Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This is part two of a series focusing on cognitive dysfunction and inflammation. The first article can be read here . For additional writings on inflammation and Covid-19, please see my website: www. williamhaseltine.com Although inflammation is a common feature of many infections, viral and otherwise, SARS-CoV-2 elicits a particularly intense inflammatory response. Exactly why remains unclear. What is becoming increasingly clear, on the other hand, is that much of the damage associated with Covid-19 can be traced back to this hyperinflammation. This holds true both in the short term, during acute infection, as well as the long term, during Long Covid, or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC). Cognitive impairments such as “brain fog”, difficulty concentrating, and poor short-term memory make up some of the more worrying Long Covid symptoms. Often, these are severe enough to interfere with daily … [Read more...] about Even Mild Covid-19 May Cause Lasting Brain Fog (Part 1)
Difference between long term and short term disability
How to Improve Your Credit Score Fast
Your credit score is one of the most important measures of your financial health. It tells lenders at a glance how responsibly you use credit. The better your score, the easier you will find it to be approved for new loans or new lines of credit. A higher credit score can also open the door to the lowest available interest rates when you borrow. If you would like to boost your credit score, there are a number of quick, simple things that you can do. While it might take a few months to see an improvement in your credit score, you can start working toward a better score in just a few hours. Key Takeaways It takes less than a couple of days to pull all your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus, and assessing your credit score is the first step to raising it. In just a few hours, you can set due-date alerts for bills, so you know when a bill is coming up. Paying your bills on time Is one of the most important steps in improving your credit score. Pay down … [Read more...] about How to Improve Your Credit Score Fast
How to decide if a business issue is worth solving
Managing time is one of a CEO’s greatest challenges, but it’s not just their own time they are responsible for. One of a leader’s main responsibilities is setting a clear strategy for their organization, and good strategy is about making choices among competing priorities. advertisement advertisement With finite resources and numerous problems to fix, organizations can become inefficient without clear direction. It’s the CEO’s job to provide that direction for the use of limited resources. But with issues, opportunities, and initiatives popping up all the time, it’s not always easy to prioritize. Companies face issues in supply chain, marketing, product, quality, and entering new markets, to name a few. So how can a leader know which issues are most worth addressing? As a business unit leader for Fortune 500 companies, I saw many scenarios where the leadership team needed to decide between competing priorities. Over time, I developed a series of … [Read more...] about How to decide if a business issue is worth solving
An ADHD diagnosis can be expensive and inaccurate. This company’s test addresses both problems
Despite being a strong student in high school, Sydney Dodini struggled during her freshman year at Brigham Young University. She kept showing up late to lectures and found it difficult to focus during class. When she flew home in the spring, she asked her father, Aaron Dodini, a psychologist who specializes in ADHD testing, to give her a QbTest, an FDA-cleared ADHD diagnostic screening tool that can be done online. advertisement advertisement ADHD, or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is one of the more common neurobehavioral disorders usually first diagnosed in childhood and which can continue into adulthood. Symptoms fall into three categories: inattention, manifesting in difficulty sustaining focus, staying on task, and staying organized; hyperactivity, including excessive fidgeting, extreme restlessness, even talking too much; and impulsivity, including difficulty with self-control, delaying gratification, and considering long-term … [Read more...] about An ADHD diagnosis can be expensive and inaccurate. This company’s test addresses both problems
This Is the Healthiest Possible Diet, According to Research
If you're an entrepreneur who wants to maximize your energy and avoid an early death by eating healthy, there is a lot of confusing advice out there to contend with. Besides a host of trendy but conflicting diets, guidelines from actual scientists change regularly. One year fat will kill you, the next sugar is public enemy number one. Is fish great for you or mercury-laced poison ? And while everyone agrees heavy drinking is unhealthy, does a glass or two of wine a day do good or bad things for your health ? Given the ever-changing answers to questions like these, it's tempting to throw up your hands and ignore everything but the most basic nutritional advice. If no one knows anything beyond fast food is bad, then you may as well let your instincts (and taste buds) guide you. But according to a research review published recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology , science does actually know something definitive about what you should eat. … [Read more...] about This Is the Healthiest Possible Diet, According to Research
Even Mild Covid-19 May Cause Lasting Brain Fog (Part 3)
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This is the fourth article in a series focusing on cognitive dysfunction and inflammation. The first part can be read here , the second can be read here , and the third, here . For additional writings on inflammation and Covid-19, please see my website: www. williamhaseltine.com In previous installments of this series, we looked at new research that suggests even mild SARS-CoV-2 infection can impair cognitive function. The first step in this chain of events happens when the virus sets off an intense inflammatory response that eventually reaches the brain. Once there, inflammation triggers reactivity of microglial cells —the resident immune cells of the central nervous system— which produce yet more inflammation and interfere with the normal functioning of important cells, including oligodendrocytes and neural precursor cells (Figure 1). But given that all of this happens off the back of … [Read more...] about Even Mild Covid-19 May Cause Lasting Brain Fog (Part 3)
The $100 Baseball Bat That Could Save The Major Leagues Millions
It’s April 9, 2013. Gordon Beckham of the White Sox stands at the plate facing down the Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez. The promising young hitter has weathered a tough few years of disappointing averages, but his 2013 season is off to a solid start. He’s batting over .300, meaning it could be the season of the turnaround, the year that redirects his career to come. advertisement advertisement A 2-2 fastball fires from the mound. Beckham swings big , spinning almost 360 degrees before hunching over in pain. No one knows why. Moments later, Beckham would be in the dugout with trainers staring at his hand with a strange, clinical detachment, curious how his body had betrayed him. In reality, the pain had little to do with his mega swing. Beckham actually sustained an injury on the pitch before–a typical high outside fastball that he appeared to innocuously foul. “When I swung through the ball, I definitely felt it,” he tells me later. “It did not … [Read more...] about The $100 Baseball Bat That Could Save The Major Leagues Millions
Sunday Conversation: Mickey Hart On Dead & Company, Tito Puente And Why He’ll Never Retire
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As part of the legendary Grateful Dead, drummer Mickey Hart has built his more than 50-year career on uplifting others through music. And now, at a time when there has never been a greater need for healing, Hart is as busy as ever, knowing his music is necessary. Having just wrapped up a tour with Dead & Company, where he got to witness tens of thousands of fans joined together on a nightly basis, he has immediately turned his attention to rhythmic unity through a new Planet Drum album. Into The Groove finds Hart uniting with Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo and Sikiru Adepoju to showcase the power of the rhythm. The album leads off with the single "King Clave," which Planet Drum shared in a special video with charity organization Playing For Change. I spoke with Hart about how Tito Puente changed his life, the recent Dead & Company tour, the power of music and much more. Steve Baltin: When you listen … [Read more...] about Sunday Conversation: Mickey Hart On Dead & Company, Tito Puente And Why He’ll Never Retire
Covid-19, Gender And Immune Response: What’s The Relationship? (Part Two)
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This is the second installment in a two part series which analyzes biological sex differences in immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Part one focuses primarily on Covid-19 related viral entry, innate and adaptive immune responses to Covid-19 and their correlation to epidemiological evidence. This article will highlight the role of sex hormones in SARS-CoV-2 immune responses, examine sex differences in response to vaccines, and consider their possible therapeutic implications. Covid-19 disease severity and mortality differ between men and women, but the reasons for such differences are not well understood. Part one of this series delves into sex differences in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and notes how stronger immune responses seen in females likely contribute to the better outcomes observed. This second and final installment will analyze two more elucidating factors: the role of sex hormones on SARS-CoV-2 … [Read more...] about Covid-19, Gender And Immune Response: What’s The Relationship? (Part Two)
What’s On Your Pain Relief Playlist?
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Most people will occasionally have a few days or weeks when something hurts. Think of back pain, headaches, or period pains for example. Now, researchers have found that listening to music can make such pain more bearable, as long as you get to have a say in what music to listen to. In a research paper published today in PLOS One , Claire Howlin (Queen Mary University of London) and her colleagues from University College Dublin announced that they’ve found a connection between pain relief and choosing what music you want to hear. This isn’t the first evidence that suggests that music relieves pain, but the research team tried to make this study more true to life by using real music composed specifically for the research and working with people who were currently experiencing some form of pain. Over 250 adults from different countries (mainly in Europe and North America) took part in the study. They were each asked … [Read more...] about What’s On Your Pain Relief Playlist?