MIT neuroscientist Li-Huei Tsai said it boils down to routine and discipline.
It comes down to discipline.
That’s according to MIT Professor Li-Huei Tsai, a neuroscientist who focuses on diseases like Alzheimer’s and directs The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. She told Insider that the keys to maintaining healthy brain function and memory as you age are no secret.
Li-Huei TsaiCognito Therapeutics
“I think people actually know what they should be doing to stay healthy and to preserve their memory,” Tsai said.
She said that common expert advice — exercise, be socially and intellectually active, and maintain a healthy diet — are important to implement into our lives. The harder part is maintaining those habits.
“I think that if you just keep a routine, you know, you do it,” Tsai said. “I mean, I think that’s the only way to do it.”
A recent study published in The BMJ that followed almost 30,000 people in China for 10 years found that those who followed more “healthy lifestyle factors” had slower memory decline than those who did not.
Researchers in the study looked at many of the same factors that Tsai called out: a healthy diet, regular exercise, regular social contact, cognitive activities, and abstaining from both smoking and alcohol.
Tsai said she knows it’s important to maintain her routine even when conditions are less than favorable.
“I just have to really discipline myself,” she said. “For instance, exercise in the winter: it’s really painful when you look at outside temperature below zero and there’s ice and snow on the ground. I just try to discipline myself.”
Santa Clara, California-based Marvell said it is eliminating about 320 jobs, or 4 per cent of its global workforce, in response to what the company described as an industry slowdown, according to a statement from the firm on Wednesday.
“We are streamlining our organisation to ensure that our workforce is positioned to take advantage of our most promising opportunities, both now and when we emerge from the current industry downcycle,” Stacey Keegan, Marvell’s vice-president of corporate marketing, said in the statement.
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While China remains a large and important market for Marvell, Keegan said the company has decided to “concentrate our China-based resources on customer-facing teams to best support our local customers and business opportunities”. She added, however, that this move has “resulted in the elimination of certain R&D roles”.
The logo of US semiconductor company Marvell Technology is seen at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Shutterstock alt=The logo of US semiconductor company Marvell Technology is seen at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Shutterstock>
Most of Marvell’s latest job cuts will directly affect the firm’s entire research and development operation in mainland China, while only about 5 per cent of these lay-offs will be conducted in the US, according to a report on Wednesday by Chinese semiconductor industry portal Ijiwei, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
Marvell is expected to immediately notify its affected Chinese employees and offer a severance package similar to that provided during the lay-offs last October, the Ijiwei report said.
Before the lay-offs, Marvell had nearly 1,000 employees in China at its peak. About 800 of these workers were located in Shanghai, which had the company’s third-largest research and development team behind its operations in the US and Israel.
Marvell’s latest round of job cuts reflect the increased pressure on the world’s major semiconductor companies owing to the large imbalance between supply and demand in the global market, where chip inventories have risen to record levels.
Meanwhile, US memory chip giant Micron Technology closed its DRAM design operations in Shanghai at the end of last year, with some 150 Chinese engineers asked to relocate to either the US or India amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Marvell, which designs advanced chips for cloud computing, automotive, 5G mobile communications and enterprise networking applications, earlier this month reported record revenue of US$5.92 billion for its financial year ended January 28, up 33 per cent from a year earlier, on the back of growth from those business segments. But it also posted a US$164 million net loss in its past financial year.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century.
Putin is under the influence of strong drugs, Russian political scientist says
March 21, 2023
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, March 20, 2023
“If you watched at least a part of the speech to entrepreneurs (Putin’s speech at the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs — ed.), you can see a person high on speed, as young people say, meaning someone using powerful stimulant drugs,” Solovei said on the Morning Turn program on the Zhyvyi Hvozd (Living Nail) YouTube channel.
LUKOIL co-owner Vagit Alekperov, his partner Leonid Fedun, former Sibur CEO Dmitry Konov, and Crocus Group owner Araz Agalarov resigned from the Chamber of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in early March. Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov also asked to leave the RSPP.
None of them showed up for the meeting with Putin.
Owner of the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, Vladimir Lisin, and owner of Sistema, one of the largest private investors in Russia, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, also did not attend.
As a result, only six people out of the top 20 on the Russian Forbes list participated in the congress and met with Putin.
What’s Causing Your Gut Inflammation? These Common Triggers Might Be to Blame
Amanda Lauren – March 21, 2023
You have more control over gut inflammation than you think.
Fabian Montano/Getty Images
Most of us are aware of gut health, but it’s probably not something we think too much about until it becomes a problem. Then one day something starts feeling off—maybe you’re constantly bloated, constipated, or struggling with another form of digestive discomfort—and gut health suddenly has to come to the forefront of your mind. Or it’s possible you may experience other, seemingly unrelated symptoms, such as bad breath, breakouts, fatigue, or headaches and wonder if somehow it could be connected to poor gut health.
“Numerous studies have shown that the gut microbiome is a powerful driver behind the body’s inflammatory status and gut dysbiosis—a broad term that describes an imbalance of the gut microbiota—is thought to trigger inflammatory responses that can lead to chronic gut inflammation,” says Jordyn Gottlieb, MS, expert in nutrition science and food and agricultural policy, and contributor for January AI and Eden’s.
“Gut inflammation is an immunological state that occurs when the body senses an irritant somewhere along the digestive tract and signals to the immune system to repair it, resulting in swelling, pain, and impaired functions,” Gottlieb explains.
But gut inflammation isn’t just one thing—it’s an umbrella term that covers a wide range of issues, diseases, and syndromes associated with a disturbed digestive system including IBS, IBD, and leaky gut syndrome.
“Symptoms [of gut inflammatory issues] often start out with stomach aches, digestive pain, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, bloating, and cramping,” she says. “But longer-lasting, chronic inflammation can lead to problems that extend beyond the digestive tract.”
Gut inflammation can stem from several factors, and since gut health is such a complex and multifunctional thing—affected by and affecting so many other facets of our health—it can be tricky to pinpoint the source of gut issues and find solutions without some knowledge. Here are five common causes of gut inflammation and the best ways to keep it at bay and prevent flare-ups.
Routinely eating inflammatory foods and drinking alcohol.
While most of us enjoy foods and drinks that aren’t the most nutritious for our bodies, at least on occasion (and we should!), if the food you eat regularly doesn’t support a thriving, diverse, and healthy microbiome, then gut inflammation often isn’t far behind.
If gut inflammation is an issue, it’s smartest to limit (or better, avoid) certain things that trigger inflammation, disrupt the ratio of good-to-bad gut bacteria, and send our systems on a metabolic roller coaster. This includes drinking alcohol and highly processed, sugary drinks, says Chris Damman, MD, MA, clinical associate professor of gastroenterology and medicine at the University of Washington, and the chief medical and scientific officer of Supergut.
“Some foods that might adversely impact gut health, but not necessarily be associated with an increase in gut inflammation include processed meats, baked goods containing refined sugars, sugary drinks, and alcohol,” he says. “Baked goods containing refined sugars and sugary drinks (including diet drinks without sugar) have been linked to imbalances in the gut microbiome and dysregulation of blood sugar.”
Neglecting gut-healthy foods and nutrients, like fiber.
Your gut health is impacted just as much by what you don’t put into your body. A diet lacking in certain things your body craves will have its consequences. Fiber, antioxidants, prebiotics, and probiotics are a few of the best things to eat regularly for a happy gut microbiome.
When it comes to keeping gut inflammation at bay, don’t approach nutrition from a mindset of deprivation, because the idea of depriving yourself of the foods and cocktails is a huge bummer. Instead, think about it in terms of what you can add to your diet. Experts strongly suggest prioritizing adding more fiber into your diet. “Increased fiber intake helps produce gut-healthy short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and other bioactives that promote metabolic and immune health, which is important not only for optimal blood glucose regulation, but also for appetite suppression, immunity enhancement, reduced intestinal inflammation, and other beneficial effects,” Gottlieb says.
How can you up your fiber intake?
Focus on eating lots of veggies, such as acorn and butternut squashes, kale, broccoli, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. Fruits are also packed with gut-beneficial fiber. Some of the best high-fiber fruits include avocados, raspberries, blackberries, pears, kiwi, pomegranate, oranges, and tangerines. Beans and legumes are excellent sources of fiber, too. Enjoy chickpeas (hello, hummus!), lentils, and edamame as well as nutrient-dense beans like kidney, pinto, navy, and black beans. Whole grains such as bulgur, quinoa, buckwheat, and whole oats are another essential fiber-filled food group for reduced gut inflammation.
If all of this has you worried about your grocery bill (good-quality produce can be pricey, for example), know there are affordable ways to integrate more gut-beneficial foods into your everyday meals. Wendy Lopez, MS, RD, and Jessica Jones MS, RD, cohosts of The Food Heaven Podcast, recommend stocking up on canned tomatoes, which are inexpensive and a great way to reduce gut inflammation.
“We already know tomatoes, particularly canned, are rich in the anti-inflammatory antioxidant lycopene, which gives tomatoes their beautiful red hue,” they say. “Lycopene has been shown in hundreds of studies to have a positive impact on breast cancer, heart disease, and prostate cancer, plus, a recent small animal study also suggests tomatoes are great for gut health.”
“Beyond [what you eat], lifestyle factors can impact the gut,” Dr. Damman says. The two big culprits here are sleep and stress. “Poor sleep and high stress can lead to changes in the tight junctions that stitch the cells of the gut together. Opening of tight junctions causes shifts in gut fluid balance and looser stools.”
Dr. Damman also recommends getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day. Regular exercise has been shown to help boost good gut bacteria, diversify the microbiome, and improve the relationship between types of bacteria in the gut. Research has found that moderate exercise, in particular, benefits gut health by decreasing intestinal permeability (making it harder for harmful pathogens to enter the bloodstream), which helps reduce systemic inflammation. And even more simply, moving your body regularly helps keep your whole system moving regularly, if you catch our drift. Whether it’s walking, jumping rope, dancing, gardening, or yoga, finding a movement practice or exercise routine you can stick to consistently is an underrated habit for keeping gut inflammation under control.
If you’re dealing with chronic inflammatory gut issues such as diarrhea, constipation, excessive gas, pain, or excessive bloating that simply won’t go away even after adopting these gut-healthy lifestyle changes, Lopez and Jones recommend making an appointment with a gastroenterologist or your primary care doctor to make sure it isn’t something more serious.
These Sleep Habits Are Putting Your Heart Health At Risk
Jillian Wilson – March 21, 2023
In addition to eating nutritious foods and exercising, sleeping is important for your heart health.
In addition to eating nutritious foods and exercising, sleeping is important for your heart health.
While it’s well known that exercise, healthy eating and managing things such as high blood pressure and cholesterol are crucial for your heart health, it turns out your sleep habits play a big role, too.
The study looked at people with obstructed sleep apnea, people with fragmented sleep and people with short sleep duration. Participants wore a wrist tracker for seven days to measure their sleep and completed a sleep journal; the study also measured their heart rate, breathing and sleep stages.
People who had irregular sleep ― which means sleep that varied by 90 minutes to 2 hours each week ― were 1.4 times more likely to have high coronary artery calcium scores, which is the amount of plaque in your arteries.
The study underscored data found by other recent sleep-and-heart research, according to Dr. Manesh R. Patel, the chief of the division of cardiology and the division of clinical pharmacology at Duke University School of Medicine.
Patel said that other studies have explored this topic and also found that low-quality sleep (like waking up frequently in the night) or not getting enough sleep can put folks at risk for other cardiovascular conditions beyond atherosclerosis. This includes high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms, Patel noted.
What do these findings about sleep mean for you?
Unfortunately, even just short durations of poor sleep can impact your heart health.
Dr. Virend Somers, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, recently led a randomized controlled study that focused on sleep deprivation and its impact on high blood pressure. The study was made up of healthy young people.
“We looked at their blood pressure and their sympathetic nervous system … over 24 hours,” he explained. When study participants were sleep-deprived (in this case, researchers reported they got four hours of sleep a night for nine days), their blood pressure went up both during the daytime and when they were asleep. These results were more common in women than men, Somers said, which surprised researchers.
“When they’re sleep deprived … the endothelial function — the ability for their blood vessels to dilate — was also impaired,” Somers explained. The inability of blood vessels to dilate is a predictor of future cardiovascular disease, he noted.
This shows that if you take people who are otherwise young and healthy and deprive them of sleep, you create risk factors for the development of heart disease, Somers said.
Additionally, in a small, 21-day study that also followed young, healthy people, Somers found that participants who did not get enough sleep ate an extra 308 calories of food per day. For 14 days, participants got just four hours of sleep per night, which led to this finding. Researchers conducted scans to find that the extra calories went right to the belly and were converted into visceral fat, the dangerous type of fat deep in the abdomen that produces toxins that can make our cardiovascular systems sick, Somers said.
Normally, in healthy, young people, fat goes to a safe storage spot under the skin, which is known as the subcutaneous level, he said. But this was not the case when those young people were sleep-deprived.
“Something about not sleeping enough, that did two things. One, it made them eat more calories, and two, those calories were sent to the worst place — the visceral fat,” Somers said.
Even after a few nights of recovery sleep, the visceral fat continued to accumulate, which shows that recovery sleep doesn’t make up for even a short period of not enough sleep, he added.
If getting more sleep is not a realistic option for you, prioritize other heart-healthy habits like exercise or eating healthy foods.
If getting more sleep is not a realistic option for you, prioritize other heart-healthy habits like exercise or eating healthy foods.
What You Can Do If You Have Poor Sleep
“It’s hard to tell people to sleep better,” Patel explained. Someone who works an overnight shift or has young kids and a busy schedule may just not be able to commit to the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. And if you have trouble staying asleep, you can’t just decide to start sleeping through the night.
Patel said one dangerous potential reason behind not sleeping through the night is obstructive sleep apnea, which is when “you have an obstruction and you’re actually at times startling, or your oxygen can get low at night and you’re just not getting restful sleep and you have periods of apnea where you’re just not breathing because you’re obstructing your airway.”
Snoring, waking up with a headache or waking up tired are all signs of this condition; if you notice these issues, let your doctor know so they can run tests to determine if this is the cause of your bad sleep, Patel added. There are treatment solutions available for those with this condition.
But if you are not suffering from sleep apnea and are able to go to bed earlier, do so. “The more you can get regimented about getting yourself and everyone to bed, the better your health will be,” Patel said.
There are many ways to create a more restful and peaceful sleep environment. “Keep the bedroom cool and very, very dark … even light from a clock can be disruptive to your sleep,” Somers said.
He added that the bedroom should be for sex and sleep, not for watching TV or working. Additionally, if you get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, for example, avoid looking at your cell phone.
“The light from the cell phone can shut down melatonin, and melatonin helps us get to sleep at night,” Somers said. And even if you have a blue light filter on your phone (which is supposed to be better for sleep), just the arousal from reading emails or texts can wake you up, he added.
While sleep is clearly an important factor in heart health, it also is not the only factor. Somers said you can create other good habits to help cut your risk of issues like atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.
“If you want to maintain your heart health, just follow the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 guidelines,” Somers said. These guidelines include eating better, exercising, quitting smoking, managing your weight, and controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar — in addition to getting good sleep. (It’s worth noting that good sleep was just added to the guidelines in June 2022, which underscores its newfound importance for heart health.)
So, if you do have to cut your sleep short for the time being, whether due to your work schedule or other commitments, focus on other behaviors like exercise or making sure your plate is loaded with fruit and veggies. Or make an appointment to get bloodwork to determine if you need to manage your cholesterol.
“If we can’t fix the sleep component, let’s try and emphasize some of the others until we have the opportunity to get more sleep,” Somers said.
Man diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 29 shares symptoms: ‘It hit me pretty hard’
Meghan Holohan – March 21, 2023
When Brendan Menapace ate, he felt “terrible” and wanted to nap. He noticed blood in his stool and visited his doctor.
Having the support of his partner, family and friends made it easier for Brendan Menapace grapple with his stage 4 colorectal cancer diagnosis at age 29. (Courtesy Brendan Menapace)
“I just turned 29, so I didn’t really think colon cancer,” the now 30-year-old tells TODAY.com. “All the symptoms really got worse, so I knew something was wrong, and (I needed) to find an answer.” After testing, Menapace learned he had stage 4 colorectal cancer.
“It was definitely surprising,” he says. “It hit me pretty hard.”
“Textbook” symptoms
In the summer of 2021, Menapace experienced pelvic pain, constipation, bloating and fatigue.
“I would eat and then pretty much immediately would want to lay down,” he says. “I felt terrible.”
He also noticed blood in his stool and couldn’t sit for more than an hour and a half, which he noticed while driving to vacation. After eating, he would feel so awful that he felt drowsy.
“In retrospect, it was pretty much the textbook things they say to look out for,” he says.
He visited a doctor who sent him for a colonoscopy in early October 2021. As soon as Menapace woke, he knew it was bad.
“They told me as I was waking up,” he says. “There was a plan pretty much immediately.”
Two weeks after his test, he started chemotherapy from the end of October until January. Then he underwent 20 radiation sessions to his pelvis until March.
“From there, basically things had shrunk enough that surgery was viable,” he says. “But chemo and radiation take a toll on your body, so I was in pretty rough shape.”
In May, doctors surgically removed his rectum, part of his colon and lymph nodes, and he received a temporary ileostomy bag as his colon recovered. In July, doctors reversed his ileostomy, and by October, a PET scan showed no evidence of disease.
“Until you hit that five-year mark, you’re not considered cured or cancer-free,” Menapace says. “Because of the way it spread, it wasn’t as simple as just cutting out the tumor or declaring me cancer-free.”
Brendan Menapace underwent chemotherapy, radiation and extensive surgery to treat his stage 4 colorectal cancer. (Courtesy Brendan Menapace)
“Rates were globally going down in older patients with screening, and we also thought this was one of those cancers that are cancers of aging, which is why you didn’t screen somebody until they were 50,” Dr. Ursina Teitelbaum, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, tells TODAY.com. “Now we’re seeing this trend towards younger and also more left-sided — the descending colon, sigmoid colon and rectum particularly — and we don’t really know why.”
Teitelbaum says older patients tend to have more cancer on the right side, which is the ascending colon. It’s unclear why younger patients see more left-sided problems. But it leads to certain symptoms.
“If it’s on the left side or in the rectum, you may have pain with bowel movements or abdominal pain in general. You might have a change in what we see in the caliber of your stool. Instead of a normal-formed stool, you might have a skinny stool,” she says. “This is a funny point of conversation because people get uncomfortable talking about their bowel movements. But it’s actually really important to pay attention.”
“I have one younger patient who was a very competitive biker who noticed instead of 100 miles a week, he could only bike 50 miles a week,” she says. “It turned out he had rectal cancer and (was) slowly losing blood, and that was the reason.”
Brendan Menapace’s last chemotherapy treatment lasted for 46 hours and he carried it around in a fanny pack. (Courtesy Brendan Menapace)
Some people feel embarrassed to talk about their bowel movements, even with their doctors, meaning they don’t get help as quickly as possible. Other barriers can make it tough for younger people to get a colonoscopy, too, further delaying treatment.
“A lot of younger patients, people in their 30s, 40s, might not even have a primary care physician. They don’t have any medical problems. They are perfectly healthy,” Teitelbaum explains. “There are other things that are difficult with (colonoscopies). You have to find someone to give you a ride. … You have to take a day off work. You have to have insurance. You have to be able to afford a prep. So, there are a lot of barriers.”
Current screening recommendations for colon cancer are, starting at 45, people need to undergo a colonoscopy every 10 years, which recently changed from 50. Teitelbaum believes that both patients and primary care physicians need to be aware that colorectal cancer can occur to younger people.
“The key for now is education and that’s not just educating people that are younger, but educating their health care providers that if someone comes in with blood in their stool or some of the symptoms, they might need to move screening for colorectal cancer higher on the differential,” she says. “Part of the problems is that hemorrhoids (are) really a common condition.”
Finding colon cancer earlier often means surgery alone can remove it. As it metastisizes, it becomes harder to treated.
“Once it spreads beyond to the liver, the chance of it being curable is much lower,” she says. “That said, I am happy to say most of the time, even when it’s not curable, it’s treatable.”
With colonoscopies, doctors can detect precancerous polyps and remove them before they become cancer.
“You can intervene and remove a polyp before it becomes cancerous,” she says. “That said, not every polyp will become cancerous. So, it’s a balancing act.”
Brendan Menapace experienced neuropathy when he underwent chemotherapy but is lucky that it stopped after treatment ended. (Courtesy Brendan Menapace)
‘Huge learning curve’
While Menapace received chemotherapy, he experienced neuropathy, numbness and tingling from nerve damage. As soon as treatment stopped, these symptoms went away. He has had to adjust to not having a rectum.
“It has been a huge learning curve and just the trauma to my colon and lower digestive system — things are never going to be the same,” he says. “There’s a new normal that I’m working toward and that takes a lot of work in its own right. I have to be careful eating.”
He returned to work and exercise, resuming as much of a “normal life” as he can.
“When I leave the house, I have to know where a bathroom is. … It’s something in the back of my head, and I have to think about something that I never had to before,” he says. “It’s hard to fathom the idea of something being different forever.”
With the help of his partner, friends, family and therapy, Menapace is trying to grapple with the changes he faces due to cancer. He encourages others to talk about their symptoms with their doctors, no matter how strange it might feel.
“You’re trained not to talk about your poop. You’re trained not to talk about your butt. This is not (what you talk about) in polite society. At first, I would rely on euphemisms and be kind of fake and make jokes,” he says. “If you’re not detailed on what you’re going through, you’re not going to paint the right picture for your care team. You’re not going to get the right care.”
This Is the One Thing You Should Do Every Night if You Want To Lose Weight, According To Registered Dietitians
Kaitlin Vogel – March 21, 2023
Plus a few easy-to-implement tips.
When it comes to weight loss, many of us first think of diet and exercise. However, there’s one thing you can do every night that can be a game-changer when it comes to weight loss.
In particular, it’s a habit that improves sleep—which is key to weight loss. “Sleep deprivation leads to decreased alertness, reaction time and ability to store memories,” saysJoel Totoro, RD, Director of Sports Science at Thorne HealthTech. “Sleep deprivation can also lead to a decrease in immune function and a reduction in the release of growth hormones, as well as the hormones leptin and adiponectin—both of which have roles in fat gain and loss.”
Here’s the habit to practice if you want to sleep better and, as a result, lose weight.
Practice This One Sleep Habit To Lose Weight
If you want to manage your weight, stop eating (or at least don’t eat a big meal) a few hours before bedtime.
Going to bed on a full stomach may interfere with getting restful sleep which upsets the hormones that tell us we’re hungry and when we are full. As a result of poor sleep, you may be hungrier during the day, Elizabeth Ward, MS, RDN, explains. Also, poor sleep can make you gravitate toward foods that provide a quick energy boost, which are often filled with added sugar or other highly refined carbohydrates and add calories to your day.
“Eat a satisfying, balanced dinner with at least 25 grams of protein and stop eating after dinner,” says Ward. “Though calories consumed close to bedtime don’t automatically prevent weight loss, it’s easier to go overboard on food when snacking after dinner especially when these foods are high in fat and calories.”
Routine snacking every night can lead to a lack of interest in breakfast because you’re still full from the night before. As a consequence, you repeat the cycle of eating too few calories during that day and too many at night, which can keep you from shedding pounds in the long run, Ward concludes.
“If you want a snack, make it a modest portion of a high-protein food, like a handful of roasted edamame, Greek yogurt or a handful of pistachios,” says Ward. “Try to eat dinner as early as you can comfortably fit it into your lifestyle.”
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Yes, even on weekends. This will let your body get into a natural rhythm. Aim for a full seven to nine hours each night.
Make it consistent.
It’s common to think of sleep as something you can “make up.” But human bodies aren’t like bank accounts; we can’t make withdrawals and deposits whenever we want. We need plenty of rest as consistently as possible.
Limit distractions
Give your devices a rest! Texts, TV shows, games and funny cat videos will all be there for you the next day. Set a bedtime alert on your phone or stick a note to your TV reminding you of your bedtime—and theirs.
Ask for help
Overwhelmed with to-do lists? Delegate. Ask your kids to help wash dishes or enlist your partner for evening chores. See if a coworker can share the load on a big deadline. That way you don’t have to stay up late finishing other tasks.
Accept the unexpected
Interruptions and sleepless nights will come up from time to time. When they do, don’t dwell on your frustration—that stress can make it even harder to get back into your sleep rhythm. Just accept the interruption, think of it as a temporary lapse, and try again for better sleep the next night.
If these interruptions end up becoming a trend, think of what you can do to change the pattern and make it work for you.
US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
Lolita C. Baldort – March 21, 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster, with the aim of getting the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone by the fall, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The original plan was to send Ukraine 31 of the newer M1A2 Abrams, which could have taken a year or two to build and ship. But officials said the decision was made to send the older M1A1 version, which can be taken from Army stocks. Officials said the M1A1 also will be easier for Ukrainian forces to learn to use and maintain as they fight the invading Russian forces.
“This is about getting this important combat capability into the hands of the Ukrainians sooner rather than later,” said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
Speaking at a Pentagon press conference, Ryder said the tanks will be refurbished and refitted to make them combat ready for Ukraine. He declined to say where that work will be done.
It’s unclear how soon the U.S. would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks. The intention would be to have the training of the troops coincide with the refurbishment of the tanks, so that both would be ready for battle at the same time later this year, said U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not publicly provided. The Pentagon will also have to ensure that Ukrainian forces have an adequate supply chain for all the parts needed to keep the tanks running.
The Russian and Ukrainian forces have been largely in a stalemate, trading small slices of land over the winter. The fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of dogged Ukrainian defense. But both sides are expected to launch more intensive offensives in the spring.
Asked about the timing of the tanks’ arrival, Ryder said the Abrams are part of the medium- and longer-term military support the U.S. is providing to Ukraine. He said that as Ukrainian forces take or retake territory, they will also need to sustain those gains and deter Russia from regaining any footholds.
During a visit to a tank plant in Lima, Ohio, in February, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth met with officials there at length to determine the best options for getting the tanks to Ukraine.
“Part of it is figuring out — among the different options — what’s the best one that can allow us to get the Ukrainians tanks in as timely a fashion as we can,” without disrupting foreign military sales, Wormuth said at the time.
Officials at the plant, which is owned by the Army and operated by Reston, Virginia-based General Dynamics, said production totals can vary, based on contract demands. And while they are currently building 15-20 armored vehicles per month, including tanks, they can easily boost that to 33 a month and could add another shift of workers and build even more if needed.
Development of tanks for Ukraine would have to be squeezed in between the current contracts for foreign sales, which include 250 of the newest versions for Poland and about 75 for Australia. During Wormuth’s tour of the plant, workers were preparing to build an updated version of the vehicle for Poland.
Ukrainian leaders have persistently pressed for the Abrams, which first deployed to war in 1991 and has thick armor, a 120 mm main gun, armor-piercing capabilities and advanced targeting systems. It runs on thick tracked wheels and has a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine with a top speed of about 42 miles per hour (68 kilometers per hour).
Judge in Fox News, Dominion Case Says Network’s Legal Woes Mostly the Fault of One ‘Problem’ Host
Josh Dickey – March 21, 2023
In what’s playing out like an extended preview to the $1.6 billion First Amendment prize fight between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News, both sides threw opening punches Tuesday in a Delaware court, where a judge is hearing summary arguments and other matters ahead of next month’s scheduled trial.
Dominion Voting systems opened this round, arguing before Judge Eric Davis that Fox News made a “household name” out of Sidney Powell, let hosts “run wild” and developed what the judge called a “Lou Dobbs problem.” Fox countered in the afternoon, arguing that a “reasonable” viewer could easily discern that the network was reporting on allegations and newsmakers’ theories.
Both sides have asked Davis to rule summarily in their favor, a routine stop for any civil trial that rarely works. But Fox and Dominion each put significant resources into their summary arguments and supporting documents, which have been widely picked over and scrutinized.
By the time the lawyers assembled Tuesday for their first live arguments before Davis, many details had already become familiar, as each side released troves of sworn deposition testimony, text messages, emails and other discovery-phase records this month – most of them rather embarrassing to Fox News. Davis was not expected to rule on the motions for summary judgment during the pre-trial hearing spanning Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, Davis could rule this week on whether certain redacted material in those evidentiary depositions should be revealed, which could bring another wave (or trickle) of bombshell revelations. Those arguments and other minor pretrial matters were expected to be resolved before the April 17 start date.
Dominion is asking for $1.6 billion in damages – significant, but not a potential death-blow for the crown jewel of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire – for what it says are defamatory statements about its voting machines in multiple reports, guest segments and host commentary immediately following the 2020 election. Defamation cases hinge on “actual malice,” proof that the defendant intended harm – and Dominion has been pushing hard on that front in it pretrial efforts.
Fox has maintained it was merely doing the news, and was protected by its framing of even the wildest election conspiracy theories as allegations and speculation. Fox’s lawyers also argued Tuesday that there were, and still are, legitimate questions about security around Dominion machines.
Dominion’s receipts include 20 on-air instances of what it says are defamation – a notable number of them featuring Lou Dobbs. “Lou Dobbs Tonight” was an engine of the stolen-election narrative, and though Dobbs was fired abruptly after Joe Biden’s win was certified, depositions revealed that Fox brass had been looking to move him out up to a year before.
“This seems to be a Lou Dobbs problem,” Davis commented as Fox attorneys were going through the instances one by one.
The pre-trial hearing was expected to resume Wednesday.
Exercise therapy is safe, may improve quality of life for many people with heart failure
NewMediaWire – March 21, 2023
Statement Highlights:
A new scientific statement indicates supervised exercise therapy may help improve symptoms for people with one of the most common types of heart failure, known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), in which the heart muscle’s pumping strength is intact.
Exercise therapy had comparable or better results on improving exercise capacity for people with preserved EF compared to those who have heart failure with reduced EF.
The statement advises that Medicare and health insurers expand coverage of cardiac rehabilitation to include people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
DALLAS and WASHINGTON D. C. For many people who have heart failure, supervised exercise training is safe and may offer substantial improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life, even more than medications, according to a new, joint scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. The statement is published today in both the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation and in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart failure is a progressive condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to the body either due to the heart muscle stiffening or from it losing pumping strength. Treatments are focused on reducing symptoms, such as shortness of breath and fatigue, and minimizing or delaying the consequences of the condition, which includes decreased quality of life; frequent hospitalizations; loss of functional independence; high health care costs; and increased risk of death.
The statement is a review of the latest evidence-based research to better understand the potential impact of supervised exercise therapy for the more than three million people in the U.S. living with chronic, stable heart failure with preserved ejection fraction or HFpEF. This condition occurs when the heart is stiff and does not relax normally to fill with enough blood to pump to the body, yet the heart muscle is still strong enough to pump well. In comparison, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction occurs when the left ventricle can’t pump with the force needed to push enough blood into circulation. In the U.S., heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is one of the most common forms of heart failure, with women disproportionately affected compared to men, according to the scientific statement.
“The prevalence of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction continues to increase due to aging of the population and the growing prevalence of risk factors such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes,” said Vandana Sachdev, M.D., chair of the scientific statement writing committee. “Improved management of this large population of patients who have HFpEF, many of whom may be undertreated, represents an urgent unmet need.”
Sachdev is a senior research clinician and the director of the Echocardiography Laboratory in the Division of Intramural Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the scientific lead for the new NHLBI heart failure program HeartShare.
In April 2022, recommendations were released by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology for supervised exercise training for people with heart failure, regardless of the type. Sachdev clarified that, currently, Medicare only reimburses cardiac rehabilitation for people with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
“Exercising helps improve the heart’s pumping ability, decreases blood vessel stiffness and improves the function and energy capacity of skeletal muscle,” Sachdev said. “Exercise capacity is an independent, clinically meaningful patient outcome, and research has indicated that guided exercise therapy is actually more effective at improving quality of life for people who have HFpEF than most medications.”
Members of the writing committee critically examined research published since 2010 to assess the most current data on the impact of exercise-based therapies for HFpEF.
The studies evaluated various types of exercise, including walking, stationary cycling, high-intensity interval training, strength training and dancing in both facility settings and home-based training. Supervised exercise therapy generally occurred three times per week for each of the studies, and the duration of the programs varied from one month to eight months.
In the studies, researchers measured peak oxygen uptake, which is a way to assess exercise capacity by measuring the total amount of oxygen a person can breathe into the lungs during physical exertion. For people living with HFpEF, their peak oxygen uptake is often about 30% lower than that of a healthy person and considered below the threshold required for functional independence (and performing normal daily living activities such as carrying groceries).
The statement writing committee determined that supervised exercise training may lead to:
Increased peak oxygen uptake 12-14% an increase of more than 6-7%, is considered clinically meaningful.
Increased total exercise time by 21% a 10% increase is considered clinically meaningful.
Improved quality-of-life scores on the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire by 49 points. The questionnaire has 21 items, each scored on a 0-5 scale. Total score is derived from adding the scores from each item.
The statement acknowledges there were variations in the baseline characteristics of people in the trials reviewed. Some of the studies excluded patients with some co-existing health conditions, and many groups of people in whom heart failure is prevalent including older adults, women, persons with low socioeconomic status and people from diverse racial and ethnic groups were under-represented in some research. Additionally, many of the studies were smaller, single-center studies, and most were relatively short term, so there isn’t enough information to assess long-term adherence, which the committee suggests should be addressed in future research.
“Overall, we did find that in people with chronic, stable heart failure and preserved ejection fraction, supervised exercise training is safe and provides substantial improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life,” Sachdev added. “Future work is needed to improve referral of appropriate patients to supervised exercise programs, and better strategies to improve long-term adherence to exercise training is needed. Hybrid programs combining supervised and home-based training may also be beneficial. Further, implementation efforts will need to include coverage by Medicare and other insurers.”
This scientific statement was prepared by a volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. It is endorsed by the Heart Failure Society of America; the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation; and the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses.
American Heart Association scientific statements promote greater awareness about cardiovascular diseases and stroke issues and help facilitate informed health care decisions. Scientific statements outline what is currently known about a topic and what areas need additional research. While scientific statements inform the development of guidelines, they do not make treatment recommendations. American Heart Association guidelines provide the Association’s official clinical practice recommendations.
Co-authors are Vice Chair Kavita Sharma, M.D.; Steven J. Keteyian, Ph.D.; Charina F. Alcain, D.N.P., A.C.N.P.-B.C.; Patrice Desvigne-Nickens, M.D.; Jerome L. Fleg, M.D., FAHA; Viorel G. Florea, M.D., Ph.D.; Barry A. Franklin, Ph.D., FAHA; Maya Guglin, M.D., Ph.D.; Martin Halle, M.D.; Eric S. Leifer, Ph.D.; Gurusher Panjrath, M.D., FAHA; Emily A. Tinsley, Ph.D.; Renee P. Wong, Ph.D.; and Dalane W. Kitzman, M.D. Authors’ disclosures are listed in the manuscript.
The Association receives funding primarily from individuals. Foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific Association programs and events. The Association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, device manufacturers and health insurance providers, and the Association’s overall financial information are available here.
The content of this press release and the associated manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
