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a choir from all the Glyns of the Rhondda for nutters
 
 
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Most of the news you could not find elsewhere on Climate Change
 
 
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Your Health Page

If We Are One
(How Can We Die!)

Rich's and Poet's new collaboration
is a gently upbeat version of
''no man is an island''
(except Barry)

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Taking care of yourself
 March 30th, 8:49pm
(Lenta.ru)
 
Nutritionist warned about the dangers 
of out-of-season fruits and vegetables.
 
Nutritionist Nikulina: out-of-season fruits 
and vegetables contain large amounts
 of pesticides.
 
Irina Nikulina, a general practitioner, nutritionist, head of 
the Department of Integrative Health Technologies at 
the Academy of Social Technologies, in an interview 
with the Prime news agency --- warned about the 
dangers of unseasonal fruits and vegetables.
 
According to her, their use can do more harm than good. 
She said that unseasonal fruits contain a large amount 
of pesticides and nitrates, which are used to increase
 the shelf life.
 
The expert noted that these substances, when used 
excessively, adversely affect the human body. So, 
they can cause allergic reactions, as well as 
problems with the respiratory, nervous and 
endocrine systems. In addition, according 
to the doctor, pesticides and nitrates are 
associated with the development 
of cancer.
 
Nikulina recommended using extra caution to introduce 
out-of-season fruits and vegetables into the diet of 
children, as their detoxification process is not as
 fast and active as in adults.
 
The nutritionist added that the necessary dose of 
vitamins and trace elements --- can be obtained 
from frozen foods.
 
Earlier, nutritionist, gastroenterologist Anastasia 
Timoshchenko named products that accelerate 
aging. The nutritionist says that the love of 
sweets --- accelerates aging most of all: 
excessive sugar consumption, leads
to weight gain, insulin resistance,
and contributes to skin aging ---
it becomes less elastic  ---
wrinkles appear faster, 
and damage takes
longer to heal.
 

 
___________________________________



This document 'The health hazards of depleted
uranium munitions' document 2001 has quite
a detailed analysis 
of Uranium toxicity.

Basically seems to support evidence Alpha
radiation 
from Depleted Uranium and
compounds lodged 
long term in 
tissues like 
lungs --- and even
short 
term non-lethal doses,
can cause DNA damage
---- leading to cancers
and birth defects.

Press the link below:

'The health hazards of depleted uranium munitions'



Researchers find Yoga  essential for seniors

Researchers find Yoga 
essential for seniors
by Pavel López Lazo
March 17th, 4:41pm
(Prensa Latina) 
 
A regular exercise routine can improve your quality of life 
and help you maintain your independence. However, 
many older adults struggle to find a safe, low-
impact exercise that fits within their fitness
 levels. Luckily, yoga for seniors offers 
a viable solution.
 
According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists 
studied gait speed, grip, balance, lower extremity 
strength and endurance, and multicomponent 
physical performance measures.
 
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and 
Harvard Medical School, in the US, explained seniors
 have a higher burden of chronic diseases, disability 
and frailty.
 
In the case of frailty, it affects up to 50% of seniors 
aged over 80, so prevention and treatment is a top 
priority for public health.
 
According to the specialists, Yoga improved 
walking speed and lower limb strength.
 
Yoga is an exercise you can do all your life. It’s low-impact 
nature makes it suitable for those with joint pain, 
osteoporosis, or limited mobility. Plus, yoga 
poses can easily be modified to fit your 
comfort level and physical ability, 
making it a wonderful exercise
 for any age group.
 
Yoga can benefit your mind as much as your body. Studies
 showed practicing yoga causes decreased depression,
 stress, anxiety, and cortisol levels, and increase
 feelings of hope, over time.
 
Taking care of your mental health is important at any age. 
However, the risks associated with mental health 
struggles increase as you grow older. Those who 
suffer from heart disease, diabetes, high blood 
pressure, and stroke, have an increased risk 
of suffering from depression. In addition, 
depression can complicate the 
treatment of these conditions,
 making treatment 
more difficult.
 
 

warts the best safest treatment

 
Myasnikov's advice on the main 
method of fighting warts
March 14th 3:42pm 
(Lenta.ru)
 
The main method of fighting warts is 
named by dermatologist Irina 
Gosteva and TV presenter 
Alexander Myasnikov.
 
According to them, this is cryodestruction, 
that is, surgical treatment of the affected 
skin areas with liquid nitrogen.
 
The doctor noted that cryodestruction is a proven 
and most inexpensive way, to get rid of this kind 
of neoplasm. Myasnikov recommends a vaccine 
against the human papillomavirus, as a 
preventive measure.
 
The dermatologist warned that you cannot remove warts
yourself, with the help of folk remedies. When using 
pumice stone, iodine, tea tree oil, vinegar, garlic, 
celandine tincture and salicylic acid, an
infection can be introduced into
 the wound.
 
 
_________________________________


Report: Over Half of UK 
Ambulance Workers See 
Patient Die Due to Delay
March 6th, 2:10pm (FNA)
 
 More than half of ambulance workers have seen 
a patient die because of a delay in reaching 
them after a 999 call or overcrowding in 
A&E, a new survey found.
 
The findings, from a survey of frontline paramedics and 
other ambulance staff, are another stark illustration of
 the patient safety risks created by the crisis in NHS
 urgent and emergency care, The Guardian reports.
 
“These findings are utterly terrifying,” stated Rachel 
Harrison, the national secretary of the GMB union, 
which sought the views of more than 1,200 
members working in NHS ambulance 
services in England and Wales.
 
It asked them if they had ever witnessed a death that had
 occurred - because of a delay involving an ambulance or
 other part of the care system. Just over half (53%) said
 they had done so and another 30% were aware of it 
happening with a colleague.
 
Three-quarters (76%) of those surveyed said that delays had
 an impact on patient care every day. And over half (52%) 
said they had spent an entire shift waiting outside an 
A&E to hand a patient over to hospital staff.
 
The findings are disclosed in a Channel 4 Dispatches
 documentary being shown this Thursday about how 
long delays..... in ambulance crews handing over 
patients to A&E staff, and thus being unable 
to respond quickly to 999 calls..... are 
affecting both patients and staff.
 
The programme is based on footage secretly shot 
over three months, by Daniel Waterhouse, an 
emergency medical technician with the 
East of England ambulance service, 
who has since resigned.
 
“The delay and dilation of care that we see - is just
 unconscionable,” Dr Adrian Boyle, the president 
of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, 
told the programme.
 
The RCEM, which represents A&E doctors, last week, 
issued new analyses which found that a patient dies 
every 23 minutes - as a direct result of spending at 
least 12 hours in A&E - usually because they are 
waiting for a bed in the main hospital.
 
“We’ve seen patients this winter who have been harmed 
because of ambulance delays,” Dr Sanjeev Nayak, a
 leading stroke doctor, told Dispatches, adding, “If 
they’re late, we cannot treat them, there’s very 
little we as doctors can do. A couple of hours’ 
delay ------- means the patient can die or 
suffer disability.”
 
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, a consultant cardiologist 
and the associate medical director of the British 
Heart Foundation, noted when a patient has had
 a heart attack it is vital that an ambulance gets
 to them as soon as possible because “minutes 
can be the difference between life and death”.
 
 
_________________________________________
 

 UK: Paramedics Escalating Strikes
 by Reducing Emergency Cover
March 3rd, 9:31pm (FNA)
 
UK Paramedics are escalating strike action next week
by cutting back on emergency cover for "category 2" 
calls --- including heart attacks, and strokes. 
 
The GMB union said that over 13,000 of its members who 
are walking out over two days next week would now 
"tighten derogations" - and in many cases only
 respond to the most life-threatening calls 
known as "category 1". 
 
 
_______________________________________


Deaths in UK attributed to long 
emergency waiting times
 by Javier Arana Villasusa
March 1st,  11:18am
(Prensa Latina)
 
The UK's National Health Service NHS reported 
today that long hours of admission periods in 
hospital emergency departments caused 
some 23 thousand deaths in 2022.
 
Workers’ unions in the sector criticized the Government’s 
handling of problems related to the NHS, claiming a
 heavy workload of its staff, discontent --- over 
working conditions and concern over wages. 
Meanwhile, authorities acknowledge staff 
shortages, but disagree that the excess 
death totals are definitely accurate, 
television in this capital city 
commented.
 
According to reports, the Royal College of Emergency
 Medicine sent Freedom of Information requests to 
the NHS for its latest data on accidents and 
emergency waiting times.
 
According to the report received, more than 1.6 million 
British patients had to wait more than 12 hours in the 
department from the time they entered.
 
The medical school then calculated the death rates
 linked to long waits, which last year, often made 
headlines in the country.
 
Addressing the issue at the NHS Recovery Forum last month, 
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said long waits in accident and
 emergency departments, are among the problems on the
 minds of all people in Britain. (sic)
 


_________________________________________________________


 
Study Shows Just 10% of Britons 
Think Tory Ministers Have 
Right Policies on NHS
February 24th, 4:25pm (FNA)
 
 Just 10% of Britons think ministers have the right policies 
on the NHS --- though public support for the service’s
 founding principles remains strong, according 
to new polling.
 
The proportion of voters across the UK who believe that
 ministers are tackling the NHS’s many problems in the 
right way is lowest in England, at 8% – a record low, 
The Guardian reported.
 
It is higher in both Scotland (28%) and Wales (19%). However, 
across the UK as a whole just one in 10 people thinks the 
government is taking the right approach to the NHS.
 
The notable lack of public confidence in ministers’ handling of
 the health service emerged in a survey that pollsters Ipsos 
undertook for the Health Foundation thinktank.
 
“That public confidence in the government’s handling of the
 NHS has reached a new low should ring alarm bells in
 No 10,” said Tim Gardner, a senior policy fellow at 
the Health Foundation.
 
In a series of gloomy conclusions that reveal dwindling
 confidence in and growing public concern about the 
NHS, Ipsos also found that:
 
Only 33% think the NHS is providing a good service, a lot
 fewer than the 43% who said it was when the survey 
was last done in May 2022.
 
62% fear that the standard of NHS care will get worse over
the next year – a big jump from the 39% who said that last
year. 74% expect the already serious pressure placed 
on NHS staff --- will intensify.
 
However, the research also shows that 90% think the NHS
 should remain free at the point of delivery, 89% back it 
being a comprehensive service, that is available to 
everyone and 84% believe it should be mainly
 funded through taxation.
 
Some right-of-centre thinktanks and commentators, as well as
 the former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, have recently called 
for a rethink of how the NHS is funded and organised. 
 
However, Ipsos found that 82% of voters think the NHS needs 
more money in order to function better. That view is shared
 across all age groups, the four home nations and among
 both Labour (94%) and Conservative (63%) voters.
 
“There is no evidence voters want a radical change to the
 NHS model; they just want the current one to work
better,”
 said Gardner.
 
NHS bosses and experts are worried that satisfaction with the
 NHS is falling, especially as a result of long waiting times to
 see a GP, get an ambulance, receive A&E care, or mental 
health treatment, or undergo an operation.
 
Research published last year by the King’s Fund and Nuffield
 Trust thinktanks found that public satisfaction with the 
health service had fallen to its lowest level since 1997.
 
Their finding of significant dissatisfaction with the time taken
 to get an appointment with a GP is borne out by Ipsos’s new 
research, which found that 44% think it takes to long to see 
a family doctor and 43% believe that it is too hard to book
 an appointment.
 
“This polling shows the NHS is being let down by government
 inaction, which is contributing to reduced public confidence,
 while support for the founding principles of the NHS remains
 strong,” said Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS
 Confederation, which represents care providers in England, 
Wales and Northern Ireland.
 
The Department of Health and Social Care said, “We are
 committed to ensuring that the NHS is here for people 
to give them the healthcare they need.... when they 
need it. That is why we are building a sustainable 
NHS, with patients at its centre – backed by up 
to £14.1bln for health and social care over the
 next two years, on top of record funding."
 
“Our urgent and emergency care recovery plan, seeks to
 deliver the prime minister (Rishi Sunak)’s priority, to cut
 waiting lists, whilst reducing pressure on hospitals, by 
scaling up community teams, expanding virtual wards, 
and getting 800 new ambulances on the road – on top 
of £750mln to speed up hospital discharge and free 
up beds this winter,” it added.
 
 
___________________________________


Unprecedented UK Nursing Union 
and Ambulance crews ---- strike
February 7th, 8:59am
(PressTV)
 
Tens of thousands of nurses from the Royal College of Nursing
 Union and ambulance crews have gone on an unprecedented 
strike, calling on the NHS for increased pay as well as better 
work conditions.
 
They had warned during the previous strike that the next
one would be their biggest yet --- and they have kept
their promise.

 Tens of thousands of nurses from the Royal College of
 Nursing union and ambulance crews are on strike, 
this time, together.
 
The chanting on the picket lines is not just about inflation
 busting pay rises but about the depressing state of the 
National Health Service as well.
 
An ICU nurse, who has worked for the NHS for 10 years, 
explains why she thinks the system is in crisis:
 
''The Total underfunding, a lack of foresight, I think, 
politically, and nurses really just being taken for 
granted --- for too long.''
 
--- Striking ICU Nurse, 10 years with NHS
 
NHS healthcare staff in UK quit at record 400 a week 
 
New research reveals that a record number of over
400 healthcare staff in the UK have left the NHS to 
restore their work-life balance, over the past year.
 
And that has meant tens of thousands of trained nurses 
either leaving the profession or working for the private 
sector in recent years.
 
The strikers are calling for the National Health Service to be 
kept alive, a system which is now on life support, and many
 in the medical profession believe that the deeper the crisis 
gets, the stronger the likelihood that privatization will be
 foisted upon them.
 
From hero to zero, and claps don’t pay the bills: some of the 
chants by nurses across the country, on strike again in a 
dispute with the government over pay and patient safety. 
 
In the UK, the wave of industrial action across the country 
is only gaining momentum in the wake of the government’s 
controversial new anti-union legislation.
 
That's because while the NHS is at breaking point, private 
healthcare is flourishing, creating worries about a two tier 
system, one for the rich, who can pay their way, and 
another one, a subpar NHS, for everyone else.
 
''I hope that it isn't the case that we're moving towards a 
privatized system. I think it would be disastrous for all
 of us, if that was the case.''
 
''I think hopefully with these strikes, the public support that 
we've gained, the government will listen and see that that
 is an option. People don't want to lose the NHS.''
 
--- NHS Striker
 
Though public support for the strikers is evidently very 
strong, however, it remains to be seen which side the
 British government will take.
 
 
__________________________________________




Survey: European Countries 
Face Continued Medicine 
Shortages
January 31st  1:57pm (FNA)
 
 European countries are still experiencing a high incidence
 of medicine shortages, with a deteriorating burdensome
 impact on patients, according to a recent survey.
 
The Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU)
 conducted a survey with pharmacies in 29 countries, 
including EU members, Turkey, Norway, and North 
Macedonia, Anadolu news agency reported.
 
The survey results showed that the medicine shortages
 in most European countries worsened substantially 
compared to last year.
 
More than 600 drugs are scarce...  in a quarter of these
 countries, while 20% reported 200-300 drug shortages, 
it said.
 
Three-quarters of the countries reported that the
shortages were worse this winter, compared to 
a year ago.
 
The survey also showed... that the most difficult drugs to 
be obtained in pharmacies across Europe are especially,
 amoxicillin group antibiotics used in the treatment
of respiratory tract infections, cough syrups used
in 
treating pediatric diseases, paracetamol in 
syrup form, and some blood pressure drugs.
 
The reason for the drug problem is a decline
 in supply --- despite a surging demand.
 
Seasonal infections, especially influenza and respiratory 
syncytial virus (RSV), started early and progressed 
stronger than normal, in European countries 
this year.
 
Experts say weaker immune systems are related to 
COVID-19 lockdowns as people were not exposed
 to some viruses during this period.
 
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are also unprepared for the 
high demand in the face of increasing infections, with
the 
energy crisis in Europe and the rising raw
material 
prices, affecting production.
 


__________________________________________


The doctor explained...
the 
most useful snack 
for elderly people
January 21st, 11:30pm
(Izvestia.ru)
 
Dietitian Mikhail Ginzburg said on January 20th,
that a fermented milk drink, with muesli and 
apple, or a vegetable salad combined with 
grain bread, is the best snack for 
the elderly.
 
"The most healthy snack for the elderly, is one that 
contains sour-milk drinks and cereals, such as 
muesli. Also, in this snack, it is very good to 
eat an apple. There may be vegetables, 
some kind of vegetable salad, or 
vegetable slicing. Coarse bread, 
grain bread, bread with bran," 
the doctor said, in an 
interview with 
Moskva 24.
 
According to the nutritionist, this meal contains
everything 
that the body needs ---- dietary fibre,
probiotics, vitamins &
 complex carbohydrates.
 
As Ginzburg noted, nutrition enriched with
all the necessary
 elements protects the
body from the deterioration of age-
related diseases.
 
Earlier, on January 13th, dietitian Elena Solomatina said that
 turkey is the most useful product for the nervous system of
 the elderly. According to her, the meat of this bird is rich in
 B vitamins, the lack of which often affects older people, 
which can cause them to have an unsteady gait, 
or dizziness.
 
 
___________________________________________


Fentanyl deaths of children
 under 14 surging – Report
by Pavel López Lazo
January 19th, 4:08pm
(Prensa Latina) 
 
The United States has reported an accelerated increase
 in deaths of children under 14 --- due To fentanyl 
poisoning, according to a new report from 
Families Against Fentanyl (FAF), a 
nonprofit spreading awareness 
about the deadly opioid.
  
Between 2019 and 2021, synthetic opioid fatalities led by
 fentanyl poisonings among U.S. children under 14 years 
old increased faster than among any other U.S. age 
group, according to an FAF analysis of Centres 
for Disease Control and Prevention data.
 
Infant fentanyl deaths increased twice as fast between 2019
 and 2021. Fentanyl deaths among toddlers between the 
ages of 1 and 4 more than tripled, and deaths among 
children between the ages of 5 and 14 nearly 
quadrupled, according to FAF.
 
In many cases, the drug is ingested without the person’s
 knowledge. People are taking pills — such as at parties 
— not knowing the pills are counterfeit and heavily 
laced with fentanyl.
 
Two milligrams of fentanyl, which is the size of a mosquito, 
is enough to kill an adult. The CDC said more than 100,000 
people died of a drug overdose in 2021, and more than 
65,000 of those deaths, were linked to fentanyl.
 
Americans 25 to 44 accounted for 53.2% of the total 
number of fentanyl deaths in the U.S. in 2021.
 
Fentanyl spread across the United States in recent years 
and is the latest wave of a drug crisis started with 
addictive painkillers and followed by heroin.
 
The Drug Enforcement Administration warned that Fentanyl
 is the deadliest narcotic nationwide and according to 
federal agents 379 million potentially deadly doses 
were intercepted in 2022.
 

the importance of sleep for health

 
The clinical psychologist ---
spoke on 
the importance
of sleep --- for health
January 18th, 8:20pm
(Izvestia.ru)
 
Olesya Tolstukhina, a clinical psychologist at the Doctor Next
 Medical technology company, said in a conversation with
 Izvestia on January 18th, that regular full — fledged 
sleep is an extremely important element of mental 
and physical health.
 
"During sleep, many processes in the nervous system 
are stabilized, as well as physical stabilization and
 regeneration in internal organs. When the sleep 
regime fails, the psyche suffers first of all, a 
prolonged lack of normal sleep can 
indicate the beginning of
psychotic states," 
she said.
 
According to Tolstukhina, the longer a person is without 
sleep, the more severe the consequences: the body's 
key life support systems fail.
 
"Severe changes in brain tissue critically reduce 
immunity, the body is depleted to the point of 
death," the expert warned.
 
She noted that with complaints of disturbed sleep, you 
should contact a neurologist or psychiatrist to find out 
the causes of sleep problems, as they may be 
psychological or organic.
 
Earlier in the day in Moscow, a 16-year-old teenager died 
from a rare form of insomnia, which refers to incurable
 hereditary diseases.
 
Candidate of Medical Sciences, neurologist-somnologist 
Elena Tsareva told Izvestia on January 18th about how 
to recognize the symptoms of the rarest form of 
insomnia — fatal family insomnia, which 
caused the death of a teenager.
 
According to her, the key signs that insomnia has a deadly
 form are the complete inability of a person to fall asleep 
and the lack of response to sleeping pills due to the
 fact that the disease changes the structure of 
the brain.
 
 
____________________________________________



Residents of Europe advised 
to prepare for ''bad news''
January 7th, 1:36am 
(Lenta.ru)
 
Residents of Europe should prepare for bad news, due
 to the threat of spreading the omicron subvariant -
the kraken strain. This advice was given by 
Politico columnist, Carlo Martuscelli.
 
According to him, the XBB strain.1.5 is spreading
 rapidly, most likely because it has certain great
 advantages over the currently dominant 
omicron strains.
 
The journalist referred to an article by the European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control --- which
notes that this sub-variant was first discovered on
October 22nd, 2022, in the US. At the same time,
XBB.1.5 became the "most transmissive 
sub-variant".
 
"Data coming in from the US, suggests that the XBB
 virus is spreading aggressively, with the number of
 cases doubling every nine days," Martouchelli 
added.
 
Earlier, New York Times columnist Apurva Mandavilli 
announced the possibility - of spreading coronavirus
even after the death of the carrier of the infection. 

According to the author, COVID-19 persists in the
corpses of infected people and spreads further, 
"like in horror films about zombies."


[Rhondda Records suggests that the
''bad news'', is that the US is trying
to scare us all out of our minds!]
 
 
___________________________________



US Guards Use Pepper Spray, Stun
Guns --- to Subdue Prisoners 
in Mental Health Crisis
January 3rd, 1:49pm (FNA)


 Prison guards in the US state of Pennsylvania use
 aggressive and distressing tactics to subdue
 prisoners with mental health illness, who 
may not be able to comply with orders,
 an investigation found.


According to a joint probe by WITF and NPR that
 looked at 456 incidents from 25 county jails in
 Pennsylvania, nearly 1 in 3 "use of force" 
incidents.. involved a person who was 
having a mental health crisis or who 
had a known mental illness during 
the last quarter of 2021.


In many cases, guards used weapons like stun guns
 and pepper spray... to control and subdue such
 prisoners despite the fact that their severe
 psychiatric conditions meant they may 
have been unable to follow orders — 
or even understand what was 
going on.


Most uses of force in prisons don't lead to death, but
 the practices employed by prison guards every day
 in county jails can put prisoners and staff at risk 
of injury.


“There are always going to be use-of-force incidents 
at the prison," Dauphin County Spokesman Brett 
Hambright told NPR.


And Craig Haney, a psychology professor, says some
 of those mentally ill inmates are being traumatized.


“Some mentally ill prisoners are so traumatized by the
 abuse that they never recover, some are driven to
 suicide, and others are deterred from bringing
 attention to their mental health problems 
because reporting these issues often 
results in harsher treatment," 
Cruz said.


Correctional authorities, however, claim the use of
 physical force is an important option to prevent
 violence between inmates, or violence 
against guards themselves.


Records kept by correctional officers at the 25
 Pennsylvania county jails, however, show that
 just 10% of "use of force" incidents were in 
response to a prisoner assaulting 
someone else.


Records also show one in five uses of force — 
88 incidents — involved a prisoner who was 
either attempting suicide, hurting them
selves or threatening self-harm.


Pamela Rollings-Mazza, who provides medical and
 behavioural services at about 35 county jails in
 Pennsylvania, says her team frequently sees 
people come to jail -- who are "not reality-
based" due to psychiatric illness, and 
can't understand or comply with 
basic orders.


In one of such “use of force” incidents in a jail in
 Harrisburg county in Pennsylvania, a prisoner 
with mental health proble...., Ishmail 
Thompson, was killed after a guard 
covered his head with a hood and 
put him in a restraint chair, 
strapping down his arms 
and legs.


Some 20 minutes later, an officer noticed something
 wrong with Thompson's breathing. He was rushed 
to the hospital, but 5 days later, Thompson died.


The district attorney.. declined to 
bring charges against the officer.


According to experts, prison is not an appropriate
 setting for treating serious mental illness.


Currently there are thousands of local jails across
 the US, and they depend on the local and state
 governments... that set correctional policies, 
and that fund — or fail to fund — the mental 
health services that could keep vulnerable 
people out of jail in the first place.




_____________________________________



UK Chancellor Admits NHS
 Is on Brink of Collapse 
After 12 Years of 
Tory Rule
November 13th,  4:44pm (FNA)
 
 UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Sunday admitted 
the NHS is on the brink of collapse, after 
12 years of Tory rule.
 
The Chancellor warned... “we’re all going to be paying 
a bit more tax”, as he unveils his Autumn Statement 
Budget on Thursday, The Daily Mirror reported.
 
Reports suggest he will cut the £150,000 threshold for
45p tax to £125,000 to generate £1.3billion a year,
and cut energy bills support from £60bln in the
current six months, to just £20bln... in the 
six months afterwards.
 
But health leaders have demanded extra funds 
for the NHS --- amid record waiting times.
 
He was told by Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge that
 “Frankly this doesn't look like a health service that 
can find efficiency savings - this looks like a 
health service that is on the brink 
of collapse”.
 
The top Tory, a former Health Secretary and ex-
chairman of the Commons Health Select 
Committee, replied, “There are massive
 pressures in the NHS."
 
"Obviously --- it’s something I know very well, from
previous jobs I’ve done, and I think that doctors, 
nurses, on the frontline, are, frankly, under 
unbearable pressure --- so I do recognise 
the picture you say" he said --- adding, 
"It’s also true there is a lot of money 
going into the NHS.”
 
NHS England figures showed a record 43,792 people 
waited longer than 12 hours in October, from
decision to admit, to actually being
admitted on to a ward.
 
These ‘trolley waits’ were up a staggering 34% 
from 32,776 in September - the highest since 
records began in 2010.
 
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said, “Public 
services are already on their knees - seven 
million people are waiting for an NHS 
operation or support.”
 
It came as Hunt admitted he will be a “Scrooge”
 in his Autumn Statement on Thursday with
 no "rabbits out of the hat”.
 
He refused to deny it would mark a “return 
to austerity”, replying --- there will be 
“difficult decisions” and “we will 
be asking everyone for 
sacrifices”.
 
He warned he won’t be offering “motherhood and
 apple pie” or "cakeism" - an accusation he laid 
at Boris Johnson’s door.
 
The Chancellor... is eyeing up £33bln a year of 
spending cuts and £21bln a year of tax rises
 by 2027 in a bid to balance the books.
 
Echoing George Osborne’s austerity rhetoric, he 
tried to claim the nation’s finances were like a
 family budget - despite the £2.4trillion 
national debt.
 
“We are going to see everyone paying more tax, 
we are going to see spending cuts”, he told 
the BBC.
 
Speaking to Sky he added, “Families have to make
 sure that in the end, they can pay their bills. They
 don't just max out on their credit card without 
having any way of repaying those debts. It's
 just the same for countries - and we have
 to do that."
 
“Because if we want to put more money into the NHS,
 if we want to help people who are going to find it 
very, very difficult this winter,..then we need to 
have the resources to do that and that means 
we have to take difficult decisions even at 
moments like this,” he added.
 
The Chancellor will slash back the Energy Price
Guarantee - which limits average annual bills
to £2,500 - from April ---- after warning it is 
costing the same as “an entire 
second NHS”.
 
On Sunday, more details emerged of what that 
will cost Brits, as it is limited to only the very
 most vulnerable.
 
The scheme is costing about £60bln between 
October and March, but the Sunday reports
 it may cost only £20bln in the six months 
afterwards.
 
Treasury officials have discussed the average 
bill going up from £2,500 to between £2,850 
and £3,100.
 
That could mean a £600 rise on current bills, 
and a rise of nearly £2,000 a year since 2021.
 
Hunt said, “We don't want anyone, not to be able
 to afford to heat their home over this winter or
 indeed future winters."
 
"But in the long run, what you need is a plan that
 means we don't need to have to give very, very
 expensive support as taxpayers,” he added.
 
He added, “We need to recognise there's only so 
much you can ask from people on the very 
lowest incomes so that will be reflected 
in the decisions that I take.”
 
But he rejected striking nurses' demands for a 17% 
pay rise, which his Health Secretary blasted as
 "neither reasonable nor affordable".
 
Hunt said, “I think we have to recognise a difficult
 truth that if we gave everyone inflation-proof pay
 rises, inflation would stay, we wouldn't bring 
down inflation.”
 
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said “it’s a badge 
of shame”.. that nurses are staging their first ever 
nationwide strike in England, but also refused
 to commit to a 17% pay rise.
 
She said "I’m not going to pluck numbers out of the
 air" and "it’s up to the pay review bodies to work 
with the unions", despite the fact the pay review
 bodies have already reported back and it's up 
to the government.
 
Reeves said, “I don't believe that austerity 2.0 after
 the austerity that we've gone through for the last 
12 years... is the right approach.”
 
She said she would close tax loopholes on “big 
global multinationals” to bring in £7billion a year.
 
She also repeated Labour’s pledge to levy 45% 
capital gains tax on private equity fund 
managers, instead of the current 28%.
 
 
_________________________________________
 

Italy eliminates sanctions 
against anti-vaccine 
health personnel
by Ana Luisa Brown
October 28th, 3:38pm 
 (Prensa Latina) 
 
The Italian Health Ministry announced today 
that sanctions against doctors, nurses and 
other health personnel, imposed for their 
refusal to be vaccinated against 
Covid-19  ---  will no longer
be 
in effect.
 
The new Italian Health Minister, Orazio Schillaci, made 
the announcement on Friday and added that, data on
 those infected and deceased as a result of the 
disease will no longer be published on a daily 
basis, as has been the case up to now.
 
According to the communiqué, the health authorities
 consider it necessary to initiate a gradual return to
 normality, although they call for responsible 
behaviour, in compliance with the rules 
still in force.
 
The suspension of employment for non-compliance with
 the vaccination obligation is revoked ‘in view of the
 expiration of the provisions in force on December 
31st and the worrying shortage of medical
 personnel’, the document states.
 
Schillaci also announced the creation of a 
commission of inquiry ‘to clarify what 
happened from the administrative 
point of view’ --- regarding the 
expenses incurred... by the 
previous administration, 
to face Covid-19.
 
And in Wales?


Hearing Discovery Reveals  Ear Architecture That Turns  Vibration into Sound

 
Hearing Discovery -- Reveals 
Ear Architecture That Turns 
Vibration into Sound
October 17th, 1:31pm (FNA)
 
 In what’s described as a breakthrough decades in the
 making, scientists at Oregon State Health & Science
 University (OHSU) have revealed the inner ear
 architecture that converts vibrations into 
sound, in near-atomic detail.
 
The ability of the ear to turn vibrations into the
 sensation of sound... is facilitated by an inner 
structure, called the mechanosensory trans-
duction complex. Despite its critical role in 
human hearing, the composition of this 
structure & mechanisms that underly 
its function... have remained poorly 
understood.
 
“This is the last sensory system in which that 
fundamental molecular machinery has 
remained unknown,” said senior 
author of the new study Eric 
Gouaux. 
 
“The molecular machinery that carries out this
 absolutely amazing process has been 
unresolved for decades.”
 
The team’s work involved the roundworm
 Caenorhabditis elegans, a popular model 
for scientists as the creature shares a 
similar genome and many cellular 
pathways with humans. 
 
The scientists spent five years ---- studying more than
60 million worms through cryo-electron microscopy, 
an emerging technique used to create 3D
 reconstructions of proteins.
 
This enabled the scientists to piece together the
 protein complex that turns vibrations into the 
electrical impulses our brain recognizes as 
sound. The highly detailed portrait of this
 intricate biological architecture.. was a
long time coming, according to fellow 
OHSU hearing scientist, Peter 
Barr-Gillespie, who wasn’t 
directly involved in
 the research.
 
“The auditory neuroscience field.. has been waiting for
 these results, for decades, and now that they are right
 here - we are ecstatic,” he said. “The results from this
 paper immediately suggest new avenues of research, 
and so will invigorate the field for years to come.”
 
Because hearing loss can came about through genetic
mutations that change the proteins making up the
mechanosensory transduction complex... an 
ability to now visualize the protein complex 
may present new ways to counter
 the mutations.
 
“It immediately suggests mechanisms by which one 
might be able to compensate for those deficits,” 
said senior author Eric Gouaux. “If a mutation 
gives rise to a defect in the transduction 
channel that causes hearing loss, it’s
 possible to design a molecule that 
fits into that space and rescues 
the defect. Or it may mean we 
can strengthen interactions,
 that have been weakened.”
 
 

  Are Smartwatch Health Apps  to Detect Atrial Fibrillation  Smart Enough? October 13th,  2:25pm (FNA)   Extended cardiac monitoring in patients and the use  of implantable cardiovascular electronic devices can  increase detection of atrial fibrillation (

 
 
Are Smartwatch Health Apps 
to Detect Atrial Fibrillation 
Smart Enough?
October 13th,  2:25pm (FNA)
 
 Extended cardiac monitoring in patients and the use 
of implantable cardiovascular electronic devices can
 increase detection of atrial fibrillation (AF), but the
 devices have limitations including short battery 
life and lack of immediate feedback. 
 
Can new smartphone tools that can record an
 electrocardiogram (ECG) strip and make an 
automated diagnosis overcome these 
limitations and facilitate timely 
diagnosis? 
 
The largest study to date, in the Canadian Journal of 
Cardiology, published by Elsevier, finds that the use 
of these devices is challenging in patients with
 abnormal ECGs. Better algorithms and 
machine learning may help these tools 
provide more accurate diagnoses, 
investigators say.
 
"Earlier studies have validated the accuracy of the
 Apple Watch for the diagnosis of AF in a limited 
number of patients with similar clinical profiles,"
 explained lead investigator Marc Strik, MD, PhD, 
LIRYC institute, Bordeaux University Hospital, 
Bordeaux, France. "We tested the accuracy 
of the Apple Watch ECG app to detect AF 
in patients with a variety of coexisting 
ECG abnormalities."
 
The study included 734 consecutive hospitalized
 patients. Each patient underwent a 12-lead ECG,
 immediately followed by a 30-second Apple 
Watch recording. The smartwatch's 
automated single-lead ECG AF 
detections were classified as 
"no signs of atrial fibrillation,"
 "atrial fibrillation," or 
"inconclusive reading." 
 
Smartwatch recordings were given to an
 electrophysiologist who conducted a 
blinded interpretation, assigning each 
tracing a diagnosis of "AF," "absence 
of AF," or "diagnosis unclear." 
 
A second blinded electrophysiologist interpreted 
100 randomly selected traces to determine the 
extent to which the observers agreed.
 
In approximately one in every five patients --- the 
smartwatch ECG failed to produce an automatic
 diagnosis. The risk of having a false positive
 automated AF detection was higher for 
patients with premature atrial and 
ventricular contractions (PACs/
PVCs), sinus node dysfunction, 
and second- or third-degree 
atrioventricular-block.
 
 For patients in AF, the risk of having a false negative
 tracing (missed AF) was higher for patients with
 ventricular conduction abnormalities (inter-
ventricular conduction delay) or rhythms 
controlled by an implanted pacemaker.
 
The cardiac electrophysiologists... had a high level of 
agreement for differentiation between AF and non-AF.
 The smartphone app correctly identified 78% of the
 patients who were in AF and 81% who were not in 
AF. The electrophysiologists identified 97% of the 
patients who were in AF and 89% who were not.
 
Patients with PVCs were three times more likely to have
 false positive AF diagnoses from the smartwatch ECG, 
and the identification of patients with atrial 
tachycardia (AT) and atrial flutter (AFL) 
was very poor.
 
"These observations are not surprising, as smartwatch
 automated detection algorithms are based solely on
 cycle variability," Dr. Strik noted, explaining that 
PVCs cause short and long cycles, which 
increase cycle variability. 
 
"Ideally, an algorithm would better discriminate 
between PVCs and AF. Any algorithm limited to
 the analysis of cycle variability will have poor 
accuracy in detecting AT/AFL. Machine 
learning approaches may increase 
the smartwatch AF detection 
accuracy in these patients."
 
In an accompanying editorial, Andrés F. Miranda-
Arboleda, MD, and Adrian Baranchuk, MD, 
Division of Cardiology at Kingston Health 
Science Centre, Kingston, ON, Canada, 
observed that this is the first "real-
world" study focusing on the use 
of the Apple Watch as a 
diagnostic tool for AF.
 
"It is of remarkable importance because it allowed us
 to learn the performance of the Apple Watch in the
 diagnosis of AF is significantly affected by the
 presence of underlying ECG abnormalities. 
In a certain manner, the smartwatch 
algorithms for the detection of AF in 
patients with cardiovascular 
conditions are not yet smart 
enough. But they may soon 
be," Dr. Miranda-Arboleda 
and Dr. Baranchuk said.
 
"With the growing use of smartwatches in medicine, 
it is important to know which medical conditions 
and ECG abnormalities could impact and alter 
the detection of AF by the smartwatch... in 
order to optimize the care of our patients,"
 Dr Strik said. "Smartwatch detection of 
AF has great potential, but it is more 
challenging.... in patients with 
pre-existing cardiac disease."
 

bRITISH WOMEN MORE DEPRESSED OVER COST OF LIVING CRISIS


British women ‘more depressed 
than men’ over cost-of-living 
crisis: Poll
October 7th,  2:30pm
(PressTV)
 
Women in the UK are more worried than men about 
paying bills and household expenses and are more 
depressed than men when faced with financial 
crises, according to the findings of a survey.
 
The survey was conducted by YouGov, a charity and
 representative of British psychologists in the UK 
between September 6 and 7.
 
The results of the survey showed that 61% of women
 compared to 47% of men are more worried about 
paying their bills compared to last year.
 
Also, 3 out of 10 women said that financial worries
 make them feel depressed. This rate is 26% in men.
 
The results of the research show that women are more
 worried about meeting household expenses in the
 coming year, including paying energy bills (77%
 of women and 65% of men).
 
Julia Faulconbridge, official psychologist and a member 
of the clinical psychology department of the British
 Psychological Society (BPS) said: “We know 
women often shoulder more of the childcare
 and home responsibilities and are more 
likely to be in low-paid and insecure 
work, increasing their chances of 
being hit by rising prices, and 
subsequently experiencing 
greater anxiety, stress 
and worry.”
 
“There is a clear causal link between living in poverty
 and mental health difficulties,” she said. “We know 
that the stress of raising a family in poverty can 
have a huge impact on parents’ mental health 
and that poverty is one of the major risk 
factors for the development of mental 
and physical health problems 
in children.”
 
“This is magnified in a single-parent household, which
 is why we urgently need the Government to confirm
 they will support those who need it most by 
uprating benefits in line with inflation.”
 
The BPS is joining a range of organizations and 
politicians calling on the government to 
increase benefits in line with inflation.
 
The UK government has not ruled out actual
reductions in benefits, as reports suggest
payments could increase in line with 
average income increases.
 
The decision is expected to be made in 
November .....and implemented in April.
 
 
____________________________________________


 
Physiotherapist spoke 
about the 'dangers' of
 heavily roasted coffee
 for digestion...
 September 30th, 4:21pm,
(Lenta.ru)
 
Doctor Philip Glubokov: strongly roasted 
coffee depresses digestion.
 
Heavily roasted coffee can depress digestion, warned 
the physiotherapist Philip Glubokov in an interview 
with the"Fifth Channel".
 
Glubokov referred to the opinion of scientists, about the 
different effects of roasting coffee on digestion. "There 
is evidence that coffee of different degrees of roasting
 has different effects on digestion. For example, 
strongly roasted coffee, can slightly depress 
digestion, make it slower, while coffee with 
a lighter roast will, on the contrary, speed 
up digestion," the physiotherapist said 
about the harm of the drink.
 
Therefore, Glubokov continued, it is not necessary to
 combine strong coffee with full meals — it is better
 to use it in between meals.
 
Earlier, the doctor Monica Wassermann warned 
about the dangers of coffee. According to her, 
drinking coffee can increase the risk of 
blood clots.
 
 
________________________________________

Endocrinologist named lard 
and pumpkin products --- to 
support the immune system
September 21st, 2022, 11:03pm
(Izvestia.ru)
 
Lard, pumpkin, sunflower seeds and kefir will help
 strengthen the immune system, said Elena
 Evdokimova, an endocrinologist and a
member of the Russian Association 
of Endocrinologists and the 
European Association for 
the Study of Diabetes.
 Writes " Gazeta.Ru", 
September 21st.
 
According to the doctor, fat, thanks to a large amount 
of arachidonic acid, helps prevent viral diseases and 
strengthens the immune system. Kefir fungi, which 
are contained in kefir, help to normalize the 
microflora, and vitamin D, which is also 
contained in it, is a source of protein 
that is easily absorbed in the body.
 
"Another product with non-obvious benefits is pumpkin. 
It contains a huge amount of carotenoids and trace 
elements, which greatly strengthen the immune 
system. Many dishes made from pumpkin are 
useful: juice, mashed potatoes, cream soup, 
as well as baked pumpkin," 
says Evdokimova.
 
Also, peeled sunflower seeds have a beneficial effect
 on the immune system. Seeds contain a lot of fat-
soluble vitamins A, D and E, as well as a large 
number of minerals ---- that have
 immunomodulatory effects.
 
On the same day, hepatologist Alexandra Yakovleva
 also spoke about the benefits of using fat. 
 
According to the doctor, the fats present in fat
 contribute to the formation of a protective 
film on the surface of the lungs.
 
 
_________________________________________


China creates mask with sensors
 --- capable of detecting viruses
by Aleynes Palacios Hurtado
September 21st, 11:07am
 (Prensa Latina)
 
 Chinese scientists have developed a face mask that
 has sensors, uses a rechargeable lithium battery 
and can detect different types of viruses, 
including SARS-CoV-2, which causes 
Covid-19, CGTN reported 
on Wednesday.
 
The face mask was developed by professionals at
 Shanghai’s Tongji University --- and the built-in 
system allows the wearer know if he or she
 is exposed to pathogens ...such as the 
common flu, H5N1 & H1N1 influenza.
 
The device sends alert signals wirelessly to cell 
phones and works best in enclosed spaces 
with poor ventilation, such as elevators.
 
To test its effectiveness, its creators sprayed virus-
laden liquid on it, simulating scenarios with 
people talking and coughing.
 
As part of its strategy to fight Covid-19, China 
maintains the mandatory use of face masks, 
to access any public place and most people
keep it on, even if they walk in the street
in 
the open air.
 
Since October 10th, 2021 and until the end of October, 
2022, the government put into effect new adjustments
 to the sanitary mechanism, also coinciding with the
 week of holidays for its National Day and the
 celebration of the 20th Communist 
Party Congress.
 
The changes imply that all provinces require
the
 population to present negative results
of 
RT-PCR test taken 48 hours before 
boarding any means of public 
transportation, that is, a
bus, 
train, plane or ferry.
 
 
__________________________________
 


Pfizer Isn’t Sharing.... COVID
Vaccines with Researchers 
for Next-Gen Studies
September 8th, 12:37pm  (FNA)
 
Researchers studying next-generation vaccines to fight 
an evolving Covid-19 threat, are running into problems
 getting existing vaccines to use in their research.
 
Because Pfizer and Moderna hold the patents for the 
current vaccines, researchers would likely have to 
get the companies’ permission to use them for 
research into products like nasal or pan-
coronavirus vaccines. 
 
Right now, Pfizer isn’t sharing its vaccines for research
purposes, a spokesperson confirmed to STAT. 
Moderna, didn’t comment when we asked.
 
Some university researchers argue the posture slows
 global progress toward more effective vaccines in 
the future, especially since the United States has
 already wasted tens of millions of doses of the 
Covid-19 vaccines.
 
Yale University virologist and immunologist Akiko
 Iwasaki has designed a study of nasal vaccines
 against Covid-19, which - she argues - could 
provide better protection against infection
 and transmission than shots alone. 
 
The ideal study would be conducted on subjects that 
have already had a primary vaccine series, to 
simulate real-world scenarios. She inquired 
with Pfizer about obtaining some vaccine
 to use in her study of nasal vaccines, 
but has not received any.
 
“In order for us to develop a better vaccine -- we need 
a comparator. For that reason, everyone who’s doing
 research in this area is in the same boat, we don’t 
have access to do a comparison,” Iwasaki said.
 
California Institute of Technology professor Pamela
 Bjorkman said her lab has had similar troubles 
obtaining existing Covid-19 vaccines, that 
would otherwise be discarded, in order 
to research a vaccine candidate that
 could provide protection against a
 variety of Covid-19 variants.
 
“Whatever policy prevents using such vials, does a
 great disservice to global efforts to develop new 
and improved vaccines,” Bjorkman said.
 
When asked whether Pfizer has provided any vaccines
 for research purposes, spokesperson Sharon Castillo
 said, “We are not accepting or reviewing 
applications for possible clinical 
research that studies the 
Covid-19 vaccine.”
 
 
 

COVID godfather prepares to  start a new career chapter

COVID godfather prepares to 
start a new career chapter
September 1st, 3:08pm
https://en.news-front.info/
 
Coronavirus fine-tuning takes place 
in US biolaboratories --- in Ukraine.
 
President Biden’s top medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci, 
dubbed Dr Evil, has announced he is stepping down 
next December to “continue the next chapter” of 
his career: “I am announcing today, that I am 
stepping down.. as director of the National 
Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases 
(NIAID) and head of the NIAID immuno-
regulation laboratory and as chief 
medical adviser to President
Joe 
Biden.''

The departure of Fauci, 
one of the protagonists
of the 
recent world-wide “pandemic” 
is no small event.
 
One of America’s most prominent political
 commentators, Tucker Carlson, told Fox 
News that “for the last two years, Fauci 
recommended treatments & preventive 
measures against COVID that did
 not work.''
 
 ''He admitted to the New York Times, that he lied about
 collective immunity in order to sell more vaccines…
 which really weren’t even vaccines and have 
hurt tens of thousands of people.''
 
The report of the placebo vaccines turned out to be just
 one of the information bombs. Global Research says: 
“It’s been almost a year since the FDA (U.S. Food and
 Drug Administration) gave full approval to Pfizer’s
 COVID mRNA injection… Many will be surprised 
to learn that this particular vaccine in FDA-
approved form never actually existed and 
never will. The widely touted --- ''FDA'' 
approval by the Biden administration 
was just a sleight of hand. It was a 
bureaucratic sham.”
 
The U.S. government ran a drug campaign, deceiving
 citizens into giving them vaccinations --- that the
 authorities assured them were FDA-approved.
 In fact, everyone in America has been 
administered and continues to be 
administered, another version of
 the vaccine with what is known 
as an “Emergency Use 
Authorisation” (EUA). 
 
The FDA-approved Comirnaty vaccine has 
never been available to Americans.
 
Fauci lied not only about vaccines, but also about 
quarantine, about self-isolation, about masks:
“You have to wear masks when you cycle, 
you get too much life-enhancing oxygen. 
What you really need, is more carbon 
dioxide.” This Dr Evil spelled it out 
publicly. And, privately, he was 
saying that:- “the usual mask 
you buy at the drugstore is
 actually ineffective in 
protecting against
 the virus”.
 
When Fauci testified under oath before 
Congress, he concealed that he had 
helped create the coronavirus:
 
Senator RAND PAUL: ''Dr. Fauci, knowing that it is a 
crime to lie to Congress, do you want to withdraw 
your May 11 statement where you claimed that
 the NIH [National Institutes of Health], never 
funded the Wuhan enhancement research?''
 
FAUCHI: ''Senator Paul, I have never lied to Congress and
 I am not retracting that statement. That document 
you referred to is qualified by staff at all levels
 as ineffective…''
 
RAND PAUL: ''You take an animal virus and enhance its 
ability to be transmitted to humans. Are you saying 
that’s not enhancing the function?''
 
The Intercept... spoke to virologist, Vincent Racaniello, 
professor of microbiology & immunology at Columbia 
University. “There is no doubt,” said Ricaniello, “that
 the weight loss in the mice in the study is a gain of
 function. Tony Fauci is wrong to say it is not.”
 Fauci was yowling and wiggling his way 
through the conversation to interpret 
the term “gain of function,” and 
The Intercept reports:
 
''Scientists working under an NIH grant, to the
Environmental Health Alliance to study bat 
corona viruses (2014) --- combined 
genetic material from the parent 
coronavirus -- known as WIV1, 
with other viruses.'' 
 
They produced more potent viruses 
--- and Fauci supervised the work.
 
This kind of work was banned in the US, so the 
experiments were conducted abroad. And not 
just in Wuhan, but in us biolaboratories in
Ukraine. Tucker Carlson writes that:
 
''At some point, someone… will ask the question, 
why are all these bio-laboratories of ours, in 
Ukraine, located everywhere? Ukraine 
does not seem to be a hotbed of 
pharmaceutical research.''
 
In a letter to the House Oversight Committee, NIH 
spokesman Lawrence Tabak wrote that a “limited 
experiment” was conducted in Wuhan to test 
whether -- “spike proteins from natural bat 
coronaviruses circulating in China could 
bind to the human ACE2 receptor, in a 
mouse model”. The finalisation of the 
virus took place --- in Ukrainian 
biolaboratories.
 
In early 2020, Christian Andersen, a virologist at the
 Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California, wrote to 
Fauci about the COVID-19 virus as follows: 
“Some functions (potentially) look 
engineered.” And Nobel laureate 
in medicine, biochemist and 
virologist David Baltimore 
said he had found: 
“incontrovertible 
evidence of the 
artificial origin 
of the virus”.
 
It can be considered established, that the coronavirus
 has been artificially bred. Why is a separate question. 
As for a vaccine against the American-created virus, 
in 2020 Fauci proclaimed that the solution to COVID 
would be remdesivir, a drug produced by the 
pharmaceutical giant. Gilead. 
 
“The time has come” --- declared Dr Evil. 
He only did not say what the time is for.
 
The Biden administration, government health agencies
 and Pfizer have launched a massive PR campaign to
 overcome “indecision on vaccines”. The media 
joined in this campaign. Fake FDA-approved 
status was used to put pressure on private 
companies to get their employees 
vaccinated. And millions of 
Americans were forced to 
vaccinate because they 
could not afford to be 
unemployed.
 
And after a while it was discovered that the mRNA
 drug didn’t work, that it was dangerous for young
 men and wasn’t a vaccine, in its classic 
definition, at all.
 
So the Biden administration first sanctioned the
 creation of the virus -- and then, together with 
Big Tech and Pfizer, tricked Americans into 
taking “FDA approved” vaccines against
 COVID --- that did not exist.
 
by Agniya Krengel, FSC
 

   Pictured  - UK air pollution  The toxicologist told about millions of deaths annually  because of polluted air August 21st, 7:30pm   (Lenta.ru)  Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy  of Natural Sciences, Corresponding Member of  the Russian Ac

Pictured  - UK air pollution
 
The toxicologist --- told about
millions of deaths annually 
because of polluted air
August 21st, 7:30pm  
(Lenta.ru)
 
Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy 
of Natural Sciences, Corresponding Member of 
the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 
toxicologist Mikhail Kutushov, in an 
interview with Ura.ru --- said that 
every year -- about seven million
people die, due to polluted air. 
 
He explained that death occurs 
due to the diseases caused by 
the environmental situation.
 
"Many people suffer from health problems.... 
especially if they live near large industrial 
facilities, or near busy highways. 
Approximately seven million 
people a year, die from 
polluted air.'' 
 
''It is believed that a third of strokes, and 
other heart diseases -- and lung cancer, 
are caused by a polluted environment. 
Diseases begin with asthma, and
 bronchitis," the specialist said.
 
He noted that, since human lungs work together 
with the heart, diseases begin to worsen in the 
event of air pollution. According to him, the 
main disease that can occur in humans is 
cancer. In addition, cases of asthma or 
chronic bronchitis are common, the 
toxicologist added.
 
Kutushov stressed that the greatest danger for
 residents --- is represented by enterprises 
located within the city limits, that work 
with toxic substances. 
 
He said that it is necessary to move such enterprises
 out of the city, green the city, and people should 
drink more water, as well as eat more 
vegetables and fruits.
 
Formerly, Shanghai, Moscow and Tehran, have 
been named as the cities with the highest 
level of nitrogen dioxide air pollution in 
the world. This is the conclusion 
reached, by the US non-profit 
organization, Health Effects 
Institute - and the research 
institute for Health Metrics 
and Evaluation.
 
FOOTNOTE:
 
86% of UK Towns and Cities 
Fail Air Pollution Tests
- 
Gibbons Group
 

  Possible control of type 2  diabetes by rhodiola root  say scientists by Elsy Fors Garzon August 17th, 00:11am (Prensa Latina)   The extract from the roots of the Rhodiola rosea plant,  known as rhodiola, could be effective in helping to  control type 2

 
Possible control of type 2 
diabetes by rhodiola root
 say scientists
by Elsy Fors Garzon
August 17th, 00:11am
(Prensa Latina) 
 
The extract from the roots of the Rhodiola rosea plant, 
known as rhodiola, could be effective in helping to
 control type 2 diabetes, a scientific source 
reported today.
 
Experts from the University of California at Irvine, 
United States, found that “it reduced fasting 
blood sugar levels, improved response to
 insulin injections, modulated the 
composition of bacteria in the 
gastrointestinal tract and 
decreased...  several bio-
markers of inflammation”.
 
The team used a genetically engineered mouse 
model that develops obesity, insulin resistance,
 and hyperglycemia, similar to advanced 
human type 2 diabetes.
 
Such a laboratory procedure – specifies the journal 
Scientific Reports – had the objective of verifying
 if rhodiola could improve glucose homeostasis.
 
The extract from the roots of this plant acts through
 changes in the microbiome that lead to an increase
 in the integrity of the intestinal barrier and a lower 
translocation of inflammatory molecules to the
 blood circulation.
 
“The integrity of the intestinal barrier, influences body
 weight and the response to insulin, and could improve
 the responses of liver and muscle tissues to insulin 
produced by the pancreas,” the specialists 
point out.
 
Known as rhodiola, this herb grows in the colder, 
more mountainous regions of Europe and Asia.
 
The golden root, as it is also called in the Scandinavian
 culture and Siberian peoples --- is used to increase
 resistance at work and improve altitude sickness.
 
A clinical trial showed that taking 400 milligrams of
 Rodhiola rosea extract daily for 12 weeks improved
 symptoms of anxiety, exhaustion, and irritability.
 
Its properties are related to two of its active 
ingredients, rosavin and salidroside.


Chinese scientists have found a  new way to reduce the risk of  heart and vascular diseases August 8th, 7:59pm (trud.ru)  For the prevention and treatment of such diseases,  it is necessary to reduce the level of lipids in the  blood serum and liver.  Chi


Chinese scientists have found a 
new way to reduce the risk of 
heart and vascular diseases
August 8th, 7:59pm
(trud.ru)
 
For the prevention and treatment of such diseases, 
it is necessary to reduce the level of lipids in the
 blood serum and liver.
 
Chinese scientists have found that inhibiting the ASGR1
 receptor in the liver can reduce serum and liver lipids, 
thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
 
This was reported on Monday, August 8th, by the
Xinhua news agency, with a link to an article 
published in the journal Nature.
 
As the authors explain, the ASGR1 receptor is
expressed - exclusively - in the liver. Little is 
known about how it affects the metabolism 
of cholesterol, the accumulation of which 
can lead to an increased risk of 
heart disease.
 
 At the same time, reducing the level of lipids is
 necessary for the prevention and treatment 
of these diseases.
 
A research team from Wuhan University in China found
 that inhibition of ASGR1 promotes the elimination of
 cholesterol – with bile and faeces, which reduces 
the level of lipids in the serum and liver.
 
Based on the results of the study, biologists have
 developed a neutralizing anti-ASGR1 antibody 
that can effectively reduce lipid levels, by
 increasing cholesterol excretion.
 
 
___________________________________

 
Russian Defense Ministry 
considers the possibility 
of US involvement in 
the spread of COVID
August 4th, 2:50pm
https://en.news-front.info/
 
The Ministry of Defense of Russia suggests that the United
States was involved in the emergence of the COVID-19
pandemic and its spread in the world.
 
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world,
suggests the deliberate role of US organizations in
 its emergence. This -- was announced at a briefing 
on August 4th, by Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, 
Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological 
Defense Forces of the RF Armed Forces.
 
“We are considering the possibility that the United
 States Agency for International Development 
(USAID) is involved in the emergence of the 
new coronavirus,” Kirillov said.
 
The general recalled the words of the leading expert of 
the authoritative medical journal, The Lancet, Jeffrey 
Sachs, who said in May 2022, that the COVID-19
virus --- was 
artificially created. 
 
Sachs specified that there is a high
probability: 
that US achievements
in the field of 
biotechnology,
were used in 
its creation.
 
 "There is enough evidence, that this should be
investigated, but it is not being investigated,
neither in the United States - nor anywhere
else. I think they (US officials - Gazeta.En) 
don't really want to look too much, under
the carpet," Sachs emphasized.
 
 

 The "Achilles heel" of almost  all types of cancer, including  drug-resistant ones,  has been found by Olga Muraya July 31st, 2:05pm  (Vesta.ru)   New genetic data is helping to better understand t

 
The "Achilles heel" of almost 
all types of cancer, including 
drug-resistant ones, 
has been found
by Olga Muraya
July 31st, 2:05pm 
(Vesta.ru)
 
New genetic data is helping to better understand the
 causes of different types of cancer in humans. 
This, in turn, will help to develop new methods 
of cancer treatment.
 
Medical researchers from several leading institutes 
in the United States have found that at least 70% 
of cancer types and 8% of all individual tumors
 activate a single gene that is normally 
"turned off" in most body tissues.
 
It turns out that scientists have 
discovered a universal cancer switch?
 
So far, the study is improving our understanding of how
 different types of cancer develop. But the team that 
made this discovery has already begun working 
with chemists and biologists to figure out how 
to target this gene with possible 
new treatments.
 
What did the scientists find? It turned out that many
 cancers show abnormal expression of the FOXR2
 gene. This gene is normally expressed 
("switched on") only in the testes —
 the male sex glands.
 
In a further study involving mice that artificially
 activated the FOXR2 gene, it turned out that 
the expression of the gene increases the 
growth rate of brain tumors.
 
The team suspects that FOXR2 may be part of 
a broader scheme in which normally inactive 
testicular genes --- are switched on in 
cancer patients.
 
The authors are already working with other 
laboratories to develop cancer treatments 
that target FOXR2.
 
The study was published in the July 
8th, 2022 issue of Cancer Research.
 
At the same time, scientists from Spain have 
revealed the mechanism by which some 
cancer patients do not respond well 
to treatment.
 
A condition known as multi-drug resistance (MDR) 
can seriously reduce the number of available 
cancer treatment options. However, exactly 
what factors contribute to the development 
of MDR and how it can be controlled...
 remains unclear.
 
The team started by looking at genes that may play 
arole in causing cancer resistance to drugs. To do 
this, the researchers used CRISPR gene editing
technology in mouse stem cells. A gene 
known as FBXW7 quickly caught 
their attention.
 
The researchers found that mutations in the FBXW7
 gene endow cells with resistance to most existing
 drugs, with lower levels of FBXW7 expression
 associated with a poorer response 
to chemotherapy.
 
But importantly, the team also found 
a way to use this feature for good.
 
The researchers found that a drug called tigecycline
 activates a process known as the integrated stress 
response (ISR). This process helps to" clean" cells
 of toxic proteins that are produced due to a 
mutation in the FBXW7 gene.
 
Subsequent tests with other drugs that activate
the ISR... also showed some effectiveness.
 
The work of the Spanish scientists, was 
published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
 
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_________________________________

 
 
NHS England... Short of 
Tens of Thousands of Staff in
'Greatest Workforce Crisis 
in Its History'
July 25th, 9:30am (FNA)
 
 NHS England is short of tens of thousands of doctors, 
nurses & midwives with the persistent understaffing 
creating a "serious risk to staff and patient safety", 
MPs said in a damning report.
 
Health and social care services in England face “the
 greatest workforce crisis in their history” and the
 government has no credible strategy to make the 
situation better, according to the cross-party 
Health and Social Care Committee, 
ITV reported.
 
Fresh research by the Nuffield Trust shows the NHS in 
England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more 
than 50,000 nurses and midwives, revealed in a new 
report from the committee.
 
It said maternity services are “under unsustainable 
pressure”, while the number of full-time equivalent 
GPs also fell by more than 700 over three years,
 to March 2022.
 
Projections suggest an extra 475,000 jobs will be 
needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in 
social care... by the early part of the 
next decade.
 
The report said staff are under pressure and the NHS 
loses millions of full-time equivalent days to staff 
sickness caused by anxiety, stress 
and depression.
 
“The result is that many in an exhausted workforce, 
are considering leaving - and if they do pressure will 
increase still further on their colleagues,” the study 
said, adding that some simple things are not in 
lace, such as access to hot food and drink on 
shifts and flexible working.
 
MPs said the government has shown a "marked 
reluctance to act decisively", adding, “The 
workforce plan promised in the spring has 
not yet been published and will be a 
‘framework’ with no numbers, which
 we are told could potentially follow 
in yet another report --- later 
this year.”
 
MPs said that while some progress has been made
 towards a target of recruiting 50,000 nurses, the 
government is set to miss its target to recruit 
6,000 more GPs, as promised in the 
Conservative Party manifesto.
 
“The persistent understaffing of the NHS now poses a 
serious risk to staff and patient safety both for routine
 and emergency care. It also costs more as patients
 present later with more serious illness," it added.
 
“But most depressing for many on the frontline is the
 absence of any credible strategy to address it,” 
it said.
 
MPs said the government’s “refusal” to make
 workforce planning data public “means that 
the basic question which every health and 
care worker is asking: 'are we training 
enough staff to meet patient need?' 
will remain unanswered”.
 
The report also criticises NHS pension arrangements
 which are leading to senior doctors reducing their 
working hours, owing to facing hefty tax bills.
 
More needs to be done on social care worker 
pay to stop people leaving, it added.
 
A separate report by the committee’s panel of 
independent experts rates the government’s 
progress overall to meet key commitments 
it has made on workforce as “inadequate”.
 
Health and Social Care Committee Chairman and Tory
 MP Jeremy Hunt said, “We now face the greatest 
workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in 
social care with still no idea of the number 
of additional doctors, nurses and other 
professionals we actually need."
 
“NHS professionals know there is no silver bullet to
 solve this problem but we should at least be giving
 them comfort that a plan is in place. This must be 
a top priority for the new prime minister,” he added.
 
He told Times Radio that before Brexit, both parties
 believed that if there was a staffing problem, they 
will “fill it with immigration”.
 
The report said almost every part of the NHS was
 suffering staff shortages. On maternity, it said 
552 midwives left in the last year showing a 
“clear problem with midwifery retention”.
 
MPs criticised the government and NHS England for
 failing to set out when safe staffing in maternity 
would be reached, a failure that “demonstrates
 a lack of responsibility” and “is absolutely 
unacceptable”.
 
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, 
which is part of the NHS Confederation, said the
report “once again highlights the extent of the
workforce crisis now facing both the NHS and 
social care”. He said “it is time for a reality 
reset on the NHS”.
 
He added health leaders are “beyond worried that the
 government has shown a sustained reluctance to act
 decisively on NHS and social care staffing and echo
 the Committee’s concerns that the lack of long-term
 planning and investment risks the government’s 
plans to tackle the waiting list backlog and 
poses a serious risk to both staff and 
patient safety”.
 
Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing’s
 director for England, added, “On pay, the 
committee was very clear saying it is 
unacceptable that some NHS nurses
 are struggling to feed their families,
 pay their rent, and travel to work."
 
“Their recommendation that nursing staff should be
 given a pay rise that takes account of the cost of 
living crisis should make government rethink the 
latest pay deal that follows a decade of, in real 
terms, pay cuts --- that will force even more to 
leave the profession,” she said.
 
Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said, 
“The government’s had years to improve the 
workforce situation, but has done little."
 
“Only last week ministers could have acted to stop 
the exodus of porters, healthcare assistants and 
other NHS staff with an above-inflation wage 
rise. But chose not to,” she added.
 
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting 
accused the government of having “utterly 
failed” to address the crisis.
 
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson
said, “We are growing the health and social care
workforce, with over 4,000 more doctors, and 
9,600 more nurses compared to last year, 
and over 1,400 more doctors in general
practice, compared to March 2019."
 
“As we continue to deliver on our commitment to 
recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024, we are also 
running a £95 million recruitment drive for 
maternity services and providing £500 
million to develop our valued social 
care workforce, including through
 training opportunities and new 
career pathways," the spokes
person added.
 
“We have commissioned NHS England to develop a
 long term workforce plan to recruit and support 
NHS staff while they deliver high quality, safe 
care to patients and help to bust the COVID 
backlogs,” the spokesperson said.


Rhondda Records adds:

and in Wales? Would you bet your life
everything's just fine and dandy???
 


_______________________



Up to 70% of recovered patients
 --- experience post-COVID
conditions,
 expert says
July 22nd, 4:56am (TASS)
 
Up to 70% of recovered coronavirus patients
 experience post-COVID conditions, the 
Russian Health Ministry’s Chief 
Freelance Neurologist Nikolay 
Shamalov, told reporters.
 
"The professional medical community, has been
 discussing the so-called post-COVID syndrome
 recently. In fact, 30 to 70% of recovered 
coronavirus patients experience these 
conditions. The figure ranges because 
experts use various research methods 
but in any case, it is about a large 
number of patients.'' 
 
''When it comes to the post-COVID syndrome, cognitive 
functions are affected in the first place, which concern
 qualities such as memory, attention and speech, as
 well as motor and cognitive skills. Besides, people
 often suffer from headaches, sleep disorders and
 asthenia," Shamalov pointed out.
 
According to the expert, the older the patient, the
 higher the risk of the post-COVID syndrome 
because the coronavirus... often 
exacerbates already existing
 health issues.
 
"When patients notice symptoms of the post-COVID
 syndrome, they should consult a neurologist," 
Shamalov added.
 

goth covid mask

 
 WHO Demands 
Return of..
Covid Masks
July 14th, 12:09pm
(al Manar)
 
With cases of Covid-19 trending upward globally, 
World Health Organization Director General Dr 
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on 
Tuesday for authorities to bring back 
masking, ventilation, and 
social distancing.
 
Speaking during a weekly briefing, Tedros stated 
that “the virus is running freely, and countries
 are not effectively managing the disease.” 
 
With the WHO concluding last week that the 
virus remains a ‘Public Health Emergency 
of International Concern’, Tedros 
asserted that the pandemic
is 
“nowhere near over.”
 
During the week of July 4th-10th, 2022, over 5.7 million
 new cases of Covid-19 were reported, a 6% increase
 compared to the previous week. Deaths, however,
 have remained relatively flat... throughout this 
summer, with just over 9,800 reported in the 
week leading up to July 4th, five times 
fewer than the same week last year.
 
Tedros called on national authorities to step up their
 efforts in “communicating risk” to the public, and
 called for a return of “public health social 
measures like masking, distancing 
and ventilation.”
 
Mask mandates and social distancing requirements 
were largely abandoned earlier this year, although 
some countries – among them China and South 
Korea – still require face masks in most 
public settings.
 
Source: Agencies (edited by 
Al-Manar English Website)
 
 
______________________________


WHO Chief Gebreyesus reported
 a 30% increase in the number 
of coronavirus infections in 
the world in two weeks
by Sofia Goncarova
July 6th, 8:18pm
(Komsomolskaya Pravda)
 
TO SHARE
 
Director-General of the World Health Organization
 (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced 
an increase in the number of cases of 
coronavirus infection in the world.
 
According to him, over the past two weeks, 
this figure has increased by 30%.
 
"Over the past two weeks, the number of reported
 cases of COVID-19 in the world has increased by
 almost 30%," he announced during a speech at 
a briefing.
 
The head of the organization also said that in
 European countries and the US, coronavirus 
variants BA.4 and BA are spreading in waves.
 
In addition, experts have identified 
a new subspecies, BA.2. 75, in India.
 
Recall that experts believe that vaccination will help
 protect the body from infection with covid. The day
 before, the Russian Ministry of Health registered 
the Salnavak nasal coronavirus vaccine 
developed by Generium. The drug
will 
be available as a
nasal spray. 
 
This is a combined vector vaccine 
consisting of two components 
based on adenovirus vectors.
 
KP.RU: https://www.kp.ru/
 
 
_________________________


 
COVID-19 Leaked From US Bio-lab, 
Claims Lancet's Commission Head;
 'Not A Natural Spillover'
by Zaini Majeed
July 2nd 
(The Republic)
 
The novel SARS-CoV-2 that caused the COVID-19
worldwide was an accidental release “out of 
US laboratory biotechnology”, the chief of 
the COVID-19 commission at prestigious 
medical journal, The Lancet, Jeffrey 
Sachs, said at a conference hosted 
by the think tank GATE, in Spain. 
 
The chair of The Lancet stressed that while “we don’t
know for sure” ...that the leak of the virus certainly
happened, or it may have been any other scenario 
at the US bioweapons research lab, but "there is 
enough evidence" and it “should be looked into.”
 
Sachs had also... earlier...  published a paper in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
with Columbia University professor of molecular
pharmacology and therapeutics, Neil Harrison, 
ascertaining that SARS-CoV-2 that caused 
the - mounting - death toll of the global 
population, had in fact, leaked from
a bio laboratory. 
 
He demanded "transparency" from US
 federal agencies and universities. 
 
 
__________________________



Monkeypox  ---  cannot be 
considered a pandemic,
 expert says
June 25th, 3:48am (TASS)
 
 Monkeypox cannot be considered a pandemic 
due to the small number of cases, this virus 
is not highly contagious, infectious disease 
doctor Yevgeny Timakov told TASS. Earlier,
 the World Health Network called for 
monkeypox to be declared
 a pandemic.
 
"This disease, in no way, can be considered 
a pandemic. Only a few get sick, it is not 
highly contagious. The virus may have 
changed in some way, but it does not 
pose a danger on a global scale," 
the expert explained.
 
Timakov recalled that the virus is transmitted only
 through close contact with the infected. "If from 
an animal, when it (monkeypox - TASS) is 
transmitted to a person, it (the virus - 
TASS) is more dangerous. From a 
person to a person, it is less 
dangerous, as it loses its 
pathogens," he added.
 
The expert also noted, that increased monitoring 
of persons entering the Russian Federation from
 countries where cases of infection have 
already been recorded, is justified 
and correct.
 
Monkeypox is a rare viral disease, usually transmitted
to humans by wild animals such as rodents and 
primates. The symptoms include fever, 
headache, muscle and back pains, 
swollen lymph nodes, chills and 
fatigue. It may also involve a
skin rash. 
 
According to the WHO, usually the lethality coefficient
during monkeypox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10%
...with the majority of fatalities in the younger 
age groups.
 
 

Drug overdose epidemic  wreaks havoc in the US by Pavel López Lazo June 24th, 3:29pm    (Prensa Latina)   A drug overdose epidemic kills two people an hour in the US, The New York Times reported on Friday.   The report stated that many more people ar

Drug overdose epidemic 
wreaks havoc in the US
by Pavel López Lazo
June 24th, 3:29pm  
 (Prensa Latina) 
 
A drug overdose epidemic kills two people an hour
in the US, The New York Times reported on Friday.
 
The report stated that many more people are 
currently dying in the US of drug overdoses 
than at any other time, Jeneen Interlandi, 
member of the US newspaper’s editorial
 board, stressed.
 
The North American country´s drug overdose death
 rose afresh to record-breaking levels, by exceeding
 100,000 cases per year for the first time in 2021, 
and as of mid-2022, it appears to be increasing 
even much higher (latest figures come out to 
about 300 people per week or over 2 people 
per hour).
 
Interlandi pointed out that it is tempting to see 
such a crisis as the inevitable byproduct of an
 unprecedented moment. The astonishing 
malpractice of the drug industry, the rise 
of economic inequality and the Covid-19 
pandemic conspire to ramp up the drug 
overdose death rate.
 
The analyst said that drug addiction itself is 
as enduring a part of human experience as 
cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer’s.
 
In fact, it is at least as common as any of them. 
And the fact we do not treat it early and 
carefully is not an accident. It’s a 
choice, she pointed out.
 
 
___________________________________

 
What goes around?
‘Playing with fire’: COVID-19 cases in
 US 30 times higher than reported
June 3rd, 7:56am (PressTV)
 
The United States finds itself in the throes of the
 fourth wave of coronavirus, according to the 
official case count, albeit experts say the 
actual current rate could be 30 times 
higher than reported.
 
About 94,000 people in the world’s worst-hit 
country are contracting the virus every day, 
and hospitalizations have also surged this 
month, but officials insist --- the rate is
lower 
than in previous waves.
 
A new survey of the surge in New York, cited in a
 Guardian report, on Thursday, suggests that the 
virus cases could be undercounted by a factor
 of 30.
 
“It would appear that official case counts are under-
estimating the true burden of infection, by about 
30-fold, which is a huge surprise,” Denis Nash, 
an author of the study and a professor of 
epidemiology at the City University of 
New York School of Public Health, is 
quoted as saying in the report.
 
According to the study, which has not been peer-
reviewed or published, at least 1 in 5 people in 
New York.. had COVID-19 between April 23rd 
and May 8th, constituting about 22 percent 
of the city's population.
 
This means that more than 1.5 million people in the
 city have been infected with coronavirus, in just 
two weeks, which is more than the official 
figure, the study finds.
 
While it is focused on New York, the findings may be
 true throughout the rest of the country, Nash said, 
adding that undercounting could be even 
worse elsewhere.
 
“It’s very worrisome. To me, it means that our ability
 to really understand and get ahead of the virus is 
undermined,” Nash said.
 
This week marks the eighth consecutive week of
 a surge in COVID-19 cases in the United States.
 
In recent weeks, confirmed daily US cases have 
been rising again, powered by a rising tide of
 Omicron sub-variants currently circulating
in the country.
 
US hits another grim milestone 
with 900,000 COVID-19 deaths
 
The milestone comes more than 13 months into 
a vaccination drive that has been confounded 
by misinformation, political and legal strife, 
and vaccine hesitancy in segments of
t
he population.
 
It also marks the seventh consecutive week that child
 COVID-19 cases have been increasing in the country, 
according to the American Academy of Pediatrics 
(AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.
 
More than 112,000 child COVID-19 cases were
 reported in the United States during the past 
week, a doubling of case counts from the 
four weeks before that.
 
The daily COVID-19 death count is also increasing.
 More than 500 COVID-19 deaths were reported
 nationwide on Wednesday, sending shock-
waves across the country.
 
Amid a rise in infections, a growing list of school
 districts and universities... are now moving to 
bring back mask requirements.
 
“This idea that we need to return to normal and that’s
 the most important thing, rather than just actually
 using mitigation measures to save lives – it’s not 
that hard, and if it were normalized, we could do
 it,” Lara Jirmanus, a family physician and 
clinical instructor at Harvard Medical 
School, is cited in the report.
 
“To just decide that it’s perfectly fine for everyone to
 be infected three to four times a year in the future
 with a new virus, whose effects we don’t fully
 understand, is a huge, huge gamble,” she
 continued. “We just don’t know what 
Covid could lead to in the future… 
We’re playing with fire.”
 
Reports citing medical experts say the most 
dominant form of COVID-19...  currently 
spreading in the US, appears to spread 
faster than earlier variants and
is believed to be a mutation
genetically linked.. to both 
Omicron & Delta versions 
of COVID-19.
 
 
____________________________



Four US biolabs operate in Nigeria,
 where monkeypox came from 
— Defense Ministry
May 27th, 5:47pm (TASS)
 
At least four US-controlled biological laboratories
operate in Nigeria, where monkeypox came from,
the Russian Nuclear, Chemical and Biological 
Protection troops head, Igor Kirillov,
stated on Friday.
 
He pointed out that, according to the World Health
 Organization, the monkeypox pathogen strain was
 imported from Nigeria, where the US deployed its
 biological infrastructure.
 
"According to the available information, at least four
 US-controlled biolaboratories operate in Nigeria,"
 Kirillov said.
 
According to Kirillov, in this regard, it is necessary 
to point out a "strange coincidence that requires 
additional inspection by specialists."
 
"According to European and US media, materials 
of the 2021 Munich Security Conference (that is 
amid the COVID-19 pandemic), mentioned the
practice of a monkeypox countering 
scenario," the NCB troops 
commander said.
 
 
___________________________




Confirmed Monkeypox Cases 
Hit US, Europe, Australia, 
Canada
May 20th, 11:01am (FNA)
 
Cases of Monkeypox are being investigated in
 European countries, as well as the US, 
Canada and Australia, according to 
health authorities and local 
media reports.
 
A case of monkeypox has been confirmed in
 Melbourne, while a probable case in Sydney 
remains under investigation, the Australian 
ABC News reported on Friday. 
 
Canada has confirmed its first two cases of 
monkeypox, both in the province of Quebec, 
the country's Public Health Agency said in 
a statement issued on Thursday.
 
On Wednesday, the US Massachusetts Department 
of Public Health said it had confirmed a single 
case of monkeypox virus infection in a man 
who had recently traveled to Canada.
 
Several European countries have also reported their 
first confirmed monkeypox cases, including the UK, 
Sweden, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
 
The outbreak spread in Europe after cases 
were initially reported in the UK.
 
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) 
confirmed that an individual.. has been 
diagnosed with monkeypox in England 
who has traveled from Nigeria, where 
they are believed to have contracted 
the infection, before travelling to 
the UK.
 
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs
 primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central 
and West Africa and is occasionally exported 
to other regions, according to the World 
Health Organization (WHO).
 
The WHO said monkeypox is usually a self-limited 
disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 
weeks, but severe cases can occur.
 
 PressTV adds:

Monkeypox causes fever, body aches, 
enlarged lymph nodes and eventually 
"pox," or painful, fluid-filled blisters 
on the face, the hands, and feet, 
according to medical experts.
 
Most people recover from the illness (which is 
endemic in parts of central and western 
Africa and usually the result of close 
contact with infected animals)
within a few weeks,
but it 
can be
fatal.
 
One of its versions is deemed deadly and kills 
up to 10% of those people infected, but the 
version spreading presently in the UK, is 
said to be milder with a 1% fatality rate.



_____________________________________



John Ioannidis: 'Public Health 
Officials Need To Declare 
The End Of The Pandemic'
by Tyler Durden
Authored by Ross Pomeroy
via RealClear Science,
April 2nd, 12pm (ZeroHedge)
 
John Ioannidis, a Professor of Medicine, of
 Epidemiology and Population Health and 
by courtesy, of Statistics & Biomedical 
Data Science at Stanford University, 
lauded for championing evidence-
based medicine, has been harshly 
criticized over the past two years. 
 
Like many highly-credentialed health experts,
Ioannidis made some predictions during the
pandemic that eventually proved incorrect. 
 
During a once-in-a-century pandemic replete
 with unknowns, that is to be expected. But
 perhaps.. the greatest reason he has come
 under fire is for questioning the orthodoxy 
of strict lockdowns, divisive vaccine 
mandates, and other restrictive 
measures to manage the 
pandemic. 
 
Ioannidis is sure to court more controversy with
 a new commentary published to the European
 Journal of Clinicial Investigation, in which he
 argues that it's time to declare the end of 
the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"This does not mean... that the problem is 
inappropriately minimized or forgotten, 
but that our communities move on 
with life," he writes.
 
"Pandemic preparedness should be carefully
 thought and pre-organized, but should not
 disrupt life."
 
While Ioannidis recognizes that there are 
no quantitative definitions for the end of 
a pandemic like COVID-19, he contends 
that the amount of immunity now 
present worldwide exceeds the 
threshold needed to declare 
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that 
causes COVID-19, endemic
 – constantly present but 
not a public health 
emergency.
 
"By the end of 2021, probably 73-81% of the
 global population had been vaccinated,
infected or both," he says. Pockets of 
low immunity, such as in places that 
pursued zero-COVID policies and/or 
with limited access to effective 
vaccines, may persist, causing 
regional outbreaks but we will 
likely never see COVID-19 
again trigger a global 
emergency.
 
Declaring the pandemic phase of COVID-19 
to be concluded means understanding and
 accepting a new "normal".
 
"A decrease of COVID-19 deaths back to typical
 seasonal influenza levels may not necessarily
 happen in 2022 or even beyond," Ioannidis
 cautions. "With an increasingly aging 
global population, "normal" may still 
correspond to higher death counts.. 
This should not be mistaken as a 
continued pandemic phase."
 
Easing out of the pandemicm, requires a
 widespread mental shift, as well. This 
means focusing more on indicators 
such as hospital intensive care 
admissions to guide policy, 
rather than just infections.
 
"If the perception of risk focuses on the number
 of documented cases, the spurious perception
 of emergency situations may be difficult to 
quell," Ioannidis writes.
 
Exiting the pandemic, also means reducing 
fearmongering coverage of COVID-19 in the
 popular media, the propagation of which,
 undoubtedly contributed to the public's 
warped perception of COVID's risks 
throughout the pandemic. 
 
On average, Americans believed in early 2021
that 8% of deaths had occurred, in people 
under the age of 24. The real percentage
as of today, is 0.3%. Moreover, a third of
 the population has consistently 
believed that COVID leads to 
hospitalization in over half 
of infections. During the 
most recent Omicron 
wave, the proportion
 was 3% or lower.
 
Declaring an end to the pandemic phase of
COVID-19 has benefits, Ioannidis says. For 
example.. it could allow public health
organizations... to refocus their time 
and money, on more pressing global 
health issues like poor nutrition and
hunger, which collectively claim the
lives of 9 million people each year, 
including 3.1 million children. 
 
For comparison, at least 6.2 million people have
died from COVID-19 over the past two years, 
the vast majority over age 65. Accepting
endemicity and reducing societal 
restrictions & disruptions would 
also permit economies to 
stabilize more rapidly 
..alleviating hardship, 
easing inflation and 
reducing global 
inequality. 
 
Lastly, moving on from the pandemic could 
ease some of the political divisions that 
have fractured societies across 
the globe.

drink water to reduce heart failure risk

 
 Good hydration may reduce 
long-term risks for heart 
failure – Study
by Pavel López Lazo
March 30th, 4:28pm (Prensa Latina) 
 
UK scientists strongly recommended 
staying well-hydrated to reduce the
risk 
of developing heart failure, a 
specialized source reported 
on Wednesday.
 
''Similar to reducing salt intakes, drinking enough
water and staying hydrated, are ways to support
 our hearts, and can help reduce long-term risks
 of heart disease,'' the European heart Journal
 magazine said.
 
The team assessed how hydrated the
 participants were by analyzing serum 
sodium levels which increases when
 fluid levels decrease. This can be a 
useful marker for identifying
 individuals at risk of
 heart failure.
 
The research also helped pinpoint older adults
 at higher risk of developing both heart failure
 and left ventricular hypertrophy.
 
“Serum sodium and fluid intake can easily be
assessed in clinical exams and help doctors
identify patients...  who may benefit from 
learning about ways to stay hydrated,” 
the experts said.
 
 
_______________________________


Distribution of pathogenic
materials
 from Ukraine will
lead to pandemic
-like situation
March 24th, 10:11am (TASS) 
 
Sending pathogenic biomaterials from Ukraine to Europe
...could lead to a situation comparable to the COVID-19
pandemic the chief of Russia's radiation, chemical
and biological protection force, Igor Kirillov,
said on Thursday.
 
"The current situation... with the distribution 
of pathogenic biomaterials from Ukraine to 
European countries, could result in death 
and create a hotbed of epidemiological 
instability, the scale of which would
be 
comparable to the COVID-19
pandemic," 
Kirillov said.
 
 

fat people have all kinds of risks

 Obesity may impact on 
mental and emotional
 health
by Pavel López Lazo
March 17th, 4:43pm  (Prensa Latina) 
 
A study revealed that excess weight is closely
 related to people´s mental and emotional
 health, who can suffer from depression, 
insecurity and low self-esteem, a 
specialized media reported 
on Thursday.
 
Other psycho-social damage linked to obesity
 include problems getting a job, falling asleep, 
poor sex life, social isolation, 
and discrimination.
 
Infosalus.com website pointed out that personal
looks, shape and weight are all-important
 elements in the 21st century.
 
Excessive weight and feeling bad creates more
 anxiety, we generate cortisol levels, so this 
sustained situation causes low moods, 
causing an overweight person to be 
worse off, with greater emotional 
lability which can appear with 
an uncontrollable burst 
of crying.
 
Sometimes depressed people tend to have a
 huge binge, take refuge in food; so this will 
cost much more when dating or socializing.
 
Obesity not only affects psychologically, but
 also socially, emotionally, and personally, 
experts said.
 

vitamin D3

  
Vitamin D3 helps strengthen
 defenses against Covid-19
 – Study
by Pavel López Lazo
February 24th, 7:41pm (Prensa Latina) 
 
Vitamin D3 could balance people's immune
 system and help strengthen defenses 
against viral infections including 
Covid-19, the Swiss publication 
Frontiers in Immunology 
reported Thursday.
 
In a collaborative study by the Universities of
 Surrey & Brighton, researchers investigated 
the impact of vitamin D supplements – D2 
and D3 – taken daily over a 12-week 
period on the activity of genes in 
people’s blood.
 
Those involved in the research, contrary to
widespread opinion, found significant
differences between the two vitamin 
D supplements, as they discovered 
that vitamin D2... leaves a 
questionable mark on
human health.
 
“Vitamin D3 appears to stimulate the type I 
interferon signaling system in the body –
a key part of the immune system that 
provides a first line of defense... 
against bacteria and viruses.'' 
 
Thus, a healthy vitamin D3 status may help
 prevent viruses and bacteria from gaining 
a foothold in the body,” said Professor 
Colin Smith, lead-author of the study
 from the University of Surrey.
 
“Our study suggests that it is important that
 people take a vitamin D3 supplement, or
 suitably fortified foods, especially in
 the winter months.”
 
Although some foods are fortified with vitamin
D, like some breakfast cereals, yogurts, and
bread, few naturally contain the vitamin.
Vitamin D3 is produced naturally in the 
skin from exposure to sunlight or 
artificial ultraviolet UVB light, 
while some plants and fungi 
produce vitamin D2.
 
Many people have insufficient levels of vitamin
 D3... because they live in locations where 
sunlight is limited in the winter, like the 
UK. The Covid-19 pandemic has also 
limited people’s natural exposure to 
the sun, due to people spending 
more time in their homes.
 
 
__________________________________


Withholding vaccine safety
data ‘morally indefensible,’ 
medical journal says
January 22nd,, 4:17pm (RT)
 
The British Medical Journal (BMJ), has urged public
health regulators & pharma majors to immediately
 release all raw data from Covid-19 vaccine trials
 for independent scrutiny --- arguing that
 “complete data transparency” is a 
matter of “public interest.”
 
Branding Big Pharma as “the least trusted industry,” 
a recent op-ed by BMJ editors stated that it was 
“morally indefensible” that this information
remains inaccessible to doctors, public,
and researchers -- despite the global
rollout 
of vaccines and treatments.
 
In the scathing editorial, the writers – senior BMJ
 editor Peter Doshi, former editor-in-chief Fiona
 Godlee and her successor Kamran Abbasi – 
accuse pharmaceutical companies... of 
“reaping vast profits without adequate
 independent scrutiny of their
 scientific claims.”
 
At least 3 of the many companies making Covid-19
 vaccines have past criminal and civil settlements
 costing them billions of dollars. One pleaded 
guilty to fraud. Other companies have
no 
pre-Covid track record.
 
In particular, the editorial collective calls out Pfizer,
 Moderna and AstraZeneca for not providing “timely
 access” to “anonymized individual participant
data” 
from their clinical trials. 
 
This granular data is available to regulators like the 
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which told
 a judge last month to give it 75 years to publish all
 data relating to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
 
But the BMJ said Pfizer – whose trial was “funded 
by the company and designed, run, analyzed, and 
authored by Pfizer employees” ------ has indicated
 that it will not entertain data requests until May
 2025, a full two years after the primary study
 is completed.
 
This lack of access to data is “consistent across 
vaccine manufacturers,” the editors write, 
noting that the industry is not “legally 
required” to honour requests from 
independent researchers.
 
Further, they point out that regulatory bodies like
 Health Canada and the European Medicines
 Agency, do not even “receive or analyze”
 trial data, whereas the UK’s Medicines 
and Healthcare Products Regulatory 
Agency does not “proactively
 release” such info.
 
“The purpose of regulators is not to dance to 
the tune of rich global corporations... and 
enrich them further; it is to protect the 
health of their populations,” 
they concluded.
 
 
__________________________




Ireland: To Fully Lift
 COVID-19 Restrictions
January 21st, 11:50pm (teleSUR)
 
Irish Prime Minister, Micheal Martin, announced 
that COVID-19 restrictions that have been in 
place for almost two years, are now lifted.
 
Micheal Martin, Irish Prime Minister disclosed that
 the governments decided that almost all COVID-19
 restrictions placed for about two years, are lifted.
 
Ireland is placed among the countries with the highest 
rate of COVID-19 infections in Europe, and now also, 
the continent's highest uptake of booster vaccines,
 which made possible the number of seriously ill 
people remained below the previous peak.
 
"We have weathered the Omicron storm," the minister
 stated, on Friday's televised address --- in which he
 noted, booster vaccines had "utterly transformed"
 the country's situation. "I have stood here and 
spoken to you on some very dark days. But 
today is a good day," he added.
 
Ireland was one of the most cautious countries
 in Europe about the risks of COVID-19, having 
some of the longest-running restrictions on
 travel and hospitality. According to public 
health officials' advice, the government
 decided: that bars and restaurants will 
no longer need to close at 8pm, a rule 
held late last year when the Omicron 
wave struck, or to ask customers 
for proof of vaccination.
 
The full capacity has been restored for the indoor
and outdoor events --- paving the way for full 
crowds, for next month’s Six Nations rugby
 championship. Martin highlighted that the
 measure which decreed.... the need of 
wearing masks in public places will 
remain at least until the end 
of February.  
 
The Irish hospitality sector, which has been
hit 
by one of Europe’s toughest lockdown
 regimes, has welcomed the decision.
 
[and in Wales?]


__________________________



Bye Bye, Mask and Covid Pass: 
Boris Johnson --- Announces
End 
of Plan B Restrictions
in England
January 19th, 1:43pm (Sputnik)
 
 UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced 
on Wednesday the end of the so-called Plan B
 implemented in England since December, to 
prevent the spreading of the Omicron
 variant of the SARS-CoV-2.
 
Addressing Parliament, Johnson said.. that the 
working from home guidance, the requirement
 to wear face masks, and the use of COVID 
passports, in some settings, will be 
dropped, next week.
 
"This government got the toughest decisions right,"
 the prime minister told lawmakers, adding that the
 government "will trust the judgment of the British
 people" ...when it comes to social distancing 
measures and face mask covering... to 
prevent the spreading of the virus.
 
The so-called Plan B was originally rolled out in 
December to combat the spread of the highly 
transmissible variant.
 
Reacting to the announcement, the leader of 
the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, called it an 
attempt to distract the public’s opinion on 
the crisis the prime minister is facing... 
following revelations, that he and his 
staff in Downing Street held parties 
during the COVID-19 lockdown.
 
[Rhondda Records adds - and in Wales?]
 
 
_____________________________
 
 
Booster programs... will 
prolong COVID pandemic,
 not end it, WHO chief
warns
January 17th, (various media)
 
Blanket vaccine booster programs are likely to
 prolong the COVID-19 pandemic, as inequity
 in access to jabs, could lead to more 
mutated variants that drag out the 
crisis, the head of the World 
Health Organization 
(WHO) warns.
 
[The UK and others in the West...
simply don't care, Rhondda
Records adds]



__________________________________





Cannabis could prevent 
Covid --- study claims
January 12th, 2:57pm (RT)
 
The next breakthrough in stopping Covid-19, may
 come not from Big Pharma, but from the humble
 pot plant. Researchers in Oregon in the US,
 discovered that two compounds found in
t
he devil’s lettuce can stop the virus
in
 its tracks.
 
Rather than attempting to smoke their way 
to immunity, a team of scientists at Oregon 
University isolated two compounds from 
hemp -- cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and
 cannabidiolic acid (CBDA)  -- and found 
 they bind to the coronavirus’ spike 
protein and stop it from binding
to 
the outer membrane of
human cells. 
 
This latter binding process, is normally how the
virus enters the human lungs and other organs.
 
The two compounds are precursors to CBG and 
CBD, which are widely legal, and available to 
consumers. The CBG and CBD cannabis oils 
and extracts are commonly used to treat 
anxiety, sleep disorders, epilepsy, and
wide range of other ailments. 
 
CBGA and CBDA “are not controlled substances like
 THC... the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and
 have a good safety profile in humans,” said Richard 
van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s 
Global Hemp Innovation Centre. Van Breemen 
added that these compounds “can be taken 
orally,” and “have the potential to prevent 
as well as treat infection” by 
the coronavirus.
 
Van Breemen and his team published their research in
 the Journal of Nature Products on Tuesday. However,
 they have a long way to go before doctors begin 
writing hemp oil prescriptions en masse. While
 the study found CBGA and CBDA effective 
against both the Alpha & Beta variants 
of the coronavirus, it was carried out
on 
human cells in a laboratory rather
than 
actual human test subjects.
 
Still, the scientist sees these hemp compounds
eventually being used alongside vaccines... to 
make “a much more challenging environment” 
for Covid-19. One of the main criticisms of the 
current crop of vaccines is that they use the 
original spike protein of the virus as an 
antigen, meaning that when variants
emerge... with new spike protein 
mutations, they are more likely 
to evade the protection
offered 
 by a vaccine.
 
“These variants are well known for evading antibodies
 against early lineage [Covid-19].... which is obviously
 concerning given that current vaccination strategies 
rely on early lineage spike proteins as an antigen,”
 said van Breemen. “Our data show CBDA & CBGA
 are effective against the two variants we looked
at, 
and we hope that trend will extend to other
 existing and future variants.”
 

 
_________________________________



 
 UK government gives NHS
to private companies 
to ''help''with Covid
January 10th 10:52am (PressTV)
 
The National Health Service (NHS), the publicly funded
 healthcare system in the UK, is seeking ''help'' from
private health companies to deliver critical treat-
ments... such as cancer surgery.
 
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered England's
 NHS to strike a ''3-month'' agreement with private
 health companies --- to allow patients to get 
specific treatments, as the NHS hospitals
 are ''overwhelmed'' with COVID-19.
 
David Sloman, NHS England chief operating officer
and COVID incident director, said on Monday the 
deal “places independent health providers on 
standby to provide further help should 
hospitals face unsustainable levels of 
hospitalizations or staff absences.”
 
The agreement includes Practice Plus Group, Spire 
Healthcare, Circle Health Group, and several other
 leading private companies, according to the NHS.
 
Circle CEO Paolo Pieri said the company has been
helping the NHS, since the first COVID wave in 
March 2020, performing urgent treatments 
for over 400,000 NHS patients.
 
According to the Spire Healthcare, under the agreed
deal the company “will grant NHSE access to 100%
of its facilities and teams on a local, regional or 
national basis, in the event of a surge of 
COVID-19 patients in NHS hospitals 
in England.”
 
The Spire said the deal ''expires'' on March 31st, 2022.
 
The new plan comes in the wake of the highest level of 
hospital staff absence in England, since the vaccine
 rollout began.
 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed
sorrow over the “terrible toll” of more than 150,000
deaths inflicted by the coronavirus in the UK.
 
The UK’s death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic 
has reached more than 150,100, making it the 
world's seventh worst official pandemic toll.
 
PM Boris Johnson confirmed the number and
 expressed sorrow over the fatalities last
weekend. He said the coronavirus has 
“taken a ‘terrible toll’ on the country.
 
Housing Secretary Michael Gove was at pains
to
 assert that there is mounting pressure on 
British hospitals... and the country is ''not 
yet'' in a position to live with 
the pandemic.
 
 
_______________________________________



UK care sector declares
‘red’ alert
 amid Covid
staffing shortage
January 5th, 1:42pm (RT)
 
Over 11,000 care home workers are currently unable
 to work, amid the spread of the Omicron strain, with
 staffing shortages leaving the UK sector struggling 
to cope and infections delaying hospital discharges.
 
Government data shows that, across England, 9.4% of 
care home staff are temporarily off work, with around
 3% self-isolating due to Covid. Although the figures
 could be higher, having been undercounted... due 
to the festive period and bank holiday weekend.
 
The situation has forced more than 90 care operators
 to declare a “red” alert, meaning that they don’t have
 the staff to meet patient demands. This has been
 exacerbated by a shortage of PCR tests, 
delaying workers from getting test 
results and forcing them to 
isolate at home longer 
than needed.
 
Barchester, one of the UK’s largest care home
 operators, running 250 establishments, has 
warned: that it is facing Covid outbreaks
in 
105 of its homes. Under government 
guidelines, care homes with active 
outbreaks cannot accept hospital
 discharges, creating a backlog 
and preventing the struggling
 NHS from clearing beds.
 
Staffing shortages have forced care agencies to offer
 up to £80 ($108.31) an hour for temporary staff – four
 times the normal cost – as well as resulting in homes
 poaching staff from other providers at the last minute.
 
“The spread of Omicron across the country will bring
 more care homes into outbreaks, put huge pressure
 on the already compromised staff group, and mean
 those who need care, do not get it,” said Vic 
Rayner, the chief executive of the
National 
Care Forum.
 
To address the situation, one care operator in
 Yorkshire, Mike Padgham, called on the UK
 government to establish a “volunteer 
army”... of retired nurses, doctors, 
and carers who could potentially
 fill shifts at short notice.
 
Despite the situation in care homes, the chief 
executive of Barchester, Pete Calveley, says 
that the virus is not causing serious illness
 and death among the majority of residents
 ....with most only showing “minor or 
cold-like symptoms.”
 
 
 
____________________________


 
Growing evidence that 
Vitamin K improves 
heart health
by Pavel López Lazo
January 2nd, 5:27pm (Prensa Latina) 
 
New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research 
has found that people who eat a vitamin K-
rich food... have up to a 34% lower risk of
 atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular
 disease, the US magazine 
SciTechDaily reported.
 
Researchers examined data from over 50,000
 people taking part in the Danish Diet, Cancer, 
and Health study, over a 23-year period. 
 
They investigated whether people who ate 
more foods containing vitamin K, had a 
lower risk of cardiovascular disease 
related to atherosclerosis (plaque 
build-up in the arteries).
 
There are two types of vitamin K found in foods 
we eat: vitamin K1 comes mainly from green
 leafy veggies and vegetable oils, while 
vitamin K2 is found in meat, eggs, 
and fermented foods, such 
as cheese.
 
The study found....  that people with the highest
intakes of the vitamin K1.. were 21% less likely
 to be hospitalized with cardiovascular disease
 closely related to atherosclerosis.
 
For vitamin K2, the risk of being 
hospitalized was 14% lower.
 
University of Western Australia researcher Dr. Jamie
 Bellinge, the first author on the study, said the role 
of vitamin K in cardiovascular health, and 
particularly in vascular calcification, 
is an area of research... offering 
promising hope for the future.
 
“Current dietary guidelines for the consumption of
 vitamin K are generally only based on the amount
 of vitamin K1 a person should consume, to 
ensure that their blood can coagulate,”
 explained ECU researcher and 
senior author on the study,
 Dr. Nicola Bondonno.
 
However, there is growing evidence that intakes of
 vitamin K - above current guidelines - can afford 
further protection against the development of
other diseases, such as atherosclerosis.
 
“Although more research is needed to fully
 understand the process, we believe that
 vitamin K works by protecting against 
the calcium build-up in the major 
arteries of the body leading to
 vascular calcification.”
 
“Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause
 of death in Australia... and there’s still a limited
 understanding of the importance of different 
vitamins found in food and their effect on 
heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral 
artery disease,” Dr. Bellinge said.
 
 
 
_______________________________________



Chinese Think Tank:
US Most 
Likely Origin
of COVID-19
December 25th, 1:50pm (FNA)
 
The US is most likely the country where the
 coronavirus originated and it is most 
responsible for the fast global 
spread of the deadly viral 
pathogen, according to 
a research report.
 
The report titled...  ‘US Responsible for Global Spread 
of COVID-19’ was jointly released by the Intelligence 
& Alliance Think Tank and the Taihe Institute in 
China ,on Friday.
 
China's official Xinhua news agency, published
the
 report’s findings, saying data from multiple 
sources had shown that the US was to blame
for the coronavirus out-
break as its political
manipulation of
 the disease had made the
global 
anti-pandemic efforts, difficult 
and challenging.
 
“Evidence indicating COVID-19 originated from
 the United States has kept cropping up,” the 
report said.
 
“For example, the timeline of the outbreak in the 
United States has been continuously backdated, 
the role of the US military is implicated in the 
origin and spread of COVID-19, and early 
cases, in many countries, are linked to
 the United States,” it added.
 
Calling the United States "the main force of global
 COVID-19 spread", the report said... the country 
missed the best time to contain the pandemic
 at an early stage... and its open-door policy
as well as its irresponsible 
repatriation
of immigrants... had 
exacerbated the
global spread
 of the virus.
 
Xinhua also said that the US troops stationed
 overseas have repeatedly violated epidemic
 prevention protocols and accelerated 
the transmission.
 
The country's failure to control COVID-19 in
international events, has led to "super-
spreading" of the virus and its 
unilateral sanctions have led
to a humanitarian crisis, 
according to 
the report.
 
Stressing that the US political manipulation has made
 the global fight against the pandemic more difficult,
 the report said the country shirked responsibility 
for pandemic prevention, which undermined 
international anti-pandemic efforts.
 
“The United States has been obsessed with political
 self-interest and evaded due responsibility,” Xinhua
 cited the report as saying, adding that political
 polarization harmed both America and the
 world at large.
 
Underlining that the US should abandon its obsession
 with political self-interest, and reflect on epidemic
 prevention and control, the report called on the
 country to stop politicizing the coronavirus 
and undermining international anti-
pandemic cooperation.... and 
 actively share its vaccines 
with the world.
 
It also urged the US, to conduct origins tracing
 research in a scientific manner and facilitate 
global economic recovery, so that the 
COVID-19 pandemic will be 
eventually defeated.
 
The theory that the contagion had leaked from a 
Chinese lab was originally hyped up by, among
 others...  the administration of former US 
President Donald Trump, as part of his 
hawkish anti-China policies.
 
Since infecting its first victims in the central Chinese
 city of Wuhan, in late 2019, the pandemic has 
spread to nearly every country across the 
globe, causing more than 278 million 
infections and nearly 5.4 million 
deaths worldwide.
 
Last week, Trump said the US should make China pay
for the COVID disaster, demanding that the US tariffs
 on Chinese goods be increased “very substantially”
 as reparation payments for the chaos unleashed
by 
the virus.
 
China has repeatedly called on the US to give a full
 clarification on its bio-military activities at home 
and abroad, a matter of concern shared by 
Russia and others.
 
 
 
___________________________________
 

Doctor who flagged Omicron 
advises against harsh
 restrictions
December 14th, 1:23pm (RT)
 
There is ''no need'' to impose tougher restrictions over
 the Omicron variant as the cases are “predominantly
 mild”, the head of South Africa Medical Association
 Dr. Angelique Coetzee, has said.
 
The South African GP was the first medic who raised
 concern about the new Covid-19 variant four weeks
 ago. Answering questions of the UK Parliament’s
 Science & Technologies committee on Tuesday, 
Dr Coetzee said... that “we don’t have all the 
answers” and that “we need to see how
 this virus progresses”.
 
However, the current picture shows that Omicron is a
 “mild disease”, & less dangerous than Delta variant,
 thought it might be more transmissible, she added.

 Dr Coetzee said that the existing data, though 
limited, shows that the symptoms in Omicron 
patients, even in those who are hospitalized,
 are milder, they get better quicker & there
 have been no cases of long COVID in 
these patients.
 
Therefore, she noted that, before imposing travel bans
 and other tough restrictions, it would make sense for
 governments to take measures internally:  to get 
more people vaccinated, make sure that they 
are wearing masks, avoid crowded places, 
and keep social distance.
 
Saying that South Africa is “still on the same level of
 restrictions”, she underlined that “we don't see 
the need for stricter restrictions."
 
“The virus is everywhere. Maybe, in a way, we
 need to learn how to live with this,” she said.
 
Earlier, in an article for Daily Mail, Dr. Coetzee was
 even more straightforward.. in her criticism of 
what she called “knee-jerk reactions”, to the 
news of discovery of the new COVID variant. 

The UK was one of the first countries to
 impose bans on travel from South 
Africa in the aftermath of the
 announcement.
 
“Indeed, I am disappointed by such knee-jerk
 reactions. They bear no relation to what we
are seeing in surgeries in South Africa, 
where people rarely even discuss 
Omicron.

As one Twitter user 
commented:
'Covid's become a UK neurosis’”,
 she wrote.
 

impotent vapers?

 
Study names major 
risks for vapers
December 1st, 2:36pm (RT)
 
Men who vape or use e-cigarettes are more than twice
 as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than those
 who have never used the popular nicotine-based 
smoking alternatives, a new study has found.
 
The study, which analyzed self-reported data from 
almost 14,000 US men aged between 20 and 65, 
found that regular e-cigarette users were 
around 2.2 times more likely to 
experience impotence than 
non-smokers. 
 
The findings were published in the American
 Journal of Preventive Medicine on Wednesday.
 
The risk was found to be 2.4 times greater in a smaller
 sample of men younger than 65 – with normal body
 mass indexes and no history of heart disease – 
when compared to non-vapers. The study did 
not include data on whether the respondents 
were taking medications that can raise the 
risk of erectile dysfunction.... such as 
antidepressants or heart medication.
 
Researchers noted the “abundant evidence” already 
linking smoking and nicotine to sexual dysfunction 
and theorized that the particularly high level of
 nicotine in vaping liquid reduces blood flow 
to the penis and interferes with the normal 
functions of blood vessels, though they
 didn’t definitively prove the link.
 
Nonetheless, the study’s authors – from New York
 University and Johns Hopkins University – noted 
that vaping enthusiasts needed to be warned 
about the potential impact on their 
sexual health.
 
Citing research based on rodent models, the
 researchers also noted that another 
“plausible” link was exposure to 
e-cigarette “refill liquids.. with or 
without nicotine.” These contain 
chemicals that may reduce 
testosterone levels in the 
human body and impair 
normal erectile function.
 
“Overall, e-cigarettes are likely less harmful than
 smoking cigarettes to the degree that they 
substitute cigarette smoking,” the study’s 
lead author, Omar El Shahawy, told Insider. 
He added that men who view vaping as a
 healthier alternative should try to “limit”
 the habit as it is “simply not risk free.”
 
The study comes as England gears up to become
 the first country to prescribe e-cigarettes as a 
method to help smokers kick the habit. In 
October, the UK’s Medicines and Health-
care products Regulatory Agency issued
 updated guidance.. that would allow the 
products to be offered through the NHS.
 
But El Shahawy warned that the relationship 
between vaping and impotence needs to be 
“fully investigated” in further studies. The 
study did not detail whether the risk of 
erectile dysfunction was comparable 
to that posed by smoking.
 
 
 
________________________________



Report: Tens of Thousands
Missed 
Cancer Referrals
in UK ''
Due to COVID-19''
December 1st, 11:43am (FNA)
 
 The NHS may be missing more than 9 million 
referrals, while patients face - a “postcode 
lottery” for cancer treatment and routine
 operations, a parliament watchdog
has warned.
 
Millions of patients... have either avoided, or been 
unable to obtain healthcare during the pandemic
leaving the NHS with a potential unknown back-
log of operations, which could push the 
national waiting list to 12 million by 
2025, The Independent reported.
 
A report from the government’s National Audit Office,
on Wednesday, also warned that patients across 
England are facing a postcode lottery in terms 
of waits - with some hospital waiting lists far
 larger than others following the pandemic.
 
The findings come ahead the government’s plan to
 tackle the NHS’ treatment and surgery backlog, 
which is expected to be published this week. 
In November the NHS recorded its highest 
ever waiting list, at 5.8 million.
 
According to the NAO’s analysis NHS services in 
Birmingham and Solihull have racked up the 
longest waiting lists - with 51 percent of 
patients waiting more than 18 weeks, 
compared to 20 percent in Surrey.
 
Birmingham and Solihull also had the worst for 
cancer waiting times according to the data, 
with 57 percent waiting more than three 
months compared to Surrey, Kent 
and Cornwall.
 
The NAO said variations may reflect, differences in
 areas, such as poverty levels and rates of routine
 operations, prior to March 2020, as well as the 
direct impact of the pandemic.
 
The findings come after NHS data in November,
 revealed the number of patients waiting more
 than two years for treatment following a 
referral, rose to a record 12,491.
 
The report also estimated there were between 240,000
 and 740,000 “missing” urgent GP referrals for 
patients with suspected cancer between 
March 2020 and September 2021 and 
up to 60,000 patients, missing first 
treatments, in the same period.
 
The NAO warned, “The NHS was doing more work
year-on-year, before the-pandemic, but the 
demand for its services was increasing... 
even faster. To keep pace, it would have 
needed either more beds and more staff 
or a different way of working, or most 
likely, a combination of all three.”
 
When COVID-19 first hit England, the NHS rapidly
 agreed a deal with 27 private sector hospitals to
 carry out routine operations.... amid fears 
hospitals would be overwhelmed.
 
Under this national contract, during 2020-21, the NHS 
will have paid £2.1 billion to private sector providers
in return for 3.3 million completed treatments,
according to the NAO’s report.
 
Between March 2019 and February 2020, 
independent providers carried out 8% 
of routine operations for the NHS.
 
Following the pandemic... the NAO said there was
“sharp” reduction in operations carried out by 
private sector hospitals in the initial stages of 
the pandemic but that this increased to pre-
pandemic levels from June 2021.
 
It is not clear how many operations and treatments
 were expected to be carried out by private 
providers under the £2.1 billion contract, 
and NHS England has never officially 
released this information.
 
However, in November last year, the Health Service
 Journal reported just one third of capacity paid 
for by the NHS in private hospitals was used 
following the first pandemic wave.
 
Eve Byrne, head of campaigns and public affairs,
at 
Macmillan Cancer Support, said, “This report
 confirms what we hear --- day in, day out, from 
people living with cancer.... Chronic staffing 
shortages are already having a devastating 
impact on cancer patients, and we have
 major concerns that is only set to 
worsen without urgent action."
 
She said the government’s plan to tackle 
the operations backlog must be backed 
up by steps.... to ensure enough 
nursing staff.
 
“Without these critical pieces of the puzzle, we 
risk increasing numbers of people facing later
 diagnoses, poorer care and potentially worse 
chances of survival. This has to change,” 
she added.
 
As part of its recommendations the NAO has said 
the government, NHS England and education 
body Health Education England, should 
develop a detailed plan to address 
shortages in the workforce over 
the next 12 months to 3 years.
 
The recommendation comes just after the government 
rejected an amendment to the Health and Care Bill by
 MP Jeremy Hunt which would have required the
 Secretary of State for Health and Care to 
publish independent assessments of 
NHS workforce gaps, every 2 years.
 
Dr Tim Mitchell, vice president of the Royal College 
of Surgeons of England said, “The NHS faces huge 
challenges as staff continue to treat COVID-19 
patients, while trying to reduce the vast 
waiting list for planned care.
 
He called for the government’s upcoming plan to
 include guidance --- on how it would set up 
“surgical hubs” and separate planned 
surgery from emergency care... to
allow 
for operations to continue
safely 
during the pandemic.
 
The royal college vice president added, “Also we urge
 the government to amend the Health and Care Bill, to
 ensure there are independently verified assessments
 of workforce numbers. It will take investment both
in
 surgical hubs and staff to bring waiting times
down
 to acceptable levels.”
 
An NHS spokesperson said, “Treating more than half 
a million patients in hospital for COVID...  as well as 
delivering a world-leading vaccination programme,
has inevitably had an impact on some routine and
non-urgent care, yet, since the pandemic began, 
the NHS has performed millions of routine 
procedures, and over 450,000 people 
have started treatment for cancer."
 
“NHS staff are now pulling out all the stops to recover
 elective activity levels, making good use of additional 
resources to open new surgical hubs and diagnostic
 centres, develop innovative ways of working and
 perform more operations, tests, checks and 
scans, so anyone who is concerned about
 their health should come forward so the
 NHS can help you,” the spokes-
person added.
 
(Rhondda Records adds: and in Wales?)



__________________________


Long-term efficacy of Russian 
Sputnik V jab revealed
November 24th, 6:32pm (RT)
 
The Russian-made Sputnik V Covid vaccine 
has demonstrated high long-term efficacy, 
according to data collected in San Marino.
 
 The jab remains around 80% effective 
against the disease 6 to 8 months 
after being administered.
 
The data was revealed on Wednesday by the 
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the 
sovereign wealth fund which bankrolled
 the vaccine’s development.
 
Evaluation of the vaccine’s performance is based 
on analysis of real-world experience obtained in
 the Republic of San Marino. About 70% of the
 microstate’s 34,000-strong population have
 received the Russian-made vaccine.
 
“The data is based on the number of Covid infections
 in San Marino, in November 2021. Efficacy was
 calculated based on data obtained from over 
18,600 individuals fully vaccinated with 
Sputnik V not less than five months 
before November,” the RDIF said
 in a statement.
 
The analysis shows that the vaccine remained some
 “80% effective against coronavirus infection from 
6 to 8 months, after administering the second 
dose.” Hospitalization rates among those
 Sammarinese who got vaccinated with 
Sputnik V have been extremely low, 
with “only 0.75 per 1,000 people” 
ending up in hospital, over the 
span of the mass vaccination 
campaign, from February
to 
November 2021. 
 
“This rate is more than two times lower than that 
of any other vaccine used in the country,” the
 RDIF noted.
 
“Efficacy of Sputnik V in 6-8 months, is much higher
 than the officially published efficacy of mRNA
vaccines,”
 the fund added.
 
Multiple studies have raised the alarm: about the
 waning efficacy of mRNA vaccines - with the US
Pfizer jab in particular, faring rather poorly over 
a long period of time. According to a study, 
bankrolled by Pfizer itself - and published 
in the leading medical journal the Lancet
-- the jab demonstrated 88% efficacy in
 the first month, after full vaccination, 
dropping to only 47% after 5 months. 
 
The study was based on analyzing a large amount
 of data, harvested during vaccination campaigns 
in the US.
 
A competing mRNA vaccine, the Covid-19 shot by
 Moderna, another US company, has apparently 
shown significantly better long-term efficacy 
than Pfizer’s shot. According to the firm’s 
own claims, the jab remains some 93%
 effective... six months after full 
vaccination, compared to the
 shot’s initial efficacy of 94%.
 
These estimates have been corroborated by 
research from the US Centres for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).
 
The research showed the Pfizer jab’s efficacy 
falling from 91% to 77% over the 120-day 
period after vaccination, compared to 
Moderna’s shot -- demonstrating a
decline from 93% to 92% during 
the same period.
 
An analysis of effectiveness of the mRNA shots over
 a longer period of time, however, has produced
 worrying results. According to a study, based 
on data from of nearly 800,000 US veterans 
and published in the Science journal early 
this month, both Pfizer and Moderna jabs
 demonstrated ''a major decline'' in
efficacy,
 over a 7-month period. 
 
While effectiveness against the disease was 
some 89% for Moderna and 87% for Pfizer 
in March, it dropped to 58% and 43% 
respectively, by September.
 
 
___________________________________
 
 
 
Assisted death...
only for vaccinated, 
euthanasia association says
November 24th, 9:21am (RT)
 
Anyone wishing to be euthanized now, has to first
 present proof of vaccination, or recovery from 
Covid, as per the new guidelines issued by 
Germany's euthanasia association.
 
A statement put out by the Hamburg-based group on
 Friday reads... “assisted suicide and the preliminary
 examination of a patient’s ability to make decisions
 freely implies physical closeness between people. 
However, that is precisely the precondition for
the 
spread of Covid.”
 
In February 2020, Germany's top court overturned 
a ban on providing euthanasia as unconstitutional.
 
A number of German regions have put in place strict
 curbs, banning the unvaccinated from most public
 places. Across the country, only recovered or 
inoculated people can enter restaurants, 
museums, and similar venues, while 
those even with a negative Covid 
test cannot. Amid the surge in 
cases, the German states of 
Saxony and Bavaria have
 both cancelled.... all 
Christmas markets.
 
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, told her fellow 
party members on Monday that the current wave 
of Covid in Germany, was worse than any 
previous one, and called for stricter 
measures to contain it. 
 
The country’s health minister, Jens Spahn, went 
even further, claiming that “by the end of this 
winter, everyone in Germany will either be 
vaccinated, recovered, or dead.”
 
Those statements came as the seven-day infection
 rate per 100,000 people broke a new grim record 
on Wednesday, reaching the 404.5 mark.... as 
reported by Germany’s disease control and
 prevention authority, the Robert Koch 
Institute.
 
 
 
______________________________________



 
Covid jab compensation 
claims soar in Australia
November 17th, 3:15pm (RT)
 
Australia’s government could be forced to spend tens
 of millions in payouts - after receiving over 10,000
 compensation claims from people who suffered 
side effects and a loss of income, due to 
Covid-19 vaccines.
 
Under a no-fault indemnity scheme, eligible claimants 
can apply for compensation amounts... of between 
AU$5,000 (US$3,646) to AU$20,000 (US$14,585) 
to cover medical costs and lost wages, as a 
result of being hospitalized, after getting 
the shot. The scheme’s online portal 
is scheduled to be launched 
next month.
 
Official figures suggest, however, that over 10,000 people
 have already indicated their intention to make a claim, 
since registration opened on the health department’s
 website in September. If each claim was approved, 
the government could face a bill of at least 
AU$50 million (US$36.46 million).
 
There were around 78,880 adverse events to Covid-related 
vaccination in Australia as of November 7th, according to 
the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which regulates
 national health products. The majority of side effects 
were minor, including headaches, nausea, and 
arm soreness.
 
Only people who experienced a moderate to significant 
adverse reaction that resulted in a hospital stay of at 
least one night are eligible for coverage under the 
government’s scheme. Those seeking $20,000 
or less have to provide proof their claims are 
vaccine-related – although there has been 
no information, as yet, on exactly what 
evidence would be acceptable.
 
“Adverse events, even though they happen to a tiny
 proportion of people, for the people it does impact
 it’s really quite devastating,” Clare Eves, head of
medical negligence at injury compensation firm 
Shine Lawyers, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
 
Among the adverse reactions covered... are the blood 
clotting disorder “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia
 syndrome (TTS)” linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine 
and... the “myocarditis and pericarditis” heart 
conditions associated with the Pfizer vaccine.
 
 Other reportedly accepted side effects are Guillain-Barré
 syndrome, a rare neurological condition, and immune
 thrombocytopenia (excessive bleeding due to low
 platelet levels).
 
Claims for over $20,000, including those for vaccine-
related deaths, will be assessed by an independent
 legal panel of legal experts and compensation 
paid on its recommendations. Nine people 
have reportedly died after an adverse 
reaction to one of the 3 vaccines
 in the country.
 
Eves told the Morning Herald that her firm was 
representing a number of litigants over the 
vaccine side effects, including several 
who are not eligible for the scheme.
 
 
 
_______________________________



Ambulance Logjams Leave 
Patients Dying With 12,000 
Annually Suffering 'Severe 
Harm', Says NHS Report
November 15th, 3:30pm (Sputnik)
 
Although the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is 
known to have struggled for a long time to meet 
'recommended ambulance response times' for 
patients who have suffered a stroke or severe
 burns – classified as Category 2 – in recent 
months some patients have been forced to
 wait for nearly an hour, after calling 999.
 
Increasingly long times to hand patients arriving in 
ambulances, over to the Accident & Emergency 
department (A&E) are resulting in more people 
either dying or suffering a permanent setback
 to their health, according to a damning report 
by the UK NHS ambulance service.
 
Long periods of waiting before patients can be admitted
 to hospitals --- because of bed shortages caused by 
COVID-19, delays in discharging patients and 
record demand for care, could be affecting 
up to 160,000 patients annually, said the
 report, cited by the  daily newspaper, 
the Guardian.
 
Clarifying that a typical handover, takes much longer 
than the projected 15 minutes, an estimated 12,000 
of the aforementioned patients, suffer “severe 
harm”, stated the document, drawn up by the 
Association of Ambulance Chief Executives
 (AACE) and based on official NHS figures. 
 
The conclusions were drawn after all handover delays 
of more than an hour, spanning 10 ambulance trusts 
on January 4th - and the ensuing harm – had been 
analysed.
 
The data was used to estimate... how many patients 
annually suffer a deterioration in their health, or a 
condition necessitating more invasive treatment 
such as surgery, as a direct result of 
waiting times.
 
“When very sick patients arrive at hospital and then have 
to wait an excessive time for handover to emergency
 department clinicians to receive an assessment and 
definitive care, it is entirely predictable and almost 
inevitable that some level of harm will arise. This 
may take the form of a deteriorating medical or 
physical condition, or distress and anxiety, 
potentially affecting the outcome for 
patients and definitely creating a 
poor patient experience,”
states 
the document.
 
Those patients who finally get admitted to hospital after
 languishing in the back of an ambulance or waiting in 
their home after dialing 999, are increasingly not 
saved - because paramedics are overwhelmed 
at A&E departments.
 
Although stopping short of saying how many patients 
die annually because of ambulance logjams, the 
report is cited as adding:
 
“We know that some patients have, sadly, died while 
waiting outside ED [emergency departments], or 
shortly after eventual admission to ED, after
a wait. Others have died while waiting
for
 an ambulance response in 
the community.”
 
The AACE report also estimated that because of the 
pressure that hospitals are under, about 190,000 
handovers a month – around half the total –
take
 longer than they should.
 
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth was cited
 by the outlet as deploring the scale of harm being 
done to patients thanks to “years of Tory NHS 
neglect”. In the wake of the report, a 
Department of Health and Social 
Care spokesman was cited 
as saying:
 
“We are committed to supporting ambulance crews who 
work tirelessly, responding to emergencies every day. 
NHS England and Improvement, has given ambulance 
trusts an extra £55 million to boost staff numbers for 
winter, helping them to bolster capacity in control 
rooms and on the frontline.”
 
The UK Department of Health and Social Care, also stated 
it had pledged support to the NHS to meet unprecedented 
challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic. It cited 
record investments this year, including an extra 
£5.4 billion over the next six months to support
the  COVID-19 response, and £36 billion for 
“health and care over the next 3 years”.
 
 
 
______________________________________





Latest scientific discovery may
 lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s
November 15th, 11:11am (RT)
 
A team of scientists from the UK and Germany has
 managed to reverse memory loss in mice...  and 
says the treatment could, potentially, lead to a 
breakthrough in fighting Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Researchers used the “humanized” therapeutic 
antibody called TAP01_04, and the vaccine 
called TAPAS.
 
According to a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, 
both drugs triggered “a striking reduction” in the 
formation of harmful deposits of protein, that 
prevent communication between neurons 
of the human brain.
 
Previous drugs for Alzheimer’s have a similar 
mechanism, but have shown little success 
and have sometimes produced negative
 side effects.
 
One of the study’s authors, Mark Carr, a professor 
from the Institute of Structural and Chemical 
Biology at the University of Leicester, said, 
“While the science is currently still at an 
early stage, if these results were to be 
replicated in human clinical trials,
 then it could be transformative.”
 
The researchers are now looking for a
commercial 
partner to run the anti-
body, and the vaccine, 
through
clinical trials on humans.
 
 
_______________________________



UK: NHS Waiting List at Record High
as 5.8mln Still Waiting for Treatment
November 11th, 2:14pm (FNA)
 
 More than 5.8 million patients were waiting for routine
 surgery by the NHS, in England, by the end of 
September, new data revealed.