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How deadly is lung cancer? Signs, symptoms and prevention, according to an expert

Yahoo! Style

How deadly is lung cancer? Signs, symptoms and prevention, according to an expert

Julia Ranney, Lifestyle Editor – November 23, 2022

X-ray of lungs showing lung cancer — Read on to learn more about lung cancer, its causes and key warning signs. (Photo via Getty Images)

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.

For years, more and more Canadians have faced the often deadly diagnosis of lung cancer. The condition can be hard to detect, and thus difficult to treat.

Almost 100 people every day are expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer in Canada, which is a concerning statistic.

For Lung Cancer Awareness Month, which is recognized in November, Yahoo Canada spoke to Dr. Susanna Yee-Shan Cheng, a Medical Oncologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, about the condition and how you might be able to prevent it.

Read on to learn more about lung cancer, its causes and key warning signs.

doctor pointing at a photo of an x-ray of lungs — Lung cancers are usually grouped into two main types called small cell and non-small cell. (Photo via Getty Images)

What is lung cancer?

Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, “lung cancer starts in the cells of the lung,” and when it starts in lung cells, “it is called primary lung cancer.”

Lung cancers are usually grouped into two main types called small cell and non-small cell.

Non–small cell lung cancer usually starts in glandular cells on the outer part of the lung, and small cell lung cancer usually starts in cells that line the bronchi in the centre of the lungs. Non–small cell is more common.

According to Cheng, while lung cancer might not be as common as skin or breast cancer for example, it’s the mortality rate that’s concerning.

“Lung cancer is actually the number one cause of cancer death. It is common but it’s actually the mortality that’s the biggest issue.”Dr. Susanna Cheng

“Lung cancer is actually the number one cause of cancer death,” says Cheng. “It is common but it’s actually the mortality that’s the biggest issue. Stage by stage lung cancer is prognostically worse than most cancers.”

What causes lung cancer?

Cheng says that smoking is “the number one cause” of lung cancer. As per Lung Cancer Canada, the majority of lung cancer cases – about 85 per cent — are directly related to smoking tobacco, particularly cigarettes.

Smoking increases lung cancer risk by:

• Causing genetic changes in the cells of the lungs

• Damaging the lungs’ normal cleaning process by which they get rid of foreign and harmful particles

• Lodging cancer-causing particles in the mucus and developing into cancer tumours

However, Cheng reveals that there’s a “growing number of patients who are non-smokers.”

man smoking a cigarette outside — Smoking is “the number one cause” of lung cancer, according to Cheng. (Photo via Getty Images)

“In particular, we’re now seeing patients who’ve never smoked or never had second-hand smoke exposure developing lung cancer, which is interesting because usually smoking is a key cause,” explains Cheng. “There’s a number of patients who are never smokers and might not have a reason to get lung cancer, so that’s the concerning part.”

Cheng says that “we don’t know why” non-smokers develop lung cancer, so more research needs to be done. However, her best guess is that it’s “related to certain hormones.”

That said, the main focus on lung cancer screening is for people with a history of smoking and who are between the ages of 55-70 years old.

Unfortunately, Cheng adds that “the system doesn’t allow for never smokers to be screened.”

“We’re now seeing patients who’ve never smoked or never had second-hand smoke exposure developing lung cancer.”Dr. Susanna Cheng

What are the signs and symptoms of lung cancer?

In its early stages, lung cancer might not cause any signs or symptoms. As the tumour grows and causes changes in the body, it usually results in coughing and shortness of breath.

However, if you have any of the below signs and symptoms that are linked to lung cancer, it’s important you see a doctor or medical professional as soon as possible:

A cough that gets worse or doesn’t go away
Shortness of breath
Chest pain that you can always feel, and that gets worse with deep breathing or coughing
Blood in mucus coughed up from the lungs
Wheezing
Weight loss
Fatigue
Hoarseness or other changes to your voice
Difficulty swallowing
Swollen lymph nodes in the neck or above the collarbone
Headache

Cheng notes that she usually sees “cough, infection or pneumonia” as precursors to lung cancer.

However, she reveals that “COVID put a stint in it.”

“Nowadays when someone has has COVID they they can be coughing for weeks and weeks,” she says. “Some cannot really tell what the symptoms are for sometimes, which can make it hard to diagnose at first.”

Male doctor examining patient in hospital gown who is coughing — A cough that gets worse or doesn’t go away is a key sign of lung cancer. (Photo via Getty Images)

She adds that cough, shortness of breath (especially when moving), unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, chest pain, and hoarse voice are other possible warning signs of lung cancer.

“In smokers they may always have a chronic cough but in non-smokers they may never have a cough or develop it over time. Which can delay a lung cancer diagnosis,” adds Cheng.

How is lung cancer diagnosed and treated?

Lung cancer is usually diagnosed after a visit to your family doctor, who will ask you about your health history, symptoms, and perform a physical exam. You may also take a blood test, or get an X-ray, MRI or CT scan.

If lung cancer is diagnosed, other tests are done to find out how far it has spread through the lungs, lymph nodes, and the rest of the body. This process is called staging.

Screening for lung cancer is another important step that can help detect the condition early. With lung cancer, early detection is vital. The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the greater chances of survival.

“It’s unfortunate that there isn’t really screening for people who aren’t smokers yet, but hopefully soon.”Dr. Susanna Cheng

“It’s unfortunate that there isn’t really screening for people who aren’t smokers yet, but hopefully soon,” says Cheng.

When it comes to treatment, Cheng believes it’s going in a positive direction.

“In the last 20 years things have transformed significantly. We used to only have chemotherapy, but now it’s based on their pathology and their genetic mutations, which predicts what kind of treatment they get, such as immunotherapy and targeted drugs,” Cheng explains.

Woman smoking against a black background holding a poster with black lungs on it. — Stop smoking to reduce your risk of lung cancer. (Photo via Getty Images)

How can I prevent or reduce the risk of lung cancer?

Unfortunately, not all lung cancers can be prevented. However, there are things you can do to help prevent developing the condition, such as changing the risk factors that you can control.

Cheng says that the first thing you can do is to avoid smoking.

“Really, don’t smoke, and try not to be around a loved one who smokes because second-hand smoke risk is also very real,” she says.

Cheng adds that there aren’t many risk factors related to diet or alcohol, but keep an eye on “occupational exposure.”

“Watch occupational exposure like Ephesus. You could also check for radon in your house, but other than that there isn’t really much you could do,” she explains.

Dreaming of beachfront real estate? Much of Florida’s coast is at risk of storm erosion that can cause homes to collapse, as Daytona just saw

The Conversation

Dreaming of beachfront real estate? Much of Florida’s coast is at risk of storm erosion that can cause homes to collapse, as Daytona just saw

Zhong-Ren Peng, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning,

University of Florida November 23, 2022

Dozens of homes were left unstable in the Daytona Beach area after Hurricane Nicole's erosion. <a href= — Dozens of homes were left unstable in the Daytona Beach area after Hurricane Nicole’s erosion. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Back-to-back hurricanes left an unnerving scene on the Florida coast in November 2022: Several houses, and even swimming pools, were left dangling over the ocean as waves eroded the earth beneath them. Dozens of homes and condo buildings in the Daytona Beach area were deemed unsafe.

The destruction has raised a disturbing question: How much property along the rest of the Florida coast is at risk of collapse, and can it be saved?

As the director of iAdapt, the International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design at the University of Florida, I have been studying climate adaptation issues for the last two decades to help answer these questions.

Rising seas, aging buildings

Living by the sea has a strong appeal in Florida – beautiful beaches, ocean views, and often pleasant breezes. However, there are also risks, and they are exacerbated by climate change.

Sea level is forecast to rise on average 10 to 14 inches (25-35 cm) on the U.S. East Coast over the next 30 years, and 14 to 18 inches (35-45 cm) on the Gulf Coast, as the planet warms. Rising temperatures are also increasing the intensity of hurricanes.

With higher seas and larger storm surges, ocean waves more easily erode beaches, weaken sea walls, and submerge cement foundations in corrosive salt water. Together with subsidence, or sinking land, they make coastal living riskier.

Florida’s erosion risk map shows most of the state’s coastline at critical risk. <a href= — Florida’s erosion risk map shows most of the state’s coastline at critical risk. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, CC BY-SA

The risk of erosion varies depending on the soil, geology and natural shoreline changes. But it is widespread in U.S. coastal areas, particularly Florida. Maps produced by engineers at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection show most of Florida’s coast faces critical erosion risk.

Aging or poorly maintained buildings and sea walls, and older or poor construction methods and materials, can dramatically aggravate the risk.

Designing better building codes

So, what can be done to minimize the damage?

The first step is to build sturdier buildings and fortify existing ones according to advanced building codes.

Building codes change over time as risks rise and construction techniques and materials improve. For example, design criteria in the Florida Building Code for South Florida changed from requiring some new buildings to be able to withstand 146 mph sustained winds in 2002 to 195 mph winds in 2021, meaning a powerful Category 5 hurricane.

The town of Punta Gorda, near where Hurricane Ian made landfall in October 2022, showed how homes constructed to the latest building codes have a much better chance of survival.

Many of Punta Gorda’s buildings has been rebuilt after Hurricane Charley in 2004, shortly after the state updated the Florida Building Code. When Ian hit, they survived with less damage than those in neighboring towns. The updated code had required new construction to be able to withstand hurricane-force winds, including having shutters or impact-resistant window glass.

Many homes in Punta Gorda fared better in Hurricane Ian’s winds because they had been rebuilt to higher standards after Hurricane Charley in 2002. <a href= — Many homes in Punta Gorda fared better in Hurricane Ian’s winds because they had been rebuilt to higher standards after Hurricane Charley in 2002. Bryan R. Smith / AFP

However, even homes built to the latest codes can be vulnerable, because the codes don’t adequately address the environment that buildings sit on. A modern building in a low-lying coastal area could face damage in the future as sea level rises and the shoreline erodes, even if it meets the current flood zone elevation standards.

This is the problem coastal residents faced during Hurricanes Nicole and Ian. Flooding and erosion, exacerbated by sea-level rise, caused the most damage – not wind.

The dozens of beach houses and condo buildings that became unstable or collapsed in Volusia County during Hurricane Nicole might have seemed fine originally. But as the climate changes, the coastal environment changes, too, and one hurricane could render the building vulnerable. Hurricane Ian damaged sea walls in Volusia County, and some couldn’t be repaired before Nicole struck.

How to minimize the risk

The damage in the Daytona area in 2022 and the deadly collapse a year earlier of a condo tower in Surfside should be a wake-up call for all coastal communities.

Data and tools can show where coastal areas are most vulnerable. What is lacking are policies and enforcement.

Florida recently began requiring that state-financed constructors conduct a sea-level impact study before starting construction of a coastal structure. I believe it’s time to apply this new rule to any new construction, regardless of the funding source.

With Hurricane Nicole’s storm surge coinciding with high tide, the waves breached a condo tower’s sea walls in Daytona Beach in November 2022. <a href= — With Hurricane Nicole’s storm surge coinciding with high tide, the waves breached a condo tower’s sea walls in Daytona Beach in November 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A comprehensive sea-level impact study requirement should also allow for risk-based enforcement, including barring construction in high-risk areas.

Similarly, vulnerability audits – particularly for multistory buildings built before 2002 – can check the integrity of an existing structure and help spot new environmental risks from sea-level rise and beach erosion. Before 2002, the building standard was low and enforcement was lacking, so many of the materials and the structures used in those buildings aren’t up to the standards of today.

What property owners can do

There is a range of techniques homeowners can use to fortify homes from flood risks.

In some places, that may mean elevating the house or improving the lot grading so surface water runs away from the building. Installing a sump pump and remodeling with storm-resistant building materials can help.

FEMA suggests other measures to protect against coastal erosion, such as replenishing beach sand, strengthening sea walls and anchoring the home. Engineering can help communities, temporarily at least, through sea walls, ponds and increased drainage. But in the long term, communities will have to assess the vulnerability of coastal areas. Sometimes the answer is to relocate.

However, there’s a disturbing trend after hurricanes, and we’re seeing it with Ian: Many damaged areas see lots of money pouring in to rebuild in the same vulnerable locations. An important question communities should be asking is, if these are already in high-risk areas, why rebuild in the same place?

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Zhong-Ren Peng, University of Florida. Like this article? subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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Zhong-Ren Peng receives funding from National Science Foundation, Florida Sea Grant, and Florida Department of Transportation.

Yes, You Can Really Have a Heart Attack From Shoveling Snow

lifehacker

Yes, You Can Really Have a Heart Attack From Shoveling Snow

Beth Skwarecki – November 23, 2022

You may have heard of people—elderly folks in particular—getting a heart attack from shoveling snow. But what’s so dangerous about shoveling? And is everybody at risk, or is this pretty rare? Here’s what you should know.

Snow shoveling is hard exercise

The connection between shoveling and cardiac events is real. The American Heart Association cites several studies that found higher rates of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths after snowstorms. Shoveling is hard work, and it can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to rise far higher than levels that are considered safe for sedentary people with heart conditions. Cold temperatures also seem to make chest pain more likely, possibly because your arteries can constrict in the cold.

Who should check with a doctor before shoveling?

You may have heard the advice to check with a doctor before beginning an exercise program. We have more information on that here: most people don’t need to check with a doctor, but that depends on your medical history and on whether you intend to do intense exercise.

Since snow shoveling is intense exercise, it’s worth taking a look at those guidelines. If you have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or kidney disease, and are currently not exercising intensely, you should check with a doctor before you start. That’s true whether the intense exercise you want to do is running, Crossfit, or shoveling six inches of snow from your enormous driveway.

Pushing a snowblower counts too

One surprising thing: The cautions around shoveling snow also apply to using a snowblower. Snowblowing turns out to also be serious exercise, even if, in theory, it should be easier because a machine is doing part of the work.

How to reduce your risk of heart attack

In a news release from the American Heart Association, the cardiologist who was the lead author on a paper on risks of exercise recommends that people who have had bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty, or who have already had a heart attack or stroke, should not do their own shoveling. He also includes current and former smokers, people who have diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and people who are sedentary.

If you’re healthy enough that shoveling snow is reasonably safe, you may still want to take a few precautions to make shoveling easier on your body. Even though running a snowblower is hard work, it’s still easier than shoveling. And if you need to shovel, pushing a shovel is easier on your body than lifting it repeatedly.

I would add that it’s a game changer to shovel multiple times in a single snowstorm. Instead of waiting until you have six inches of snow on the ground, go out when there’s just two inches and it’ll be a breeze. Repeat that process two more times, and you’ll have a clear driveway without ever having to wrestle with ankle-deep snow.

Finally, be aware of how your body is feeling as you shovel, and stop if you don’t feel well. Or as the AHA put it:

if you experience chest pain or pressure, lightheadedness or heart palpitations or irregular heart rhythms stop the activity immediately. Call 9-1-1 if symptoms don’t subside shortly after snow removal.

Hundreds of Arizona Households Set to Be Without Water by End of Year

Gizmodo

Hundreds of Arizona Households Set to Be Without Water by End of Year

Lauren Leffer – November 22, 2022

In every month of 2022, Lake Mead’s water level has been the lowest recorded for the time of year since the reservoir was first filled.

More than 500 households in the rural Arizona desert are set to be without running water starting January, 1 2023, as first reported by NBC News. The homes, located in Rio Verde Foothills—an affluent, unincorporated community in the state’s Maricopa County, were built without complying to Arizona’s usual 100-year water supply requirement. Rio Verde Foothills doesn’t have its own water system. Instead, people living in the arid locale rely on private wells or water trucked up from the nearby city of Scottsdale.

However, in response to the ongoing and worsening megadrought, Scottsdale declared late last year that it would cease hauling water to communities outside the city limits on Jan 1, 2023 and encouraged Rio Verde Foothills to find an alternative. Now, with the set deadline fast approaching, residents haven’t found a solution.

At the end of August, Maricopa County rejected a proposal from 550 Rio Verde residents hoping to form their own Domestic Water Improvement District. And though proposed deals have continued to be discussed behind closed doors, Scottsdale Progress reported, no firm decisions have been made and no community-wide fixes are underway.

Under Arizona’s Assured Water Supply Program, housing developments in the state are supposed to have a guaranteed century’s worth of water supply to be approved for construction. But via a semantic loophole, the around 2,200 houses in Rio Verde Foothills were able to skirt that law and be built without a clear long-term water source. Now, even many of the households that once had working wells are running dry.

Scottsdale has been warning for nearly a decade that its water-trucking operation was only ever meant to be a temporary remedy, not a permanent resolution, according to NBC News. And federal pressure amid the ongoing drought has forced the city to try to reduce its water usage.

Last year, when Scottsdale first said it would cease water hauling by January 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had declared a Tier 1 water shortage on the Colorado River—reducing the amount of water Southwestern states can get from the river. In August of this year, the Reclamation Bureau upped the shortage designation to Tier 2a.

Scottsdale gets 65% of its water from the Colorado River, and ending its practice of exporting water beyond the city was intended to help Scottsdale lower its total consumption. In addition to cracking down on Rio Verde Foothills, the city has been encouraging its residents to voluntarily lower their usage. And though residents have made some progress and Scottsdale met its initial water reduction goals, the drought persists.

Lake Mead is at its lowest November water level on record since the reservoir was first filled. In fact, in every month of 2022, Lake Mead has been at record low for that time of year. Some seasonal fluctuations are to be expected, but this year’s monsoon season wasn’t nearly enough to make up the deficit. And climate change may be helping to propel already-arid U.S. regions into a permanent state of drought. One study published earlier this year found that 42% of the Southwest’s current drought is attributable to human-caused climate change.

Rio Verde Foothills is yet more evidence that when poor planning and the climate crisis come together, the result is often disastrous.

Accountant testifies Trump claimed decade of huge tax losses

Associated Press

Accountant testifies Trump claimed decade of huge tax losses

Michael R. Sisak – November 22, 2022

Donald Bender, left, a former accountant for Donald Trump, arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in New York. Prosecutors in the Trump Organization's criminal tax fraud trial rested their case Monday earlier than expected, pinning hopes for convicting Donald Trump's company largely on the word of two top executives who cut deals before testifying they schemed to avoid taxes on company-paid perks. (AP Photo/Michael Sisak) — Donald Bender, left, a former accountant for Donald Trump, arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in New York. Prosecutors in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial rested their case Monday earlier than expected, pinning hopes for convicting Donald Trump’s company largely on the word of two top executives who cut deals before testifying they schemed to avoid taxes on company-paid perks. (AP Photo/Michael Sisak)

FILE - Former President Donald Trump announces he is running for president for the third time at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the handover of former President Donald Trump's tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight. The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee had asked for six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses, from 2015 to 2020. The court's order Tuesday, Nov. 22 leaves no legal obstacle in the way. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) — Former President Donald Trump announces he is running for president for the third time at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the handover of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight. The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee had asked for six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses, from 2015 to 2020. The court’s order Tuesday, Nov. 22 leaves no legal obstacle in the way. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Trump Legal Troubles

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, his longtime accountant testified Tuesday, confirming long-held suspicions about the former president’s tax practices.

Donald Bender, a partner at Mazars USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump’s personal tax returns, said Trump’s reported losses from 2009 to 2018 included net operating losses from some of the many businesses he owns through his Trump Organization.

“There are losses for all these years,” said Bender, who was granted immunity to testify at the company’s criminal tax fraud trial in Manhattan.

The short exchange amounted to a rare public discussion of Trump’s taxes — which the Republican has fought to keep secret — even if there was no obvious connection to the case at hand.

A prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, questioned Bender briefly about Trump’s taxes on cross examination, at one point showing him copies of Trump tax paperwork that the Manhattan district attorney’s office fought for three years to obtain, before moving on to other topics.

The Trump Organization, the holding company for Trump’s buildings, golf courses and other assets, is charged with helping some top executives avoid income taxes on compensation they got in addition to their salaries, including rent-free apartments and luxury cars. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million.

Trump is not charged in the case and is not expected to testify or attend the trial. The company’s former finance chief testified that he came up with the scheme on his own, without Trump or the Trump family knowing. Allen Weisselberg, testifying as part of a plea deal, said the company also benefited because it didn’t have to pay him as much in salary.

Bender’s testimony came on a day full of Trump-related legal drama, including the U.S. Supreme Court clearing the way for Congress to get six years worth of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses.

Also Tuesday, the judge in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company set an October 2023 trial date; a federal appeals court heard arguments in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago documents investigation; and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, testified before a Georgia grand jury probing alleged 2020 election interference.

Bender’s tax loss testimony echoed what The New York Times reported in 2020, when it obtained a trove of Trump’s tax returns. Many of the records reflected massive losses and little or no taxes paid, the newspaper reported at the time.

The Times reported Trump paid no income tax in 11 of the 18 years whose records it reviewed, and that he paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2017, the year he became president. Citing other Trump tax records, The Times previously reported that in 1995 he claimed $915.7 million in losses, which he could have used to avoid future taxes under the law at the time.

Manhattan prosecutors subpoenaed Bender’s firm in 2019, seeking access to eight years of Trump’s tax returns and related documents, finally getting them after a protracted legal fight that included two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bender handled tax returns and other financial matters for Trump, the Trump Organization and hundreds of Trump entities starting in the 1980s. He also prepared taxes for members of Trump’s family and other company executives, including Weisselberg and Weisselberg’s son, who managed a company-run ice rink in Central Park.

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in extras in exchange for a five-month jail sentence, testified that he hid company-paid extras such as Manhattan apartments and Mercedes-Benz cars from his taxable income by having the company’s comptroller, Jeffrey McConney, reduce his salary by the cost of those perks.

Bender testified that Weisselberg kept him the dark on that arrangement — and that he only found out about it from prosecutors last year.

But emails shown in court Tuesday suggested that McConney tried to loop him in as early as 2013, with attached spreadsheets listing Weisselberg’s pay and reductions for extras, including Trump-paid tuition for his grandchildren’s private schooling.

Bender, who testified that he got numerous emails from Trump executives daily, said he didn’t recall seeing those messages. If he had, he said: “We would have had a serious conversation about continuing with the client.”

Mazars USA LLP has since dropped Trump as a client. In February, the firm said annual financial statements it prepared for him “should no longer be relied upon” after James’ office said the statements regularly misstated the value of assets — an allegation at the heart of her lawsuit.

Trump blamed Bender and Mazars for the company’s troubles, writing on his Truth Social platform last week: “The highly paid accounting firm should have routinely picked these things up – we relied on them. VERY UNFAIR!”

Bender testified that he put the onus on Weisselberg to fix any problems as scrutiny of the Trump Organization intensified after Trump’s election in 2016 and advised him to stop one dubious practice: the company’s longstanding, tax-saving habit of paying executive bonuses as freelance income.

The accountant said he told Weisselberg: “If there is anything bothering you, even if there’s the slightest chance, we have to set the highest standards so the company should be, effectively, squeaky clean.”

Dietitians Say This Is The One Change You Need To Make At Thanksgiving To Avoid Weight Gain

SheFinds

Dietitians Say This Is The One Change You Need To Make At Thanksgiving To Avoid Weight Gain

Marissa Matozzo – November 21, 2022

Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved and cherished seasonal holidays for many, as it brings family and friends together, as well as great food. If you’ve been working to lose weight and want to prevent overeating or weight gain during the holiday season, we reached out to registered dietitians, nutritionists and other health experts for one healthy eating habit tip and other points to keep in mind. Read on for suggestions and insight from Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RDm senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and Elise Harlow, MS, RDN, registered dietitian, nutritionist and founder of The Flourished Table.

Tip #1— Have A Meal Plan For The Holiday (And Stick To It!)

Many of us arrive to a relative or friend’s house on Thanksgiving Day without having eaten anything beforehand, as we anticipate a large meal. Hunnes stresses that avoiding this is key to prevent weight gain, and to stop yourself from overeating, as well. Instead, she recommends following a balanced, consistent meal plan for the day (planning out your breakfast, lunch and other small snacks before the big meal, thinking about what you will eat during it, etc), instead of going into anything blindly.

“Don’t show up to dinner starving as you will not be in the headspace to make good decisions on what you are eating or drinking,” Hunnes says, adding that you will be more likely to “binge out on more calories from unhealthy sources than if you show up already having had a small snack.” She recommends eating “an apple and a tablespoon of nut butter an hour or two ahead of time” if you’re looking for something healthy to hold you over.

When it comes to the actual Thanksgiving meal, she recommends “making sure at least half of your plate is filled with healthy vegetables and healthy proteins,” rather than “thick and creamy foods that are laden with calories.” This, she notes, will help you feel better later on, and still on track with your weight loss and health goals.

How To Prepare A Weight-Loss Friendly Thanksgiving Plate

This Thanksgiving, Harlow recommends following a couple simple strategies when determining what to eat at mealtime. “Start by filling your plate with 50% vegetables,” Harlow says, as “vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber, both of which are important to prevent weight gain.”

Next, in addition to the vegetables, she instructs to “make sure to include a protein on your plate, about 25% of the plate,” since “protein is the most satiating macronutrient.” This, she continues, will help you to feel full and satisfied (and less likely to go back for seconds, thirds, etc.)

Her next tip is to “fill the remaining 25% of your plate with a starch, such as mashed potatoes, rolls, etc.”

These, Harlow notes, tend to be the foods that are “highest in calories and are the most difficult to not overeat on.” However, if you enjoy these foods, then she says it is “important to not deprive yourself, just to watch the portion.” By following this planning method, Harlow adds, you can still enjoy the foods you love most around the holidays and prevent unwanted weight gain.

“It is important to not completely deprive yourself of your favorite holiday foods, as this could result in overeating this food once you finally do allow yourself to eat it,” she points out. She concludes that it is essential, as Hunnes noted previously, to avoid the trap of “saving your calories” during the day when you know you are going to eat out, or eat a higher calorie meal later in the day. “This causes you to go into that meal overly hungry, which makes it difficult to not overeat,” she says. “You are more likely to put more high calorie foods on your plate, eat quickly, and eat past the point of feeling comfortable.”

What’s the Worst Snack for Inflammation?

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What’s the Worst Snack for Inflammation?

Kaitlin Vogel – November 21, 2022

Here’s what to avoid—and what to eat instead

Chronic inflammation can contribute to numerous health conditions, ranging from Type 2 diabetes and heart disease to gastrointestinal issues. And not surprisingly, your diet plays a major role when it comes to inflammation, which is why it’s important to know what foods to avoid—as well as which foods can help.

If you currently suffer from inflammation, the good news is that changing your eating habits can make a big difference and help improve your overall health.

The Worst Snack for Inflammation

Experts agree that our most common indulgences tend to be working against us.

So, what is the worst snack for inflammation? The short answer: anything that combines sugar and vegetable oil. Snacks high in fructose such as candy, pastries, sweet cereals and doughnuts are to be avoided, Jason Sani, nutritionist and Director of Wellness at OHM Fitness, explains. The combination of fructose and vegetable oils is the perfect storm for fat storage and inflammation. Not only do these foods promote inflammation, but they also tend to make you crave more, leading to overconsumption.

A study on lipids in the journal Lipids In Health and Disease found that fructose had the worst effect on CRP (C-reactive protein) which is the cleanest marker of inflammation. Vegetable oils such as soybean oil are loaded with trans fats that fuel inflammation.

Examples of these types of snacks include granola bars, flavored yogurt, prepackaged fruits and dried fruits. As you can see, many of these foods appear healthy, but the amount of hidden sugar is actually sky-high, functional nutritionist Pooja Mahtani says.

Sugar can signal to the pancreas to release insulin, a hormone responsible for escorting glucose (or sugar) into the cell. Once glucose has entered the cell, the body can convert it into energy.

However, too much sugar throughout the day can overwhelm the pancreas and disrupt this process. Over time, excess sugar consumption can activate multiple inflammatory pathways in the body and lead to insulin resistance, diabetes and weight gain, Dr. Mahtani adds.

Processed meats such as pepperoni, bacon, deli meats, hot dogs and sausage should also be avoided.

Both red and processed types of meat are high in saturated fat, which can increase inflammation in fat tissue. Processed meats also contain preservatives, added salt and added sugar, Sarah Whipkey, RDN/LD, explains.

One study linked processed meats to a higher inflammatory bodily response, as well as an increased risk of colon cancer. Processed meats are also heavily linked to causing insulin resistance—resulting in a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Understanding the Different Types of Carbohydrates

There are two main types of carbohydrates: simple and complex.

Simple carbs hit your bloodstream fast and are found in fruit, sugars, desserts and dairy.

Foods with complex carbohydrates typically have more important nutrients—including starches, fiber and B vitamins—than foods containing more simple carbohydrates, Sani states. There is a time and place for both. Forms of fruit are simple sugar but contain nutrients and fiber that can offset the sugar.

What to Eat Instead

Skipping snacks may be your best bet.

“I try to encourage people to eat more filling meals and avoid snacks. When you need to snack, try hard-boiled eggs, berries and minimally processed protein snacks with less than 10g of sugar,” says Sani. “Snacks should be smaller forms of meals that nourish the body and regulate your blood sugar. If reducing inflammation and body fat is a goal, it’s safe to say that avoiding or greatly reducing simple sugars and high fructose foods is favorable.”

We need carbohydrates to fuel our bodies/give us energy. But it’s the complex carbohydrates (starches and fiber) that our bodies benefit from.

Whole, unprocessed plant-based foods are going to be your best bet, Whipkey explains. What does that look like for snacking? Fruits paired with nut butters, avocado or guacamole on whole grain toast, and veggies and hummus dip.

To keep steady blood sugar levels, always pair your carbohydrates with protein and fat. Protein and fat minimize blood sugar spikes as well as insulin release.

Dr. Mahtani provides some examples of blood sugar-stabilizing snacks:

Hard-boiled egg with hummus
Apple with almond butter
Grain-free crackers with cheese
Turkey and avocado roll-up
Mixed nuts and berries
Greek yogurt (unflavored) with fruit

“Not only do these snacks help tame inflammation, but they also help you stay fuller for longer,” says Dr. Mahtani. “I would call this a win-win!”

Next up: Does Dairy Cause Inflammation? Here’s the Scoop on Whether or Not You Should Actually Give Up Yogurt and Ice Cream

2nd Arizona county delays certifying election, for now

Associated Press

2nd Arizona county delays certifying election, for now

Bob Christie – November 21, 2022

FILE – An election worker gathers tabulated ballots to be boxed inside the Maricopa County Recorders Office on Nov. 10, 2022, in Phoenix. A second Republican-controlled Arizona county on Monday, Nov. 21, delayed certifying the results of this month’s election as a protest against voting issues in Maricopa County that some GOP officials have blamed for their losses in top races including the contest for governor. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

PHOENIX (AP) — A second Republican-controlled Arizona county on Monday delayed certifying the results of this month’s election as a protest against voting issues in Maricopa County that some GOP officials have blamed for their losses in top races including the contest for governor.

The delay came as Maricopa, the state’s most populous county, finished counting the last remaining ballots and the state attorney general demanded that officials there explain Election Day problems some voters experienced.

Arizona voters elected a Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, and gave Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly a full six-year term in office. But the race for attorney general was heading to a mandatory recount once the election is certified by all 15 counties and the secretary of state. Democrat Kris Mayes ended up ahead of Republican Abraham Hamadeh by just 510 votes on Monday after Maricopa County counted about 1,200 remaining ballots. Nearly 2.6 million Arizonans voted.

The split vote by the board of supervisors in Mohave County in northwest Arizona came with an explicit vow to certify the election on the Nov. 28 deadline. Members called it a political statement to show how upset they were with the issues in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and about 60% of the the state’s voters.

The all-Republican boards of two other counties, Pinal and La Paz, voted with little fanfare Monday to certify their election results.

Mohave became the second state county to delay certification, following Cochise in Arizona’s southeast. The board there made its decision Friday without a promise to certify the results by the deadline for doing so, despite setting a meeting to consider it. Instead the two Republicans who constitute a majority on the board demanded that the secretary of state prove their vote-counting machines were legally certified.

The state elections director told them they were, but the two board members sided instead with claims put forward by a trio of men who alleged the certifications had lapsed.

On Monday, state Elections Director Kori Lorick provided the county board with certifications for the vote-counting machines from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Lorick also warned the board that the state would sue if they did not certify on time.

County boards do not have the legal right to either change the results provided by their elections officials or refuse to certify them. And Lorick wrote that if the certification is not received by the secretary of state by Dec. 5, all the Cochise County votes will go uncounted.

That would give a boost to Democrats up and down the ballot in tight state races, since some Republican candidates got as much as 60% of the vote in the county.

Maricopa County had problems at about 30% of its vote centers Nov. 8 when tabulators were unable to read some ballots.

County officials have repeatedly said that all the ballots were counted and that no one lost their ability to vote. Those with ballots that could not be read were told to place them in a secure box to be tabulated later by more robust machines at county elections headquarters.

Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich wants an explanation of how the printer problems happened before Maricopa County does its certification on Nov. 28. The head of his Elections Integrity Unit also wants to know how some of the uncounted ballots were mixed up at the polling sites and an explanation for issues experienced by voters who left to go to another vote center with operating tabulators.

“Arizonans deserve a full report and accounting of the myriad problems that occurred in relation to Maricopa County administration of the 2022 general election,” the head of the unit, Jennifer Wright, wrote.

Maricopa County board Chair Bill Gates said the county will respond “with transparency as we have done throughout this election.”

The county said that about 17,000 Election Day ballots were involved and had to be counted later instead of at the polling place. Only 16% of the 1.56 million votes cast in Maricopa County were made in-person on Election Day.

In Mohave County, the board and the chair of the county Republican Party praised their elections director. But Jeanne Kentch joined GOP state chair Kelli Ward in saying Republicans were disenfranchised because of issues in Maricopa County.

“Mohave County voters, their votes have been diluted,” Kentch said. “Their votes have been worth less than they were prior to this vote due to the mismanagement and the disfunction of the Maricopa County elections department.”

The vote to delay the Mohave County vote canvass was not unanimous, although all five board members are Republicans. Member Jean Bishop called the decision “kind of ludicrous.”

“We’re not Maricopa County, we’re Mohave County,” she said. “Our vote is solid.”

The county board did the same after the 2020 election as former President Donald Trump pushed concerns about his loss in Arizona and pointed to Maricopa County as the source of his defeat. The board eventually accepted the results, however.

“This is 2020 redux,” board member Hildy Angius said. “If we don’t certify today, we’re just making a statement of solidarity.”

Ron Gould, a former state lawmaker, agreed that it was only a message.

“It is purely a political statement,” Gould said. “But it’s the only way that we can make that statement.”

Associated Press writer Anita Snow in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Trump Family’s Newest Partners: Middle Eastern Governments

The New York Times

Trump Family’s Newest Partners: Middle Eastern Governments

Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman – November 21, 2022

Former President Donald Trump during his election night party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. on Nov. 8, 2022. (Josh Ritchie/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — When former President Donald Trump returned briefly last week to his office at Trump Tower in New York, he was joined by his son Eric Trump and the top executive of a Saudi Arabian real estate company to sign a deal that creates new conflict-of-interest questions for his just-launched presidential campaign.

The deal is with a Saudi real estate company that intends to build a Trump-branded hotel, villas and a golf course as part of a $4 billion real estate project in Oman. The agreement continues a practice that had been popular for the Trump family business until Trump was elected president — selling branding rights to an overseas project in exchange for a generous licensing fee.

But what makes this project unusual — and is sure to intensify the questions over this newest transaction — is that by teaming up with the Saudi company, Trump is also becoming part of a project backed by the government of Oman itself.

The deal leaves Trump, as a former president hoping to win the White House again, effectively with a foreign government partner that has complex relations with the United States, including its role in trying to end the war in Yemen and other important foreign policy agenda items for Washington.

The deal Trump signed was with Dar Al Arkan, the Saudi-based real estate company that is leading the project in collaboration with the government of Oman, which owns the land. It is the second deal signed recently between Trump and his family that has direct financial ties to a Middle East government.

The Trump Organization also hosted the Saudi-government-backed LIV Golf tournaments at family-owned golf clubs in New Jersey and Florida. The Saudi government’s $620 billion Public Investment Fund has financed the LIV Golf effort, which then paid venues like Trump National Doral in Miami and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey to host two of its tournaments this year.

The Trump administration, including Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, had close ties with Saudi Arabia during Trump’s tenure in the White House. Kushner has also received financial support from the Saudi government, a $2 billion investment in his newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners.

Before being elected president, Trump and his family had signed deals to license the Trump name in locations including Indonesia, Turkey, the Philippines, Dubai, India, Panama and Canada, and it owns golf resorts in Scotland and Ireland. One planned skyscraper deal in Dubai, announced in 2005, involved Nakheel, a Dubai-government-controlled real estate company. But that project was eventually abandoned.

Eight months before Trump entered the presidential race in 2015, the family company announced plans to license its name for a 33-story hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the partner there was the son of a government minister. That project was also ultimately abandoned.

Elsewhere, the Trump Organization’s foreign deals generally did not directly involve a financial role by a foreign government, or at least any public acknowledgment of direct foreign government financing or a major land contribution, according to an examination of the transactions by The New York Times.

During Trump’s time in the White House, Trump International Hotel in Washington was frequently a destination for foreign government officials, including delegations in town for planned meetings with Trump. The governments of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China each spent money at the hotel, according to documents that his former accounting firm turned over to Congress. The hotel received more than $3.75 million from foreign governments from 2017 to 2020, the House investigators estimated.

The Trump Organization has asserted that it paid all profits from these hotel stays to the Treasury Department through annual voluntary payments.

But this new deal — in which the Trump Organization benefits from land or financial capital provided by foreign governments — only elevates the potential for a conflict of interest to emerge, as Trump continues his dual roles as a White House candidate and business executive, ethics lawyers said.

“This is yet another example of Trump getting a personal financial benefit in exchange for past or future political power,” said Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. “The Saudis and Oman government may believe that giving Trump this licensing deal will benefit them in the future, should Trump become president again. This deal could be a way to ensure that they will be in Trump’s good graces.”

The Aida project in Oman is slated to be built 20 minutes outside the capital city of Muscat, on a series of hills overlooking the Arabian Sea on land controlled by the Omani Company for Development and Tourism, an Oman-government-owned tourism agency. It will include 3,500 luxury villas, two hotels with a total of 450 rooms and a golf course, as well as various restaurants and stores.

The project is part of what the government there is calling Oman Vision 2040 to try to diversify the small nation’s economy by building new hotels and golf courses and other tourist attractions. Officials in Oman did not respond Sunday to a request for comment on the project, nor did representatives for Dar Al Arkan, which is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest real estate companies.

Relations between the United States and Oman were not nearly as warm during Trump’s tenure as they were with Saudi Arabia. Oman declined to sign the agreement, called the Abraham Accords, that normalized relations between other Middle East nations and Israel.

Executives at Riyadh-based Dar Al Arkan sent out a news release Sunday confirming the deal with Trump Organization for the new project in Oman, while also distributing photos of Donald and Eric Trump at Trump Tower in New York with executives from Dar Al Arkan.

It is one of the first times since Trump was elected president that he has publicized his role in a new family real estate deal. The Trump family stopped signing new international deals after Trump was elected. The real estate deal with the Saudi partner in Oman is the first since he left the White House.

Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Al Arkan Global, who attended the deal-signing event, used to work at Damac Properties, the Trump family’s partner in Dubai, where the family has licensed its name to what is known as Trump International Golf Club Dubai and Trump Estates at DAMAC Hills, a gated community adjacent to the fairways.

“We are confident the relationship with Trump will further enhance the beauty of Aida and attract investors from around the world looking to be part of an exceptional project,” El Chaar said in the statement released on Sunday.

Eric Trump, in a statement, said that the family company did not believe the new deal represented a conflict, and since the time his father was in office, it has worked to avoid any such conflicts. “We are excited to expand our golf and hotel portfolio in this incredible location,” he said Sunday. “It is going to be an exceptional project.”

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Donald Trump’s campaign, responded to questions about the Oman deal, or whether the former president will be more involved with his business now, with a statement attacking the Biden administration.

The Oman deal was announced just as Trump was kicking off his third campaign for the White House, and while the Trump family, and Trump himself, are the target of a collection of civil and criminal investigations, including tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and its long-serving chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.

If the company is convicted, it will face fines and potential blowback from lenders and business partners that might shy away from doing business with a felon; a conviction could also present new political challenges for Trump. But the maximum possible fine in the tax fraud case is only $1.62 million, a small amount for the company. In his most recent financial disclosure report, filed in early 2021 as Trump left the White House, Trump reported assets worth at least $1.3 billion.

What Will Russia Without Putin Look Like? Maybe This.

New York Times – Opinion

What Will Russia Without Putin Look Like? Maybe This.

Guest Essay By Joy Neumeyer – November 21, 2022

Ms. Neumeyer is a journalist and historian of Russia and Eastern Europe.

Credit…Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

Russia’s current condition — militarized, isolated, corrupt, dominated by the security services and hemorrhaging talent as hundreds of thousands flee abroad to escape service in a horrific war — is bleak.

In hopes of an end to this grim reality, some wait expectantly for Vladimir Putin to leave office. To change the country, however, it is not enough for Mr. Putin to die or step down. Russia’s future leaders must dismantle and transform the structures over which he has presided for more than two decades. The challenge, to say the least, is daunting. But a group of politicians is devising a plan to meet it.

Composed of well-known opposition figures as well as younger representatives from local and regional governments, the First Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia met in Poland in early November. The location, Jablonna Palace outside Warsaw, was symbolic: It was the site of early negotiations in the round-table talks that led to the end of Communist rule in Poland. There, over three days of intense debate, participants laid out proposals for rebuilding their country. Taken together, they amount to a serious effort to imagine Russia without Mr. Putin.

The first and most pressing priority, of course, is the invasion of Ukraine. Everyone at the congress opposes the war, which they assume will be lost or lead to nuclear disaster. To deal with the consequences and to prevent a repeat tragedy, they propose an “act on peace” that would demobilize the army and end the occupation of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea; create a joint group for the investigation of war crimes; pay reparations for damaged infrastructure and the families of the dead; and reject future “wars of conquest.” In addition to offering a deterrent to future expansionism, this wide-ranging pledge would provide an essential reckoning with Russia’s history of imperialist invasion.

The officials responsible for the devastation will need to be rooted out, too — something that never happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Congress would bar from working in state and educational institutions those who belonged to “criminal” organizations — such as the Federal Security Services or state television channels — or publicly supported the war, as well as restricting their voting rights. It would also create a “de-Putinization” commission to consider the rehabilitation of certain groups, including those who publicly recant and did not commit especially serious crimes, and open the archives of the security services.

Then there’s the structure of Russia itself. The Russian Federation is highly centralized, with a patchwork of over 80 republics and regions that are strongly subordinate to the president, enabling the accumulation of enormous power. The Congress, drawing on decentralized visions from around the time of the Soviet collapse, proposes to dissolve the Russian Federation and replace it with a new parliamentary democracy. According to a broadly worded draft provision on “self-determination,” the future Russian state should be “joined on the basis of free choice by the peoples who populate it.”

This break with the present could correct the failed promises of the past. From Vladimir Lenin to Boris Yeltsin, modern Russian leaders have a history of offering decentralization to win support and then reneging once they consolidate power. Though all federal subjects are legally equal under Russia’s current Constitution, substantial inequalities persist — a fact that has been highlighted by the disproportionate deployment and death of ethnic minorities from poorer republics like Dagestan and Buryatia in the war in Ukraine.

Revisiting the issue of greater sovereignty could allow the breakaway republic of Chechnya, for example, to leave Russia after its brutal subjugation by Mr. Putin, while enabling regions and republics without strong secessionist movements to renegotiate the allocation of resources and balance of power with the center. It would create a fairer country while undermining Russian nationalism.

The congress is vaguest on its economic plans. One act promises to “review the results of privatization” carried out during the 1990s (which led to the rise of Russia’s oligarchs), while another aims to cancel Mr. Putin’s highly unpopular pension reform of 2020. Missing, however, is a commitment to a strong social safety net or any discussion of transitioning Russia’s economy away from its dependence on energy exports. This is a major oversight. Since the 1990s, when privatization and free elections were introduced simultaneously, wealth and power have been intertwined. Political and economic reform cannot be viewed in isolation from each other.

That’s not the only hitch. The congress’s main organizer and sponsor is Ilya Ponomarev, a leftist tech entrepreneur. The only member of the Russian parliament to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014, he left the country, obtained Ukrainian citizenship and now runs a Russian-language news channel in Kyiv. A controversial figure in opposition circles, in August he endorsed the assassination of Daria Dugina, the daughter of the Eurasianist philosopher Alexander Dugin, and asserted it was the work of a secret partisan army inside Russia. This uncorroborated claim outraged fellow opposition figures. Mr. Ponomarev was subsequently disinvited from an event organized by the longtime Kremlin critics Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Despite their disagreements, Russia’s opposition has a loosely converging vision for the future. Mr. Khodorkovsky and Aleksei Navalny, the country’s most well-known dissident, who is currently languishing in a penal colony, have also issued calls to turn Russia into a parliamentary democracy with more power devolved to the local and regional levels. But associates of Mr. Navalny did not attend the congress, nor did Mr. Kasparov or Mr. Khodorkovsky. Its legitimacy — already challenged by a number of Russian antiwar organizations that said it does not represent them — was also questioned by some participants, several of whom left in protest over what they saw as a lack of equality and transparency in how it was being run.

Such feuding doesn’t help the proposals, which can seem far-fetched. Yet history shows that radical developments are often incubated abroad or underground. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, political émigrés in bickering communities around Europe plotted the downfall of the Russian empire. Among them was Vladimir Lenin, who was living in Poland at the outbreak of World War I.

For now, with most of Russia’s population forced into quiescence while others lose their jobs or freedom for expressing dissent, the possibility of the country’s transformation appears remote. Change, however, can come when it’s least expected. In early 1917, a pessimistic Lenin lamented that he probably wouldn’t live to see the revolution; a few weeks later, the czar was overthrown.

Russia is no more doomed to repeat the past than any other country. The time to reimagine its future is now.