downturn is largely attributable to efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Officials across the country have heeded advice from health experts and instituted a range of measures to facilitate social distancing, from shelter-in-place orders to closing nonessential businesses. Many of those states are beginning to partially reopen their economies. (Here are every state’s rules for staying at home and social distancing ) The places where unemployment rates are projected to be the highest in the coming months tend to be in states that rely on industries that are bearing the brunt of the current economic downturn. These industries include leisure and hospitality, travel services, transportation and warehousing, and oil and gas extraction. These industries also serve as the economic backbone for a number of cities across the country.
Daily coronavirus briefing: Dangerous complication increasingly found in COVID-19 patients. Maybe you know someone in a similar situation: CNN anchor Chris Cuomo tested negative for COVID-19, after having it, but still doesn’t feel like himself weeks and weeks later. “I’m not 100%,” he told Dr. Sanjay Gupta on air this week. “There is funky stuff in my bloodwork, that doctors say is what they see in people who have had COVID. So it freaks me out a little bit.” He’s not alone— here are 15 long-term after effects of the coronavirus everyone should know about. . What a second peak of coronavirus could look like By Scottie Andrew, Coronavirus will surge again when summer ends: infectious disease experts are almost certain of that. But they don’t know how severe that resurgence will be. Whether we see that rapid rise in cases in the fall depends on what we do now. The World Health Organization offered one bleak hypothesis for what the next few months of coronavirus could look like. While we’re still living through the first wave of the pandemic, and cases are still rising, infections could jump up suddenly and significantly “at any time.” “We may get a second peak in this way,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme on Monday. A second peak wouldn’t unfold as neatly or gradually as a wave. A new peak would mean a sudden spike in cases, which could overburden health care systems again and possibly cause a greater number of deaths. The second peak could be worse than the first.
What a second peak could look like!! In a second peak scenario, coronavirus cases would spike sharply and quickly until they reach a new high, likely after a period when the rate of infection remained fairly stable. In a second wave, infections may unfold more gradually and impact different regions of the world at different times. But in both a second peak scenario and one in which we “flatten the curve,” the same number of people could be infected. It’s the timing that counts. A second peak would mean that many more people are infected with coronavirus at the same time, and during flu season, which would overburden health care systems. And when hospitals and health care workers are overwhelmed, there’s a higher likelihood for preventable deaths, said Dr. Gabe Kelen, director of the department of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University. “The only real reason to try and dampen these peaks are to prevent preventable deaths, so that the health care system can take care of everyone who needs it and give them the best possible chance at a healthy outcome,” Kelen, who specializes in emerging infections, told CNN. That’s why so much has been made about flattening the curve. The steadier the rate of infection, the more manageable it is to treat the sick.
Why it’s dangerous Like Kelen said, a peak would see a large jump in preventable deaths, and not just in Covid-19 patients. People with diseases such as cancer and diabetes that regularly rely on hospitals for treatment may find their health care delayed, which could threaten their health. And if hospitals are overwhelmed by coronavirus patients, the facilities may have less room for emergency patients who are suddenly injured or sick. And more people may die unnecessarily. Another advantage for the virus — it’s likely to surge again during flu season, so throughout the fall and winter. And with a cadre of respiratory viruses circulating at the same time, the odds you end up infected with one of them are increasingly likely, Kelen said. In the US, there were 410,000 to 740,000 flu hospitalizations during the 2019-2020 flu season, which ran from October to April, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a fairly long period of heightened disease activity, and with hundreds of thousands of patients already filling up hospital rooms, there’s less room for Covid-19 patients. Flu mortality is low — assuming 56 million people were infected with the flu this season and 62,000 of them died, the death rate is still 0.1%. In the US, where more than 1,680,000 people have been infected and nearly 100,000 have died, the death rate is closer to 5.9%. “From a healthcare point of view, flu season is usually a very difficult time because there are so many sick people,” Kelen said. “Flu season in the face of Covid-19 — that’s going to be a real challenge.” Coronavirus also resembles the flu and other seasonal respiratory viruses in the initial symptoms it presents. The similar symptoms may delay an accurate diagnosis or treatment, said Dr. William Schaffner, professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University and a longtime adviser to the CDC. “Covid-19 is too contagious,” Schaffner said. “We anticipate that this fall will be a great struggle with influenza and, in addition, Covid.”
When it will happen and how severe it will be? Both depend on how quickly we ease up on coronavirus restrictions. A second peak is likely to occur during the fall or late winter to coincide with flu season. But if states snap out of pandemic mode now, reopening on a large scale and largely returning to pre-coronavirus life, the surge in cases could occur as early as late June. The United States isn’t prepared for a resurgence that soon, Kelen said. “It would be unmanageable,” he said. Mass re-openings could affect its timing and severity, too. Many large universities and school districts plan to reopen in the fall and host classes on campus, which could stir up transmission again. Businesses probably won’t close again like they did in March and April, Kelen said, so with more people out, the rate of infection could jump.
Why it’s inevitable — and what we can do to dampen it!!! Like Kelen said, until there’s a vaccine, the same number of people will be infected no matter if people stop staying home. Coronavirus cases will grow again. It’s just a matter of letting the disease “burn through society very quickly” over a few months or prolonging the time it takes coronavirus to spread, he said. The latter scenario buys some time for vaccine development and staggers the number of patients hospitals see so they won’t be overburdened. “It sounds as though we’re in a locked room, wanting to get out,” Schaffner said. “The door out of that locked room, we hope, is a vaccine. But in the meantime, we can’t just be complacent.” We can count on one vaccine being ready in the fall — the flu vaccine for the 2020-2021 flu season. It’s more important than usual to get vaccinated this year, Kelen and Schaffner said. If more people are protected against the flu, they’ll be protected against at least one severe respiratory viruses, which could save them a trip to the hospital. “The vaccine isn’t perfect, it still can prevent many infections and make other infections less severe,” Schaffner said. We know what we’re up against come the fall. Both doctors said it’s unlikely that businesses will close en masse again like they did in the spring, and more communal places like schools and places of worship will reopen. That, coupled with flu season, could make it easy for coronavirus to circulate in communities. That makes the standard mitigation efforts — staying at home as much as possible, wearing a mask in public and maintaining at least six feet of distance — all the more important, Schaffner and Kelen said.
There’s a good chance the coronavirus will never go away. Even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed, the coronavirus will likely remain for decades to come, circulating among the world’s population. Experts call such diseases endemic — stubbornly resisting efforts to stamp them out. Think measles, HIV, chickenpox. It is a daunting proposition — a coronavirus-tinged world without a foreseeable end. But experts in epidemiology, disaster planning and vaccine development say embracing that reality is crucial to the next phase of America’s pandemic response. The long-term nature of covid-19, they say, should serve as a call to arms for the public, a road map for the trillions of dollars Congress is spending and a fixed navigational point for the nation’s current, chaotic state-by-state patchwork strategy. With so much else uncertain, the persistence of the novel virus is one of the few things we can count on about the future. That doesn’t mean the situation will always be as dire. There are already four endemic coronaviruses that circulate continuously, causing the common cold. And many experts think this virus will become the fifth — its effects growing milder as immunity spreads and our bodies adapt to it over time. The four endemic human coronaviruses HCoV-229E, -NL63, -OC43, and -HKU1 contribute a considerable share of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in adults and children. their clinical representation resembles that of many other agents of the common cold, their evolutionary histories, and host associations could provide important insights into the natural history of past human pandemics.
For two of these viruses, we have strong evidence suggesting an origin in major livestock species while primordial associations for all four viruses may have existed with bats and rodents. HCoV-NL63 and -229E may originate from bat reservoirs as assumed for many other coronaviruses, but HCoV-OC43 and -HKU1 seem more likely to have speciated from rodent-associated viruses. HCoV-OC43 is thought to have emerged from ancestors in domestic animals such as cattle or swine!!! The bovine coronavirus has been suggested to be a possible ancestor, from which HCoV-OC43 may have emerged in the context of a pandemic recorded historically at the end of the 19th century. New data suggest that HCoV-229E may actually be transferred from dromedary camels similar to Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. This scenario provides important ecological parallels to the present pre-pandemic pattern of host associations of the MERS coro
Other human coronaviruses MERS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS) SARS-CoV (the beta coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS) SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19) People around the world commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1. Sometimes coronaviruses that infect animals can evolve and make people sick and become a new human coronavirus. Three recent examples of this are 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV.
Profile of a killer: the complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic Scientists are piecing together how SARS-CoV-2 operates, where it came from and what it might do next — but pressing questions remain about the source of COVID-19.
But studies released over the past few months, which have yet to be peer-reviewed, suggest that SARS-CoV-2 — or a very similar ancestor — has been hiding in some animal for decades. According to a paper posted online in March 6, the coronavirus lineage leading to SARS-CoV-2 split more than 140 years ago from the closely related one seen today in pangolins. Then, sometime in the past 40–70 years, the ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 separated from the bat version, which subsequently lost the effective receptor binding domain that was present in its ancestors (and remains in SARS-CoV-2). A study published on 21 April came up with very similar findings using a different dating method. For now, though, most people have not been infected and remain susceptible. And the highly transmissible disease has surged in recent weeks, even in countries that initially succeeded in suppressing it. Left alone, experts say, it will simply keep burning through the world’s population. DOUBLE TROUBLE: You ‘could catch coronavirus twice and will need yearly vaccines’, says immunisation expert. “This virus is here to stay,” said Sarah Cobey,an epidemiologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago. “The question is, how do we live with it safely?” Combating endemic diseases requires long-range thinking, sustained effort and international coordination. Stamping out the virus could take decades — if it happens at all. Such efforts take time, money and, most of all, political will. Americans have only started to wrap their heads around the idea, polls show. U.S. leaders and residents keep searching for a magic bullet to bring the pandemic to an abrupt end: Drugs that show even a hint of progress in the petri dish have sparked shortages. The White House continues to suggest summer’s heat will smother the virus or that it will mysteriously vanish. A vaccine — while crucial to our response — is not likely to eradicate the disease, experts say. Challenges to vaccination are already becoming clear, including limited supply, anti-vaccine opposition and significant logistical roadblocks. Meanwhile, some states are rushing headlong into reopening their economies. Even those moving more cautiously haven’t developed tools to measure what’s working and what isn’t — a crucial feature for any prolonged scientific experiment. “It’s like we have attention-deficit disorder right now. Everything we’re doing is just a knee-jerk response to the short-term,” said Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People keep asking me, ‘What’s the one thing we have to do?’ The one thing we have to do is to understand that there is not one thing. We need a comprehensive battle strategy, meticulously implemented.” People also keep talking of returning to normal, said Natalie Dean, a disease biostatistician at the University of Florida. But a future with an enduring coronavirus means that normal no longer exists. “As we find different ways to adapt and discover what works, that’s how we’re going to start reclaiming parts of our society and life,” she said.
An Urgent Intermission America now finds itself in a moment of transition. Infections are declining in some states, even as they rise in others with worrisome emerging hotspots. What’s missing during this interlude, experts say, is a sense of urgency. Arriving at this moment of transition required countrywide shutdowns, soaring unemployment and devastating blows to our economy and mental health. All that effort was supposed to buy us time to think, plan and prepare, said Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness. “What’s concerning is that I don’t see any signs the federal government has learned any lessons and is doing anything differently to prepare for the next waves,” he said. Leaders desperately need to shift their response from short-term crisis management to long-term solutions, he and other experts say. Communities should be thinking about installing doors that don’t require grasping a handle, and re-engineering traffic signals so pedestrians don’t have to push crosswalk buttons, said Eleanor J. Murray, an epidemiologist at Boston University. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Exhausting-Very/248309
In the coming years, robots and automated lines could become ubiquitous in meatpacking plants, which have experienced some of the country’s worst outbreaks. Families may have to make diagnostic tests routine ahead of visits to grandparents. Once-mocked office cubicles of a bygone era may become the rage again, replacing open-floor plans now found at many companies. Paid sick time might become a necessity for jobs of all types. And heading to work while under the weather may no longer be seen as an act of admirable American can-do spirit but instead a threat to co-workers and the bottom line.
More immediately, states should be using this time to craft quick-response systems and protocols. With hundreds of cities and counties reopening, think of each as a mini-laboratory yielding valuable data on what will work against the virus in the coming years. But most still lack the tools to capture that data, said Cobey, the University of Chicago epidemiologist, whose models have been used by Illinois leaders. The metrics being employed by states remain crude: daily number of deaths, hospitalization rates and confirmations of cases long after people show symptoms. All lag behind the actual transmission of the coronavirus by at least one to three weeks. “We desperately need better data and fast. It blows my mind that we still don’t have it,” Cobey said. What’s needed are more sophisticated testing strategies, say experts, that could serve as canaries in the coal mine — increasing our speed and ability to detect surges in the virus. States could select certain populations or areas to test extensively. They could establish a handful of sites that test only patients who have developed symptoms in the last four days, to increase sensitivity to sudden increases in transmission. “You need testing strategies that allow you to put on brakes quickly enough to stop surges,” said Cobey, who has pleaded with state leaders to implement such strategies. Another idea researchers have proposed is universally testing pregnant women to measure the asymptomatic spread of the virus — among people who have been infected but don’t show symptoms. The women could be an ideal sample testing population because they already visit hospitals for delivery and maternity checkups. One hospital in New York tested every pregnant woman who came in to deliver and found 15 percent had the coronavirus. Most of those testing positive — 88 percent — showed no symptoms, a sign of how crucial such testing could be. Living long-term with the virus also means addressing the mental health effects. There’s an assumption among many leaders, experts say, that increases in depression and anxiety are a temporary problem that will eventually disappear along with the virus. But for some people, the trauma, fear and stress will accumulate and fester like a wound if left unaddressed, said Paul Gionfriddo, president of the advocacy group Mental Health America. “The psychological recovery is going to be as important as economic and logistical parts of this.”
‘Prevention always sounds easy’ America’s yearning for a quick fix has turned in recent days toward a vaccine, now being portrayed as a solution that will quash the virus once and for all. But the world has achieved that only once, with smallpox — a measure of just how difficult it is for vaccines to wipe out diseases. And it took nearly two centuries after the discovery of a vaccine — and an unprecedented international effort — to vanquish smallpox, which stole hundreds of millions of lives. Eventually, many experts believe this coronavirus could become relatively benign, causing milder infections as our immune systems develop a memory of responses to it through previous infection or vaccination. But that process could take years, said Andrew Noymer, a University of California at Irvine epidemiologist. Barney Graham, deputy director of the federal government’s Vaccine Research Center, said emerging plans for vaccination are already stretching as far out as a decade. https://www.pnas.org/content/117/15/8218 “I’m thinking about things in different stages or eras,” Graham said. “We had a discussion this morning about what can be ready before this winter of 2021, what could be ready for 2021-2022, and what kind of regimen or vaccine concepts would we want after this has settled into a more seasonal virus.” The success of those vaccines will hinge on distribution — a complicated, logistically fraught process. In the first few years of a vaccine, global demand will far outstrip what manufacturers are able to supply. Roughly 60 to 80 percent of the world’s population needs to be inoculated to reach herd immunity — that point when enough people have become resistant to a virus that it has difficulty spreading widely. Without international agreements worked out beforehand, the short supply could devolve into bidding wars, hoarding and ineffective vaccination campaigns. In the United States, the crucial job of distribution will depend on federal and local health departments, which have already shown signs of limited capacity and competence amid this pandemic. As a preview to the chaos that might ensue, the U.S. government’s rollout of the first and only treatment for covid-19, remdesivir, has been described by hospitals as confusing, unfair and lacking transparency. “We also assume that everyone will want the vaccine because of the devastation this virus has caused, but that’s a big assumption,” said Howard Koh, a top U.S. health official during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. “Prevention always sounds easy, but it’s not.” America already has vaccines for measles and the seasonal flu, which can be deadly. And yet the health-care system struggles every year to convince people to get those shots. Looking further down the road, many top experts believe it’s critical that U.S. leaders start planning for the next pandemic now — even as they contend with this one — because of the short attention span, lack of political and public support for preparedness the country has shown in past decades. “We’ve seen this story so many times before,” Koh said. “As soon as the crisis is over, people will go back to whatever is the new normal and they will move on.” Our future selves… The struggle to get people to think long-term, of course, is not new to public health. We know that smoking can kill us. Yet, it is still responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths in the United States. “The problem is people putting the present ahead of the future,” said Frieden, who led the CDC from 2009 to 2017.
To bridge the divide between present and future, the CDC launched an ad campaign during Frieden’s tenure in which former smokers showed in graphic detail the consequences of lighting up: the removal of their jaw. Having to speak through an electronic voice box. The emotional devastation to their families. The campaign caused more than 16.4 million people to try to quit smoking between 2012 and 2018 and about 1 million to quit for good, the CDC estimates. “We found a way to show them their future selves,” said Frieden, now president and CEO of a health initiative called Resolve to Save Lives. The challenge in this pandemic is few such shortcuts remain to push U.S. leaders and the public into forward-thinking actions. The CDC has been sidelined by the White House and blocked from holding public briefings. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made clear its priority in restarting the economy. Increasingly, leading experts believe many Americans won’t make the shift toward long-range thinking until the virus spreads more widely and affects someone they know. “It’s like people who drive too fast. They come upon the scene of an accident, and for a little while, they drive more carefully, but soon they’re back to speeding again,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. “Contrast that with people who have lost someone to drunk driving,” he said. “It mobilizes them and becomes a cause for them. Eventually, everyone is going to know someone who got infected or died from this virus.
Christen Peterson, the mother of Cole, a patient at St. Jude. with his dog, Stannis.
Walking in Memphis Marc Cohn Put on my blue suede shoes And I boarded the plane Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain W. C. Handy Won’t you look down over me Yeah I got a first class ticket But I’m as blue as a girl can be [Chorus] Then I’m walking in Memphis I was Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale Walking in Memphis But do I really feel the way I feel
Cole Peterson’s St. Jude Story Deep in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee sits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a place where hope resides if your not denied admission. Its founder, Danny Thomas, built the hospital as promise to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes. Thomas, an American of Lebanese descent, was struggling to take his career to the next level and asked the saint to help him find his way in life. In return, he promised to build him a shrine. In the years that followed, Thomas’ career flourished.
He fulfilled his promise to the saint. Today that shrine is known as St. Jude Children’s Hospital – a beacon of hope to thousands of families whose children who are battling cancer. “My favorite part of it was that a man, basically the one and only Danny Thomas made St. Jude without knowing of (what) good things it would do to this world,” said Jesse, a patient at St. Jude with medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The research hospital was created more than 50 years ago and since then has been leading the way the world understands, treats, and defeats childhood cancer. “We chose (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital) because of the treatment plan, so (St. Jude) focuses on research. That’s huge when only four percent of government funding goes to childhood cancer research, ” said Christen Peterson, the mother of Cole, a patient at St. Jude. “(It) is five years advanced, five years ahead of typical hospitals throughout the country, in terms of treating kids with cancer, and especially my son with medulloblastoma.” The cost of the treatment for just one child is around $425,000 Cole is an active kid who enjoys hiking with his dog, Stannis. Even a brain tumor can’t diminish his love of life and its adventures. Dogs are Cole’s main love. He’s happiest when his dog, Stannis, is running alongside him. “But he also loves nature,” said his mom, Christen. “He’s very eco-friendly. He’s a tree-hugger.” “Cole loves being outdoors,” agreed Eric, his dad. “He loves to camp and hike our local hills and trails.” A year ago, Cole’s family was set off track when they learned he suffered from a rare, cancerous brain tumor called a medulloblastoma. He underwent surgery at a local hospital to remove the tumor. After Cole recovered, his parents turned to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for his continuing care. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Cole’s treatment at St. Jude included 30 rounds of proton therapy and four rounds of chemotherapy. “Because Cole’s type of medulloblastoma was low risk, he was able to receive reduced chemotherapy and proton therapy, which means reduced side effects,” Christen explained. Cole’s protocol also included regular occupational and physical therapies, which helped him begin to regain the strength he lost. These sessions also helped him focus on returning to all the activities he enjoyed before his diagnosis. Cole finished treatment in late 2018 and visits St. Jude for regular scans. Since returning home to California, Cole has worked hard to get back on track. Within the first few weeks of returning home, Cole did a ropes course and zip line. “He was a little shaky, but he got it done and had a great time,” Eric said.
Recently, Cole went snowboarding for the first time. With his helmet securely on his head and goggles over his eyes, Cole took a deep breath and went down his first hill. “It was a great day,” Eric said. “Cole was on his snowboard the whole time.” Cole isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. He has an overnight backpacking trip coming up has been training with his dad and Stannis, back on the local hills and trails he loves so much. “Stannis is always with us,” Eric said. “Thick as thieves, those two are.”
Presently, as we think about the dilemma we find ourselves in – in this Super Mess Up World!!! While remembering the fallen and those that serve us this weekend and (for me) my own father ( WWII Veteran) who would have been 99 years old on May 28th if would not be Leiomyosarcoma. I also think about the 56 former Facebook friends that passed away of cancer and the 1000’s that I knew while I was on facebook for over 6 years. Especially two mutual facebook friends Rosa Parkin (who passed of LMS and Dr. Carl O’ HelvieIncredible Healing Journal who were there daily until there death.) We were Always swapping information and research back and forth with me. We had differing opinions at time especially his belief The Ketogenic Diet having detrimental effect long term – much like the Atkins Diet, however, we respected each others opinions and insight? https://www.healthline.com/ nutrition/ketogenic-diet-to-fight-cancer
https://www.healthline.com/ nutrition/ketogenic-diet-to-fight-cancer MY journey started with Rosa Parkin – mid day on October 4, 2014 -when she introduced herself to me inbox with a question about my favorite herb Aloe Vera. At the time she was bedridden with a 8 cm tumor in her uterus and through new HOPE and Excited that positive energy shrank that tumor to nothingness within days. Finally meeting Memorial Day 2015 in Portland, Oregon to Research Cannabis Science it was the best of times, but with her return trip to Brighton in the United Kingdom her health deteriorated as she fail gravely ill and passed on December 4th 2015. (In those 14 months Rosa taught me a lot about the human spirit — About The Hope ~ The Excitement to the stress, the strain and hardship of her cancer!!!) Dr. Carl O Helvie was Born August 13, 1932 in Gouverneur, New York, and departed his life on December 3, 2019. along the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton Va. His career span more than 60 years as a nurse practitioner, educator, author, and researcher. Carl was a registered nurse and Professor Emeritus of Nursing at Old Dominion University where he taught nursing for nearly 30 years.
Did you know that the current risk of cancer is 1 of every 2 people in the United States? And did you know 40% of these are preventable according to research. Thus, it is important to learn how to reduce your cancer risk to avoid being in a cancer ward or cancer survivor group. What areas of life offer an opportunity to reduce your cancer risk. The author uses a public health framework to answer this question. Assuming health and illnesses (cancer) are processes that result from the interaction of the human host, a disease or disabling agent, and the environment, disease can occur when the host is weak, the agent is strong, and the environment that brings them together is favorable. Thus, it is important to avoid or reduce environmental carcinogens, to strengthen the host, and to make the environment less favorable for an interaction. Intervening before the host interacts with an agent in a favorable environment is known as prevention and is most cost effective and less traumatic for individuals. There are four major areas of environmental carcinogens that can be avoided or reduced in intensity. These include electromagnetic frequencies (EMF), ultraviolet rays, carcinogenic chemicals, and carcinogenic metals. The author discusses research related to each area as it relates to cancer and ways to avoid them. There are also over 45 national expert interviews linked to appropriate topics throughout the book. For example, Bisphenol A (BPA) a carcinogenic chemical, is an endocrine disrupter responsible for cancers of the prostate and breast. It is found in plastic and you can avoid it by replacing plastic water bottle in which the plastic leaches into the water during hot weather or transporting with glass containers, replace plastic utensils, and not eating canned foods that have BPA linings in the can.
There are many things you can do to build your bodies immunity against carcinogens. Some physical interventions include working with nutrition, fluids, exercise, adding supplements and herbs, using immune builders, getting adequate rest and sleep, and avoiding or stopping smoking. For example, research shows that daily exercise reduces your risk of cancer by 50% and proper nutrition reduces it by 35%. Looking at nutrition, the Standard American Diet (SAD) of high animal protein and fat, saturated fats and cholesterol, high sugar and processed foods, and low complex carbohydrates and vegetables with GMO, pesticides, and other pollutants is considered a potential causal factor for cancer and should be replaced with a diet with more fruit and vegetables especially raw ones and lesser amounts of nuts and proteins.
Blood tests for vegan nutrient deficiency? Researchers are finding that the vegan diet lends itself to reducing several diseases including cancer. A proper diet should also include organic, non-GMO food without growth hormones, pesticides and other pollutants. Good sources of oil should be used such as cold pressed organic olive oil for low or no temp cooking, and coconut oil for high temp cooking. Anti- inflammatory foods and anti oxidants should also be included. Also avoid farm grown fish & seafood, large fish that eat smaller ones and have higher mercury levels and avoid foods that raise the glycemic level in the body. Some physicians also believe eliminating inflammation will reduce most diseases. While consuming an anti-inflammatory diet can help you overcome them. Antioxidants are important because the cells give off waste including free radicals that lead to inflammation and are precursors to disease. The body produces some antioxidants to balance the free radicals but with radiation, processed foods and other contaminants this process cannot keep up so additional ones in food are necessary!!! A last area of interventions to reduce cancer risk are mental/spiritual ones such as prayer, meditation, affirmations, visualization, faith, helping others, compassion, gratitude and others. These were important in my cancer journey with lung cancer 46 years ago when I was given six months to live and was offered chemotherapy and surgery which I refused.
Instead I used a holistic natural approach. Although there is no research to support mental/spiritual interventions killing cancer cells there is currently adequate research to show the supplemental role they play. Overall these include reduce blood pressure, heart and breathing rates, improve memory. Increase DHEA, a hormone that reduces aging and decreases cortisol, the stress hormone, by 23%, increase happiness and self esteem, improve immune functioning. Improve tolerance to aches and pains, reduces stress, improves quality of life and others. Specifically. Cancer patients with a sense of purpose have an increased life span, and those who are spiritual have less pain and a higher quality of life,. Patients who meditate have 31% lower stress symptoms, and 67% less mood disturbances, and music can lower patient’s anxiety, pain, heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure. Visualization can improve immune functioning in cancer patients. Regarding the prognosis of “6 months to live”, I have learned over the years that this is not a medical diagnosis. Instead, it is a God diagnosis because only God knows when we will die. And from interacting with many cancer patients over the past 40 years I have learned this is a relatively common practice of oncologists to proclaim “3 months to live” or “6 months to live” or “1 year to live” or some other amount of time or expiration date. Also for patients facing cancer, this may be a disservice because it can create additional stress and become a self-fulfilling prophecy because of the influence of the mind on the body. I personally would prefer the doctor tell the patient that they have 50 or 100 years to live. I have learned that cancer does not have to be a death sentence; there are less harsh, non-invasive interventions that are very effective and may offer a greater probability of long-term survival without recurrence than chemotherapy and surgery. I have also read the research that chemotherapy and radiation may actually spread cancer or leave behind the most resistant cancer cells that often cause recurrence that are more difficult to treat. However, I believe that it is important to support the cancer patient in his/her treatment choice even when they differ from mine because they need to be in control and be optimistic about their choices. If patients make the decisions they are more likely to follow the prescribed interventions and recover from the disease. In order to make the best decisions they should learn as much as possible about available cancer treatments before being faced with a diagnosis. They can then discuss their decision about care with their doctor and follow the appropriate interventions. Without information it is likely their oncologists and primary doctor will discuss surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and avoid discussing other effective alternative treatments.
I believe that a holistic approach to cancer treatment is important. In public health I learned there are multiple factors leading to a disease or wellness process, not a single cause-effect relationship. Thereby, it seems that if this is true, then there must be multiple interventions to reverse the cancer process and return to health. Although all are interrelated, Therefore, I conceptualize the holistic treatment process as including physical, mental, spiritual, relationships, environment, and political aspects because all influence cancer at the individual and/or group level. My cancer journey discussed inYou Can Beat Lung Cancer: Using Alternative / Integrative Interventions began 40 years ago when I had a dream telling me to go for a chest x-ray. I pay attention to dreams because I believe this is one way that God speaks with us, if we listen. Following the dream, I went to my primary physician and asked for a referral for an x-ray that was required by my insurance at that time. The x-ray showed a spot on my lungs that had not been there previously and a follow up biopsy confirmed that it was lung cancer. Following their report of the diagnosis my primary doctor and surgeon told me they were planning chemotherapy and surgery. I told them their responsibility was to tell me the pros and cons of surgery and chemotherapy and mine was to make the decision about the type of care I would use. I told them that I would go home, pray about it and make a rational decision. They re-emphasized several times that I would be dead in 6 months. Talk about an inspiring guy!Dr. Carl O’ Helvie got diagnosed with lung cancer back in 1974. He was told by his doctors right away that they needed to operate on his lung with an extensive and invasive surgery.
They told him they needed to do chemotherapy and radiation or else. He didn’t accept what they had to say especially after looking into the low survival rates along with the nasty side affects of the chemotherapy. Against his doctors wishes along with his family and friends, Dr. Helvie decided to pursue natural and alternative lung cancer treatments 46 years ago in 1974. Back then that was a radical thing to do for treatment of such a disease. Today I feel like alternative and holistic cancer treatments are starting to become much more mainstream, thanks to the internet. I talked with a friend, Ursula, who offered to pray for guidance with me and watch her dreams for answers. Ursula also suggested a psychic reading and since I had nothing to lose I agreed. Our dreams and the reading all encouraged a natural approach to treatment of the lung cancer. Ursula referred me to a physician in our state who had continued treating patients in his office after being closed for providing successful natural treatments at the National Cancer Institute. I made an appointment with Dr. Tom who confirmed the diagnosis and prescribed a regime of physical interventions. Prescribed care included laetrile(vitamin B17, amygdaline) 2,000 mg and 25 or 30 apricot kernels (one of the greatest sources of laetrile) daily. The theory for its use is that cancer may be a result of a deficiency of laetrile in the body. Some may be afraid to use laetrile because contemporary medical literature says it contains cyanide and can kill you or cause you to seek emergency medical care. However, literature fails to state that enzymes are needed to activate the cyanide in laetrile, and cancer cells have those enzyme but normal cells do not, so it is specific for destruction of cancer cells and normal cells are unaffected. Over the two years — I took laetrile and apricot kernels I had no side effects. Laetrile is not a stand-alone treatment for cancer.
Here is an interesting link explaining the therapies and some features stories. I once remember Carl telling me: that often many ask him if he could take just one of the supplements would it work to kill there cancer. And he would often tell them “no its a protocol and in any protocol one item is used to enhance another item.” The Other supplements prescribed that are very important to be used with laetrile. Pancreatic enzymes assist in killing the cancer cells by softening the shell. In addition, vitamins were prescribed such as therapeutic doses of vitamin A (between 300,000 i.u. and 50,000 i.u daily) to help prevent precancerous cells from converting to cancer cells, vitamin E 800 i.u. to help prevent toxicity from the vitamin A, vitamin B15, B5, and Vitamin C. Minerals and herbs included calcium, magnesium, zinc (acts as a carrier for the laetrile), comfrey pepsin (a digestive aid), yeast tablets, bromelain, and lecithin were also part of treatment. In addition, A/G Pro, a protein supplement, was used daily. Most of these supplements have been proven effective for cancer prevention and treatment through research over the past 40 years. For example, in the April 2014 issue of the International Journal of Oncology researchers concluded that a derivative of vitamin A known as retinoic acid found in carrots and sweet potatoes helps pre-cancer cells revert back to normal cells. Also the prescribed diet was similar to a current vegan diet and consisted of 75% raw fruit and vegetables (to increase enzymes in the body and to support the pancreas), with additional cooked fruit and vegetables. In addition, grains and nuts, except peanuts (a high source of protein) were allowed. No protein such as meat, chicken or dairy was allowed for the first few months and no simple carbohydrates such as cakes, pies, candy, or ice cream. It should be noted that 40 years ago our food supply was less polluted than today and anyone who wants to prevent or treat cancer today should eat organic or locally grown foods when the farming practices are known. This helps one avoid genetically modified organisms, growth hormones and other food pollutants that causes inflammation.
The prescribed diet remains the basic diet of choice for many alternative cancer protocols today and includes organic as much as possible. Exercise and smoking cessation were also part of the care plan. As a public health nurse, I believed there is more to cancer care than physical interventions. Consequently, I developed a holistic approach specific to my lung cancer by adding mental, spiritual, relationship, environmental, and political interventions. Mental & spiritual activities included daily prayer, meditation, visualization, affirmations, relaxation exercises, serving others, strengthening the spiritual attributes of patience, faith, and forgiveness, and remaining positive and optimistic. As we know all disease really is caused by unresolved emotional trauma, conflict or stress. By living in communion with God, meditating and living stress/drama free we can begin to heal the root cause of all disease. Make sure to listen to this interview/podcast with Dr. Carl O’ Helvie and pass it on to your loved ones if you think they’ll benefit. We talk to many wonderful naturopathic doctors who have tremendous success with turning cancer around using natural methods. But it’s quite another thing to talk with someone who has actually reversed such a nasty disease himself. That’s why we put an entire section on the site called Natural Cancer Survivors so you can get some hope and positive energy from listening to these success stories! What is discuss: – How faith, positivity and energy played a role in his healing – Which foods cause cancer to grow – The popularity of the ketogenic diet for cancer treatment – How sugar feeds cancer – The effectiveness of IPT (insulin potentiation therapy) – Why he takes the mineral selenium every day – The magical qualities of bilberry and Aloe Vera juice – Why he likes Protocel and I mentioned the benefits of Essiac tea. And so much more! Enjoy!
Environmental activities included maintaining a smoke free environment, evaluating the house for radon and asbestos, airing the house daily, if possible, and removing all pesticides, mold and other chemical contaminants that could further compromise my lungs. Relationship aspects included maintaining friendships with students, colleagues, and friends, and giving and receiving emotional support. Political aspects included being active in lecturing and publishing about complementary, holistic treatment for cancer, participating in the political process and professional organizations to bring about change in cancer care, financing, and access to care. Research has also supported many holistic interventions. For example, radon exposure results in about 3 percent of the lung cancer incidence, social support has been shown to help resolve stress and crises situations, spiritual or religious people have been shown to overcome illnesses more quickly and live longer than those who are not, optimism and faith are related to shorter illnesses and living longer, and meditation has been shown to have many health benefits. During my treatment I saw my primary physician periodically for x-rays to measure progress that was the only method available then. He thought we were in a wait and see mode because I had not shared with him that I was using holistic natural interventions. After two years the spot was gone, I was cancer free, and my doctor said he guessed he had made the wrong diagnosis. However, a national leader physician friend asked to see all of the materials – lab, biopsy, x-rays and reports – and after reviewing them he was the third physician to conclude that it definitely was lung cancer. For the next 38 years I followed a slightly modified version of my cancer care plan and remained cancer free and healthy. At age 82, I was also free of other known chronic diseases until I was diagnosed with Atrial fibulation that has since been mainly overcome using natural interventions. Although I take supplements, I take no prescribed medications. I walk on the beach for an hour each morning and live in a 3-story house so I am up and down stairs often. I keep mentally active writing books, hosting a radio show, marketing my resources to many patients monthly. To my cancer diet I added some chicken, fish and dairy and ate primarily organic or locally grown produce for many years. Since being diagnosed with A-fib I am again on a vegan diet with the exception of fish or seafood two nights a week. I have also found natural solutions for occasional health concern that arise over time such as an enlarged prostate, diverticulitis, seasonal allergies, and cataracts. I rarely take drugs for any reason. Other holistic aspects of the care plan were continued. The book includes chapters by Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Francisco Contreras, Dr. James Forsythe, Dr. Kim Dalzell; and Tanya Harter Pierce on additional alternative medical, and nutritional interventions for lung cancer used in clinics and at home. July, 2019 marked 45-years since my diagnosis making me the longest living lung cancer survivor known to man. Carl O. Helvie: in his days on earth was dedicated into educating himself and others about the benefits of Holistic Health and his published works of 10 books and chapters in 4 additional ones and over 100 international research papers and articles. He was also listed in national references and Wikipedia. Until a few months before his death. Carl stayed active hosting the Holistic Health Radio Show, serving the www.HolisticCancerFoundation.com which I found shameful that it was taken off the internet because it was an Archives of brilliant resource for anybody battling cancer. Special Note: for some reason his website was deleted from the internet and all the valuable information and interviews he had in it. Fortunately you can still listen to the interviews on the digital podcast and BBS Radio Link!!! https://bbsradio.com/users/dr-carl-o-helvie Dr. Carl O. Helvie was a registered nurse with a masters in public health nursing focusing on wellness (U of California), a second masters degree in public health and wellness (Johns Hopkins U) a doctorate in public health and wellness. With those credentials you would think like so man others he wouldn’t give so much of himself for free of charge and much like we always told each other if people only knew of the rewards for their good deed they would think otherwise.
What Having Lung Cancer Can Teach You… His Books are a Treasure Trove:Healthy Holistic Aging; A Blueprint for Successtells you how to remain healthy and achieve results similar to his. You Can Beat Lung Cancer: Using Alternative/Integrative Interventionsdiscusses his many experiences with cancer and his efforts to remain free of cancer, the demographics, politics, and other background information. Plus chapters from M.D.’s and PhD’s who are successfully treating lung cancer with alternative medical, and nutritional interventions. And Reducing Your Cancer Risk helps you do just that. As a nurse with a public health background I have always enjoyed helping others and teaching them how to stay well and avoid illnesses. My writing has been one way to reach larger numbers of people than when I worked in a hospital, public health setting or with students. I have been host of the Holistic Health Show on BBS Radio for over 7 years. I Have reached large numbers of people all over the world with important holistic health information by interviews with leaders in the health field. My show has the potential to reach 250,000 subscribers to the show and an average of 10 million hits a month on BBS Radio. The show is placed on my website, itunes, podcast alley and other sites after the broadcast and I have had almost 6 million hits on my website and average around 100,000 people each month. So I do reach a large group of people.
https://secure.endfatigue.com/ media/press-coverage/podcasts-and-radio In the years I knew Carl he always statedto this very end that his protocol was the most affordable and effective out there and he researched everyone. As friends we always respected each others work (opinions) and that we delivered each others research free of charge with the rewards from feedback through others we gained further knowledge. Carl always thought the information that I displayed through my blog was light years ahead of others. As mutual friends: I will always know I couldn’t have done what I do with out the friendship and appreciation of Dr. O Helvie for being a mentor 🙂 RiP Carl & Rosa And God Bless You Both 🙂
Lisa Bryan founded Downshiftology, in 2014, after she left a corporate career in a blaze of burnout!!
Previously, Lisa stated I was an executive for healthcare companies (cancer research, diagnostic imaging and molecular diagnostics) and my days consisted of long hours, high stress and poor eating, usually while running between meetings. Wellness was not a priority and I sure didn’t understand balance. I was your quintessential, “type A” corporate workaholic. Downshiftology is a healthy food, travel and lifestyle website. All recipes are gluten-free and prioritize fresh, seasonal ingredients. https://downshiftology.com/ A few years before she was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases – celiac, hashimoto’s, psoriasis and endometriosis – one diagnosis virtually after the next. Eventually, realizing her work and lifestyle was affecting her health, she opted for a “life do-over” and quit her job. After several months off, the dots finally connected and Lisa learned how to really nourish my body – through food and lifestyle.
Lisa then became well versed in wholesome, anti-inflammatory foods when she embraced a whole foods diet. After being diagnosed with four autoimmune diseases in two years. Lisa realized her body was fighting massive immune system inflammation and that she needed to provide reinforcements. Those reinforcements came in the form of groceries. As an avid traveler who has visited all 7 continents, Lisa hopes to inspire her readers to explore the world, eat wholesome food and take life “down a notch.” Watch this video for the list of anti-inflammatory foods – and the other video’s she produce and enjoy the full blog post on the 8 Anti-Inflammatory Foods she Eats Every Week: https://bit.ly/2Utpni0 These are the anti-inflammatory foods that if eaten every week can reduce inflammation in your body. An anti-inflammatory diet can help with reducing joint pain and arthritis, heals the gut (key if you have celiac, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s or IBS), getting rid of eczema and psoriasis, and keeping other autoimmune conditions such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis in check. It’s also beneficial if you suffer from anxiety or depression. Downshiftology YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCYidQwKhM3WTDKpT8pwfJzw
This Is Your Body And Brain On Coronavirus Quarantine!!! By Krissy Brady Now that it’s day who-even-knows-anymore in the coronaviruspandemic, and the initial shock of it all is starting to wear off, you might find yourself distracted by a barrage of mental and physical symptoms that weren’t as prominent back when panic-induced toilet-paper hoarding was hogging your attention.
This is because the prolonged levels of anxiety we’ve been enduring the last few months are straight-up wearing us down. “The early optimism and community support begins to erode as the mind and body struggle to manage the persistent stress and sense of being out of control,” said Kimberly Johnson, an assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at Touro College in Bay Shore, New York. “Couple this with feelings of grief, both tangible – intangible, and people having less resources with which to deal with life.” Much of what we’re feeling, both emotionally and physically, are normal responses to an abnormal event, Johnson added. But the prolonged effects can be damaging if we’re not aware of them and make an effort to mitigate them (translation: self-care). To make changes, it can be helpful to understand how the body — particularly the brain — responds to stress and change. Here’s what you should know.
Uncertainty Activates The Fight-Or-Flight Response. The pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders are things none of us have experienced before, so the brain doesn’t have data from past experiences that it can draw from to make informed decisions. “Uncertainty is a major trigger of stress that can boil over into clinically significant levels of anxiety,” said David A. Merrill, a psychiatrist and director of the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Uncertainty activates the autonomic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response, which prepares the body to fight a threat or flee from one. Once that threat is dealt with, the mind and body go back to their regularly scheduled programming. But COVID-19 isn’t a temporary threat ― at least not right now. So the ongoing stress, anxiety and worry (“Am I washing my hands enough?” “Cleaning surfaces enough?” “Going out too much?”) have sent the fight-or-flight response into overdrive.
Stress Can Make It Hard To Concentrate. Chronic stress leaves the brain swimming in the hormone cortisol, which research suggests can disrupt the functions of the prefrontal cortex ― the area of the brain responsible for attention span, decision-making, problem-solving and emotion regulation. Cue brain fog, apathy, indecisiveness and mood swings. Isolation Triggers Restlessness, Loneliness And Depression. As a result of being quarantined, not only are we disconnected from the people we care about, many of us have also lost our jobs and are unable to do the things we’d normally do to blow off steam ― either because we can’t afford to or because our go-to stress-busters are no longer an option (eating out at restaurants, going to the movies, hitting up a workout class). “The problem here is that our cortisol levels are too high, while our dopamine (reward) and oxytocin (bonding) levels are low,” said Patricia Celan, a psychiatry resident at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This leaves us more at risk of developing feelings of restlessness, loneliness and depression during quarantine, especially if we place a high value on social interactions, Celan said.
Chronic Stress Leads To Tingling, Digestive Problems And More.
When the fight-or-flight response kicks in, it triggers physical reactions. “Symptom clusters for this include racing or pounding heart, shortness of breath and sense of numbness or tingling, among others,” Merrill said. Over a prolonged period of time, these reactions can cause significant physical wear and tear on the body. “With the long haul of the quarantine, we’re seeing more lethargy, disrupted sleep and depression,” Merrill added. “These symptoms tend to negatively amplify each other.” This is likely because there’s little separation between work (or the hunt for work) and home. “Anecdotally, people are saying they’re working more and putting in longer hours,” Johnson said. “This is also true with essential workers ― their home is often not the sanctuary it once was.” Now that our routines are upended, and there are no longer cues from our environment that it’s time to decompress, our body has no idea when to take a breather. It’s as if our central nervous system has a foot on both the gas and brake pedals simultaneously. To top it off, chronic stress has a tendency to physically manifest in the form of digestive issues (think bloating, gas, cramps, nausea). “The onset of irritable bowel syndrome during something as life-altering as a pandemic or having to go into quarantine is purely from the mind-gut axis and the effect of stress on the gut,” said Niket Sonpal, a gastroenterologist and professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This change in cortisol and other neurotransmitters can lead to constipation, diarrhea or both.”
Personality Type May Affect How You Handle Quarantine. For people who consider themselves extroverts, the quarantine is causing anxiety and restlessness at the loss of broader social interactions and being out in the world. But that doesn’t necessarily mean introverts — who typically isolate themselves whether there’s a pandemic or not — aren’t experiencing their own spirals of angst. “Although we might think of these personalities as different, their key objective is exactly the same, which is to maintain some sense of control and mastery in their world,” said organizational and consulting psychologist Richard Citrin, co-author of ”The Resilience Advantage.” Introverts do this by being more inwardly focused and isolating from people, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be around people, just that their level of interaction can be less,” Citrin said. They might be missing the freedom to be alone in the crowded streets of the city they live in or meeting a friend for coffee. You don’t need to be a social butterfly to miss being out in the world. From a work perspective, introverts might find themselves invigorated by working independently rather than in a busy, social office building. But Zoom meetings might cause them a significant amount of distress, and they might get lost in the shuffle. Plus, being quarantined at home doesn’t mean being alone. “For some introverts, their homes are always full, with no time or space to themselves,” Johnson said. “The constant stimuli might be overwhelming and increase their sense of anxiety and stress, with little opportunity to be inwardly contemplative or quiet.” How To Nurture Your Body And Mind During Quarantine. There are ways to mitigate these issues. Try these suggestions from the experts. Acknowledge The Uncertainty. Research suggests that confronting uncomfortable feelings and reassuring yourself can help you feel more in control of your life. “Realizing you’ve made it this far through the crisis and you’re still ‘pushing back’ against the uncertainty can build up your tolerance for handling this situation,” Merrill said. Get Into A Rhythm. “Following a schedule can help normalize your sleep and eating habits, which will lower your anxiety over time,” Merrill said. The hints of predictability can act as emotional pillars to lean on and help you find a sense of stability during the daily grind. Carve Out Time For Solitude. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the 24/7 social demands of your household, set aside consistent pockets of “me time,” with boundaries around being approached during this time, Celan said. (For introverts or highly sensitive people who need to recharge more often, consider setting up a permanent “cave” you can retreat to at a moment’s notice.) This can act as a signal to your body that it’s time to transition from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. Natural ways to boost your mood during coronavirus quarantine! Find A Balance That Works For You. The most important thing is to listen to your body and honor how you feel. If you’ve reached your isolation quota, but nobody’s available to chat, you can seek out connection through, say, group workouts on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram Live or other similar sources of community. On the flip side, if you’re running into social or Zoom fatigue, you might want to take a “quality over quantity” approach instead, Celan said. Keep only your most important connections on the books in order to keep relationships strong yet steer clear of burnout. Stay fueled by what’s always moved you most ― whether that’s reading, writing, painting or other similar solo activities. It’s much easier for people to “get their mind off the stress of the pandemic, given they’re already used to enjoying the many at-home activities that are available to them,” Celan said. Common ingredient in cough medicine may help coronavirus grow, study finds!!!
A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus.. Stay up to date with this live blog as they cover the COVID-19 pandemic 7 essential pieces of relationship advice for couples in quarantine What you need to know about face masks right now How to tell if you need to start doing online therapy Lost your job due to coronavirus? Here’s what you need to know. Parenting during the coronavirus crisis? The HuffPost guide to working from home What coronavirus questions are on your mind right now? We want to help you find answers. Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19. Support journalism without a paywall — and keep it free for everyone — by becoming a HuffPost member today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Is it safe to go to the beach right now? Doctors offer tips to avoid coronavirus. By Agnes Pawlowski Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer as usual, but it won’t be the usual trip to the beach in the age of the coronavirus. Some shores are still closed. At those that have reopened, beach goers may face a wide variety of new rules. Being outside and enjoying nature is good for physical and mental health, so opening up is important — as long as people remember how the virus is transmitted and continue to take precautions, said Dr. Marissa Levine, director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“Going to a beach unfortunately lulls us into this sense of normality, particularly if around you, people are just acting like nothing is going on,” Levine told TODAY. “We can’t assume that we’re back to normal, because we’re not… we still have no treatment and no vaccine and therefore, this virus can still cause disease and death.” Even though there’s much more space to be 6 feet apart, the concern is people spend much more time at the beach and socialize more, said NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres.
“With some people, alcohol is involved and once you start drinking, it is easy to say, ‘Hey, I’m just going to go say hi to my friend real quick, I don’t need this mask, I can hug my buddy, it’s going to be OK,’” Torres noted. “That is the concern with a lot of experts.” Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself: Is it safe to go to the beach right now? Yes, as long as people stay away from each other, said Dr. Joseph Vinetz, an infectious disease doctor at Yale Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. “No mosh pits at the beach,” he advised. “The beach is fine, outside exercise is fine — you just have to stay away from closely packed people.” Both Vinetz and Levine noted that the virus is diluted outdoors where there’s a lot of air circulation. Plus, ultraviolet light from the sun inactivates the virus quickly. But people at risk for the severe form of COVID-19 — those over 65 or with underlying health conditions — should think twice about going to a beach where it may be hard to control physical distancing, Levine said. Anyone with symptoms should also stay home. Follow the guidelines at your local beach.
Restrictions may differ widely. New York City beaches are closed, for example, but those run by the state will begin to open Friday — at 50% capacity, with added precautions and mandated social distancing. Organized games and contact sports will be prohibited. Beaches in New Jersey and Connecticut will have similar restrictions. In California, Los Angeles County beaches reopened May 13 for activities like swimming, surfing, jogging and walking — but not sunbathing, picnicking or volleyball.
Related: Florida and South Carolina reopened parts of the coast in April, but some communities have strict rules. Naples, Florida, for example, allows walking, running, swimming, fishing and paddle boarding, but prohibits chairs, tents, umbrellas or coolers on the beach on weekend mornings.
Beware of choke points. The shore itself offers a lot of open space. Getting there is another story. The parking lot and entry ramps to beaches where people have to funnel in and out could be very crowded. “If you’re going to go to a beach and you see that the parking lot is full and the beach is jammed, I would say turn around and go home or find another beach,” Levine said. “Because if you cannot maintain your physical distancing, then you’re putting yourself at risk or you might be a carrier and potentially putting other people at risk.”
Social distancing is still key. Keep at least 6 feet away from people who are not part of your household. The drill should be familiar by now: The virus is spread primarily through close contact with people who are infected. They may not show any symptoms. “If people don’t stay away from each other, then all bets are off,” Vinetz warned. “If people are close together, talking together, shouting together or singing together in close proximity, that’s clearly a risk for getting an infection.” Assume everybody is infected, even though few people actually are.
Have a face covering available. It’s usually not necessary to have a face covering on when there’s nobody very nearby (unless local rules require it all the time), but have a mask handy to put on at any moment — in those crowded choke points or when others get too close for comfort, Levine advised. “If you see groups of people coming at you, it might be good to mask up at that point,” she said.
Keep social distancing in the water. The general thinking right now is that it’s safe to swim in open water, which will dilute the virus, Levine noted.But infected people may release the virus into the water if they submerge their face so it’s best not to swim very near someone, said Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology and immunology at The University of Arizona in Tucson. As a general rule, don’t swallow the water — not just to potentially avoid COVID-19, but also, because of pollution and water-borne diseases.
Bring wipes and hand sanitizer with you. Have the option to clean your hands after touching a surface that others have frequently touched, like the lock of a stall in a public bathroom. Wipe down any rental beach equipment — like shared lounge chairs or umbrellas — though it’s best to avoid using such communal items in the first place.
Remember: We’re all in this together. “It’s not just about doing it for yourself, it’s about us being part of a cohesive community that dealing collaboratively against a really difficult issue — something that we don’t know how long we’ll have to live with,” Levine said.
According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker – Report 5/17/2020 (8:00 PM): E.S.T. the number of global cases has reached 4,708,415 Active cases hit 2,666,694 which is +48,740 higher than yesterday. Recovered cases rose by +59,937 to 1,726,771 while deaths hit 314,950 a gain of 4940 of the world’s confirmed case total.
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States have hit 1,515,744 which is 33% of the world’s total. The number of active cases increased by 3,662 to 1,144,645 & recovered cases totaled 281,191 higher by +18,121. Fatal cases in America numbered 89,908 a gain of 773 in a day. They are 28% of the world’s total and 5.9% of confirmed U.S. cases. California has not posted large numbers of confirmed cases and deaths compared to its size, which is 39,512,223 residents, or 12% of the national population total. That has started to change recently. The state’s confirmed cases sit at 76,793 and active cases jumped to 73,589 an increase of 1,857. By contrast, New York, the hardest hit state by far, had an increase of 4,308 which indicates how rapidly infection levels in New York are growing. Deaths in California stand at 3204 a rise of 96 in the past day. The hardest hit county in California by far is Los Angeles County, which includes the City of Los Angeles and several smaller cities. Its number of confirmed cases is 37,303 which is 48% of the state’s total. Active cases in the county stand at 35,510 up 1,857. The number of fatal cases grew by 95 to 3,204.
New Jersey Continues to Surge New Jersey, some of which is across the Hudson River from New York City, has an infection and death rate that continues to rise rapidly. The state has the highest number of confirmed cases after only New York. Confirmed cases currently sit at 144,334. The active case count has reached 135,978 a jump of 1,245 and fatal cases are at 10,356 higher by 107. The New Jersey counties next to New York City have the lion’s share of confirmed cases. While Hudson County has 17,447. Bergen County has 17,361, while Essex County has 16,140 and Passaic County has 15,205. The count in the four counties together is 46% of New Jersey’s total. Bing COVID-19 Report: Detroit continues to suffer increases
Where as, Wayne County (Detroit) 19,016 – 2212 and Cook County (Chicago) 36,621 – 1636 cases.
In just four months, The deadly COVID-19 virus has infiltrated the globe, every state and major U.S. city. But a scattering of remote counties continue without a single reported case, according to a USA TODAY analysis. As of May 15, a total of 231 of 3,143 counties had no reported cases. The list is getting shorter by the day, though. In the first half of May alone, 40 counties went from zero recorded cases of the virus to at least one. Georgia started the month with two zero-case counties. Now there are none. Tennessee also had two counties with no reported cases on May 1; two weeks later, only one remained. Hancock County is the remaining county in Tennessee that has no reported cases of COVID-19. Iowa went from eight counties with no cases to only four by mid-May. Why is This?
Counties where there are no reported cases of COVID-19* The long stretch without coronavirus cases in some counties likely reflects an undercount from limited testing. But in others it may also reflect the benefits of being relatively cut off. USA TODAY found a strong link between population density and official infection rates across the country. People in case-free counties said they don’t consider their communities immune, just less exposed. “To get to Hancock County, you either have to go over a ridge or a mountain,” said Tom Harrison, the mayor of Tennessee’s last county with no recorded cases. “You don’t just drive by and see us. You have to have us on your mind to get here. And hopefully that had a little something to do with the COVID. It’s had trouble finding us.”
Counties without COVID-19 Studies have shown that the more COVID-19 tests, the more positive cases reported. USA TODAY’s analysis found states that still have counties reporting zero cases tested less of their population than others — about 30.2 tests per 1,000 residents, compared to 37.7 tests per 1,000 in states with cases in every county. Local officials in counties without reported infections also point to another factor: The counties they live in are overwhelmingly rural, with isolated, sparse populations. USA TODAY’s analysis included data from its own county-by-county tracking report and demographic characteristics of each county drawn from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey. The demographic data show counties with no reported cases are mostly isolated areas, drizzled across the nation’s midsection, in the northern plains and in the Southwest. Texas had 34 of its 254 counties reporting no positive cases – the most of any state. At least 1 in 4 counties in North Dakota, Montana and Alaska were listed as case-free through May 15. More than 90% of such counties are rural, with a majority of residents living outside a city or large town. Most had five or fewer homes per square mile, and their populations averaged about 5,000. Amongst counties with at least one case, the rate gets higher with more residents per square mile, the Data show. Source: Is the Coronavirus in Bible Prophecy?: Facing Uncertain Times with David Jeremiah!!!
The World has been Ending ever since it Began. If you are a frequent watcher of television movies, you may have often noticed how doomsday movies appear on your screen. Modern filmmaking produces dramatic, realistic disaster movies. The 2018 Jurassic Park sequel, Fallen Kingdom, featured a dangerous volcano. The 2017 movie Geostorm saw its heroes fighting worldwide climate disruption. Such movies warn us of cosmocide and the end of the world: Perhaps you’ve seen those or others, such as: Pandemic,The Day After Tomorrow,Deep Impact,Asteroid,San Andreas,Armageddon Are any of these disaster films portraying a real future? We don’t need to look too far into the past to see the reality of devastating disasters. In the summer of 2018, record fires ravaged thousands of square miles in California, destroying the city of Paradise with a population of 27,000. Fires spread at the speed of 50 miles per hour, killing scores who had no chance of escape. And who can forget the record-destroying “Boxing Day tsunami” in South Asia that killed more than 225,000 in December 2004? The 9-11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the World Trade Center in New York City still, to this day, symbolize global terrorism. Will the earth survive at all? Your Bible reveals specific events leading to the end of this age. We are living in the end of the age of man’s grand experiment of governing himself. Can the 193 member states of the United Nations ever find the way to world peace? My friends, world history should give you the answer! World War II, less than 80 years ago, first introduced us to the danger of nuclear cosmocide. Nuclear, biological, as chemical threats continue!
Have you considered the prospect of ultimate doomsday for planet Earth? What does your Bible predict? Matthew 24:21–22, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the [a]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” WHO will shorten those days to save us? Your Bible reveals that the Messiah, the Savior of the World, will return to this earth to prevent total cosmocide. Your Bible also predicts the awesome good news of a new world government under the King of kings, Jesus Christ. Yes, the greatest event in modern history may happen in YOUR LIFETIME, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, to establish real world peace among all nations and to bring about prosperity for all peoples. There ARE prophetic signs helping us prepare for that great event. On today’s program, we’ll be offering you a VITAL, inspiring and revealing study guide, 14 SIGNS ANNOUNCING CHRIST’S RETURN. Be sure to order your free copy. What signs should you be watching for? My friends, these signs are now rapidly coming to pass.
You need to know the signs of the Second Coming! Nuclear Warfare and Natural Catastrophes are Only the Beginning My friends, I’m sure you’ve heard of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, but He is also called the “Prince of peace.” That’s in Isaiah 9:6. Our world desperately needs the peace only Christ can bring.
Will you be ready to meet Him when He comes? And how will you know WHEN He is coming? What are the prophetic signs you need to know? We’ll be answering those questions on today’s program, and we’ll be offering you an inspiring free study guide, FOURTEEN SIGNS ANNOUNCING CHRIST’S RETURN. Be sure to write down the contact information to request your free copy. How will you know WHEN Christ will return? Let’s consider seven signs of the Second Coming. #tomorrowsworld#TWtelecast#Jesussecondcoming
A Unique Perspective: The climate apocalypse is coming. To prepare for it, we need to admit that we can’t prevent it. ‘It is important to fight smaller battles’ By Jonathan Franzen In an interview with Extinction Rebellion, the novelist said he found the negative response to his writing about the climate crisis ‘surprising, if not disheartening’ Fresh from another internet pile-on over his views on the climate emergency, Jonathan Franzen has warned that hate speech on social media is dividing humanity and preventing the cooperation needed to tackle the environmental crisis. The American novelist was speaking to the Extinction Rebellion podcast, to be released on Wednesday, about aggressive online response to his recent New Yorker article about the climate catastrophe. He is not on social media, he said, “so I don’t experience the rage except through the accounts of a couple of friends who have not learned that they shouldn’t tell me about these things”.
Franzen said that he found it “surprising, if not disheartening, to learn that the messenger was being attacked even if the facts of the message were not being challenged … In the context of a threatened social order, the kind of polarization and hysteria and real hate speech that is occurring primarily on the internet, much less often face to face, is part of the problem. ”In his September New Yorker article, Franzen shared his belief that a climate apocalypse is unavoidable and so it is “important to fight smaller, more local battles that you have some realistic hope of winning”. Among his critics were scientists, who particularly objected to his statement that “consensus among scientists and policymakers is that we’ll pass this point of no return if the global mean temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius”. Franzen admitted that his claim about global warming could have been expressed more clearly.“ That remark about things spiraling out of control past the two degree point was in the context of saying we should have as substantial and immediate reductions in carbon emissions as we possibly can – not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it will at least, if nothing else, somewhat slow the pace of change and give us time to prepare and adapt and become more resilient. Obviously, a world of two degrees is better than a world of seven degrees,” he said. In the New Yorker, he urged readers to “save what you love specifically – a community, an institution, a wild place, a species that’s in trouble – and take heart in your small successes”.
Franzen is on the board of American Bird Conservancy, and has written extensively about the need to protect birds. “I feel like all I do is fail, but every once in a while we have some little success and that was really the ultimate message of my New Yorker piece,” he said. “You’re not going to probably save anything permanently but, to save something for a while, to watch a formerly wrecked place recover ecologically, to see a species that you care about whose population was declining rebounding – I have hope for those places, as I have hope for those species.
In the context of the larger failure, that is not nothing.” Franzen supports Extinction Rebellion, which is in the middle of two weeks of protests in London. “It’s different from some of the earlier climate activist organizations over here. I appreciate that and I’m all for it,” he told the activists’ podcast. We’ve never had a better chance to make a greener world. Covid-19 has delivered unusual environmental benefits: cleaner air, lower carbon emissions, a respite for wildlife. Now the big question is whether we can capitalize on this moment? https://www.sierraclub.org/ sierra/jonathan-franzens- controversial-stance-climate-action
This nutrient is especially important for immune system health, leaving many people to wonder whether supplementing with vitamin D may help reduce the risk of contracting the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. It’s important to note that there’s currently no cure for COVID-19 and no preventive measures other than physical distancing, also known as social distancing, and proper hygiene practices can protect you from developing this disease. That said, some research shows that having healthy levels of vitamin D, as well as taking a vitamin D supplement, can help keep your immune system healthy and may protect against respiratory illnesses in general. This article explains how vitamin D affects immune health and how supplementing with this nutrient may help protect against respiratory conditions.
This vitamin plays a critical role in promoting immune response. It has both anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties and is crucial for the activation of immune system defenses (1Trusted Source). Vitamin D is known to enhance the function of immune cells, including T-cells and macrophages, that protect your body against pathogens (2Trusted Source). In fact, the vitamin is so important for immune function that low levels of vitamin D have been associated with an increased susceptibility to infection, disease, and immune-related disorders (3Trusted Source). For example, low vitamin D levels are associated with an increased risk of respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as viral and bacterial respiratory infections (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source). What’s more, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to decreased lung function, which may affect your body’s ability to fight respiratory infections (8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).
SUMMARY: Vitamin D is critical for immune function. A deficiency in this nutrient may compromise immune response and increase your risk of infection and disease.
Can taking vitamin D protect against COVID-19? Currently, there’s no cure or treatment for COVID-19. No studies have investigated the effect of vitamin D supplements or vitamin D deficiency on the risk of contracting the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Still, multiple studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency can harm immune function and increase your risk of developing respiratory illnesses (10Trusted Source). Additionally, some studies have indicated that vitamin D supplements can enhance immune response and protect against respiratory infections overall. A recent review that included 11,321 people from 14 countries demonstrated that supplementing with vitamin D decreased the risk of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in both those who were deficient in vitamin D and those with adequate levels. Overall, the study showed that vitamin D supplements reduced the risk of developing at least one ARI by 12%. The protective effect was strongest in those with low vitamin D levels (11Trusted Source). Moreover, the review found that vitamin D supplements were most effective at protecting against ARI when taken daily or weekly in small doses and less effective when taken in larger, widely spaced doses (12Trusted Source). Vitamin D supplements have also been shown to reduce mortality in older adults, who are most at risk for developing respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 (13Trusted Source). Keep in mind that there’s no scientific evidence that taking supplemental vitamin D can protect you from developing COVID-19. However, being deficient in vitamin D may increase your susceptibility to overall infection and disease by harming immune function. This is especially worrisome given that many people are deficient in vitamin D, especially older individuals who are most at risk of developing more serious COVID-19-related complications (14Trusted Source). For these reasons, it’s a good idea to have your healthcare provider test your vitamin D levels to determine whether you have a deficiency in this important nutrient. Depending on your blood levels, supplementing with 1,000–4,000 IU of vitamin D per day is typically sufficient for most people. However, those with low blood levels will often require much higher doses to increase their levels to an optimal range (15Trusted Source). Though recommendations on what constitutes an optimal vitamin D level vary, most experts agree that optimal vitamin D levels lie between 30–60 ng/mL (75–150 nmol/L) (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source).
SUMMARY: Evidence that vitamin D supplements reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 is lacking, but having healthy vitamin D levels can enhance immune health. Plus, vitamin D supplements may protect against respiratory infections in general.
Most people can make enough vitamin D from being out in the sun daily for short periods with their forearms, hands or lower legs uncovered and without sunscreen from late March or early April to the end of September, especially from 11am to 3pm. It’s not known exactly how much time is needed in the sun to make enough vitamin D to meet the body’s requirements. This is because there are a number of factors that can affect how vitamin D is made, such as your skin color or how much skin you have exposed. But you should be careful not to burn in the sun, so take care to cover up or protect your skin with sunscreen before your skin starts to turn red or burn. People with dark skin, such as those of African, African-Caribbean or south Asian origin, will need to spend longer in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D as someone with lighter skin. How long it takes for your skin to go red or burn varies from person to person. Cancer Research UK has tips to help you protect your skin in the sun.
Vitamin D From Sun Exposure!!!! Your body can’t make vitamin D if you’re sitting indoors by a sunny window because ultraviolet B (UVB) rays (the ones your body needs to make vitamin D) can’t get through the glass. The longer you stay in the sun, especially for prolonged periods without sun protection, the greater your risk of skin cancer. If you plan to be out in the sun for long, cover up with suitable clothing, wrap-around sunglasses, seeking shade and applying at least SPF15 sunscreen.
Winter sunlight In the UK, sunlight doesn’t contain enough UVB radiation in winter (October to early March) for our skin to be able to make vitamin D. During these months, we rely on getting our vitamin D from food sources (including fortified foods) and supplements. Rule 0f Thumb: Depending on the variables stated above, generally being exposed to UVB Rays for 1/2 hour will provide you with 10,000 IU of Vitamin D. Using sunbeds isn’t a recommended way of making vitamin D.
The Bottom line Vitamin D plays many important roles in your body, including promoting the health of your immune system. Scientific research suggests that supplementing with vitamin D may protect against respiratory infections, especially among those who are deficient in the vitamin. Still, keep in mind that there’s currently no evidence that taking any supplement, including vitamin D, reduces your risk of developing COVID-19 as a result of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. If you’re interested in supplementing with vitamin D to enhance your overall immune response, consult your healthcare provider for information on proper dosing.
Coronavirus: One Vitamin May Be the Key to Stopping It by Garry Messick Here’s the scariest thing about the coronavirus epidemic… Doctors have no way to prevent it. And they have nothing that treats it. Researchers are working furiously to come up with a vaccine. But it looks like they are at least a year away from developing one. They are also trying to come up with antiviral drugs that can treat it. That will also take months, if not years. But there may be an effective, natural way to prevent coronavirus that is hiding in plain sight. In study after study, one vitamin has shown that it can stop upper respiratory viruses like coronavirus.
And unlike vaccines and drugs, it has virtually no side effects.
Vitamin D: Powerful Protection From Viruses A major 2017 study published in the British Medical Journal looked at vitamin D’s effectiveness against viral infections. Researchers analyzed 25 clinical trials that included 11,321 people. The data came from 14 countries, including U.S., England, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Italy. The study found that taking vitamin D supplements cuts in half the risk of respiratory infections caused by viruses.[1] The researchers concluded: “Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection.” A 2012 Spanish study uncovered the mechanism by which vitamin D strengthens immunity.[2] The researchers looked at blood levels of vitamin D in three age groups: young (20–30), middle (31–59), and seniors (60–86). They found that seniors had lower vitamin D levels than other age groups. And their levels dropped more in the winter. When seniors’ vitamin D levels fell, the scientists observed that their immunity against viruses was weaker. Without sufficient vitamin D, proteins called toll-like receptors that start the immune response did not react as strongly. Dr. Victor Manuel Martinez-Taboada led the study. He is a researcher at University Hospital in Santander, Spain. He said that vitamin D is a potent weapon against viruses. “Vitamin D supplements should be considered one of the many tools that might help when conventional therapies are not enough,” he said. Other research has found that vitamin D improves viral immunity by strengthening your mucus membranes.[3] The coronavirus and other germs get into your body through entry points that are covered with mucus membranes. They include your nose, mouth, eyelids, lungs, trachea (windpipe), stomach, and urinary tract.[4] A lab study at the University of Illinois found that vitamin D helps mucus membranes provide a stronger barrier to viruses by increasing the antimicrobial compounds in them.[5] With coronavirus becoming a threat only in recent months, researchers have not yet had time to test vitamin D directly against it. But they say there’s no reason to think that it would not work just as well against coronavirus as it does against the flu, colds, and other upper respiratory viruses. Dr. Daniel Amen runs a chain of U.S. health clinics. To protect themselves from coronavirus, he is advising all his patients to get their vitamin D levels checked.[6] If you are over 65, there’s a good chance you are deficient in vitamin D. A study published in the journal Nutrients found that half of seniors have levels that are too low.[7] Try to get 15 minutes of direct sunlight a day with your arms and legs exposed. And have your doctor check your vitamin D level. It’s a simple blood draw. Normal levels in a reading are 40-60 ng/mL. It may not be possible for you to increase your sun exposure during the cold winter months. If that’s the case, take a quality vitamin D3supplement. We recommend 5,000 IUs a day. Editor’s Note: If you’re worried about the coronavirus outbreak, you need to know about “infinite immunity.” It’s a recent Nobel Prize-winning discovery that gives your body the power to fight off most infections. You can find out more by reading their monthly journal, Mexican “Insula Peptide” treatment 10,000X stronger than American Chemo? Go HERE. Independent Healing. https://www.bing.com/search?q= Mexican+%E2%80%9CInsula+ Peptide%E2%80%9D+treatment+10% 2C000X+stronger+than+American+ Chemo%3F&form=ANNTH1&refig= 588d35758378405f9ae1bb83b450005d
(CNN) A 100-year-old World War II veteran who died from Covid-19 lost a twin brother to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic a century earlier, his grandson said.
Philip Kahn is the oldest veteran in Nassau County, New York, according to his family, and had been fearful of another pandemic happening in his lifetime, his grandson, Warren Zysman, told CNN. “It was something he brought up quite frequently,” Zysman said. “I would have conversations with him, he would say to me, ‘I told you history repeats itself, 100 years is not that long of a period of time.'” Kahn and his twin brother, Samuel, were born on December 5, 1919. His brother died weeks later, his grandson said. The 1918 influenza pandemic, caused by a virus previously known as the “Spanish flu,” killed and estimate of more than 50 million people globally and about 675,000 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of April 22, there are more than 46,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States and about 19,000 deaths in New York State, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally.
Kahn was a sergeant in the US Army Air Force during WWII, Zysman said, and acted as an engineer and co-pilot, keeping war planes fueled. He received two Bronze Battle Stars for his service in WWII, his grandson said. After the war, he worked as an electrical foreman to help build the World Trade Center, Zysman said. In Long Island, Kahn lived on his own and walked one to two miles a day, Zysman said. He was very aware of what was happening with coronavirus since he watched the news all the time, and in the last days before his death on April 17, Kahn experienced coughing and respiratory symptoms of the virus, his grandson said.
Kahn knew that there was a possibility that he could have contracted the coronavirus. The Spanish flu killed more than 50 million people. These lessons could help avoid a repeat with coronavirus. “He talked about his brother a lot in the last few days,” Zysman said. The 100-year-old veteran received a coronavirus test, but his family did not get the results until after Kahn passed away. “He had always wanted a large military funeral, however, we weren’t able to provide that to him,” Zysman said. The cemetery arranged for two people in the armed forces to perform a military ceremony, and a man whose father was a Marine during WWII played the bugle at Kahn’s funeral from a distance, Kahn’s grandson said. “He volunteered because the Air Force protected the Marines by providing cover for them and he felt it was a honor to do this for my grandpa,” Zysman said. Sampson Lester Friedman, Khan’s friend who served with him during WWII in the Army Air Force, attended the funeral and gave a tribute to Kahn, which Zysman recorded on video and provided to CNN. “[There was] something about him that was very very special,” Friedman said at the funeral. “On our airplane, he was an engineer, and he was the hardest working guy aboard that airplane.” Over the century that followed his brother’s death, Kahn kept the memory of his brother alive. “Pretty much every holiday, every event, he would bring up his brother Samuel,” Zysman said. “It clearly made a hole in his heart that he never got to meet his twin, and that his twin died a few weeks after birth.”
Although for Philip Kahn story had an unhappy ending!!! ALLENDALE, N.J. (TEGNA) — Sylvia Goldsholl very well may be the oldest coronavirus survivor in America. Goldsholl was born on Dec. 29, 1911. At 108 years old, Sylvia Goldsholl may be the oldest resident living in New Jersey. Goldsholl tested positive for the virus in March and was moved to the COVID-19 isolation wing at Allendale Community for Senior Living where she has lived since 2007. Within two weeks she was considered healthy and cleared. “The oldest of four children and she always states she was the smartest one from the bunch,” No one older than Goldsholl seems to have gotten COVID-19 and survived. A web search turned up some news reports of 107-year-olds in Turkey and the Netherlands who recovered from the virus. But that was about it. “It’s very dangerous. I survived everything because I was determined to survive” Goldsholl says. Goldsholl has lived through her fair share of world crises. The 1918 pandemic, both World Wars and the Great Depression. “I’m a very friendly person. If you’re friendly to me, I return the friendliness,” she says. A longtime Bronx resident, Goldsholl moved to New Jersey 20 years ago. She was more interested in speaking about her family than the current pandemic. “A lot of stubbornness in them, which they get from their pop. Their pop had a lot of brains… I am a survivor. I’ve got to come out on the top of every list,” she says. The virus has taken a disproportionate toll on the elderly in New Jersey.
A 108-year-old woman from New Jersey, Sylvia was born on December 29, 1911 has recovered from coronavirus, and could be the country’s oldest Covid-19 survivor. During her 108-years, Goldsholl has lived through both the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, and now the Covid-19 pandemic, over 100 years apart. Goldsholl is not quite the oldest reported person to have recovered from the coronavirus – when New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy announced the news at a briefing. “A tremendous life, a tremendous spirit, and a tremendous show of strength,” the governor wrote in a tweet celebrating Goldsholl. ‘I survived everything because I was determined to survive,’ she said – A 113-year-old woman in Spain,, also originally from the U.S., was reported to have recovered on Tuesday. ‘I survived everything because I was determined to survive,’ Goldsholl said in an interview conducted over video chat with News 12 New Jersey last week. Goldsholl, who has recovered fully from Covid-19 having battled with it for a couple of weeks, has lived in a nursing home in Allendale, New Jersey since 2010.
She was moved to an isolation wing at the care home when she was diagnosed. Sylvia Goldsholl celebrates her 108th birthday shortly before she was diagnosed with the coronavirus. When she was just seven years old, the Spanish Flu took hold of the globe and saw an estimated 50 million people succumb to the virus. Today, over 303,000 people have now died of Covid-19, and which is particularly harmful to anyone over the age of 70 making her recovery even more remarkable. Goldscholl originally lived in the Bronx in New York, living in the apartment in which she grew up for most of her life, before she moved to New Jersey 20 years ago. News 12 reported that she didn’t particularly want to talk about the coronavirus when she was interviewed, but was willing to reminisce about her family. ‘The oldest of four children and I was the smartest one from the bunch,’ she said. ‘I am a survivor. I’ve got to come out on the top of every list.’ ‘They knew that I was a wonder,’ she said of her family to NorthJersey.com. ‘I met their expectations. I represented them in a very well way.’ When interviewed by News 12 New Jersey, she said that she was a ‘survivor’, which is particularly true considering she has now survived through both the Covid-19 and Spanish flu pandemics Goldsholl never married or had kids of her own, but her niece, Nancy Chazen, told the news website that Goldsholl loves her family, and said that she planned to visit her aunt once the pandemic is over. ‘She always wanted to have family parties,’ Chazen said.
‘She thought it was important to stay in touch with the family.’ Chazen said Goldsholl had a ‘reputation for being an advocate’ saying that she used to write letters to government officials about issues she cared about. One issue in particular Goldholl emphasized was the importance of education, saying: ‘My mom was educated in Russia. She wanted very much to be knowledgeable. ‘My father came from a very high-class background. I made the best of both. I’m glad I’m where I am,’ the 108-year-old added. Goldsholl is clearly very loved at the care home. When she celebrated her 108th birthday in December, the care home leaders released a statement saying she had become an older sister to many of her neighbors since she had arrived, and enjoyed spending time with the other residents. In a post on its Facebook page, staff at the care home wrote: ‘Our own, Sylvia Goldsholl has become a media darling, grabbing headlines on local TV and print. ‘Her story of survival at 108 years of age made the front page of today’s Record. Not a shy one, Sylvia is a delight for interviewers. During such tough times Sylvia, is a model of positive perseverance. Congratulations Sylvia!’
A 113-year-old woman – Spain’s oldest person – becomes the oldest Corvid -19 Survivor… Turkish woman becomes the second 107-year-old to beat…
At the time, News 12 reported that Goldsholl could be the oldest person anywhere to have survived the coronavirus, however, a 113-year-old woman in Spain, originally from the U.S., has since been reported to have recovered. Maria Branyas, 113, is likely to be the world’s oldest person to have survived the coronavirus after catching it in April and later testing negative Maria Branyas, a mother-of-three, survived COVID-19 whilst in the Santa Maria del Tura care home where she lives in the city of Olot, eastern Spain. Branyas was originally born in San Francisco in the United States on March 4, 1907, before she moved with her family to Spain in 1915. She then lived in the Spanish cities of Barcelona, Banyoles, Girona, Calonge i Sant Antoni and Palol de Revardit (all of them in the Catalonia region), and has been a resident in the care home for two decades. Like Goldsholl, Branyas lived through the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world in 1918, but also was in Europe during World War I (1914 – 1918) and World War II (1939 – 1945), as well as the Spanish civil war between 1936 and 1939.
Also Havahan Karadeniz was admitted to a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey experiencing symptoms of the virus. She recovered from the illness and was discharged on April 13. Havahan was suffering from a cough and a high fever when she was tested for coronavirus and admitted to the Istanbul Education Research Hospital. A week later she had overcome the virus and was applauded by medical workers as she was wheeled out of the hospital by her grandson. Havahan is thought to be one of the oldest patients in the world to beat the virus, after 107-year-old Dutch woman Cornelia Ras made a recovery last week. Cornelia fell ill on March 17, the day after her 107th birthday, Dutch newspaper AD reported, after attending a church service with other residents of her nursing home on Goeree-Overflakkee, an island in the southwest of the country. She was told by her doctors that despite the odds she had beaten the infection.
The novel coronavirus continues to batter cities and overload hospitals across the US, causing residents to experience anxiety over the unknown, the health of their loved ones, the economy, and more. Psychologists say feeling worried and anxious is normal in a crisis like this, but it can be managed. To cope, limit your media exposure to the issue, do your part in helping control the virus’s spread, reach out to others, and follow these other expert tips.
1. Know that feeling anxious about coronavirus is OK and normal. With rising death tolls, epic unemployment rates, physical isolation from loved ones, and, for many, a loss of routine and purpose, Americans are enduring a mental-health crisis alongside the medical one. According to an Axios/Ipsos Poll of 1,092 adults in the US conducted between March 13 and March 16, 78% of men and 82% of women are either somewhat or extremely concerned about the outbreak. A more recent Gallup poll found that daily stress and worry plague 60 percent of American adults. That’s understandable, Julie Pike, a clinical psychologist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who specializes in anxiety disorders, told Business Insider. “Anxiety is mother nature’s way of trying to protect us by pushing us to resolve uncertainty and figure out a solution,” she said. But while eliminating coronavirus-related stress is a tall order, it can, and should, be managed so you can maintain your mental health — and your immunity. Business Insider talked to mental-health professionals and survivors of COVID-19 about how to cope.
2. Tell yourself something that is certain. The unknown of the pandemic — how long it will last, who it will affect, and how it could change our lives forever — is a large part of why it’s so anxiety-provoking. “Uncertainty fuels anxiety,” Natalie Dattilo, director of psychology in Brigham & Women’s Hospital’s department of psychiatry, told Business Insider. To counter that, remind yourself of what is certain, no matter how minuscule. Say something like, “I am certain that no matter what happens, we will find a way to deal with it. Or, “I am certain that I love my family and will do everything in my power to protect them.” Or even, “I am certain that I am standing here today, still breathing, and the sun is shining,” Dattilo recommended. “By adding even a small element of certainty in the face of overwhelming uncertainty,” she said, “you can re-establish a connection with the present moment, ground yourself, and maintain a good sense of self-control and confidence.”
3. Limit your media exposure, especially if you struggled with anxiety before the pandemic. Because panic arises when people overestimate a threat and underestimate their coping abilities, “watching coverage that repeatedly emphasizes both the rapid spread of coronavirus and lack of effective treatment” is a fuel for the anxiety fire, Pike said. “While it is fine to have a general idea of what is happening, especially if you live near an area with high concentration of cases, it’s important to limit media exposure, particularly from undocumented or potentially unreliable sources,” she said. The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also encouraged people to check the news from reliable sources only once or twice a day.
4. Do what you can to protect yourself and your family, including excellent hygiene and social distancing practices. Action is the antidote to anxiety, and there’s actually a lot individuals can do to protect themselves and their families. Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly, sanitize high-touch surfaces often, and stay home as much as possible.
5. Do your part in protecting your community, whether by helping more vulnerable neighbors with groceries or simply staying home. You can also take action to help your community, whether that means helping an elderly neighbor get groceries, donating blood, or staying in even when you feel healthy and are able to go out. Because asymptomatic people can carry and spread COVID-19, “the choices you make about where you go can be the difference between life and death for someone else,” the WHO director general said. Todd Herman, an entrepreneur and business coach in New York City who’s quarantined with coronavirus, also encourages people to think outside of themselves. “If we all just sort of chew on what’s uncomfortable for a couple of weeks, how it mitigates and prevents this being a prolonged and terrible event can’t be underscored,” he previously told Business Insider. Doing so can ultimately save lives, he said, by buying the healthcare system time to care for all the patients flooding it.
6. Try to focus on what you are grateful for, not wish you would change or go away. Rather than marinating in worries that you’ll get the coronavirus, your wedding will be cancelled, or your kids will be out of school until fall, “focus on what you value and what you are grateful for.” For her, that means being able to spend more time with her children and that spring, and its accompanying warmer and longer days, is around the corner. She recommends people make a daily “gratitude list” in order to build psychological resiliency. Doing so “also helps us to stop narrowly focusing on potential threats or negative elements in our environment, which our limbic brain … is wired to do,” she said. “Widening our perspective and recognizing that while things are challenging and uncertain, there are also good things in our daily lives” can make a big difference.
7. Seek virtual help from mental-health professionals, or download a de-stressing app. Therapists around the country are shifting their practices online, and many established virtual therapy services like Brightside and TalkSpace are experiencingbooms in business. Some services are changing their offerings in light of coronavirus; TalkSpace, for one, is offering free therapy for healthcare workers on the front lines of fighting the pandemic. And some therapists are holding free online group therapy sessions, Business Insider previously reported. Some de-stressing apps can help more immediately and cheaply, too, Melissa Robinson-Brown, a therapist based in New York City, said. She recommended the guided meditation apps Calm and Headspace, the latter of which is currently offering free subscriptions, and Daylio, which helps you track your mood and daily activity so you can keep a mental-health promoting schedule.
8. Just breathe. You don’t even need to download an app to experience the anxiety-reducing magic of simply breathing. Psychiatrist Dr. Mimi Winsberg, the co-founder and chief medical officer of Brightside, recommends the 4-7-8 method, which can re-instill a sense of calm when you feel out of control. The method involves breathing in for four seconds, holding for seven, and exhaling for eight, Briana Borten, clinical ayurvedic specialist and founder of The Dragontree wellness company, previously told Insider. But more than the particular count, what matters is that the exhale is longer than the inhale. “Lengthening the exhale emphasizes the release. You’re releasing whatever is going on and relieving stress,” Borten said.
9. Attempt to maintain a routine. Herman and his wife, who were quarantined in a New York City apartment with their three kids, tried to maintain a routine for the kids, with scheduled reading times and other activities. That strategy is important for adults as well, as daily routines like commutes and dinner dates come to a halt. “Within our homes, maintaining structure and routine is critical because it reinforces order and predictability,” Dattilo said. “It’s also something over which we have control. We know that structure binds anxiety, so to the extent that we can maintain our routines, that helps.”
10. Eat healthy, don’t smoke, and exercise when possible. Good nutrition and sufficient movement are good for both body and mind. WHO’s Tedros recommended eating “a healthy and nutritious diet, which helps your immune system to function properly,” limiting alcohol and sugary drink consumption, and not smoking. “Smoking can increase your risk of developing serious disease if you become infected with COVID-19,” he said. He also encouraged people, in compliance with local and national guidelines, to go out for a walk, run, or bike ride while keeping a distance from others, or otherwise getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day for adults and an hour for children. “If you can’t leave the house, find an exercise video online. Dance to music. Do some yoga, or walk up and down the stairs.” For people working at home, he added, get up for a short break every 30 minutes.
11. Use the time to reach out to loved ones and reconnect with old friends. Social isolation can fuel depression and, over the long term, is even linked to a shorter life span. So just because you may be physically distant from other people, you can, and should, stay socially connected to them. “If you check in with people once a month, check in four times a month,” Herman said. And fortunately, doing so is easier today than ever. Tools like FaceTime and Skype “may help us still feel and maintain those connections without potentially putting ourselves at risk of being exposed to the virus.” Loneliness researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, previously told Business Insider. She recommended being proactive about reaching out to others and asking how they’re doing — you’ll boost your mental health as well as theirs, since they’ll at least experience the perception of support, which research shows can reduce stress. Holt-Lunstad added that the silver lining to something like a directive to reduce contact with the outside world is the ability to slow down and connect with the people closest to us. “When you’re having people still express love and support in a variety of ways, it can make those periods of relative confinement more bearable.”
12. Use the experience to reevaluate areas of your life. Alex, a 29-year-old in the UK, has needed to isolate himself for periods in the past in order to prevent common viruses from exacerbating his cystic fibrosis. He recommends people new to isolation use the time to reconsider how they want their lives to look after coronavirus. He, for example, has come out of past periods of isolation with a dedication to make the most of his college experience, the desire to travel more even though it means hauling around suitcases of medicine, or with the gumption to quit his job and launch his own business. “This isn’t a punishment, this is actually a real opportunity for people to be able to reflect on themselves and their lives up to this point.”
