Vitamin C and skin health

(Source)

 From SciTechDaily

A new study led by researchers at the University of Otago, Faculty of Medicine – Christchurch (Ōtautahi), has revealed that the skin’s ability to produce collagen and renew itself is directly influenced by how much vitamin C a person consumes.

According to findings published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the amount of vitamin C present in the skin closely mirrors the level circulating in the blood (plasma). The researchers also found that these levels can rise through greater fruit consumption.

The investigation involved two dozen healthy adults from Aotearoa, (New Zealand) and Germany. Participants who ate two vitamin C-rich SunGold kiwifruit each day showed an increase in plasma vitamin C, which in turn raised the vitamin’s concentration in the skin. This change supported greater skin thickness (collagen production) and encouraged renewal and regeneration in the outer layers of the skin.

Lead author Professor Margreet Vissers from Mātai Hāora (Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine, part of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine), describes the connection between vitamin C intake and skin thickness as “compelling.”

“We were surprised by the tight correlation between plasma vitamin C levels and those in the skin – this was much more marked than in any other organ we have investigated,” Professor Vissers says.

“We are the first to demonstrate that vitamin C in the blood circulation penetrates all layers of the skin and is associated with improved skin function. I am very proud of my team and excited about what the data is telling us.”

Dietary Vitamin C More Effective Than Topical Forms

Professor Vissers says the study results suggest that beauty really does come from within, supporting your skin function from the inside-out by delivering vitamin C to the skin the way nature designed it – via the bloodstream.

“We know that vitamin C is required for collagen production. This fact has inspired the addition of vitamin C to many skin cream formulations. However, vitamin C is highly water-soluble and poorly absorbed through the outer skin barrier. Our study shows that the skin is extremely good at absorbing vitamin C from the blood circulation. Uptake into the outer epidermal skin layer also seems to be prioritized,” she says.

Funded by New Zealand company Zespri International, along with a University of Otago Research Grant, the study comprised two stages. The first stage established the association between plasma and skin vitamin C levels, using healthy skin tissue from patients undergoing elective surgical procedures at Te Whatu Ora Canterbury (with support from the Otago campus’s He Taonga Tapu – Canterbury Cancer Society Tissue Bank).

The second stage involved a before-and-after, dietary vitamin C intervention study at two sites (in Christchurch and Germany), each with 12 healthy participants.

“All were instructed to consume two Kiwi Gold kiwifruit daily – the equivalent of 250 micrograms of vitamin C – for eight weeks. We then collected skin samples before and after the intervention, with separate analyses allowing us to look at the skin basal layers in Christchurch and the outer dermal skin layer and skin function tests in Germany,” Professor Vissers explains.

Advanced Skin Testing Confirms Structural Improvements

The German participants were recruited and tested by the SGS Institute Fresenius in Hamburg, which had the technical capability to collect the outer dermal skin layer (the blister “roof”). The Institute measured skin sample regeneration – including ultrasound-tested measures of skin thickness, elasticity UV protection, and renewal of epidermal cells – giving a complete picture of skin function.

“The other really substantial finding showed a significant increase in the participants’ skin thickness levels, reflecting collagen production and an upsurge in the regeneration of their epidermal cells, in other words, skin renewal,” Professor Vissers says.

She says SunGoldTM kiwifruit was chosen for the trial due to its proven high vitamin C levels, but it’s anticipated that other foods rich in vitamin C, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables such as citrus, berry fruit, capsicums, and broccoli, would have similar beneficial effects.

“We suggest that increasing your dietary vitamin C intake will result in effective vitamin C uptake into all compartments of the skin,” Professor Vissers says.

“The important thing is to keep your plasma levels optimal, which we know can be easily achieved in a healthy person with a vitamin C intake of around 250mg per day. The body however, does not store the vitamin, so we recommend 5+ [of fruit] a day, every day, with one of those five being a high vitamin C food, as a good habit to cultivate.”

Reference: “Improved Human Skin Vitamin C Levels and Skin Function after Dietary Intake of Kiwifruit: A High-Vitamin-C Food” by Juliet M. Pullar, Stephanie M. Bozonet, Dörte Segger, Astrid von Seebach, Emma Vlasiuk, Helen R. Morrin, John F. Pearson, Jeremy Simcock and Margreet C.M. Vissers, 29 October 2025, Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2025.10.587

They do not discuss whether vitamin C supplementation is as beneficial.  The disadvantages of natural vitamin C is that fruit quickly loses its vitamins if it isn't fresh.  However, frozen fruit or vegetables are usually snap-frozen immediately after picking so will contain more vitamin C.

Vitamin D may slow biological aging

 From SciTechDaily

A major clinical trial has uncovered compelling evidence that vitamin D supplementation helps preserve telomeres, the DNA structures that protect chromosomes and shorten with age. Credit: Shutterstock

Findings from the VITAL randomized controlled trial show that vitamin D supplementation can help preserve telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes. These structures naturally shorten with age, a process linked to the onset of many health conditions.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, draws on data from a VITAL sub-study led jointly by researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia. The results highlight vitamin D’s potential to slow one of the biological mechanisms associated with aging.

“VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length,” said co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, principal investigator of VITAL and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. “This is of particular interest because VITAL had also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease.”

Telomeres consist of repeating DNA sequences (base pairs) that serve as buffers, preventing chromosome ends from deteriorating or attaching to other chromosomes. Over time, telomeres naturally shorten, and this process has been strongly tied to a greater likelihood of developing age-related illnesses.

A few short-term, small-scale studies have suggested that vitamin D or omega 3 fatty acid supplementation may help support telomeres, but results have been inconsistent. VITAL is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D3 (2,000 IU/day) and omega-3 fatty acid (1 g/day) supplementation that tracked U.S. females aged 55 years and older and males aged 50 years and older for five years. The VITAL Telomere sub-study included 1,054 of these participants, whose telomere length in white blood cells was assessed at baseline and at Year 2 and Year 4.

Compared with taking a placebo, taking vitamin D3 supplements significantly reduced telomere shortening over four years, preventing the equivalent of nearly three years of aging compared with placebo. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation had no significant effect on telomere length throughout follow-up.

“Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter a biological aging process, although further research is warranted,” said Haidong Zhu, PhD, first author of the report and a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University.

 

Reference: “Vitamin D3 and marine ω-3 fatty acids supplementation and leukocyte telomere length: 4-year findings from the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) randomized controlled trial” by Haidong Zhu, JoAnn E Manson, Nancy R Cook, Bayu B Bekele, Li Chen, Kevin J Kane, Ying Huang, Wenjun Li, William Christen, I-Min Lee and Yanbin Dong, 21 May 2025, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.05.003

 

 

How Medicare saves lives

 From a post by Doctor James Gundlach

Here I will start with the conclusion: Here are the numbers:

From 1999 through 2023 age 20-54 deaths = 8,330,842 deaths. If their deaths had changed like the age 65-84 it would have been 6,486,057. That is 1,844,785 [averaging roughly 76,000 per year], or 22.1% fewer.

Medicare is America's public free healthcare, which can be accessed after you turn 65.  This is presumably what Gundlach means by "socialist".   Everybody else has to pay for their healthcare, including any excesses over what the health insurance company will pay.  Most workers get health insurance through their employers, but obviously, their take-home pay is reduced from what it would otherwise be, in effect, a sort of payroll tax.  However, the fact that there are still out-of-pocket expenses makes getting sick horribly expensive in the USA.  The country spends 19% of GDP on healthcare, compared with 9% in Australia, which has a free health system for everybody.  However, the health outcomes in Australia (and other developed countries with free health care) are superior to those in the US. 

In Gundlach's chart, note how both sets of annual death rates rose during Covid, but for those paid for by the government were much lower than those who had to pay for their health care out of their own pockets.

Exercise better than drugs for cancer treatment

 From The Guardian

After five years, patients in an exercise regime had a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers, and a 37% lower death rate. Photograph: amriphoto/Getty Images

Exercise can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by a third, stop tumours coming back and is even more effective than drugs, according to the results of a landmark trial that could transform health guidelines worldwide.

For decades, doctors have recommended adopting a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of developing cancer. But until now there has been little evidence of the impact it could have after diagnosis, with little support for incorporating exercise into patients’ routines.

Now a world-first trial involving patients from the US, UK, Australia, France, Canada and Israel has found that a structured exercise regime after treatment can dramatically reduce the risk of dying, the disease returning or a new cancer developing.

The results were presented in Chicago at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) annual meeting, the world’s largest cancer conference, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

For the first time in medical history, there was clear evidence that exercise was even better at preventing cancer recurrence and death than many of the drugs currently prescribed to patients, one of the world’s top cancer doctors said.

Dr Julie Gralow, the chief medical officer of Asco, who was not involved in the decade-long study, said the quality of its findings was the “highest level of evidence” and would lead to “a major shift in understanding the importance of encouraging physical activity during and after treatment”.

Patients who began a structured exercise regime with the help of a personal trainer or health coach after they completed treatment had a 37% lower risk of death and a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers developing, compared with patients who received only health advice, the trial found.

Asked to put the effect of exercise on cancer patients’ outcomes into context, Gralow said: “We titled [the session it was presented in] As Good as a Drug. I would have retitled it Better than a Drug, because you don’t have all the side-effects.” 

“It’s the same magnitude of benefit of many drugs that get approved for this kind of magnitude of benefit – 28% decreased risk of occurrence, 37% decreased risk of death. Drugs get approved for less than that, and they’re expensive and they’re toxic.”

“When I started three decades ago it was still the era where we’d be gentle and say, don’t overdo yourself when you’re on chemo. We’ve reversed that,” she added. “I would say [exercise is] better than a drug.”

In the trial, researchers enrolled 889 colon cancer patients between 2009 and 2023. Most (90%) had stage three disease. Patients were randomly assigned to take part in a structured exercise programme (445) or to just receive a healthy lifestyle booklet (444).

Those in the exercise group worked with a personal trainer twice a month for coaching sessions and supervised exercise sessions, and later once a month, for a total of three years.

The exercise group were coached and supported to help them achieve set exercise goals. Their weekly target was the equivalent of three to four walks of between 45 and 60 minutes, but patients could choose how they got more active. Some went kayaking or skiing, for instance.

After five years, patients in the exercise group had a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers than those in the other group. After eight years, the same patients also had a 37% lower risk of dying than those just handed the healthy lifestyle booklet.

“After completing surgery and chemotherapy, about 30% of patients with high-risk stage two and stage three colon cancer will eventually experience recurrence of their disease,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Christopher Booth, of Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. “As oncologists, one of the most common questions we get asked by patients is ‘what else can I do to improve my outcome?’ 

 “These results now provide us with a clear answer: an exercise programme that includes a personal trainer will reduce the risk of recurrent or new cancer, make you feel better and help you live longer.”

Republican healthcare

 By Sage Stossel 

Uninsured health = much higher death rates

 From Dr James Gundlach

What is up? State middle aged death rates when the percent uninsured goes up. How much? In 2023 I estimate an additional 172,538 age 0-64 deaths and that makes up an estimated 22.1% of all the 2023 middle aged deaths. 🧪💡☠️ #Sociology #Population

Click to enlarge (makes it easier to read)

Ultra-processed food lethal

 From The Guardian

Consuming large amounts of ultra-processed food (UPF) increases the risk of an early death, according to a international study that has reignited calls for a crackdown on UPF.

Each 10% extra intake of UPF, such as pre-packaged bread, cakes and ready meals, increases someone’s risk of dying before they reach 75 by 3%, according to research in countries including the US and England.

UPF is so damaging to health that it is implicated in as many as one in seven of all premature deaths that occur in some countries, according to a paper in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

They are associated with 124,107 early deaths in the US a year and 17,781 deaths every year in England, the review of dietary and mortality data from eight countries found.

Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, the lead investigator of the study, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, said that additives such as sweeteners and flavourings harm health not just UPFs’ high levels of fat, salt and sugar.

The authors found “a linear dose-response association between the ultra-processed food consumption and all-cause mortality” when they examined official surveys previously undertaken in the UK and US, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.

While 4%, 5% and 6% of premature deaths in Colombia, Brazil and Chile respectively are “attributable to UPF consumption”, the equivalent percentage is 10.9% in Canada, 13.7% in the US and 13.8% in England – the highest proportion among the eight countries.

“Premature deaths attributable to consumptions of ultra-processed foods increase significantly according to their share in individuals’ total energy intake. A high amount of UPF intake can significantly affect health,” the researchers concluded.

Death rates are highest in the countries where the population gets the largest amounts of total energy from eating UPF.

In England that is 53.4%, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey undertaken in 2018-19. But it is even higher in the US – 54.5%.

“We first estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and all-cause mortality, so that each 10% increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3%,” said Nilson.

“UPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of high content of critical nutrients – sodium, trans fats and sugar – because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours and sweeteners, emulsifiers and many other additives and processing aids, so assessing deaths from all causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health.”

While the burden of ill-health from UPF is highest in high-income countries, it is growing in low- and middle-income nations, added Nilson.

The authors urged governments worldwide to introduce bold measures to tackle UPF, including tighter regulation of food marketing and the sale of food in schools and workplaces, and also taxes on UPF products to reduce sales.

America's terrible health outcomes

For one of the richest nations on Earth, the US's health outcomes are terrible, even though it spends twice as much (as a percent of GDP) on health care as other wealthy countries.  American exceptionalism indeed.

Measles

 Apposite, because JFK jnr, a virulent anti-vaxxer, has been appointed secretary for health in the USA.

Red States' death rates

From Dr James H Gundlach 

Each dot shows the percent change in the death rate of people of a single year age in states voting Democratic and Republican [between 1999 and 2023]

Infant deaths in Dem states declined almost twice as much as in Rep states. From age 17 to 30 it was terrible.  The change from age 17 to age 30 amounted to a fair declining in death [rates] to about a 35 percent increase. And there is no real difference between the lines for Democratic and Republican voting states.

Then both lines of dots head down showing less of an increase, until they cross the zero line in the middle to declining. The Democratic states start doing better at age 45 and Republican states take about ten more years to make this shift. From here both lines continue to move into larger declining death rates every year but the Democratic voting state keep going down more. 

Then around age 75 both lines of dots finally begin to look normal, at very old ages the declining death rates decline less each year but the Democratic voting states are experiencing much stronger declines than the Republican voting states. The Democrats max out at a -53% and the Republicans are behind with a -32% at age 76. 

In the United States, we have three major patterns in paying for health care. The young are primarily covered by private insurance, with most of the uninsured covered by state governments. The middle-aged are dominated by capitalist health insurance with large co-pays and a high percent uninsured. The very ill aged 55-64 can move to Medicare early in most states. After age 64 almost all qualify for Medicare and the capitalist clone Medicaid. That final upward slope in both lines shows the normal effect of growing very old, The abnormality here is the line for the elderly in Republican voting is still above the line [i.e., worse]for Democratic voting states. 

The United States pays the most of any country for health care but our CIA World Fact Book ranks us 49th in life expectancy.  Canada spends close to half as much for health care as we do and they are ranked 7th.

[See also: Evangelicals and death rates, and Shit life syndrome]

Oats fibre as effective as Ozempic

From Science Alert

 

Research on the gut microbiome has triggered a 'revolution' in nutritional science, and in the last few years, dietary fiber has become the "new protein" – added to foods in abundance to feed our gut and boost our health.

A recent study on mice, however, suggests not all fiber supplements are equally beneficial.

A form that is readily found in oats and barley, called beta-glucan, can control blood sugar and assist in weight loss among mice fed a high-fat diet.

Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) and the University of Vienna say it is the only type of fiber supplement they tested that decreased a mouse's fat content and body weight within 18 weeks.

The other fibers considered, including wheat dextrin, pectin, resistant starch, and cellulose, had no such effect, despite shifting the makeup of the mouse microbiome significantly compared to mice fed no fiber supplements.

"We know that fiber is important and beneficial; the problem is that there are so many different types of fiber," explained biomedical scientist Frank Duca from UA in July.

"We wanted to know what kind of fiber would be most beneficial for weight loss and improvements in glucose homeostasis so that we can inform the community, the consumer, and then also inform the agricultural industry."

Dietary fibers are the main source of energy for bacteria living in our guts, and yet less than 5 percent of people in the US consume the recommended 25–30 grams (0.9–1 ounce) of fiber a day.

To make up for this, fiber supplements and 'invisible fiber'-infused foods are growing in popularity. But fibers are extremely diverse, so which do we choose?

Some fibers, like oat beta-glucans and wheat dextrin, are water-soluble, meaning they are easily fermented by gut bacteria.

Others, like cellulose and resistant starch, are less soluble or insoluble, meaning they stick to other materials to form stool.

Until now, writes biomedical scientist Elizabeth Howard from UA and her colleagues, "there is no study that has investigated the role of various fibers in one cohort."

To make up for this, the current study tested several forms of fiber in one cohort of mice. Only beta-glucan was found to increase the number of Ileibacterium found in the mouse intestine. Other studies on mice have linked this bacterium to weight loss.

Sure enough, long before the 10-week marker, mice fed beta-glucan showed reduced body weight and body fat content compared to mice fed other forms of fiber.

The findings align with another recent study by Duca, which fed barley flour, rich in beta-glucan, to rodents. Even though the rats continued eating just as much of their high-fat diet as before, their energy expenditure increased and they lost weight anyway.

A similar outcome was observed in mice fed beta-glucan in the new study. These animals also showed increased concentrations of butyrate in their guts, which is a metabolite made when microbes break down fiber.

Butyrate induces the release of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is the natural protein that synthetic drugs like Ozempic mimic to stimulate insulin release.

"Part of the benefits of consuming dietary fiber is through the release of GLP-1 and other gut peptides that regulate appetite and body weight," said Duca.

"However, we don't think that's all of the effect. We think that there are other beneficial things that butyrate could be doing that are not gut peptide related, such as improving gut barrier health and targeting peripheral organs like the liver."

Far more research is needed before these results can be extended to humans, but the findings suggest that some fibers may be better suited to weight loss and insulin control than others.

The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Unless you have gluten intolerance, eating oats for breakfast seems like a good idea.  Fibre is good for you and helps reduce the risk for bowel cancer.  It seems plausible that it might also reduce weight. 

Daily omega-3 might delay the aging process

From the Guardian 

A daily dose of omega-3 oils may slow the aging process, according to a major clinical trial of interventions that aim to extend humans’ healthspan – the number of years spent in good health before a decline in old age.

Healthy older people who took one gram of the essential fatty acid for three years were found to have aged three months less than others on the trial, as measured by biological markers. Additional vitamin D and regular exercise boosted the effect to nearly four months, researchers found.

Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, the first author on the study and professor of geriatric medicine and healthy longevity at the University of Zurich, said: “While the effects may appear small with three to four months rejuvenation of biological age in three years, if sustained, they may have relevant effects on population health.”

Previous studies had hinted that omega-3, an unsaturated fatty acid found in oily fish and other foods such as nuts and seeds, could affect the ageing process. But whether humans would see any meaningful benefits from consuming it was unclear.

The researchers used biological tools called epigenetic clocks to assess how rates of ageing were affected in a clinical trial involving nearly 800 people aged 70 and over in Switzerland. Epigenetic clocks measure DNA methylation, chemical modifications that build up on DNA and reflect the biological rather than the chronological age of the tissue.

Volunteers on the trial were divided into eight groups and each took a gram of algae-based omega-3 a day, or 2,000 international units of vitamin D, or performed 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, or a combination of these.

Three different epigenetic clocks suggested that omega-3 slowed ageing, while one found an additional benefit when it was accompanied by vitamin D and exercise, the authors write in Nature Aging.

The same European trial, Do-Health, has reported other beneficial effects of omega-3, including a 10% lower rate of falls in seniors and 13% fewer infections. Meanwhile, the combination of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise lowered the risk of entering pre-frailty – when people show one or two signs of physical or mental decline that typically precede frailty – by 39% and reduced invasive cancers by 61%.

The work raises the prospect of inexpensive and readily available ways to improve healthspan, which even if modest at the individual level could be valuable at the population scale. But the results are tentative and it is not yet clear whether any slowing in the ageing process translates to people living healthier for longer.

There are two categories of strokes: ischaemic and haemorrhagic.  The former are caused by a blockage in an artery (or, rarely) a vein.  The latter are caused by bleeding/breaking capillaries.   Because omega-3 supplements "thin the blood", they tend to reduce ischaemic (blockage) strokes, which make up 87% of all strokes, but may increase the risk of haemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes (13 % of all strokes)  The blockages tend to be caused by cholesterol plaque build-up, so if you're a meat eater, omega-3 oils improve your health.  As the article continues:

While previous work has signalled health benefits from consuming omega-3, one recent study reported that fish oil supplements might only reduce the risk of serious heart problems in those with cardiovascular disease. For healthy people, the supplements may raise the risk of heart conditions or stroke. The NHS does not recommend omega-3 supplements but advises people to eat two portions of fish per week, or the equivalent from a vegetarian source, to get enough of the essential fatty acid.

If you have a low risk of heart disease, as I do, being vegan, and take omega-3 oils, you should probably take 500-1000 mg a day of vitamin C with your omega-3 oils, as this vitamin is necessary for collagen synthesis, which is important for blood vessel integrity (a factor in haemorrhagic strokes).  Unfortunately, although freshly picked vegetables and fruit have high vitamin C content, it immediately starts decaying as soon as they're harvested.  Hence the need for supplemental vitamin C. 

Collagen, which is necessary to blood vessel health, is made from proteins you eat, so if you are vegan, you should also make sure you have enough protein.   Good protein sources are from soy products (soy milk, tofu, tempe, etc.), pulses/beans, and nuts and seeds (preferably raw, so the omega-3 oils in them aren't degraded).   Also, you should keep your omega-3 oil supplements in the fridge, as the chemical bonds in their molecules are easily broken by heat (and light, which is why they are sold in dark bottles).

Actually, even if you are a meat-eater, you too should take a vitamin C supplement. 

If you are on blood-thinners (for example, warfarin), it may be unwise to also take omega-3 oil supplements.  Check with your doctor.

Please note that you should check with your doctor before taking supplements.

Dysfunctional US health system

From Eric Topol

An update with latest data available for graph of life expectancy vs health care expenditures per capita for 20 countries and one outlier.

 

And what an outlier!  The US health system is extraordinarily toxic and dysfunctional.  It has nearly the worst life expectancy with by far the most expensive costs.

Canada has a far superior health system to the USA's

 Trump just tells lies.

Obesity links to prostate cancer confirmed

From New Atlas

Obesity increases a man’s risk of dying from prostate cancer, according to a massive new study by researchers in the UK, however, the causal mechanisms underpinning the link are not yet clear.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer to be detected in men. It is a slow-growing form of cancer, so patients can live many years after diagnosis. In fact, many patients diagnosed with prostate cancer ultimately die of other causes before the cancer develops enough to cause its own problems.

Because of the prevalence of this kind of cancer, researchers have been working to understand what factors may contribute to the development of more aggressive types of prostate cancer. Aurora Perez-Cornago, lead on the new research from the University of Oxford, said knowing the risk factors for fatal prostate cancer could help patients avoid certain damaging lifestyle practices.

“Knowing more about factors that increase the risk of prostate cancer is key to preventing it,” said Perez-Cornago. “Age, family history and black ethnicity are known risk factors but they are not modifiable, and so it is important to discover risk factors that it is possible to change.”

Excess body fat has previously been linked to higher rates of fatal prostate cancer. This new research set out to get a clearer insight on the association between body weight and prostate cancer by conducting a meta-analysis of 19 prior studies, including data from more than 2.5 million men.

The overall finding affirmed prior suspicions, with higher volumes of body weight linked to higher rates of fatal prostate cancer. Quantifying that increased risk the research found for every five point rise in body mass index (BMI), a person increased their risk of dying from prostate cancer by 10 percent.

The association between body weight and fatal prostate cancer was independent of where a person’s body weight was concentrated. But the researchers did calculate a seven percent increase in risk of dying from prostate cancer for every 10-cm (3.9-in) increase in waist circumference. Looking at UK data the study estimated around 1,300 fewer people would die from prostate cancer every year if the average BMI of men dropped by five points.

Perez-Cornago said the link between body weight and fatal prostate cancer may be clear but it still is not known what could be driving the association. It is plausible to suggest higher volumes of body fat may be driving the progression of prostate cancer. In fact, a 2018 study did hypothesize a mechanistic link between dietary fat and the metastatic progression of prostate cancer.

But the researchers also indicate other factors are likely playing a role, including differences in cancer detection between obese men and those with a healthy weight. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations in blood samples, for example, can be lower in subjects with high BMI, meaning cancers may be detected at later stages leading to worse outcomes.

“More research is needed to determine if the association is biologically driven or due to delays in detection in men with higher adiposity,” said Perez-Cornago. “In either case, our latest results provide another reason for men to try to maintain a healthy weight.”

The new study was published in BMC Medicine.

Source: The European Association for the Study of Obesity

How big meat lies

lies and disinformation about plant-based meat

From DeSmog

This article by Sentient is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.


The meat industry and its proponents worked hard in 2024 — not only to increase sales, but also to rebrand and remain relevant. While overwhelming climate science continues to point out the harmful impacts of animal agriculture, and plant-based competitors continue to challenge the status quo, meat promoters stepped up this year, crafting and perpetuating clever narratives to keep consumers hooked.

“Amidst a climate crisis driven in no small part by agriculture, there is a growing interest in healthy, sustainable food,” Jennifer Molidor, senior food campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, tells Sentient. “The industry has responded by flooding climate conferences with lobbyists promoting meat and dairy — in full force.”

And that’s not all. From promoting “beneficial” regenerative meat, to criticizing “ultra processed” plants, to promoting cow fat for skin care, to manipulating data, Big Meat sidestepped accountability to keep consumers coming back in 2024. 

Disinformation Trend #1: Meat Is ‘Natural’

One of the more popular PR messages regarding meat in 2024 was that animal products are healthier and more “natural” compared to “ultra processed” plant-based meat alternatives.

This messaging is not new. It’s years in the making, with full-page ads in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal back in 2021, and a $5 million Super Bowl commercial in 2020. Backed by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), the ads vilified newly popular “fake meats” as full of “real chemicals,” highlighting “scary” ingredients like methylcellulose — a generally harmless compound used in many foods.

CCF is led by former tobacco lobbyist Richard Berman, and is supported by “restaurants, food companies and thousands of individual consumers,” according to its website. Forbes once described it as a front group for meat, tobacco and alcohol companies.

The narrative of “natural” meat versus “processed” plants persisted into 2024. The marketing tactic conveniently ignores the fact that 99 percent of animals raised for food in the U.S. are factory farmed in inherently unnatural conditions, and undergo much processing to become meat, dairy and eggs.

But this natural meat fantasy didn’t stop at food in 2024, spreading into lifestyle content, and feeding into a growing anti-technology, off-the-grid (though often still on YouTube), homesteading, carnivore and tradwife trend. Raw milk surged in popularity in 2024, as did eating raw meat, and using cow fat for skin care.

The FDA, CDC and New York State Department of Health put out statements this year warning of the health risks of consuming raw milk, and experts have taken to the media to warn of the risks associated with the carnivore diet, and with eating uncooked meat. Dermatology experts also told Sentient that the benefits of beef fat for the skin are minimal.

Though plant-based meat alternatives vary greatly when it comes to nutritional profiles, they are generally considered healthy. In fact, a 2024 review published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology found that risk factors for heart disease, such as LDL cholesterol and body weight, showed improvement when animal-based meats were substituted with plant-based meat alternatives. 

Disinformation Trend #2: Meat Is ‘Eco-Friendly’

Another pervasive meat message in 2024 was that beef — the highest-emitting meat — can somehow be good for the environment so long as raised on a farm that is regenerative, eco-friendly, carbon neutral or some other variation of such terms.

Regenerative agriculture, particularly holistic grazing, promises an alternative to our current food system that incorporates livestock in a way that can regenerate depleted soils. Such promises, however, fall short when it comes to actually curbing climate pollution.

Though regenerative agriculture aims to “bring back bovines,” as described in the 2023 documentary Common Ground, this grouping of grass-fed cattle with wild ruminants like bison is not accurate — at least as far as the environment is concerned. “That’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Molidor told Sentient earlier this year. While there is some debate about this, bison tend to graze over further distances in ways that cause less damage to plants and waterways. Cattle, on the other hand, tend to stick close together and eat just one type of plant until it’s gone.

The regenerative movement — which does offer some benefits for soil health — has also since been co-opted by the industrialized meat industry. A 2024 study by New Climate Institute found that 24 of the world’s top 30 food and beverage producers, including Cargill, Danone and Fonterra, refer to regenerative agriculture in their sustainability communication.

That said, 2024 also saw a possible win in the fight against misleading claims about climate-friendly meat, with Tyson Food’s Brazen Beef brand potentially no longer available for sale. After the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out a new “climate-friendly” beef label last year, Tyson soon rolled out its own version: Brazen Beef. Journalists and academics were quick to note serious issues with the claims on the product’s label, particularly the claim (with no data in support) of a 10 percent reduction in emissions.

“In order to claim a 10 percent reduction, you need to establish scientifically a baseline that everyone agrees is the common amount that beef produces,” New York University environmental scientist Matthew Hayek told Corporate Knights Magazine. “There doesn’t seem to be any data that the company itself, or the government who it created that certification in conjunction with, is able to provide.”

Tyson was subsequently sued in 2024 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) for misleading consumers about its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The suit asked the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to ban Tyson from making “false or misleading marketing claims.” It remains before the court.

At the time this story was published, the webpage for Brazen Meats was not functioning, and the product appeared unavailable for sale, raising questions about the future of the brand. Sentient contacted Tyson about the status of the Brazen line, but did not receive a response by email. We also called Tyson’s consumer relations hotline, and were told by the representative, “I don’t see anything active with that name.” It also appears that a New Jersey meat packer that sold Brazen Beef no longer lists the product on its website.

Caroline Leary, chief operating officer and general counsel for EWG tells Sentient that despite the Brazen Meats webpage being down, the group “remains committed to holding Tyson accountable, by demanding transparency to ensure that consumers are not deceived by false promises of sustainability,” which still exist elsewhere on its site. 

Disinformation Trend #3: Meat Feeds the World

Inflation and food insecurity were also pressing issues in 2024. Meat, dairy and egg industries were there to capitalize, particularly at climate conferences held throughout the year.

At COP28 last spring for example, the Guardian reports that meat lobbyists “celebrated the cut-through of their message that industrial animal agriculture has an important role to play in addressing global hunger.” It adds that U.S. Pork Board representative Jamie Burr also stated that COPs provide an opportunity for U.S. agriculture groups to show how they “feed the world.”

At COP29 last month, the strategy was the same, according to a report by DeSmog. Documents produced by the industry-funded Global Meat Alliance, obtained by DeSmog, encouraged members “to stick to key comms messages, including the idea that meat is beneficial to the environment and will help to ‘feed the world.’”

A spokesperson for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food told the Guardian in April that the idea that industrial agriculture is “critical to address hunger” is one of the greatest myths used by the industry to fend off criticism. Animal agriculture in fact contributes to world hunger, due to the inefficient use of arable land and resources to grow crops for animals, instead of people. Not only that, but the industry’s framing around food insecurity ignores how many climate researchers limit “eat less meat” recommendations to global north populations like the U.S., who consume far more than the global average. Studies suggest that food insecurity could actually be addressed, in-part, by transitioning to a more plant-based food system. Reducing the massive amount of land needed to grow food to feed livestock could lead to more crops being fed directly to people. One study theorizes that if everyone in the U.S. went vegan, an additional 350 million people could be fed. 

Disinformation Trend #4: Trustworthy Academic Research Supports Meat

The year 2024 also saw the meat sector lean even further into academia as a means to appear credible and sustainable.

As environmental scientist Jonathan Foley writes for Project Drawdown: “The livestock industry has spent enormous sums telling us fictitious stories of ‘environmentally-friendly’ beef,” including, he notes, “documentaries, think tanks, university labs, and social media influencer campaigns touting so-called ‘solutions’ to beef’s environmental footprint.”

In 2023, the Guardian exposed The Master of Beef Advocacy, or “MBA” program, created by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, to help meat promoters influence and educate the public on the “sustainability” of beef. That same year, the National Pork Board funded a nearly $8.5 million program with researchers from a variety of U.S. universities, to research and improve the industry’s reputation by boosting public “trust” in pork factory farms. And the year prior, The New York Times exposed how the UC Davis Clear Center did not disclose just how much industry funding it received to promote the environmental friendliness of meat and dairy, under the guise of public sector science.

In 2024, the meat industry took this method of information manipulation a step further, targeting another major competitor: cultivated meat. Once again backed by Richard Berman, another “think tank” was created, the ironically named Center for the Environment and Welfare, this time under the guise of helping “consumers, companies, and stakeholders navigate issues related to sustainability and animal welfare.” In 2024, the group conducted “research” and published media op-eds to thwart the progress of cultivated meat.

The Bottom Line

In 2024, the meat industry’s aggressive rebranding efforts, fueled by clever messaging and industry-backed research, sought to counteract competition from more sustainable plant-based alternatives.

As the inevitable impacts of climate change — along with other issues like bird flu — usher us into 2025, “it’s going to be increasingly difficult,” Molidor says, “for the meat and dairy lobby to rebrand their way out of these serious environmental and human harms.”

I became a vegetarian because I thought eating meat and fish was cruel, not for health or climate change reasons.  I thought it might be bad for my health.  In fact, it was the opposite.  I lost 15 kilos, my blood pressure is normal, my cholesterol is low, my blood sugar is normal, etc, etc.  

 

Why the US economy is worse than it looks

 An intriguing piece from TLDR about why many people don't feel that the economy is going well, despite the statistics.

Some comments:

1.  "Cheapflation", i.e., the phenomenon where the prices of cheap goods consumed by poorer people rise by more than the prices of goods consumed by the richest is new to me, and very interesting.  Its existence explains a lot.
2. I've always though that the huge cost of health care in the USA was an implicit tax, meaning tax rates in the US aren't as low as the Right pretends.  Firms who pay for their employees' health care are in effect paying a social security tax, comparable to the explicit social security taxes which exist in other countries to pay for health, old age pensions, and unemployment benefits.  Social security taxes/company payment for health insurance drive a wedge between what it costs an employer to hire a worker and what the worker receives.  Health insurance paid by your employer is considered part of personal remuneration in the national accounts.   Health insurance excesses paid by you are considered part of your consumption expenditure.  Clearly, both are rising fast.
3. That 40% of the cumulative rise in the CPI has been due to the rising cost of health was a surprise to me.  And the fact that 27%(!) of personal consumption goes on healthcare.  Extraordinary.  No wonder ordinary people feel dudded.  It suggests that the Democrats should push extensive health care reform.  Fat chance.
4. The effect of the growth of healthcare on employment is also most interesting.  I would point out, though, that covid deaths and early retirements due to ill health reduced the labour force, helping reduce the unemployment rate.
5. TLDR says that there seems to be no solution to the US Federal debt dilemma.  This is untrue.  It would be perfectly feasible to increase taxes on the rich and on companies to reduce the deficit.  Of course, what Trump and President Musk want to do is to cut payments to the poor.  Heaven forfend that the very rich should contribute more to society.
6. As for personal debt, their analysis is spoiled by not showing the rise in personal debt per capita.  The per cent of mortgage loans which are delinquent suggests that this is less of a problem than they make out.
7. Recent trend growth in average hourly earnings has been a princely 1.1 percent per annum.   Overall GDP per capita has risen by 1.8% per annum over the same period, which means that the share of worker remuneration in GDP continues to fall.  If you remember that this is the average, i.e., the mean, not the median, the relative decline of the poorest half of American society has been much worse.

Omega-3 supplements reduce aggression

Source: Depositphotos

From New Atlas

Fish oil supplements containing omega-3 have long been touted as good for heart health. A new study has found they also reduce aggression. Researchers say the safe, common supplements should be used everywhere from the playground to the prison system.

Overt acts of aggression include verbal and physical violence and bullying. Then, there are covert signs like vandalism and property damage, fire-setting, and theft. Both can negatively affect relationships and have legal consequences. It goes without saying that, on many levels, society would be better off if aggressive behaviors were reduced. A new study may have discovered a way of doing that.

The study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) found that commonplace omega-3 supplements reduced aggression, regardless of age or gender.

“I think the time has come to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system,” said Adrian Raine, a Penn neurocriminologist and the lead and corresponding author of the study. “Omega-3 is not a magic bullet that is going to solve the problem of violence in society. But can it help? Based on these findings, we firmly believe it can, and we should start to act on the new knowledge we have.”

Omega-3 has enjoyed a strange association with violent behavior for a while. Back in 2001, Dr Joseph Hibbeln, a senior clinical investigator at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), published a study finding a correlation between the consumption of high amounts of fish (a rich source of omega-3) and lower homicide rates. The following year, the University of Oxford in the UK led a study where British prisoners were given nutritional supplements that included vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. The researchers found that prisoners given supplements were less violent and antisocial.

In addition to examining the effect of omega-3 supplements on aggression, the researchers in the current study particularly wanted to ascertain whether omega-3 was effective for all forms of aggression. In psychology, a distinction is made between ‘reactive’ aggression, an in-the-moment response to a perceived threat or provocation, and ‘proactive’ aggression, which requires planning.

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 29 randomized controlled trials that explicitly measured aggression in people who’d been given omega-3 supplements. They specifically focused on aggressive behavior and not broader traits like anger, which is viewed more as a feeling or emotion, and hostility, which is more of an attitude. Studies where additional nutritional supplements, such as calcium and vitamin D, were included, but the researchers examined them as a potential moderator.

A modest short-term effect linked to omega-3 supplementation, which the researchers say equates to a 30% reduction in aggression, was seen across age, gender, baseline diagnosis, treatment duration and dosage. Notably, omega-3 was found to reduce both reactive and proactive aggression. The researchers were limited to short-term data because only one out of the 19 laboratories conducting the studies followed up with participants after supplementation ended.

The researchers explain how they think omega-3 exerts its effects. Previous studies have pointed to aggressive and violent behavior having a cognitive and neurochemical basis. And, omega-3 is known to play a critical role in brain structure and function, including regulating neurotransmitters and gene expression, and reduces brain inflammation.

“As such, given the undeniable fact that omega-3 is pervasively involved in multiple facets of neuronal biology, it is reasonable to believe that omega-3 supplementation could play a causal role in reducing aggression by upregulating brain mechanisms that may be dysfunctional in … individuals, given the assumption that there is, in part, a neurobiological basis to aggression,” said the researchers.

Further studies are needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of omega-3 supplementation on reducing aggression. Other research avenues would be using MRI scans to determine whether omega-3 enhances brain functioning and examining whether genetics affects omega-3 treatment. In the meantime, the researchers say there is little harm in people, including children, taking this widely available, safe and inexpensive dietary supplement.

“At the very least, parents seeking treatment for an aggressive child should know that in addition to any other treatment that their child receives, an extra portion or two of fish each week could also help,” Raine said.

And the researchers say omega-3 should be used in conjunction with existing psychological and psychiatric treatments.

“[W]e would argue that omega-3 supplementation should be considered as an adjunct to other interventions, whether they be psychological (e.g. CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy]) or pharmacological (e.g. [the antipsychotic drug] risperidone) in nature, and that caregivers are informed of the potential benefits of omega-3 supplementation,” the researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior.

Source: University of Pennsylvania

 

New biomaterial could repair damaged joints

The microstructure of the new material, with the peptide filament bundles in pink and the hyaluronic acid in purple. (Samuel I. Stupp/Northwestern University)

From Science Alert

The body is pretty good at repairing itself, but some parts of our anatomy struggle to bounce back after an injury.

One such material is cartilage – the spongy yet firm connective tissue that keeps our bones from rubbing and jarring against each other. Over time, the translucent or 'hyaline' components of cartilage can become heavily degraded, resulting in painful conditions like osteoarthritis and chondromalacia.

Scientists have been working on a way to regenerate hyaline cartilage for years, and now a team led by Northwestern University in the US has achieved a breakthrough. They have developed a biomaterial that, injected into damaged cartilage in living sheep, acted as a scaffold that promoted cartilage regrowth in active joints.

"Cartilage is a critical component in our joints," says chemist Samuel Stupp of Northwestern University.

"When cartilage becomes damaged or breaks down over time, it can have a great impact on people's overall health and mobility. The problem is that, in adult humans, cartilage does not have an inherent ability to heal. Our new therapy can induce repair in a tissue that does not naturally regenerate. We think our treatment could help address a serious, unmet clinical need."

Cartilage deterioration is a massive health issue. A 2011 survey of 18 countries found over 1.3 million total knee replacement surgeries being conducted every year, with cartilage problems being a major factor.

And, while there are other interventions that can help, such as creating microfractures to induce cartilage repair, these often result in the growth of the wrong kind of cartilage – tough, fibrous fibrocartilage – like cartilaginous scar tissue – instead of the smooth, bouncy hyaline cartilage that covers joints.

One possible treatment scientists have been refining is the use of scaffolds in cartilage defects that support the growth of hyaline cartilage. This option has shown promise in small mammals, such as mice, but fails in bigger mammals, likely because of the greater stresses and forces at work on the joints of larger animals.

Stupp and his colleagues have developed a material that seems to resolve this glaring problem. It's a biomaterial, made from two components.

The first is a peptide molecule that binds to a protein called transforming growth factor beta-1, which plays a crucial role in the growth and division of cells, especially in the skeleton, where it regulates the growth of bone and cartilage.

The second component is hyaluronic acid, which you might know from your skincare products – it helps your skin stay soft by retaining moisture. It can also be found in the joints and cartilage, where it acts as a lubricant, and plays a role in wound healing.

The researchers found in test tube experiments this hybrid material supported chondrogenic differentiation – that is, the proliferation of cartilage cells, known as chondrocytes. It formed bundles of filaments, a natural structure found in musculoskeletal tissues.

A lot of research avenues have reached the same point in vitro. The real test would be how it stood up to a living animal that can be extrapolated to a human. Sheep experience similar mechanical loading to humans, so sheep is where the testing took place.

The researchers developed their material into a slurry that was injected into cartilage defects in rear knee joints in sheep. The researchers introduced small holes into both rear knees on each of the sheep in their study; one knee was injected with the slurry, and the other left untreated as a control.

When the slurry came into contact with the calcium in the sheeps' bones, it hardened into a rubbery matrix, and chondrocytes started forming, growing to fill the introduced hole as the scaffold degraded. And it was the right kind of cartilage: hyaline. Within weeks, the treated defects showed a remarkable improvement, especially compared to the controls.

A similar treatment might be even more effective in humans. You can't tell a sheep that they need to rest and keep their weight off an injured leg, whereas patients receiving treatment for cartilage injuries are often immobilized after surgery.

Further research and development is required, of course, and then the process will have to undergo human clinical trials. But the findings show promise that a treatment will one day become available that will help reduce the need for more invasive, and less effective, options.

"By regenerating hyaline cartilage," Stupp says, "our approach should be more resistant to wear and tear, fixing the problem of poor mobility and joint pain for the long term while also avoiding the need for joint reconstruction with large pieces of hardware."

The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences