TORONTO, April 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CB2 Insights (CSE:CBII; OTCQB: CBIIF) (CB2 or the Company), has announced that it has officially launched its newest division Skylight Health Group (SHG) as part of its clinical operations in the United States. SHG will immediately provide a range of integrated health services from primary medical care, to consultative specialist care, alternative health, wellness & multi-disciplinary services and products to its growing patient population. SHG services are reimbursable in accordance with the rules, regulations and requirements by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as other private health insurers within each operating state where its physicians, practitioners and patients will be able to enjoy the benefits of an expanded service offering. Under most insurance models, patients typically pay a nominal co-pay amount, however most of the cost of the visit is covered by the health insurer. This structure means the Company can expand its services to patients at limited to no-cost to the patient directly. The primary focus of the SHG will be to provide a broad array of primary and alternative healthcare services including family/specialty medicine and interdisciplinary services focusing on comprehensive care, chronic disease management and health promotion/education.

Skylight Health Group will be a substantial addition to our existing methodology of treating patients holistically, with an integrative patient-centric approach to support their overall health outcome goals, said Prad Sekar, CEO, CB2 Insights. Building on our current infrastructure of existing clinics, patient base and clinical team, we will introduce the SHG model over the next 12 months into each of our current locations, starting with Maine, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Integrative Health is a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar industry and our goal has always been to understand how various traditional and complementary alternative medical treatments intersect to have a positive improvement on patient health.

CB2 Insights currently has over 30 clinical locations in 12 states and employs a clinical team of more than 150 clinical staff and medical professionals. With over 100K patients seen a year and over 500K patients evaluated since 2013, SHG aims to become a leader in Integrative Medical Services nationwide. With a broad, established infrastructure, the Company is able to launch the new division with very little investment, thus remaining committed to strengthening its cash position from revenue from operations with a goal of near-term profitability by Q2. Revenue from SHG will be in addition to the current clinical operations and will expect to match and surpass such revenue in the coming years. SHG contribution of positive cash flow will support capital to invest in growth.

Sekar continued, Today marks a hallmark moment for us as an organization as it is a testament to where we have come from, and where we are building towards. Both my co-founder, Kash Qureshi and I have spent the last 15 years owning and operating large, multi-speciality health practices across multiple disciplines and we are proud to now integrate that experience further into CB2. For over 5 years, we as an organization have been helping patients navigate their health journey through a collaborative approach. Our openness to alternative treatments, namely medical cannabis, has demonstrated our ability and willingness to work outside conventional treatments to support improvements in patient outcomes in an ever-evolving medical sector.

The Integrative Medical market in the US is reported to be around $18B with a strong growth trajectory forecasted over the next 10 years. Further, insurable services through the CMS, are expected to reach $6T by 2027, according to a report on National Health Expenditures by the CMS. This illustrates strong support for future healthcare funding of which CB2 Insights will benefit from by provisioning qualifiing services to its growing patient base.

In addition to the launch of services within SHG, the new division will also place a strong focus on research and clinical trials. There are over 8K active clinical trials in progress in the United States with leading academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Expansion into traditional healthcare services enables the Company to actively participate in these trials, leading to increased revenues and credibility as a Contract Research Organization.

More information can be found on http://www.skylight.health. The Company looks forward to continuing to expand on its services to patients, growing its patient base, and making a significant improvement in the overall health and well being of patients across the US.

About CB2 Insights

CB2 Insights (CSE:CBII) is a global leader in clinical operations, technology & analytics solutions and research and development services with a mission to understand the intersection between traditional and alternative medical practices. Providing immediate market access through its wholly-owned clinical network across 12 jurisdictions, proprietary data-driven technology solutions and comprehensive contract research services designed for those in both the medical cannabis and traditional life sciences industries, CB2 Insights is able to support its partners across the entire data and research spectrum.

CB2s Clinical Operations business unit leverages extensive experience to develop clinical models with standard operating procedures, advanced workflows, training and ongoing management support. CB2 also owns and operates its own specialty clinics including the brands Skylight Health Group, Canna Care Docs and Relaxed Clarity which assess nearly 100,000 patients seeking integrative medical care, and immediate market access to US-based product manufacturers for clinical trial and research programs.

The Company has built analytical models using Real-World Data and Evidence to support the understanding of Safety, Efficacy and Dosing for alterative treatment therapies including medical cannabis for use by health care practitioners, regulatory bodies, researchers and other manufacturing partners to execute their data and clinical strategies.

CB2 also offers comprehensive contract research organization (CRO) services including full scale clinical trial management, trial design, monitoring and other key research functions used by licensed producers, multi-state operators and traditional pharmaceutical companies.

For more information please visit http://www.cb2insights.com.

For additional information, please contact:

Investor Relations Department1.855.847.4999 ext. 212investors@cb2insights.com

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in CB2s filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding the opportunity to provide services and software to the U.S. cannabis industry.

Although CB2 has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are subject to inconsistent legislation and regulation; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and recreational-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change.

There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. CB2 disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and CB2 does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein.

No securities regulator or exchange has reviewed, approved, disapproved, or accepts responsibility for the content of this news release.

Excerpt from:
CB2 Insights Introduces Insurable Medical Services to Patients in the United States with Launch of Skylight Health Group - GlobeNewswire

Matt Jeffs DPT, PSM, CEAS, is doctor of physical therapy, safety management professor, ergonomic specialist educator and principal faculty at The Back School. He has experience in public speaking, broadcasting and leadership and he specializes in verifiable work-injury reduction and risk mitigation. He has been recognized for his award-winning clinical excellence in sports/orthopedics rehab and industrial medicine. Dr. Jeffs can be reached at [emailprotected]

Safety Professionals, health care practitioners, and human resource providers face common goals in creating healthier environments for our workforce, while improving U.S. industrys bottom line. Evidence-based, cost-saving programs must improve short-term health and fiscal outcomes all while fostering long-term, health-driven organizational culture.

Members of any workforce use their bodies to feed themselves, their families, and their communities. By these criteria, they are professional athletes in the purest sense.

At the 2020 National Ergonomics Conference and Expo workshop participants will learn that applying a Sports Medicine perspective to industrial workplaces creates a cultural shift by elevating workforce self-image and self-responsibility.

In turn, it enhances leadership communication and workforce cooperation. The common goal of a healthier, more productive workplace that is highly competitive on the international playing field is thus realized.

The conventional U.S. health care model is failing U.S. business and its workforce.

U.S. employers of all sizes are struggling to stay afloat amidst crippling health care insurance and workers comp benefit costs.

Larger, self-insured Fortune 500 companies have long realized the tremendous savings accrued by investing in upstream, prevention medicine protocols. Even smaller employers, or companies with multiple scattered and rural facilities have broken into the trend.

Occupational medicine now targets primary care to better shift efforts where prevention can build value: over outdated, reactive modes of intervention.

Seven of the most common chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental disorders are linked to behavioral or environmental risk factors.

Many of these conditions can be mitigated and even avoided if people make better choices. Things like balanced diets, engaging in stress reduction and physical fitness, and the overall purposeful engagement in life must be actively modeled for employees, not just passively lectured.

Between the insured workforce members and an increasing primary physician shortage, it will only become more difficult for employees to access the preventive health care they need outside of work.

Employers must leverage convenient and quality protective care for their employees. Their bottom line and marketplace survival depends on it. Focus must move beyond occupational disease management, into integrative medical engagement. The result will be an even healthier, more productive workforce at a lower cost.

Sports medicine provides a recognizable influence on workforce and businesses with an integrated, holistic approach by focusing on preparation and maintenance to remain competitive in our global marketplace and building a team mentality.

Integrative medicine itself is grounded in the definition of health. It seeks to restore and maintain health and wellness across an employees lifespan. It recognizes and understands the full range of influences that affect workforce wellbeing.

This concept goes beyond the treatment of symptoms. It addresses all causes of illness as well as immediate and long-term health. The complex chemistry between the two are addressed head on. We no longer kick the can.

However, this sports/integrative medicine model is not the same thing as alternative medicine. Thats an approach utilized in place of conventional therapies. Nor is it complementary medicine, which is used to supplement sometimes dangerous or overly aggressive allopathic tactics.

Occupational athletics sports/integrative Medicine interventions are the least invasive whenever possible. First Do No Harm. Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new models. The broader concepts of health promotion and safety protection are paramount. This is how we roll in sports and industrial arenas.

Occupational athletics strategies foster development of healthy behaviors and skills for effective self-care. This method is well established in top medical schools: Over the past two decades, there has been documented growth in the number of clinical centers providing integrative medicine, the number of medical schools teaching integrative strategies, the number of researchers studying integrative interventions, and the number of patients seeking integrative care.

Physical Demand Analysis: Its what we do in Sports Medicine. Measuring and recording the physical requirements of job titles. Assessing the workforce, the work and the worksite. Here is where we capture the lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, kneeling, squatting, climbing, standing, walking, gripping, etc. It begins and ends with performance.

Physical Demand Ergonomic Consult: Ergonomic Analysis reveals task-level opportunities for improvement. The work task analyses reveal hidden exposures before harm can be done. Exposures are identified, codified and engaged to reduce risks and prevent injuries. Ballplayers use sound techniques and PPE, why shouldnt Occupational Athletes?

Physical Demand Coaching: Targeted instruction and practical strategies to increase workforce knowledge and problem-solving skills are taught. An onsite or telehealth clinician may lead instruction from one worker to one hundred at a time. Just like position coaches in team sports some aspects of the info are general, while others are job title specific.

Physical Demand Pre-Screening: Choosing the right person for the job. Its as important to industry as it is to professional sports. Physical Demand Analysis data (lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, etc.) is applied in a round-robin test. It identifies an applicants ability to safely perform the physical tasks of their job title. Professional sports use scouting combines in just this manner to evaluate recruits.

Physical Demand Triage: Clinicians can offer advice based on workforce concerns or supervisor requests. They coach appropriate movement patterns, posture and rest, strategies to reduce fatigue, and improve safe performance. Its the sidelines assessment where Occupational Athletes are seen in real-time, then safely returned to the game.

Physical Demand RTW Screening: RTW determinations are based on the original Physical Demand Analysis data (lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, etc.). It is most often performed to identify a workers ability to safely return to the full duty tasks of their job title. This is the data-driven foundation of the sidelines assessment. Nothing is left up to guesswork.

Physical Demand Rehab: Evaluation and treatment by a licensed clinician in partnership with a physician. Rehab is based on Physical Demand Description data. The clinician develops a job-specific treatment plan based strictly on that job titles physical tasks. Only those job demands. Outdated Lost Time rubberstamp prescription practices are eliminated.

Physical Demand Benchmarking: Ongoing assessment of RTW abilities are monitored in real time. Capabilities are continually compared to job title or transitional work. Matching of abilities with temporary work or the original job tasks ensures rapid results. This is a tried-and-true sports medicine method to gauge game readiness.

Physical Demand Accommodation: Used for case resolution, maximum medical improvement (MMI) determinations, vocational rehab planning, disability ratings or reasonable accommodation. This test measures safe capabilities compared to job task demand data, making it more legally defensible as an objective measure.

The Occupational Athletics continuum is entirely performance and achievement oriented. Its a closed-loop system of continuous quality improvement.

We coach people up; Applied (Plan, Do, Check & Adjust) Deming Cycle Kaizen methodology is delivered in a sports medicine fashion. The original job analysis and description is updated (often biannually). Savvy employers use it to develop successful strategies to improve workforce retention, morale and significant cost savings.

This is the same process utilized in clinical sports medicine throughout the U.S. to keep athletes at peak performance. Here, we take the same concepts and methods to keep our industrial workforce at the identical high level. It instills some of the very same strut-and-swagger we see in our sports athletes and thats a good thing.

A proud athlete is an engaged and invested athlete. We do the same for the workplace. We call it team building. &

Matt Jeffs will be presenting at The National Ergonomics Conference and Expo an affiliate of Risk & Insurances parent organization, The Institutes which will take place August 25-28, 2020 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. Register today.

More here:
Workplace Ergonomics and Sports Medicine: Why They're a Perfect Fit - Workers Comp Forum

By Caroline Colonna

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for several thousand years in China to combat epidemic diseases.

Doctors Zhang Zhong-Jing (150-219 CE) and Ye Gui (1666-1745) are the main TCM doctors who organized their respective diagnostic frameworks "cold-induced disorders" (Shang Han) and "warm diseases" (Wen Bing) to treat epidemic diseases that arose in China.

There have been over 320 large-scale epidemics in China in the last 2,000 years. As our population keeps soaring and travels globally, epidemics can easily turn into pandemics especially with a virus that is extremely contagious like the one that causes COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and the Chinese government are now encouraging the use of TCM to treat COVID-19 as research papers abound showing its efficacy. TCM was very efficacious in treating SARS as both SARS-CoV (SARS) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) are coronaviruses with 96 percent genome identity.

Based on the current research and my 22-year clinical experience at Willow Clinic using the TCM diagnostic frameworks referred to above, I feel that I can help my community prevent and treat early signs of COVID-19 using TCM.

Prevention Stage: This flu is preventable if we all work together to mitigate its spread. Due to its extremely high level of contagion and the fact that we now know that at least 25 percent of COVID-19 cases display no symptoms, our best way to mitigate the spread is through strict hygiene, social distancing and wearing a face mask in public.

If one thinks about COVID-19 in terms of "Game of Thrones" military strategy, COVID-19 is the Army of the Deads with the White Walkers marching, social distancing and wearing masks is the closing of Winterfeld gates and going underground to hide. TCM herbs are the dragonglass stones that can kill the progressive invasion of the virus into the body and Valyrian steel swords are the acupuncture needles that keep patients from falling to the virus.

The Journal of Integrative Medicine published February 13, 2020 concludes that "Chinese herbal treatments classically used for treating viral respiratory infections may contain direct anti-2019-nCoV compounds." We may not have a cure for completely eradicating corona-type viruses yet but we can keep most people from developing serious symptoms and ultimately possibly save lives.

I encourage all of my patients to seek TCM herbal teas which contain most of the herbs identified by the latest studies to combat COVID-19. Again, the TCM herbal teas have been used in China for thousands of years and I have used this method of treatment successfully in my clinic for the past 22 years to fight the seasonal flu.

Early symptoms: If someone develops flu-like symptoms that may or may not be COVID-19, TCM can help by treating the early symptoms of the flu or the allergies that those symptoms may be. Sneezing, a temperature, chills, sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue and lethargy are early symptoms. Do not disregard such symptoms. Anti-viral herbs in the TCM herbal teas can stop the virus in its tracks. The earlier one uses the anti-viral herbs the more effective the action of the herbs.

Difficulty breathing and pneumonia are not early symptoms. If someone experiences these symptoms it is time to go to the hospital. Western medicine is much better equipped for the pneumonia stage of COVID-19.

These are difficult times for us all. Traditional Chinese medicine can help in the prevention and early treatment of symptoms. TCM can also help with the emotional discomfort emanating from these uncertain times. Some of the conditions TCM can help with include: depression, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD and more.

In conclusion, I would say that staying positive, physically distant from one another and wearing a mask in public are the most important actions everyone can take now. TCM is an effective way to prevent and treat the flu in general and can help mitigate COVID-19 spread by preventing and treating early symptoms.

Dr. Caroline Colonna has been a doctor of Oriental medicine at Willow Clinic of TCM for the past 22 years.

Read the rest here:
Opinion: Benefits of traditional Chinese medicine to combat disease - taosnews

The ranking measured 79 anatomy/cell biology departments in U.S. medical schools.

The Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham continues its rise in the top tier of U.S. anatomy/cell biology departments.

The departments 2019 National Institutes of Health funding of $16,479,206 is ranked No. 4 in the nation out of 79 anatomy/cell biology basic science departments, according to a newly released report. Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., professor in the UAB CDIB department (pronounced see-dib), had the third highest NIH funding out of 821 principal investigators in the anatomy/cell biology departments, with funding of $6,600,693. Bamman is director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine.

While being ranked fourth is exciting and well deserved, said Brad Yoder, Ph.D., professor and chair of CDIB, I think the most important thing to recognize is that this is really a reflection of the exciting, innovative and impactful research that the faculty in CDIB are directing and that our trainees are performing. CDIB is one of the basic science departments in the UAB School of Medicine.

Two other CDIB researchers were in the top 100 in NIH funding in 2019, with more than $1 million Yoder and Qin Wang, M.D., Ph.D., a CDIB professor. Fourteen other CDIB researchers had NIH funding in 2019, that averaged $464,000.

In 2017, CDIB ranked 14th in NIH funding, and in 2018, the department ranked ninth, according to annual reports of NIH funding compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

The research excellence of the CDIB department is partly the fruit of a 2012 merger of two former basic medical science departments at UAB.

Brad Yoder, Ph.D., Qin Wang, M.D., Ph.D., and Marcas Bamman, Ph.D.That merger between the former Department of Cell Biology and the Department of Physiology and Biophysics is really one of the major strengths that has contributed to our growth and high performance, Yoder said. We have a highly collegial and collaborative faculty with highly diverse research programs that span from very basic studies of how proteins fold and move around a cell, or how cells communicate with each other, to clinical studies that have direct impact on human health. This diversity has brought groups together to work on common biological problems from very different perspectives.

This interdisciplinary collaboration supports one of the pillars of UABs strategic plan, Forging the Future the pillar of research, innovation and economic development.

At the time of the merger, UAB President Ray Watts, M.D., who was then the medical school dean, said, The basic sciences cell biology, physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology and neurobiology are where breakthroughs in cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders often begin. The new department will leverage existing strengths of two faculties to help us move even faster toward the development of new treatments.

At UAB, Bamman holds the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation School of Medicine Endowed Professorship in Regenerative and Translational Medicine, and Yoder holds the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation Endowed Chair in Biomedical Research.

Excerpt from:
UAB Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology ranks fourth in nation for NIH funding - The Mix

Your circadian rhythm is controlled by the release of substances like the hormone melatonin, which can make you feel sleepy, says functional medicine doctor Heather Moday, M.D.

There's a whole cascade that happens when you get out of your normal circadian rhythm. It affects your light/dark schedule, which can put your mealtime and exercise routine out of sync, too, says Winter. Basically, something as seemingly minor as going to bed whenever you feel like it can throw a lot of things in your life out of whack.

Changing up your bedtime can also make you feel more tired, even if you're sleeping in the next day. "When you alter a sleep schedule more than an hour difference, your body feels tired because your circadian rhythm has not been synced," says double-board-certified integrative medicine doctor Amy Shah, M.D.

But fatigue is only one thing you might deal with if your bedtime is all over the place. "Everything from our digestion, immune system activity, and hormones are regulated by our sleep-wake cycles," Moday says. Getting out of a good sleep rhythm when you're also stressed out (like most of the world is at this moment) can even increase your risk of getting sick, Moday points out. And that's really not something you want to mess with right now.

Read the original post:
The 2 Alarms You Should Be Setting Every Day During Quarantine - mindbodygreen.com

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has said it will allow firms that use its intellectual property to manufacture items for containing COVID-19 to defer payments for up to six months.

These will include diagnostic kits, personal protective equipment, drugs and health equipment.

In this time of grave crisis, it is desirable that technology licensing and knowledge licensing for technology and products developed by CSIR is facilitated enabling mass production, according to a note from the organisation.

Currently the 38 labs of the organisation have 41 dedicated technologies to deal with the pandemic.

They include a paper strip-based test to detect the virus, various kinds of hand sanitisers, a pre-fabricated makeshift hospital and a 3-D printed ventilator.

Being a publicly funded organisation, technologies developed by the CSIR are generally available to the industry on a non-exclusive licensing basis, that is any company can earn the right to manufacture and sell a product provided they pay a technology fee.

The clause for deferred royalty/upfront payment and co-branding will be included as an integral part of the agreement, according to the note.

CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande told The Hindu that the deferment would not apply if a firm planned on exporting such equipment.

The organisations thrust areas are on developing diagnostic kits. The paper-based test uses gene editing technology to rapidly test for the presence of the virus and is being validated for mass manufacturing.

Mr. Mande said the organisation was working to develop serology or antibody tests that were cheap and could be quickly deployed for checking prevalence of the disease in community settings.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Monday suspended contracts to deploy 6,00,000 antibody tests after they reported inconsistent results from field tests.

Three CSIR laboratories were already part of the network of government laboratories involved in testing for the disease. These were the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine and the Institute of Microbial Technology.

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CSIR to let firms defer fee on use of its technology - The Hindu

Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Coronavirus RNA airborne, but unlikely to be infective: Study

Scientists in China have found genetic fragments of the virus that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in airborne droplets in medical and staff areas during the outbreak in February and March in two Wuhan hospitals, but they stopped short of saying the disease is airborne. Read more.

Tremendous gain in Covid-19 situation, considerable relaxations after May 3, hints Centre

The Centre has indicated that after the Covid-19 lockdown ends on May 3, there will be considerable relaxations in many areas.The Centres announcement - the first such official indication of what to expect after May 3 - came hours after the government relaxed the norms for migrant movement. Read more.

Nations that mandate TB vaccine may have lower Covid death rates

Countries that mandate the Bacillus Calmette-Gurin (BCG) vaccine for newborns to prevent tuberculosis, including India, Peru, Portugal and Saudi Arabia, have fared 3.4 times better on the Covid-19 fatality rate (CFR) than nations that havent made the vaccine obligatory. Read more.

Antiviral drug remdesivir could hold promise in fight against Covid-19: Study

An investigational antiviral drug could hold promise in devising a treatment for Covid-19. In a trial, evaluating 5-day and 10-day dosing durations of the drug remdesivir in coronavirus patients, it was found that the administration of the drug in patients with a severe manifestation of Covid-19 achieved improvement. Read more.

Happened due to a misunderstanding: Kamran Akmal on Asia Cup clash with Gambhir

Pakistans wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal has been known in cricketing circles both for his ability with the gloves and bats as well as for being a chatterbox behind the stumps. Read more.

Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie on Irrfan Khans death: I remember the intensity of his commitment, and his smile

Hollywood actors Natalie Portman and Angelina Jolie have shared condolences on the death of Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan. He died on Wednesday in Mumbai at 53. Read more.

Facebook hits record 3 billion monthly users on its services

Facebook earlier today reported its Q1 2020 earnings where the company witnessed a slow growth owing to the pandemic.It however hit a record 3 billion monthly users who are on its suite of apps including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Read more.

RIP Irrfan Khan: The actor par excellence and his famous quotes on society, work and the craft of acting

As we bid adieu to the master of the craft, here are some of his famous lines that he shared on acting, life, success, society, hope and just being human at the end of the day. Read more.

Covid-19: India begins testing possible cure on patients at PGI Chandigarh

Indias premier scientific research body announced Covid drug trial. CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicines director spoke on the trials. Sepsivac, a new drug used against sepsis, being tried on Covid patients. There are going to be 3 different kinds of trials on various sets of patients. Watch here.

Read this article:
News updates from Hindustan Times: Coronavirus RNA airborne, but unlikely to be infective, shows Study... - Hindustan Times

Two Israeli researchers, one at UC Berkeley and the other at Israels Ben-Gurion University, have discovered a mechanism that may be responsible for some of the cognitive decline associated with aging. Not only that, they may have identified how to reverse that process, using a drug developed by a Menlo Park chemist.

Its super exciting, said Daniela Kaufer, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. Its the sort of thing you dream to find in your career.

Kaufer, who came to California to study at Stanford, and longtime Israeli research partner Alon Friedman have been looking for years at the brain-blood barrier, which serves as a filter for the brain. While blood and whats in it circulates around the body fairly freely, the brain is very selective in making sure nothing harmful comes through the barrier.

In the brain, you dont want that, Kaufer said. Its the control system.

Now, in two papers published in December, theyve presented their research on the way the blood-brain barrier changes with age and how to reverse the negative effects. Kaufer explained that the mechanism that keeps the brain filtering the blood stream can degenerate with age, the case for an estimated 60 percent of people over age 70, she said. Most people, young people, they dont have it.

Kaufer and Friedman had earlier discovered that the blood-brain barrier functioned poorly when someone was under stress or injured, which could account for a host of symptoms associated with head trauma, strokes or epilepsy. Older brains resemble injured brains in many, so it was natural for the scientists to turn their attention to aging, as well.

Its the sort of thing you dream to find in your career.

About 10 years ago, Kaufer and Friedman found that the most common protein in the blood, albumin, caused inflammation when it leaked into the brain after head trauma. Recently the two infused albumin into the brains of young mice and saw that it made them resemble older mice with cognitive decline. In mice, that means being bad at mazes and other tasks. They then tested senile mice to see whether blocking the mechanism (first through genetic manipulation, then using the drug developed by Barry Hart, a medicinal chemist at pharmaceutical company Virobay) could make their brains function as if they were young again.

The answer was, yes, Kaufer said. You could.

Conceivably this discovery, culminating decades of work, could lead to therapies for the aging human brain.

Kaufer and Friedman started their collaboration in the mid-90s in Israel, when Kaufer was a grad student at Hebrew University and Friedman was an army physician. Both had full-time jobs, but in the evenings they did their own research, looking at the impact of stress on the blood-brain barrier. That led to their discovery of the cause of Gulf War syndrome, until then a mysterious condition among soldiers who had been given a drug to protect against chemical weapons. The drug was not supposed to pass the blood-brain barrier, but stress had made it vulnerable, they learned. It was a new concept.

Weve almost stumbled into it, to look at this from a different angle, Kaufer said.

Now that theyve established the connection between inefficient filtering and cognitive decline, they are thinking about how to use it to help people. One possibility is to use Harts drug to prevent the inflammation caused by a leaky blood-brain barrier. To that end, Kaufer, Friedman and Hart have set up a Bay Area company to research the drug further, a necessary step to bring the medicine to market. Although theres no way to rush a discovery like this into clinical use, Kaufer said she is motivated to make it happen as soon as possible.

We were getting a lot of emails and calls from very desperate people and family members as news of their papers hit the media, she said, calling it heartbreaking.

Kaufer hopes with the body of research she, Friedman and their collaborators in the field have developed over the past two decades, the drug may reach the first phase of trials within 18 to 24 months.

Thats optimistic, she admitted. But Im hoping, Im hoping.

Excerpt from:
Israeli researcher's work may be key to reversing aging's cognitive decline - The Jewish News of Northern California

CLAIM

"smoking may protect against COVID-19"

DETAILS

Inadequate support: Some studies have found a disproportionately low number of smokers among COVID-19 patients. However, these studies have not provided direct evidence that smoking is actually protective against COVID-19.Overstates scientific confidence:: The hypothesis that nicotine from cigarette smoking lowers ACE2 expression in cells is not confirmed. Furthermore, several studies have shown that smoking actually increases ACE2 expression, which theoretically would increase risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Preliminary studies showing a disproportionately low percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patients have led to suggestions that smoking protects against COVID-19. However, these studies have not demonstrated a causal association between smoking and a reduced risk of either SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 disease severity. Much more research is needed before any causal association can be established. Furthermore, the established science indicates that smoking increases the risk of developing respiratory infections and complications in general.

SUMMARY Claims that smoking might protect against COVID-19 have been reported in several media outlets. Although many outlets, such as The Times and Franceinfo, urge caution towards such suggestions, still others have promoted smoking as a preventative measure against COVID-19. Such claims are currently going viral with more than 410,000 interactions on Facebook in April 2020.

Some of the evidence used to support this claim includes preprintsreports of studies that have not been peer-reviewed or formally published. These include a data analysis of five Chinese studies[1], a study by Miyara et al. based in France[2], a study in New York[3], and a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[4], which all report a disproportionately low number of smokers among COVID-19 patients compared to the general population.

Some scientists have proposed that this means that smoking actually protects against COVID-19 infection and severity[1,2]. Researchers involved in the French study proposed in a separate preprint that the nicotine contained in cigarettes might reduce the expression of ACE2[5], a receptor located on the surface of certain cells in the body which SARS-CoV-2 targets for entry[6], which would theoretically make it more difficult for the virus to infect cells.

Scientists acknowledged to Health Feedback that this observation of fewer smokers than expected among COVID-19 patients is interesting and requires further investigation. Josef Penninger, professor and director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia, said that This is an interesting correlation that has been also noted in earlier published data from China. Ankit Patel, a nephrology fellow at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, also found that the suggestion that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors could modulate SARS-CoV-2 neuroinfection is interesting. However, he cautioned that this has yet to be tested.

Penninger also pointed out that these studies have not provided evidence that smoking reduces ACE2 levels in cells, and that the proposed mechanism by Changeux et al. is not supported by current evidence. There are also data that claim that smoking induces ACE2 expression and hence this should actually make the disease worse, cautioned Penninger.

Indeed, numerous studies have already shown that smoking actually increases ACE2 expression[7,8,9,10], highlighted Stephanie Christenson, a pulmonary specialist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Therefore, the ability of the virus to bind and infect cells would actually be increased with smoking/nicotine, she said. Michael Farzan, professor at Scripps Research Institute, came to the same conclusion, saying that The abundance of evidence suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity.

As of yet, no published or preprint studies have provided enough evidence to establish a causal association between smoking and COVID-19 infection rate and/or severity. A commentary by clinical pharmacologist Ivan Berlin and colleagues examined the potential relationships between COVID-19 and smoking in six studies, all from China[11].The largest study comprised nearly 1,100 patients[12], however the remaining five studies included relatively small numbers of patients, ranging from 40 to 200[13-17]. As such, Berlin et al. concluded that the the number of cases in most studies to date is very low, making it difficult to draw conclusions either way.

In the preprint of the French study by Miyara et al., the authors examined 343 inpatients and 139 outpatients who tested positive for COVID-19[2]. They reported finding a disproportionately small number of daily smokers among COVID-19 in- and outpatients, and suggested that current smokers have a lower probability of developing serious COVID-19 illness.

However, the French study contains significant weaknesses. For example, smoking status is not the only factor that might influence the clinical course of COVID-19. Age and pre-existing medical conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, can also adversely affect the clinical course of COVID-19. While the preprint did report the prevalence of such conditions within the combined study cohort of inpatients and outpatients, it did not report age or disease prevalence according to smoking status. It is therefore unclear whether the non-smoking group comprised more older individuals and/or those with pre-existing health conditions than the other, which might have influenced the results.

When comorbidities and age arent taken into account, it appears that smoking is protective, but when these variables are appropriately factored into analyses, these associations do not hold up[18,19]. This COVID-19 study does not appropriately factor in comorbidities. Indeed, in appropriately designed studies, smoking is associated with increased risk for developing severe pulmonary infections and ARDS in general[20-22], said Christenson.

The U.S. CDC report also recorded a disproportionately low percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patientssmokers made up just 1.3% of COVID-19 patients[3], when the percentage of smokers among all adults in the U.S. is 13.7%. However, the report is also highly limited due to a lot of missing data about underlying conditions such as smoking status: Information on underlying conditions was only available for 7,162 (5.8%) of 122,653 cases reported to CDC. In fact, this problem of incomplete medical recording has also been suggested as a possible factor behind the low percentage of smokers reported in Chinese studies.

A group of U.S. researchers, who studied more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients in New York, reported in a preprint that they did not find smoking status to be associated with increased risk of hospitalization or critical illness[3]. However, one of the studys weaknesses is that in their analysis, the researchers grouped never-smokers together with individuals whose history of smoking was unknown. It is not clear why these two populations were classified together and whether this may have influenced the results.

While more studies are needed to establish a clear relationship between smoking and COVID-19 infection risk or severity, some preprints are beginning to shed more light on the subject. A preprint showing a meta-analysis by Patanavanich and Glantz suggests that smoking actually doubles the risk of severe COVID-19 infections[23], while another study by Muus et al. also suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, correlating with broadened distribution of ACE2 in the lower respiratory tract[24]. And past studies clearly show that smoking increases the risk of respiratory infection and complications[20-22,25]. At the moment, there is little to no evidence indicating that these risks would be any different for COVID-19. Furthermore, smoking is a leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), which is a known risk factor for developing respiratory complications.

The World Health Organization has clarified that smoking is likely to increase ones risk for COVID-19 infection:

Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth. Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.

In summary, while the disproportionately lower percentage of smokers among COVID-19 patients is interesting and deserves further investigation, no causal association has been confirmed yet. And given the weight of evidence from past studies on respiratory infection risk and preliminary evidence on COVID-19, it is more likely that smoking worsens COVID-19 infection instead. Until larger and more rigorous studies examining the link between COVID-19 and nicotine, as well as smoking, are available, it would be unwise to begin smoking based on unproven claims that it might protect against COVID-19.

SCIENTISTS FEEDBACK Josef Penninger, Professor (Department of Medical Genetics), University of British Columbia:This is an interesting correlation that has been also noted in earlier published data from China. For the proposed mechanism there is no evidence at all as far as I know. There are also data that claim that smoking induces ACE2 expression and hence this should actually make the disease worse[7-10]. Thus, if this is indeed true, then we better find the mechanisms before promoting the idea that smoking is good against COVID-19.

Ankit Patel, Nephrologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital:ACE2 is noted to be the conduit for SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells and is particularly important for viral entry in the type II alveolar cells in the lung. Reports regarding the use of nicotine as an agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to dampen immune regulation do not provide validation in the setting of coronavirus infection and translatability of previous studies is limited. Although the suggestion that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors could modulate SARS-CoV-2 neuroinfection is interesting, it has yet to be tested. The Guan et al. study in the New England Journal of Medicine that noted 12.6% of patients from China with COVID-19 were active smokers[12] failed to mention that a higher percentage of patients that did not survive or meet the primary endpoint were smokers, suggesting potential risk from smoking.

The role of smoking on ACE2 expression and the pathogenesis of COVID-19 has yet to be elucidated and more evidence will be required before making conclusions on the effect smoking cigarettes or nicotine has on COVID-19.

Michael Farzan, Professor, Scripps Research Institute:The abundance of evidence suggests that smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, correlating with broadened distribution of ACE2 in the lower respiratory tract. Perhaps the most careful and nuanced study of this point is now in BioRxiv from the Broad Institute by Muus et al.[16]

Stephanie Christenson, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco:The preprint by Changeux et al. is an editorial[5] that appears to be a companion article to another preprint by the same group[2] in which they assert that smoking decreases your susceptibility to developing COVID-19 symptoms/severe infection. These articles are misleading and unsupported (low credibility) at best, but generally mostly inaccurate with flawed reasoning (very low credibility).

The study on smoking being associated with lower susceptibility is misleading and not statistically sound. This study is reminiscent of other studies of smoking in acute diseases, including heart attacks and acute respiratory distress syndrome (or ARDS, the syndrome of lung injury that is largely associated with death in COVID-19). When comorbidities and age arent taken into account, it appears that smoking is protective, but when these variables are appropriately factored into analyses, these associations do not hold up[18-19]. This COVID-19 study does not appropriately factor in comorbidities. Indeed, in appropriately designed studies, smoking is associated with increased risk for developing severe pulmonary infections and ARDS in general[20-22]. A recent meta-analysis of 12 studies still in preprint using statistically sound methods also recently showed that smoking doubled the risk for severe COVID-19 infections[23].

The authors then suggest that the virus enters humans through neurons and that nicotine competes with the virus, preventing binding to the receptor (ACE2) on these neurons and blocking viral entry. However, COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory virus and thus likely binds along the respiratory tract (nose/mouth/airways). Multiple studies in humans have now shown that smoking increases ACE2 expression in the airways, thus suggesting that the ability of the virus to bind and infect cells would actually be increased with smoking/nicotine[9,10]. The authors have no data to support that viral entry in the neurons plays a significant role in disease susceptibility/severity in COVID-19. They point to data on high rates of neurological complications with COVID-19, but viral illness in general is associated with increased risk of these complications[26]. There is no data yet to show that these findings are specific to COVID-19.

Health Feedback previously fact-checked a claim suggesting that smoking was not actually harmful because not all smokers lungs turned black. We found it to be misleading.

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Little to no evidence that smoking protects against COVID-19; may increase risk of complications instead - Health Feedback