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Effects of Meditation and Music-Listening on Blood Biomarkers of Cellular Aging and Alzheimer's Disease. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Spiritual Sports Medicine & Nutrition

Posted on June 22, 2021 at 7:55 AM Comments comments (0)

Abstract

Background: Telomere length (TL), telomerase activity (TA), and plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) levels have emerged as possible predictors of cognitive decline and dementia.

 

Objective: To assess the: 1) effects of two 12-week relaxation programs on TL, TA, and Aβ levels in adults with subjective cognitive decline; and 2) relationship of biomarker changes to those in cognitive function, psychosocial status, and quality of life (QOL).

 

Methods: Participants were randomized to a 12-week Kirtan Kriya meditation (KK) or music listening (ML) program and asked to practice 12 minutes/day. Plasma Aβ(38/40/42) and peripheral blood mononuclear cell TL and TA were measured at baseline and 3 months. Cognition, stress, sleep, mood, and QOL were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.




 

Results: Baseline blood samples were available for 53 participants (25 KK, 28 ML). The KK group showed significantly greater increases in Aβ40 than the ML group. TA rose in both groups, although increases were significant only among those with higher practice adherence and lower baseline TA. Changes in both TL and TA varied by their baseline values, with greater increases among participants with values ≤50th percentile (ps-interaction <0.006). Both groups improved in cognitive and psychosocial status (ps ≤0.05), with improvements in stress, mood, and QOL greater in the KK group. Rising Aβ levels were correlated with gains in cognitive function, mood, sleep, and QOL at both 3 and 6 months, associations that were particularly pronounced in the KK group. Increases in TL and TA were also correlated with improvements in certain cognitive and psychosocial measures.

 

Conclusion: Practice of simple mind-body therapies may alter plasma Aβ levels, TL, and TA. Biomarker increases were associated with improvements in cognitive function, sleep, mood, and QOL, suggesting potential functional relationships.

 

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cognition; memory complaints; mind-body therapy; mood; plasma amyloid-β; quality of life; sleep; subjective cognitive impairment; telomerase; telomeres.



Indexed for NIH Pubmed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library 


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30320574/

Spiritual Fitness: A New Dimension in Alzheimer's Disease Prevention. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Spiritual Sports Medicine & Nutrition

Posted on June 22, 2021 at 7:50 AM Comments comments (0)

Abstract

Background: Religious and spiritual interventions may have an effect on Alzheimer's disease prevention. Kirtan Kriya meditation has been shown to mitigate the deleterious effects of chronic stress on cognition, reverse memory loss, and create psychological and spiritual wellbeing, which may reduce multiple drivers of Alzheimer's disease risk.

 

Objective: To detail a new concept in medicine called Spiritual Fitness, a merging of stress reduction, basic wellbeing, and psycho/spiritual wellbeing to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

 

Methods: The literature on the topics mentioned above is described, including an in-depth discussion on why and how each are critical to advancing the future of Alzheimer's disease prevention. The many negative effects of chronic stress, and the benefits of Kirtan Kriya, are reviewed. The four pillars of basic wellbeing, six practical aspects of psychological wellbeing, and the four new non-sectarian features of spiritual fitness are then disclosed. Moreover, instructions on practicing Kirtan Kriya are offered in the Supplementary Material.




 

Conclusion: Religious and spiritual practices, including Kirtan Kriya, are crucial components in the development of enhanced cognition and well-being, which may help prevent and, in some cases, reverse cognitive decline. The key point of this review is that making a commitment to live a brain longevity lifestyle including spiritual fitness is a critically important way for aging Alzheimer's disease free. We hope that this article will inspire scientists, clinicians, and patients to embrace this new concept of spiritual fitness and make it a part of every multidomain program for the prevention of cognitive disability.

 

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease prevention; kirtan kriya meditation; neurotheology; peace of mind; psychological well-being; purpose in life; spiritual fitness; spiritual well-being; spiritual/religious involvement; unlimited love 



Indexed for NIH Pubmed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library 


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33554917/

ADIDAS: IN 2021, FOR THE FIRST TIME, MORE THAN 60 PERCENT OF ALL PRODUCTS WILL BE MADE WITH SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

Posted on June 19, 2021 at 6:15 AM Comments comments (0)

ADIDAS: IN 2021, FOR THE FIRST TIME, MORE THAN 60 PERCENT OF ALL PRODUCTS WILL BE MADE WITH SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS


Herzogenaurach
DECEMBER 28, 2020

 

Ranging from football jerseys made with recycled polyester to the vegan version of the iconic Stan Smith – in 2021, for the first time, more than 60 percent of all adidas products will be made with sustainable materials. This means, for example, that they will be made with recycled polyester or consist of sustainable cotton. With that, adidas moves closer toward its objective to end plastic waste. From 2024 onward, adidas will shift to using only recycled polyester. Since 2018, the company has been using exclusively sustainable cotton. 

“Sustainability is an integral part of the adidas business philosophy. We have continued to invest in sustainability initiatives during the coronavirus pandemic and we will significantly expand our range of sustainable products in 2021. To this end, for example, we have worked with our suppliers to create the structures that make it possible to process recycled materials on a large scale. Not only does our commitment make adidas more sustainable, but it also drives the development of the whole industry,” said adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted.






An overview:

For the first time in 2021, adidas will use more than 60 percent recycled polyester in its products. From 2024 onward, adidas is committed to using only recycled polyester.
Since 2015, adidas has been collaborating with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans. In 2021, adidas aims to produce 17 million pairs of shoes with recycled plastic waste collected from beaches and coastal regions, after more than 15 million in 2020.
adidas is continuously expanding its vegan product offer and completely renounces the use of fur.
In cooperation with partners, adidas is developing plant-based leather, recycled cotton as well as a particularly climate-friendly running shoe.
In partnership with the company’s suppliers, adidas aims to achieve global climate neutrality by 2050 and in its entire supply chain.
Company-owned photovoltaic systems with a current installed capacity of 1.4 megawatts generate green electricity. adidas has reduced its overall carbon footprint at its company sites by more than 50 percent compared to 2015.
Sustainability also for investors: adidas placed its first sustainability bond.
COOPERATION WITH ‘PARLEY FOR THE OCEANS’ TO PROTECT THE OCEANS
In 2015, adidas and Parley for the Oceans together presented the first shoe made with Parley Ocean Plastic at the United Nations in New York. Since then, adidas has produced many millions of pairs of such shoes made with recycled plastic waste from beaches and coastal regions. In 2020 alone, within the framework of this partnership, adidas and Parley have collected almost 7,000 tonnes of plastic waste – corresponding to around 350 million plastic bottles*. Using this waste, adidas aims to produce around 17 million pairs of shoes, among other products, in 2021, after producing more than 15 million pairs in 2020. 

*Basic assumption: average weight of 20 grams per PET bottle

ADIDAS EXPANDS POLYESTER RECYCLING RATIO TO OVER 60 PERCENT
In addition to the Parley products, adidas is increasing the amount of recycled materials used in its overall product range. The share of recycled polyester has reached a percentage of 
over 60. The ‘Primeblue’ and ‘Primegreen’ labels mark products made with recycled materials. While offering full functionality and durability in sports, they avoid waste and preserve natural resources. 

From the beginning, adidas designers consider the later reusability of their product in its development: The Ultraboost DNA Loop, which was raffled off to interested consumers in October 2020 for the first time, is made from one single material from sole to laces and is welded without glue. Once the shoe reaches the end of its life cycle, it can be shredded to pieces and reused. In the spring of 2021, adidas will launch the successor in a larger volume. 





Furthermore, regarding cotton, adidas is participating in the development of recycled materials. In a research cooperation with Infinite Fiber, a Finnish start-up company, adidas and additional partners strive for developing a process to transform used clothes into a cotton-like material.

VEGAN PRODUCTS CONTRIBUTE TO ANIMAL WELFARE
For adidas, sustainability means using less plastic and less animal material. In 2020, adidas launched vegan versions of several classics such as the adidas Stan Smith, which quickly became bestsellers. This year, adidas seeks to break new ground: Together with partners, adidas is developing a new material, a purely biological leather alternative made from mycelium, and will use it for the very first time in the creation of footwear. In addition, adidas has committed to ‘Vier Pfoten’, an animal protection organization, to completely ban furs from the manufacturing of its products.

Reebok follows suit with a growing number of sustainable products on offer. The Forever Floatride GROW is made from natural materials such as algae, eucalyptus trees and natural rubber. Already in 2018, the brand introduced a plant-based shoe – the Cotton + Corn.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE PROTECTION 
adidas has teamed up with footwear manufacturer Allbirds to create the world’s lowest climate footprint sports shoe. Manufacturing and transportation of this shoe are intended to include reusable materials as well as renewable energies.

At its corporate sites, adidas operates its own facilities to generate environmentally friendly energy. Alongside several photovoltaic systems with an overall peak capacity of around 1.4 megawatts, the company operates a modern facility for combined electricity and heat generation at its headquarters in Herzogenaurach. In the Rieste distribution center (Lower Saxony), the company uses biomass for heating. The overall carbon footprint of all company sites has been reduced by more than 50 percent compared to 2015.

adidas is working closely together with its suppliers to implement climate and environmental protection measures at the sites of partners in the supply chain. Various projects with suppliers aim to reduce carbon emissions and water consumption as well as preserve an intact environment. adidas sets its own standards, which often go beyond legal requirements at the locations of manufacturing. Since last year, adidas has committed to the so-called ‘Science-based Targets’, allowing independent external partners to evaluate the climate goals of the company. The objective: reach climate neutrality by 2050, globally and at all suppliers. 

STAYING FAIR IN CHALLENGING TIMES
The coronavirus pandemic is a huge challenge for suppliers as well. adidas remains a reliable partner, adhering to all agreements and supporting the manufacturers with know-how regarding the implementation of enforced hygiene measures. Adhering to labor rights remains a top priority. Accordingly, in November 2020, the renowned Corporate Human Rights Benchmark ranked adidas as the best company worldwide in the apparel industry with regard to ensuring human rights and labor rights in the supply chain. 

SUSTAINABLE OFFERS FOR INVESTORS 
Sustainability is vastly becoming important for investors: the adidas sustainability bond amounting to € 500 million issued in September 2020 was five times oversubscribed. Proceeds from the offering will be used in endeavours such as procuring recycled materials, investing into renewable energy production and supporting underrepresented communities.

Product Reviewers, Fitness Models & Athletes Wanted at Arnico Apparel/Underground Intelligence Muscle & Fitness/Dragonfly Kingdom Models & Athletes. 10-40% Off plus Free Promotion. - Dragonfly Kingdom International Service Agency

Posted on June 17, 2021 at 6:45 AM Comments comments (0)





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Ultraviolet Irradiation of Blood: The Cure That Time Forgot? DNA damage in host cells can be rapidly repaired by DNA repair enzymes. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Bright Star Apothecary Complimentary Integrative & Alternative Medicine

Posted on June 13, 2021 at 11:30 AM Comments comments (0)

HHS Public Access

Ultraviolet Irradiation of Blood: “The Cure That Time Forgot”?

Michael R. Hamblin

 


 

Abstract

Ultraviolet blood irradiation (UBI) was extensively used in the 1940s and 1950s to treat many diseases including septicemia, pneumonia, tuberculosis, arthritis, asthma and even poliomyelitis. The early studies were carried out by several physicians in USA and published in the American Journal of Surgery. However with the development of antibiotics, UBI use declined and it has now been called “the cure that time forgot”. Later studies were mostly performed by Russian workers and in other Eastern countries and the modern view in Western countries is that UBI remains highly controversial.


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This chapter discusses the potential of UBI as an alternative approach to current methods used to treat infections, as an immune-modulating therapy and as a method for normalizing blood parameters. No resistance of microorganisms to UV irradiation has been reported, and multi- antibiotic resistant strains are as susceptible as their wild-type counterparts. Low and mild doses of UV kill microorganisms by damaging the DNA, while any DNA damage in host cells can be rapidly repaired by DNA repair enzymes. However the use of UBI to treat septicemia cannot be solely due to UV-mediated killing of bacteria in the blood-stream, as only 5–7% of blood volume needs to be treated with UV to produce the optimum benefit. UBI may enhance the phagocytic capacity of various phagocytic cells (neutrophils and dendritic cells), inhibit lymphocytes, and oxidize blood lipids. The oxidative nature of UBI may have mechanisms in common with ozone therapy and other oxygen therapies. There may be some similarities to extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) using psoralens and UVA irradiation. However there are differences between UBI and ECP in that UBI tends to stimulate the immune system, while ECP tends to be immunosuppressive. With the recent emergence of bacteria that are resistant to all known antibiotics, UBI should be more investigated as an alternative approach to infections, and as an immune-modulating therapy.

 

Keywords: Ultraviolet C, Knott hemo-irradiator, UBI, DNA repair, Blood cells, Antigen-presenting cells, Infections, Cytokines......


Indexed for NIH by Dragonfly Kingdom Library


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6122858/

Enhancing the Alternative Cellular Energy (ACE) Pathway with KELEA Activated Water as Therapy for Infectious Diseases. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Spiritual Sports Medicine & Nutrition

Posted on June 13, 2021 at 10:05 AM Comments comments (0)

Abstract

Many infectious diseases have yet to be conquered by modern medicine. This is generally attributed to both a failure of the immune system and the lack of an effective anti-microbial pharmaceutical. Infections can be regarded as a competitive process between the microbe and the host for cellular energy-generated resources. Cells obtain energy not only from the metabolism of food but also from the alternative cellular energy (ACE) pathway. This pathway utilizes an environmental force termed KELEA (kinetic energy limiting electrostatic attraction), which provides an added kinetic/chemical energy to the body’s fluids.


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The ACE pathway can be enhanced through the use of KELEA activated water, which is currently available under different names from several sources. Enhancing the body’s ACE pathway, including the use of a wearable waterceutical™ , provides a novel means of potentially increasing the body’s resistance against all infectious diseases.

 

Keywords: ACE Pathway; Alternative Cellular Energy; KELEA Activated Water; Waterceutical; Stealth Adapted Viruses 


Indexed for NIH Pubmed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32066365/

Cells obtain energy not only from the metabolism of food but also from the alternative cellular energy (ACE) pathway. This pathway utilizes an environmental force. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Bright Star Apothecary Complimentary Integrative & Alternative

Posted on June 13, 2021 at 10:00 AM Comments comments (0)

Cells obtain energy not only from the metabolism of food but also from the alternative cellular energy (ACE) pathway. This pathway utilizes an environmental force termed KELEA (kinetic energy limiting electrostatic attraction), which provides an added kinetic/chemical energy to the body’s fluids. The ACE pathway can be enhanced through the use of KELEA activated water, which is currently available under different names from several sources.


Indexed for Bentham Science Publishers/NIH Pubmed by Dragonfly Kingdom Library

Government data shows rising OOP spending for consumers, but excludes some types of health-related items and services that add significantly to the total amount and consumer share of spending. Examples include nutritional supplements and complementary

Posted on June 8, 2021 at 8:35 AM Comments comments (0)

Government data shows rising OOP spending for

consumers, but excludes some types of health-related items

and services that add significantly to the total amount and

consumer share of spending. Examples include nutritional

supplements and complementary and alternative medicine.



https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/life-sciences-health-care/us-lchs-dig-deep-hidden-costs-112414.pdf

Integrative medicine to tackle the problem of chronic diseases. - Dragonfly Kingdom Library/Bright Star Apothecary Complimentary Integrative Alternative Medicine/Underground Intelligence Muscle & Fitness

Posted on June 8, 2021 at 8:00 AM Comments comments (0)


Rustum Roy



Abstract


This article summarizes important ways that integrative medicine can contribute to resolving the global health crisis with special reference to the US. Research using modern methods of analysis of cellular changes at the epigenetic level has shown that diet and lifestyle interventions greatly improve the state of patients’ health. Estimates have been given that up to 75% of all US health costs can be saved by these methods, particularly if applied preventatively. It is thus vital that active steps are taken to implement such programs, to reduce costs to citizens and society alike, as well as to Government.

Keywords: Chronic disease, diet, epigenetics, health care crisis, integrative medicine, lifestyle





INTRODUCTION


It is almost proverbial to state that, with almost 20% of the average citizen's life spent chronically ill, the American dream is now marred by poor quality of life in old age. At the cost of enormous research efforts in many countries in the last 50 years, medical science has won major extensions of lifespan, but these are all but negated by the failure to tackle the chronic disease problem.[1–5] The prospect of spending an average 16 years out of a four score year life expectancy in pain and misery is not pleasant to say the least. Several questions come to mind. How can the human misery involved be averted, or at least diminished? How can its costs be reduced – both for citizens and society, for the individual and for the state? Can anyone concerned with human suffering doubt America's need to enfranchise all its citizens into adequate healthcare?

The Institute of Medicine (IOM)[6] states that ‘Across the world, improving health is not merely an academic exercise; it is of the utmost importance. We seek to make a real difference in the world by providing advice to decision makers’.[7] It believes that its work can make a significant impact on the health of not just the US, but the whole world. Earlier this year, in conjunction with the Bravewell Collaborative, the IOM hosted a ‘Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public’.[8] A recent article in the Wall Street Journal declared that ‘This (meeting) is a watershed in the evolution of integrative medicine, a holistic approach to healthcare that uses the best of conventional and alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture and herbal remedies. Many of these therapies are now scientifically documented to be not only medically effective but also cost effective.’[9]

In the US, the coauthor of ‘Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis’[10] former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, in concert with President Barack Obama, has stated that ‘To make affordable healthcare available to the 45 million Americans without health insurance, we must address fundamental causes of health and illness, and provide incentives for healthy ways of living rather than reimbursing only drugs and surgery’.[11] Their declaration points the way to a new approach to healthcare involving prevention, rather than waiting for the individual to fall sick.

President Obama's election campaign Health Plan[12] openly acknowledged that the US is suffering a huge chronic disease epidemic. In proposing a preventive medicine remedy for the crisis, it emphasized, ‘An increasing number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of which can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely’.[13]

Roughly three quarters of U.S. healthcare costs arise from five of the most costly diseases. A high proportion of that 75% is now known to be preventable by changes in diet and lifestyle, respectively, known in Ayurveda as Ahara and Vihara. Key papers by Professor Dean Ornish, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founding President of its Preventive Medicine Research Institute have shown this to be true.[14,15]

SCIENCE OF DIET AND LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS
To impact the progress of chronic disease, Ayurveda has long held that specific stressors at the root of degenerative processes driving its progress must be identified and removed. It maintains that, once this is done, our bodies’ remarkable capacity to begin healing will begin to take effect. The studies by Ornish[14,15] specifically support this thesis, which is also supported by other research.[16–18] An intriguing question from the perspective of western science is why this should be possible. Allopathic medicine tends to propagate the viewpoint that the only hope for cure of a condition lies in a drug intervention.

If there is now substantial evidence to the contrary (or at least the beginnings of it), it is time to ask such questions as, ‘How, in scientific terms, could this be possible?’ ‘How can the physical body, left to itself in optimal circumstances, eliminate pathology without external assistance?’ ‘What could make the circumstances optimal?’ ‘What kinds of disease, and what levels of pathology can be treated by such means?’

While it is beyond the scope of this article to answer such questions fully, it is clear that they must be considered fundamental to the scientific investigation of Integrative Medicine – because in its simplest and earliest definition, Integrative Medicine was simply described as a system of medicine, which regarded the whole person, including body, mind and spirit, to be of fundamental importance; that neglect of this fact does patients substantial damage and can even have a nocebo effect; and because of this, pathology responds better when a Holistic approach is taken, and people are treated as persons, rather than as biochemical machines.




The fact of spontaneous recovery is well known. The placebo effect is now one of the best established effects known to modern scientific medicine – because all random control trials are placebo controlled. Integrative medicine recognizes this, and ensures that patients have the benefit of a placebo effect that they are surely entitled to expect, rather than it being negated for some reason.

The fact that spontaneous recovery is possible is well understood, and certain aspects of how to induce it and negate it. Recent scientific studies[14–17] indicate that it works far more rapidly than previously imagined. But to promote it most effectively, lifestyle factors that have provoked the development of a patient's chronic condition MUST be addressed. The body's natural healing abilities, activated in the placebo effect, can then be promoted. These studies indicate, therefore, that our health and well-being can be vastly improved by integrative medicine. Observing these rules will make significant differences to the power of any therapy, increasing the rapidity with which its influences are felt......


Indexed for NIH by Dragonfly Kingdom Library

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