Eating lots of fruits and vegetables will boost the immune system. Stevens Fremont / The Image Bank / Getty Images
By Grayson Jaggers
The connection between the pandemic and our dietary habits is undeniable. The stress of isolation coupled with a struggling economy has caused many of us to seek comfort with our old friends: Big Mac, Tom Collins, Ben and Jerry. But overindulging in this kind of food and drink might not just be affecting your waistline, but could potentially put you at greater risk of illness by hindering your immune system.
<p>Hear the word "nutrition," and often what comes to mind are fad diets, juice "cleanses" and supplements. Americans certainly seem concerned with their weight; 45 million of us spend <a href="https://www.bmc.org/nutrition-and-weight-management/weight-management" target="_blank">US$33 billion</a> annually on weight loss products. But <a href="https://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpao_dtm/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=DNPAO_DTM.ExploreByLocation&rdRequestForwarding=Form" target="_blank">one in five Americans</a> consumes nearly no vegetables – less than one serving per day.</p><p>When the emphasis is on weight loss products, and not healthy day-to-day eating, the essential role that nutrition plays in keeping us well never gets communicated. Among the many things I teach students in my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=o_1CmfkAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">nutritional biochemistry course</a> is the clear relationship between a balanced diet and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2020.07.005" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">strong, well-regulated immune system</a>.</p><p>Along with social distancing measures and effective vaccines, a healthy immune system is our best defense against coronavirus infection. To keep it that way, proper nutrition is an absolute must. Although not a replacement for medicine, good nutrition can work synergistically with medicine to improve vaccine effectiveness, reduce the prevalence of chronic disease and lower the burden on the health care system.</p>
<h3>The Impact of the Western Diet</h3><p>Scientists know that people with <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html?" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">preexisting health conditions</a> are at greater risk for severe COVID-19 infections. That includes those with diabetes, obesity, and kidney, lung or cardiovascular disease. Many of these conditions are linked to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2020.05.025" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dysfunctional immune system</a>.</p><p>Patients with cardiovascular or metabolic disease have a delayed immune response, giving viral invaders a head start. When that happens, the body reacts with a more intense inflammatory response, and healthy tissues are damaged along with the virus. It's not yet clear how much this damage factors into the increased mortality rate, but it is a factor.</p><p>What does this have to do with nutrition? The Western diet typically has a high proportion of red meat, saturated fat and what's known as "<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-018-0020-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bliss point foods</a>" rich in sugar and salt. Adequate fruit and vegetable consumption is missing. Despite the abundance of calories that often accompanies the Western diet, many Americans <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061735" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">don't consume nearly enough</a> of the essential nutrients our bodies need to function properly, including vitamins A, C and D, and the minerals iron and potassium. And that, at least in part, causes a dysfunctional immune system: too few vitamins and minerals, and too many empty calories.</p><p>A healthy immune system responds quickly to limit or prevent infection, but it also promptly "turns down the dial" to avoid damaging the cells of the body. Sugar disrupts this balance. A high proportion of refined sugar in the diet can cause <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2017.12.001" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chronic, low-grade inflammation</a> in addition to diabetes and obesity. Essentially, that "dial" is never turned all the way off.</p><p>While inflammation is a natural part of the immune response, it can be harmful when it's constantly active. Indeed, obesity is itself characterized by chronic, low-grade inflammation and a dysregulated immune response.</p><p>And <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.01071" target="_blank">research shows</a> that vaccines may be less effective in obese people. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4590616/" target="_blank">The same applies</a> to those who regularly drink too much alcohol.</p>
<h3>How Nutrients Help</h3><p>Nutrients, essential substances that help us grow properly and remain healthy, help maintain the immune system. In contrast to the delayed responses associated with malnutrition, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm7090258" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vitamin A</a> fights against multiple infectious diseases, including measles. Along with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7043011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vitamin D</a>, it regulates the immune system and helps to prevent its overactivation. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9111211" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vitamin C</a>, an antioxidant, protects us from the injury caused by free radicals.</p><p>Polyphenols, a wide-ranging group of molecules found in all plants, also have anti-inflammatory properties. There's plenty of evidence to show a diet rich in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040751" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plant polyphenols</a> can lower the risk of chronic conditions, like hypertension, insulin insensitivity and cardiovascular disease.</p><p>Why don't we Americans eat more of these plant-based foods and fewer of the bliss-based foods? It's complicated. People are swayed by advertising and influenced by hectic schedules. One starting place would be to teach people how to eat better from an early age. Nutrition education should be emphasized, from kindergarten through high school to medical schools.</p><p>Millions of Americans live in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2017/16_0408.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">food deserts</a>, having limited access to healthy foods. In these circumstances, education must be paired with increased access. These long-term goals could bring profound returns with a relatively small investment.</p><p>Meantime, all of us can take small steps to incrementally improve our own dietary habits. I'm not suggesting we stop eating cake, french fries and soda completely. But we as a society have yet to realize the food that actually makes us feel good and healthy is not comfort food.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic won't be the last we face, so it's vital that we use every preventive tool we as a society have. Think of good nutrition as a seat belt for your health; it doesn't guarantee you won't get sick, but it helps to ensure the best outcomes.</p>
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<em>Grayson Jaggers is an assistant professor at the University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.</em><br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Grayson Jaggers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-nutrition-can-contribute-to-keeping-covid-19-and-other-diseases-away-145086" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Affordable, Self-Administered COVID-19 Tests Could Use Your Cell Phone
25 September
Health + Wellness
A graphic shows how Rhoel Dinglasan's smartphone-based saliva test works. University of Florida
As the world continues to navigate the line between reopening and maintaining safety protocols to slow the spread of the coronavirus, rapid and accurate diagnostic screening remains critical to control the outbreak. New mobile-phone-based, self-administered COVID-19 tests being developed independently around the world could be a key breakthrough in making testing more widely available, especially in developing nations.
<p>Point-of-care testing (POCT) involves the use of easily portable devices to carry out analytical testing outside of a central laboratory, in places like long-term care facilities, local clinics and patients' homes, a new study by the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7288261/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Center for Biomedical Information</a> said. POCT provides early and fast diagnostic results; when combined with microfluidic systems that can measure traces of diseases and infections based on small amounts of fluids with daily high sensitivity and speed, POCT can result in faster, more cost-effective diagnostic instruments that do not require any trained healthcare workers to administer them, the study reported. Smartphone-based microfluidic POCT uses personal mobile devices to carry out the whole analytical process using bodily fluids like saliva. Critically, this also will result in earlier diagnoses that can help slow the spread of diseases like COVID-19.</p>
<p>Recently, Rhoel Dinglasan, a University of Florida infectious diseases professor and his industry collaborators won second place in a national technology competition sponsored by the National Institutes of Health for a smartphone-based, rapid saliva test they developed that can be used to diagnose COVID-19, along with two other diseases of major global importance, malaria and anemia. The test adapted the team's existing mobile-based test for malaria to also test for anemia and COVID-19, explained Dinglasan in a <a href="https://ufhealth.org/news/2020/smartphone-based-saliva-test-can-detect-covid-19-earns-uf-professor-honors-national" target="_blank">University of Florida Health news release</a>.</p><p>"This test will leverage existing technology to fill a pressing and unmet need in global public health by allowing us to differentiate between three diseases that can present similarly in terms of symptoms," Dinglasan said in the release. "As treatment and containment protocols differ for each disease, the proper diagnosis delivered in literally minutes could save lives."</p>
<p>Their solution is the CLIP-CAM, an adapter that attaches to a smartphone that fits a detection cassette, the release detailed. A saliva sample is self-collected and activated, and a droplet is put into the cassette. The camera flash is used to excite the detection system in the cassette, which can then be read by a smartphone app. Results are available in 15 minutes or less, Dinglasan said, the release reported.</p><p>He further explained the importance of quick diagnoses to the <a href="https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/09/18/uf-professor-earns-national-honors-smartphone-base-saliva-test-covid-19/3486844001/" target="_blank">Gainesville Sun</a>: "When we go out to work in these different countries, we need to differentiate when a person comes in, we need to know if it is COVID-19, malaria or anemia. Without that ability, how would we know if we should send this person home to quarantine because we think he has COVID-19? What if it is malaria? You need to give that child or adult anti-malaria drugs or they will die."</p>
<p>Similar prototyping is underway around the world. At the University of Utah, electrical and computer engineering professor Massood Tabib-Azar adapted the platform he used to detect the Zika virus to now detect COVID-19, reported <a href="https://www.biospace.com/article/nsf-funded-smartphone-covid-19-dx-puts-testing-in-the-hands-of-the-public/" target="_blank">BioSpace</a>. His sensor can also test for the presence of the virus on surfaces like door handles or desks by brushing a swab on a surface and then onto the sensor, the news report said. Tabib-Azar is also exploring the potential of detecting COVID-19 in floating microscopic particles in enclosed spaces like an elevator.</p><p>The Utah sensor is reusable, because samples can be destroyed using a small electrical current to disintegrate viruses or saliva can be placed on a disposable sheet like a piece of paper put on top of the sensor, Tabib-Azar told BioSpace. His test is also designed to upload the results to a central server that can map out positive results in an area to give public health experts a better idea of where outbreak hotspots are, the report said.</p>
<p>"Mobile-based epidemic monitoring is nothing but a logical next step, because only the mobile devices that move with people can keep up with the contacts they make," Tabib-Azar said, speaking of related research in <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8626091" target="_blank">IEEE Access</a>.</p><p>In Ontario, Canada, a third diagnostic prototype called Atlas hopes to use the same saliva-to-mobile-phone testing concept to make testing more widely available, from remote communities to front-line screening, reported <a href="https://www.hospimedica.com/covid-19/articles/294783026/smartphone-powered-saliva-based-covid-19-diagnostic-test-delivers-lab-quality-results-to-app-in-20-minutes.html" target="_blank">HospiMedica.com</a>. Atlas is designed as a single-use, disposable device that could deliver results in 20 minutes.</p><p>All three tests have received enough funding to get through the prototype phase. Additional support will help to quickly transform the design concepts into mass-produced products for global health.</p>
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Did you know that nearly 30% of adults do, or will, suffer from a sleep condition at some point in their life? Anyone who has experienced disruptions in their sleep is familiar with the havoc that it can wreak on your body and mind. Lack of sleep, for one, can lead to anxiety and lethargy in the short-term. In the long-term, sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
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<a href="http://md.trkclkss.online" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTU4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTk0NTM0N30.0xzUAjqrallHYgr3HzW2I5y-wIB1pX_ee6fvfU7V3pE/img.jpg?width=980" id="9d35f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c409cf9c3a42635048879f261a032647" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a><p>First on our list is the best value CBD oil, CBDmd. Founded in 2016 by Martin Sumichrast and Scott Coffman, CBDmd is based out of North Carolina. CBDmd has won our pick for the best overall brand for CBD oil for sleep due to its unique blends suited for relaxation and affordable prices.</p><p>CBDmd currently has 11 different products that can be used to promote better sleep. Nine are tincture blends and the other two are soft gel blends. Tinctures can be bought in 300 mg - 7500 mg bottles and soft gels can be bought in 500 mg and 1000 mg quantities. All products are vegan-friendly and made from non-GMO hemp. Their products are also free from THC. </p><p>The bottles come in many refreshing flavors with eye droppers included. All CBD products are made through a sophisticated ethanol extraction method called "flash chromatography." Aside from CBD, CBDmd's products contain a wide range of essential oils such as lemon balm extract and chamomile flower extract.</p><p>Lastly, all CBDmd products go through extensive third-party testing for quality. They also have a generous 60-day 100% money-back guarantee. </p><p><strong>Product and Brand Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>Organic Broad Spectrum CBD</li><li>High-tech ethanol extraction leaves very little residue</li><li>Fair prices</li><li>Locally sourced hemp</li><li>Refreshing flavors for sleep aid products</li><li>Oil tincture and soft gel blends available</li></ul><p><strong>Hemp Source</strong></p><ul><li>USA</li></ul><p><strong>Extraction Method</strong></p><ul><li>Flash chromatography hydrocarbon extraction</li></ul><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Hemp Extract (Cannabidiol, Cannabigerol, Cannabinol), MCT Oil, Flavoring</li></ul><p><strong>Size</strong></p><ul><li>300 mg</li><li>750 mg</li><li>1500 mg</li><li>3000 mg</li><li>5000 mg</li><li>7500 mg</li></ul><p><strong>Flavors</strong></p><ul><li>Natural, Orange, Mint, Berry</li></ul><p><strong>Lab Results</strong></p><ul><li>50 mg CBD per mL (1500 mg tincture)</li><li>No THC (<0.0 mg/mL)</li></ul><p><strong>Shipping Policy</strong></p><ul><li>Free shipping to all US states for orders greater than $80. $4.95 flat shipping on all other orders. </li></ul><p><strong>Refund Policies</strong></p><ul><li>100% 60-day money-back guarantee.</li></ul><p><strong>Coupons</strong></p><ul><li>BLISS (20% off all online purchases)</li></ul><p><strong>Price</strong></p><ul><li>CBDmd has very affordable prices. Their CBD sleep products cost $0.09 per mg.</li></ul><p><strong>Overview:</strong></p><p>CBDmd has some of the best CBD products for sleep that you can find. They use an extremely sophisticated extraction process that creates high-quality blends but they still manage to have competitive prices. They also offer soft gel blends which are a nice change of pace from oil blends. Lastly, their sleep aids contain natural melatonin which makes them even more effective.</p><p><a href="http://md.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Visit CBDMD to buy their CBD Oil</strong></a></p><h2>2. <a href="http://fx.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CBDFX</a> - Best Full Spectrum</h2>
<a href="http://fx.trkclkss.online" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTU5Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTAyODg0MX0.Kco0oU7SyRNXO84kXZAcYzskXEAeQj12jREvMtPdRfM/img.jpg?width=980" id="eb700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="51f195b6a60ca91c6a8c087f28691bbe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a><p>Up next on our list is CBDfx, which has won our bid for the best Full Spectrum CBD oil for sleep. CBDfx stands out due to its wide range of products which include tincture, edibles, and vaping products. CBDfx also makes isolate blends along with Full Spectrum blends.</p><p>CBDfx was founded in 2014 by Ali Esmaili and Jameson Rodgers. The goal of the company is to deliver the finest, purest, and most effective CBD products to both new and experienced users. CBDfx is based out of San Fernando Valley and is currently the 5th largest privately held CBD company in the world.</p><p>All of CBDfx's products are made using organically grown hemp sourced from local farms. All oil blends are vegan and made without synthetic chemicals or preservatives. Further, they offer a generous 30-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products.</p><p>CBDfx makes all of its products with supercritical CO2 extraction, meaning that their products are high quality. Also, they have very positive customer reviews and an A+ rating on the BBB. They are a transparent and reliable company. </p><p><strong>Product and Brand Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>They have Full Spectrum and Broad Spectrum blends</li><li>All products are 100% vegan and made using locally sourced hemp</li><li>They use high-quality supercritical CO2 extraction</li><li>Very reasonable and competitive pricing</li></ul><p><strong>Hemp Source</strong></p><ul><li>USA</li></ul><p><strong>Extraction Method</strong></p><ul><li>Supercritical CO2 extraction</li></ul><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Organic Full Spectrum CBD with a coconut oil matrix</li></ul><p><strong>Size</strong></p><ul><li>500 mg</li><li>1000 mg</li><li>1500 mg</li></ul><p><strong>Flavors</strong></p><ul><li>Natural</li></ul><p><strong>Lab Results</strong></p><ul><li>33.33 mg CBD per mL (1000 mg tincture)</li><li>No THC (<0.01mg/mL)</li></ul><p><strong>Shipping Policy</strong></p><ul><li>Free shipping to all 50 states</li></ul><p><strong>Refund Policies</strong></p><ul><li>30-day refund policy for unopened and unused products. Products can be returned via the company website. </li></ul><p><strong>Coupons</strong></p><ul><li>BLISS20 (20% off sitewide)</li></ul><p><strong>Price</strong></p><ul><li>CBDfx's products are very reasonably priced and fall within the $0.15-$0,20 per mg.</li></ul><p><strong>Overview:</strong></p><p>CBDfx is one of the highest-quality CBD manufacturers in the country. They use an extremely sophisticated method of CBD extraction and each product is tested for quality.</p><p><a href="http://fx.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Buy this CBD Oil at CBDFX</strong></a></p><h2>3. <a href="http://nu.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nuleaf Naturals</a> - Best Organic</h2>
<a href="http://nu.trkclkss.online" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTU5NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTQzNTUyOX0.-3-ggT-hiz006tds7TXFqVdgyXN1-wPPKHCEsBPDUh8/img.jpg?width=980" id="b4718" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="faf197ccc27aac0633a3ec7601d3b9ea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a><p>At the halfway point of our roundup is Nuleaf Naturals. Nuleaf Naturals is based out of Colorado and was founded back in 2014. Nuleaf's main stores are on their online storefront but they also have partner locations across all 50 states. The company specializes in CBD tinctures and oils but also makes other products such as gummies.</p><p>All of Nuleaf Naturals Oils are characterized by their diverse cannabinoid profile and potencies. There are 2 main CBD oils blends and capsules you can buy. As we said, Nuleaf Naturals makes very highly concentrated products. Each blend contains a wide spectrum of cannabinoids. The mixture of cannabinoids reinforces and improves each others' effects. </p><p>All blends are made using a thorough CO2 extraction process. In fact, Nuleaf uses a two-stage extraction process, first using subcritical then next supercritical CO2. This double process ensures the mixture is purer. </p><p>All Nuleaf products are made in the US using hemp sourced from Colorado. They do not use any synthetic chemicals in their blends and they source their materials from farms that use sustainable green techniques. They also third-party test all of their products for quality and purity. They offer free shipping to all states in the US and have a standard 30-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products. </p><p><strong>Product and Brand Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>All blends are Full Spectrum and contain a mixture of CBDs and cannabinoids</li><li>The company uses an extremely efficient two-stage extraction method to make high-quality oils</li><li>Hemp used is locally spruced in Colorado and is not grown with pesticides and synthetic chemicals</li><li>Very high potency blends</li><li>Free shipping for all orders in the US</li></ul><p><strong>Hemp Source</strong></p><ul><li>Colorado, USA</li></ul><p><strong>Extraction Method</strong></p><ul><li>2-stage CO2 extraction</li></ul><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Full Spectrum Hemp Extract, Organic Virgin Hemp Seed Oil</li></ul><p><strong>Size</strong></p><ul><li>300-6000 mg</li></ul><p><strong>Flavors</strong></p><ul><li>Natural</li></ul><p><strong>Lab Results</strong></p><ul><li>30 mg CBD per mL (900 mg tincture)</li><li>0.14% THC</li></ul><p><strong>Shipping Policy</strong></p><ul><li>Nuleaf Naturals offers free shipping to all 50 US states. They ship their products through USPS. </li></ul><p><strong>Refund Policies</strong></p><ul><li>Nuleaf Naturals offers a 20-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products. Customers do have to pay shipping on returns</li></ul><p><strong>Coupons</strong></p><ul><li>BLISS20 (20% off all online purchases)</li></ul><p><strong>Price</strong></p><ul><li>Nuleaf Naturals are all competitively priced. The cost for their 900mg CBD oil blend is $0.11 per mg. Even though their prices are affordable, they are very potent and high-quality.</li></ul><p><strong>Overview:</strong></p><p>Nuleaf Naturals is one of the best CBD manufacturers in the country. Their blends are made using a high-tech extraction process and are not made with any synthetic chemicals. All products are third party tested and they also have a very generous free shipping policy for all of their products, no matter the price.</p><p><a href="http://nu.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Visit Nuleaf Naturals & Get 20% discount using BLISS20</strong></a></p><h2>4. <a href="http://jy.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Joy Organics</a> - Best Taste</h2>
<a href="http://jy.trkclkss.online" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTU5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MzA4Mzc1MX0.h6FQKruUEtYB3Asq6m7Fo0OUgRFknEz1yNext45znr0/img.jpg?width=980" id="57c82" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a8377527108a388345541cf3a3da46ed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a><p>4th on our roundup is Joy Organics. Joy Organics was founded in 2017 by current CEO Joy Smith. Smith was inspired to make Joy Organics after her own experiences with CBD. Joy Organics is based out of Colorado and currently has branches in Texas and Kansas. The company is dedicated to creating premium CBD products that will help people live happily and healthily.</p><p>All of Joy Organics products are made with a high-grade proprietary supercritical CO2 extraction process. This process ensures that the plant's phytocannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids are intact, resulting in a high-quality Broad Spectrum blend. </p><p>Joy Organics offsets a wide range of CBD products including oils, gummies, soft gels, and tinctures. They also have salves to apply directly to the skin and energy drink mixtures. </p><p>Joy Organics offers free shipping to all 50 US states and also has a generous 30-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products. </p><p><strong>Product and Brand Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>Broad Spectrum cbd oil blends</li><li>Uses proprietary extraction and emulsification processes to make their products</li><li>All products are THC-free</li><li>CBD products go through in-house and third-party testing</li><li>Creation process creates small particles that are absorbed more quickly by the body</li><li>Free shipping and money-back policy</li></ul><p><strong>Hemp Source</strong></p><ul><li>Colorado, USA</li></ul><p><strong>Extraction Method</strong></p><ul><li>Supercritical CO2 extraction</li></ul><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Phytocannabinoid-Rich Hemp Extract</li></ul><p><strong>Size</strong></p><ul><li>225 mg</li><li>450 mg</li><li>900 mg</li><li>1350 mg</li></ul><p><strong>Flavors</strong></p><ul><li>Tranquil Mint, Natural, Summer Lemon, Orange Bliss</li></ul><p><strong>Lab Results</strong></p><ul><li>30 mg CBD per mL (900 mg tincture)</li><li>0 THC (<0.01 mg/mL)</li></ul><p><strong>Shipping Policy</strong></p><ul><li>Free shipping on all orders</li></ul><p><strong>Refund Policies</strong></p><ul><li>30-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products</li></ul><p><strong>Coupons</strong></p><ul><li>BLISS15 (15% off sitewide)</li></ul><p><strong>Price</strong></p><ul><li>Joy Organics falls in the middle of the price spectrum. Their products cost about $0.12 per mg.</li></ul><p><strong>Overview:</strong></p><p>Overall, Joy organics is a fantastic CBD company that makes high-quality organic products. Their CBD products are made using a unique technique that creates very small particles that are absorbed faster in the bloodstream. All products are THC-free and also go through in-house and third-party testing.</p><p><a href="http://jy.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Check Joy Organic's CBD Oil here</strong></a></p><h2>5. <a href="http://dm.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Diamond CBD</a> - Best Variety</h2>
<a href="http://dm.trkclkss.online" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzOTYwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM3MzY3NH0.HES9WlJmUvtlI6wc6uswn6rxmSVZos0CpcXo35Ao2sI/img.jpg?width=980" id="b8af3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="39450ce6a3de5fe51b4092680ad9f269" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a><p>Last on our list is Diamond CBD. Diamond CBD offers an extremely wide selection of products including oils, gummies, and vape liquids. Diamond CBD is owned by Potnetwork Holdings who own several other CBD companies. The company is based out of Colorado and uses hemp sourced from both Colorado and Kentucky. </p><p>Diamond CBD uses a sophisticated CO2 extraction process to make its products and third-party tests everything. Diamond CBD has been through a lot of changes in the past few years. <br><br></p><p>One thing that makes Diamond CBD stand out is its enormous array of products. They have hundreds of products. There are over 3 product pages just for their selection of oils. You can also scroll to the bottom of the screen to get access to lab reports on hundreds of products. </p><p>Diamond CBD's Relax line are CBD products made specifically for sleep aid. Relax oils and gummies include a Full Spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes. You can buy sizes ranging from 100 mg to over 3500 mg. </p><p>Diamond CBD also includes a wide range of flavors, including honey, watermelon, and blueberry. They have the most flavor options and products out of most of the CBD companies we have seen. This flexibility is great when you are looking for something for a specific ailment. </p><p><strong>Product and Brand Highlights</strong></p><ul><li>Enormous range of products</li><li>Relax line is meant specifically for sleep</li><li>Supercritical CO2 extraction</li><li>Wide range of sizes for products (100 mg - 3500 mg)</li><li>Locally sourced hemp</li></ul><p><strong>Hemp Source</strong></p><ul><li>Colorado and Kentucky</li></ul><p><strong>Extraction Method</strong></p><ul><li>Supercritical CO2 extraction</li></ul><p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Full Spectrum CBD, Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol</li></ul><p><strong>Size</strong></p><ul><li>25-3500 mg</li></ul><p><strong>Flavors</strong></p><ul><li>Extremely broad range of flavors</li></ul><p><strong>Lab Results</strong></p><ul><li>68.1 mg CBD per mL (1500 mg Relax Blend)</li></ul><p><strong>Shipping Policy</strong></p><ul><li>Free shipping in the US on orders more than $100. $10 on smaller orders. </li></ul><p><strong>Refund Policies</strong></p><ul><li>90-day money-back guarantee for unused and unopened products</li></ul><p><strong>Price</strong></p><ul><li>Diamond CBD products range from $0.05-$0.12 per mg</li></ul><p><strong>Overview:</strong></p><p>They have a huge list of products and an entire line created specifically for relaxation and sleep. Diamond CBD also has a very generous 90-day money-back guarantee on all its products.</p><p><strong><a href="http://dm.trkclkss.online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Visit Diamond CBD to buy their CBD Oil</a></strong></p>
<h2>Factors that Help Us Determine the Best CBD Oils for Sleep</h2><p><strong>Hemp source: </strong>We only look for products that are made with quality organically sourced hemp. We also analyze the supply chain process to ensure their products are ethically sourced with sustainable green technologies. We also study cultivation practices to determine that no synthetic pesticides of growth hormones have been used throughout the growing process. </p>
<p><strong>Extraction Methods:</strong> There are three main procedures to manufacture CBD oil. The first is the simplest and just involves grinding the seeds and stems and removing the material from the ensuing mixture. Manual extraction is the method that has been used historically. Anyone can make hemp oil in their own kitchen by grinding plant material and filtering out the excess. </p>
<p>The second way is solvent extraction. Solvent extraction involves compressing the hemp in some solvent (most often ethanol or butane) and then boiling off the excess solvent. Solvent extraction is more efficient than manual extraction and yields a more pure product. However, improper extraction can leave solvent residue in the oil. </p>
<p>The last method of extraction is called supercritical carbon extraction. Supercritical carbon extraction uses a highly pressurized liquid carbon dioxide as a solvent. Supercritical carbon extraction is considered the gold standard of CBD extraction and makes the highest quality products. However, carbon dioxide extraction is an intricate process so carbon-extracted oils are usually more expensive than other types. </p>
<p><strong>Extract Types: </strong>CBD oils can be Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum, and isolate. Full spectrum and Broad Spectrum oils contain CBD, along with other cannabinoids including THC, cannabinol (CBN), and cannabigerol (CBG). The main difference between Full Spectrum and Broad Spectrum is that Broad Spectrum blends normally do not contain THC while Full Spectrum blends do. Full Spectrum and Broad Spectrum CBD oils may also contain other chemicals such as terpenes. Isolates, in contrast, only contain CBD. </p>
<p>Full Spectrum and Broad Spectrum blends contain many different types of cannabinoids because they work together and enhance each others' properties. The synergistic interaction of cannabinoids is known as the <em>entourage effect</em>. </p>
<p><strong>Potency:</strong> The potency of a specific blend is determined by the amount of CBD in the bottle (measured in mg) and the volume of the bottle. Some CBD manufacturers will make this easy for you and list the concentration per mL of oil. If they do not provide it, you can figure out the potency with a simple calculation:</p>
<p>CBD in mg ÷ bottle volume in ml = CBD in mg/ml</p><p>So for example, if you have 900 mg in a 1 oz. (30 mL) bottle, then the potency would be:</p><p>900mg/30mL = 30 mg/mL</p>
<p>Most of the time, the bottle dropper has measurements in mL so it is easy to see how much oil you are administering. </p>
<p><strong>Lab Results: </strong>CBD oil has exploded in popularity in recent years, thus a rise in competition. Unfortunately, the sale of CBD is not regulated by the FDA. As a result, there are varying levels of quality in manufacturing. We often come across CBD products that have been inaccurately labeled, or even worse, do not contain CBD at all. </p>
<p>To combat this problem, we require companies to meet strict third-party testing criteria. All products we have chosen have been tested by independent organizations for content and purity. Any brand that does not test its products is automatically excluded from our lists. </p>
<p><strong>Size Variation: </strong>CBD oils vary in size, ranging from 100 mg to over 1000 mg per 1 oz (30mL). In general larger bottles tend to have higher potencies, but this is not always true. We make sure to choose brands that include various sizes for their CBD products.</p>
<p><strong>Flavors:</strong> Unflavored CBD typically has a very earthy taste. For those of you who prefer a little more excitement, manufacturers often make blends that have flavorings, such as cherry, lemon, or lavender. However, flavors do not change potency. At the end of the day, CBD is CBD regardless of its taste.</p>
<p><strong>Price: </strong>Price can vary greatly. Concentrations and the size of the bottle all need to be taken into consideration. In general supercritical carbon extracted CBD oils cost more than their counterparts. </p>
<p>We estimate CBD oils on the lower end of the spectrum fall anywhere between $0.10-$0.15 per mg. Middle-grade blends fall somewhere between $0.15-$0.25 per mg and high-quality blends generally cost $0.25+ per mg. </p>
<p>So for example, a low, medium, and high-grade 500 mg blend would cost around $50, $90, and $125, respectively. In general, isolates and pure blends are more expensive because it takes longer to filter out the other molecules. </p>
<p><strong>Brand Transparency: </strong>Reputable companies are transparent about their policies and provide customers with supporting documentation and clear labeling. Good companies will also have good reputations online. </p>
<p>Other aspects of brand transparency include return and shipping policies. We make sure that all chosen products are from companies that are transparent about their practices and business relations. </p>
<p><strong>Website Experience:</strong> We also make sure to consider the overall experience of shopping on the company's website. We look at whether pages are laid out in a logical and consistent manner and have a streamlined purchase process. A bad web design can ruin a shopping experience and turn someone away from a brand.</p>
<h2>How Does CBD Oil Help You Sleep Better?</h2><p>First off, let's talk about what, exactly, CBD is. CBD (<em>cannabidiol</em>) is an organic molecule that falls under a family of chemicals called <em>cannabinoids. </em>Hundreds of varieties of cannabinoids exist in the cannabis plant, also called the marijuana plant. CBD is just one kind of cannabinoid, THC being another. </p>
<p>Cannabinoids interact with <em>cannabinoid receptors</em> in our brains and central nervous systems. This interaction is what explains CBD's therapeutic effects. Although CBD has a similar chemical formula and profile as THC, it interacts with cannabinoid receptors differently than THC and so has different effects. There <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">are studies</a> that suggest ingesting CBD as an effective method of managing pain, stimulating the appetite, lessening anxiety, and lowering inflammation.<strong> CBD also does not cause any psychoactive or intoxicating effects, unlike THC.</strong></p><p>As CBD has increased in popularity, more people are using it as a sleep aid. It is well known that CBDs close pharmaceutical cousin, THC, can induce sleepiness and can be a powerful sleep aid, but THC also comes with intoxicating effects. </p><h3>The Endocannabinoid System and Sleep</h3><p>CBD and other cannabinoids regulate bodily functions through their interaction with the body's endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is the name given to the network of cannabinoid receptors linked through our brains and nervous systems. The endocannabinoid system is composed primarily of 2 kinds of receptors: CB1 and CB2 receptors. Interacting with these receptors is how cannabinoids exert their effects on the human body. </p>
<p>The study of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is still relatively new. However, there is a growing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5877694/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">body of evidence</a> that the endocannabinoid system plays some role in mediating homeostatic mechanisms in the body. The ECS seems to be implicated in processes that regulate digestion, appetite, mood, memory, and pain sensation, among others. </p>
<p>As such, many medical researchers have theorized that seemingly disparate chronic conditions might be linked by being caused by an endocannabinoid deficiency. The ECS is also implicated in sleep patterns/waking cycles by regulating the circadian rhythm, so it is reasonable to suspect the CBD has an effect on sleep cycles by acting through the body's endocannabinoid system.</p>
<h4>What does the research say, though?</h4><p>Studies focused specifically on the connection between CBD and sleep are sparse. However, there are a few key studies we can mention that hint at a connection between cannabinoid use and sleep. </p>
<p>One study published in the journal <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164964/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Medicines</a> involved trials on 402 people with insomnia symptoms. The study divided this sample into smaller groups and followed their sleep habits over the course of 2 years to determine if cannabis consumption affected sleep patterns positively or negatively. At the beginning, participants rated their insomnia severity as an average of 6.6 out of 10, where 1 is no problem at all, and 10 is incredibly severe. </p>
<p>Participants in each group were treated with cannabis using various methods of ingestion. The average THC potency of cannabis was around 20% and the average CBD potency was 5.7%. After 2 years of continual cannabis use, the participants had an average insomnia symptom rating of 2.2. Thus, this study highly suggests that ingesting cannabis<strong> is an extremely effective form of reducing insomnia and improving sleep.</strong></p>
<p>We found another study published in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326553/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Permanente Journal</a> that studied 72 adults with anxiety and poor sleep habits. The participants first completed a sleep and anxiety assessment at the beginning and at a one-month follow-up. Each study participant was given 25 mg capsules of CBD to take in the evening for sleep disturbances and in the morning for anxiety problems. </p>
<p>At the end of the first month, over 80% of participants had reduced anxiety scores and 66& of participants say their sleep improved. <strong>This study highly suggests that CBD specifically is effective at improving sleep and reducing anxiety.</strong> </p>
<p>Aside from these clinical studies, there are several smaller studies and individual case studies suggesting that CBD is an effective method of improving sleep. </p>
<h3>CBD Sources</h3><p>CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant, but the whole story is a bit more complicated than that.</p>
<p>First, let's talk about how cannabis plants are classified. Despite what many think, "cannabis" is not the name of an individual plant species, but the name for a genus of plants. There are two main species of the cannabis plant, <em>C. sativa</em> and <em>C. indica</em> (Some botanists include a third species <em>C. rubella</em>.). </p>
<p>Most cannabis products are made from the <em>C. sativa</em> plant. Specifically, there are two varieties of <em>C. sativa </em>used: marijuana and hemp. Marijuana contains higher concentrations of THC and may or may not contain high concentrations of CBD. Hemp, in contrast, comes from the seeds and stalks of the plant and has a low THC content. Cannabis with less than 0.2% THC composition is normally considered hemp. CBD oils can be made from both marijuana and hemp. </p>
<p>CBD oils made from marijuana usually contain a non-negligible amount of THC while CBD oils made from hemp usually have low THC content. Because cannabis oils can have different concentrations of THC and laws surrounding THC differ from state to state, different states might have different legislation regarding CBD oils. Generally, CBD oils that contain less than 0.3% THC are legal to create, cultivate, and sell in the US. </p>
<p>CBD is ingested in a number of ways. Most commonly:</p>
<ul><li>Edibles: Edibles are food items that are made with quantities of CBD oils. Cookies, cakes, and gummy bears are some popular CBD edibles. </li><li>Tinctures: Oil tinctures containing CBD and other cannabinoids are also fairly common. CBD tinctures can be added to food and drink with an eyedropper. </li><li>Vaporizing: CBD extract can be used with a vaporizer or vape pen. Vaporization is normally considered the most potent form of ingesting. </li></ul>
<p>We should mention that CBD <em>is not </em>medicine and is not meant to be a substitute for any medicine or medical treatment. CBD-based treatments are not approved for medical use by the FDA, with 2 major exceptions. Sativex and Epidolex are two oral CBD-based sprays that are used for pain management and epilepsy. To date, Sativex and Epidolex are the only CBD-based treatments that are approved by the US FDA.</p>
<h3>How to Use CBD Oil</h3><p>The way to use CBD depends on the kind of CBD product that you buy. Edibles, for example, can just be eaten like normal food. The CBD will be absorbed by the intestines. It takes about 45 minutes-1 hour to feel the effects of an edible. </p>
<p>Tinctures and oils are likewise easy to ingest. You can either place oil drops directly on your tongue or you can mix a few drops of oil in with your food or drink. Generally, tinctures come with an eyedropper for serving. It takes about 20-40 minutes to feel the effects of ingesting oil. </p>
<p>Lastly is vaporization. To vaporize CBD you will need a special set up. THC vape usually uses a removable cartridge of CBD suspended in some matrix, most commonly vegetable glycerin. The onset of effects is almost immediate as the vapor in your lungs is absorbed in the bloodstream very rapidly. Vaporizing CBD oils is the most potent form of ingesting so it is only recommended for experienced users. </p>
<p><strong>Dosage: </strong>Various studies have shown that CBD is safe to consume, even in very large doses. Studies in animals show that CBD has an extremely high lethal dosage and even large doses do not cause long-term lasting impairments. </p>
<p>For example, one <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/24734306.2018.1434470" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">2018 study</a> found that the LD50 (the quantity it takes to kill 50% of subjects) or CBD for mice is 50 mg per kg of body weight. For larger mammals, the LD50 is even higher. The LD50 for dogs is over 250 mg per kg of body weight and the LD50 for monkeys is above 200 mg per kg of body weight. </p>
<p>To put these numbers in perspective, assuming you weigh about 160 lbs. It would take about 18g of CBD oil ingested very quickly to kill you. A normal bottle of CBD oil contains only about 500mg. So, CBD is incredibly safe to take. </p>
<p>As far as specific dosages go, it's better to start small then increase to get the desired effects. The general rule of thumb is you should take about 5 mg per 30 lbs. Of body weight. So if you weigh 150 lbs, then an appropriate dose should be about 25mg per day. It is recommended to start small and then increase the dosage by 5mg for each week until you achieve the desired effects. </p>
<h3>CBD Side Effects</h3><p>Compared to other supplements, CBD has very few mild side effects. Unlike THC, CBD does not produce psychoactive or intoxicating effects. This is because CBD molecules alter the shape of CB1 receptors. The most common reported side effects of taking CBD include:</p>
<ul><li>Dry mouth</li><li>Lightheadedness</li><li>Drowsiness</li><li>Low blood pressure</li></ul>
<p>In some cases, CBD can cause an upset stomach or diarrhea. In most cases, these side effects are mild and will subside as you get used to taking the product. </p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>So there you have it, 5 of the best CBD oils for sleep. Insomnia is a real downer and can wreak havoc on the body and mind but CBD supplements can help. Just a drop or two before you go to bed can help you get the restful sleep that you deserve. These top 5 CBD companies have been chosen as the best of the best due to their high quality products and brand transparency. So, if you are looking for the best CBD for sleep, then this guide is a handy place to start. </p>
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg protests in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm on September 25, 2020. Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Getty Images
By Ruby Russell and Ajit Niranjan
Hamstrung by coronavirus lockdowns, frustrated school strikers have spent months staging digital protests against world leaders failing to act urgently on climate change.
<p>Today they are <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-global-climate-strikers-take-on-inactive-leaders/a-55039689" target="_blank">taking to the streets once more</a>.</p><p>The Fridays for Futures movement, which started with activist Greta Thunberg skipping school to sit alone outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018, has become a global youth force calling for climate justice. But a surge in support last year was hobbled after coronavirus lockdowns closed schools and kept children at home. </p><p>The protest on Friday is the group's first global action since the pandemic struck and follows meetings between prominent activists and world leaders. Last month, Thunberg and three other climate activists presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with <a href="https://climateemergencyeu.org/#letter" target="_blank">a letter signed by nearly 125,000 people</a> demanding EU leaders "stop pretending that we can solve the climate and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis."</p>
<p>They have called for an immediate halt to investments and subsidies in fossil fuels and, in Germany, pressured the government to bring forward its deadline to phase out coal from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-approves-coal-phaseout-by-2038/a-54040605" target="_blank">2038 to 2030</a>, and to go carbon-neutral by 2035 instead of 2050.</p><p>Line Niedeggen, a physics student at the University of Heidelberg and Fridays for Future spokesperson, believes Germany has a responsibility to lead on climate action. Historically it has been one of the world's <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-emissions-paris-agreement/a-55044341" target="_blank">biggest carbon emitters</a>, she says, is also rich enough to adopt cleaner energy systems, and last month it adopted presidency of the EU Council.</p><p>"We have to use this role as the leader of one of the biggest emitters in the world to start a change of direction because, scientifically, 2020 is the last year we can make changes to actually reach 1.5 degrees," Niedeggen told DW. </p>
Pandemic Stalls Protests
<p>Last November, the head of the UN Environment Program was among the public and scientific figures to warn that 2020 offered a last chance to cut emissions. Then, few could have suspected this deadline would coincide with an unprecedented public health emergency.</p><p>The pandemic has <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/tough-times-ahead-for-climate-protesters-during-corona-pandemic/a-52978469" target="_blank">dealt climate activism a blow</a>. Niedeggen says that as a movement demanding that the world act on scientific advice, the school strikers took lockdown restrictions extremely seriously, halted public protests immediately and took their activism online.</p><p>On April 24, Fridays for Future organized a "digital strike," with Niedeggen hosting a that racked up close to a quarter of a million views. "We were not physically standing together, but we were all fighting together," she says.</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-strikers-get-inventive-during-the-covid-19-crisis-fridays-for-future/a-53229262" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Activists also gathered thousands of placards</a> from across Germany to lay out in front of the German Bundestag around the central slogan: "Fight every crisis."</p><p>Still, corona inevitably pushed <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/life-after-coronavirus-we-can-shape-a-totally-different-world/a-53496208" target="_blank">climate change down the agenda</a>, and according to a poll conducted by Postbank only 6% of German 16 to 18-year-olds joined an online strike, compared to nearly a third who had been to a physical Fridays for Future protest.</p><p>Elsewhere in the world, the shift to online activism may have been even more damaging.</p><p>Fatou Jeng, a climate activist from Gambia, says that in Africa, school strikes are anyway less effective than they are in Europe, although they have inspired other action. Her own activism has mainly focused on conservation work, planting trees to protect vulnerable coastlines, and educating communities about climate change. </p><p>Most of these activities have had to stop as a result of COVID-19, and while Gambian activists have continued to use digital means to pressure those in power, "the provincial areas which are more vulnerable to the impact of climate change don't really have access to the internet," Jeng told DW.</p>
Opportunity for a New Normal
<p>Last September's Global Climate Strike drew young and old protestors around the world, with organizers estimating a global turnout of 7.6 million, including an estimated 270,000 people in Berlin. Activists have adjusted this year's event to account for social distancing and different levels of coronavirus restrictions in cities taking part.</p><p>They say COVID-19 also presents opportunities.</p><p>"The pandemic shows that we can change our normal daily life, and we are very able to adjust to a situation of crisis," she says. The key question is how economies get back on their feet: "We have the possibility to build a new normal, to build a renewable world order, and an environmentally just, climate-just normal for everybody."</p><p>In July, Jeng was among 20 female Fridays for Future activists from the Global South to sign an open letter to G20 finance ministers warning that their decisions in "exclusive backrooms" over stimulus packages and corporate bailouts would "lock in development pathways for decades."</p><p>"The system is not broken, it was built to be unjust. We don't need recovery, we need a reboot," the letter reads, stressing that "black people, indigenous peoples and people of color," have been disproportionately hit by the economic, climate and coronavirus crises. </p>Policy 'Not Quite There Yet'
<p>Figures on stimulus spending do not suggest their words had much impact. The ministers were criticized for failing to relieve the debt of poorer countries, and according to <a href="https://www.energypolicytracker.org/region/g20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Energy Policy Tracker</a>, G20 countries by August had pledged $169 billion (142 billion euros) to fossil fuels since the beginning of the pandemic.</p><p>Katrin Uba, associate professor of political science at Uppsala University in Sweden, is researching Fridays for Future. She says that despite the movement raising awareness and gaining access to policymakers, real policy change "is not there yet."</p><p>Still, she stresses that social movements go through waves of mobilization as public attention on their core issues ebbs and flows. And perhaps one of Fridays for Future's biggest achievements is birthing a politically active generation that will keep the fight up long after corona becomes a memory. </p><p>"We know clearly from our research that many of the people who came to the streets hadn't done any protesting before in their lives," she told DW. "And we also know that if you do one protest, you are likely to do more."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Trump’s EPA Dismisses Agency’s Own Findings That Chlorpyrifos Harms Children’s Brains
24 September
Politics
Moms Clean Air Force members attend a press conference hosted by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announcing legislation to ban chlorpyrifos on July 25, 2017. Moms Clean Air Force
The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a risk assessment for toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos Tuesday that downplayed its effects on children's brains and may be the first indication of how the administration's "secret science" policy could impact public health.
<p>Several studies have found that babies exposed to chlorpyrifos in the womb can suffer from lower birth weights, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, lower IQ and limited working memory, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earthjustice pointed out</a>. But the EPA on Tuesday discounted those findings, ruling instead that the science on chlorpyrifos' brain-damaging effects "remains unresolved." In doing so, it reversed the findings of EPA scientists from previous administrations.</p>
<p>"This shows that E.P.A. has completely abandoned any commitment to protecting children from this extremely toxic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemical</a> when their own scientists recommended twice to ban it," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> senior director for health Erik D. Olson told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/climate/epa-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-children.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVHFXSRiLg7sx1wgirelbWGK5jBoZ6b_NO0diW0o-RBfJRUTDU4itq6w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "The science is being overridden by politics."</p>
<p>In Tuesday's conclusion, the EPA discounted several epidemiological studies, including a prominent one conducted by Columbia University that found a connection between chlorpyrifos exposure in utero and developmental disorders in toddlers. This suggests the agency is moving forward with its proposed "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-limits-science-public-health-2645395622.html" target="_self">secret science</a>" policy that would reject or at least give less weight to the conclusions of studies that do not make their underlying data public. However, several long-term health studies do not publish such data in order to preserve their subjects' privacy. The "secret science" policy has not yet been made an official EPA rule, but the agency already seems to be applying it in the case of the chlorpyrifos assessment. EPA spokesperson James Hewitt said the agency had not been able to confirm the conclusions of the Columbia study.</p><p>"The EPA is ignoring decades of science by leading universities and in doing so, it's neglecting its duty to protect children from pesticides," Earthjustice managing attorney Patti Goldman said in a statement. "Ignoring the demonstrated harm to children doesn't make chlorpyrifos safe, it just shows a commitment to keep a toxic pesticide in the market and in our food at all cost."</p>
<p>EPA scientists sounded the alarm on chlorpyrifos in 2014 and 2016, recommending it be banned from use on food, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage" target="_blank">according to The Hill</a>. (It was already banned for household use in 2000). But in 2017, the EPA under Trump <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-2338511186.html" target="_self">halted</a> the process of banning the chemical. This <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pesticide-chlorpyrifos-2458558122.html" target="_self">triggered a round of lawsuits</a>, leading eventually to Tuesday's risk assessment.</p><p>"They kicked the decision back to scientists and said they're reanalyzing it so that's how they got around the courts telling them to decide whether to ban it or not," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> senior scientist Nathan Donley told The Hill.</p><p>He said Tuesday's assessment suggests it is unlikely that the agency will ultimately decide to ban the pesticide.</p><p>Meanwhile, states including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-chlorpyrifos-ban-2636704080.html" target="_self">California</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chlorpyrifos-ban-hawaii-2578016885.html" target="_self">Hawaii</a> have taken matters into their own hands and banned the chemical. Corteva, the pesticide's No. 1 maker, has said it will stop producing it by the end of 2020, according to The New York Times. Despite this, Earthjustice pointed to <a href="https://beta.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850-0938" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EPA documents</a> showing that Corteva has been lobbying the agency.</p>
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Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., places a flag at the COVID Memorial Project's interfaith memorial service to honor the 200,000 people who died due to coronavirus on the National Mall on Sept. 22, 2020. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
The United States passed 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19 Tuesday and experts warn that number may double before the end of the year as an autumn surge in cases starts, according to USA Today.
<p>Researchers at the <a href="http://www.healthdata.org/" target="_blank">Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington</a> (IHME) analyzed various scenarios that include fatigue from wearing masks and social distancing to create projections for the number of COVID-19 deaths we should expect by Jan. 1. One of their models has the U.S. reaching just shy of 400,000 deaths by the beginning of 2021.</p><p>"The worst is yet to come. I don't think perhaps that's a surprise, although I think there's a natural tendency as we're a little bit in the Northern hemisphere summer, to think maybe the epidemic is going away," said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the IHME, earlier this month, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/22/us-coronavirus-death-toll-tops-200000-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>The U.S. accounts for roughly one-fifth of all the confirmed COVID-related deaths around the world despite having only 4 percent of the population, according to CNBC. The virus claimed the lives of roughly 100,000 Americans in the first four months of the outbreak. That number doubled over the next four months. Now, several states are seeing surges in cases after summer peaks in the Southeast, Texas and Arizona have diminished.</p><p>The surges that took place across those states quickly declined with mitigation efforts like social distancing and mandated mask wearing, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/world/covid-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage#link-19bfa512" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-states-cases-increase/2020/09/22/105826b4-f9ef-11ea-a275-1a2c2d36e1f1_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>, 27 states and Puerto Rico have seen an increase in the number of cases over the last week. It also found that six states and Puerto Rico set record highs for the number of positive cases for a single day on Monday. While roughly half the states are seeing an increase in cases, only seven are seeing decreases, according to data from <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"We're entering into the fall and into the winter, and that means there's going to be more indoor things than outdoor things," Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday during the Atlantic Festival, as CNN reported. "Going into that situation, I would like to have seen the baseline of where we are — the daily number of infections — come way, way down, and not be stuck at around 30 to 40,000 per day."</p>
<p>In addition to the death toll, experts note that we are just starting to learn about the long-term effects of people who have survived the virus, but are experiencing physical or cognitive side effects that hamper their daily life. Also, the true death toll may be much higher since there have been more than 200,000 excess deaths this year since February, according to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC statistics</a>, as CNBC reported. Excess deaths are the actual number of deaths compared to a projection based on historical averages.</p><p>"Pandemics are inevitable. They're going to happen. But does it have to get this bad? No," said Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the systemwide special pathogens program at New York City Health + Hospitals, as CNBC reported. "That was avoidable, and we've made significant mistakes as a nation. We have been behind the eight ball from the very beginning."</p>
<p>The U.S. is not alone in seeing a surge in cases as the weather starts to change and restrictions ease up slightly. France, Spain and Israel are all struggling as new cases start to spread, according to The Washington Post. They were among the 73 countries that are seeing upticks in cases, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced strict new measures that may last for the next six months as the country saw 5,000 new cases Tuesday. Pubs and restaurants will close by 10 p.m. and fines for not wearing a mask will double to $255, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/world/europe/boris-johnson-britain-plan-virus.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. The new mitigation efforts came as government scientists and medical advisers warned that the UK could see 50,000 new cases a day in short order if the virus is allowed to spread unchecked.</p><p>"We always knew that while we might have driven the virus into retreat, the prospect of a second wave was real," Johnson said to the House of Commons Tuesday, as The New York Times reported. "I'm sorry to say that, as in Spain and France and many other countries, we've reached a perilous turning point."</p>
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In New Election Video, Pathway to Paris Reminds Us That ‘People Have the Power’
22 September
Politics
People Have the Power - VOTE 2020
Climate-action nonprofit Pathway to Paris first launched in 2014 with an "intimate evening" of music and conversation after the People's Climate March in New York City.
<p>Six years later, and intimate musical evenings feel like relics from another era. But the group is still bringing artists and activists together to achieve its goal of making the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris climate agreement</a> a reality. To that end, the group dropped a new music video <a href="https://vimeo.com/459419656" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tuesday</a> to remind people the world over that they have the power to act on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>The eight-minute video features musicians and activists from 24 countries, 38 cities and six continents singing "People Have the Power" by Pathway to Paris supporter Patti Smith and the late Fred Sonic Smith. It was released in conjunction with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-week-2020-2647708978.html" target="_self">Climate Week NYC</a> and in celebration of Pathway to Paris' sixth anniversary. While the group <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/patti-smith-thom-yorke-flea-pathway-to-paris-album-1946624877.html" target="_self">cut its teeth on live concerts</a>, such as a two-night affair in Paris that coincided with the signing of the groundbreaking 2015 agreement, the organization's founders say its work is more urgent than ever now that large public gatherings are not safe.</p>
<p>"The current pandemic surrounding Covid-19 has shown moments and threads of hope and optimism, but it also has shown just how fractured the communication of our planet remains," Pathway to Paris co-founder Jesse Paris Smith said in a press release for the new video. "This same frustration has been experienced for decades with the climate crisis and just about any unifying global issue of great urgency. We struggle to adapt and survive based on the information we are given and the immense lack of alignment in our decision making. There couldn't be a more urgent time for the country and the planet to unify as one collective force, and yet we see more examples of the failure of this concept to take hold. Our current reality is one of immense suffering and a promise of continued disaster if we do not get together on our agreements, set more ambitious goals, and make drastic plans for change <em>today</em>."<br></p>
<p>To further this goal, Smith and fellow co-founder Rebecca Foon launched the video with the hope of encouraging people to make change by voting. They encourage U.S. viewers to vote in the upcoming <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/2020-election" target="_self">November election</a> and viewers the world over to vote wherever and whenever local elections occur. They also suggest people use their voice by signing petitions, contacting representatives, writing letters and having conversations about climate change with friends and family.</p><p>Joining Foon and Smith in the video to endorse this message are a wide range of celebrities, activists and ordinary people including Patti Smith, Joan Baez, Tony Hawk, Cyndi Lauper, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Bill McKibben.</p><p>"We are in a time where our interconnectedness has never been more pronounced. This time presents an opportunity for us as a planet to truly see how our epic challenges are deeply connected, and our collective solutions need to address these challenges holistically. Due to the state of emergency we find ourselves in globally (current science highlights that we might hit 1.5 degrees as soon as 2024), we need to put our resources and attention as quickly as possibly in designing and creating a world that is no longer dependent on the use of fossil fuels while building a green economy that is rooted in equity, justice, human rights and ethics if we want a future for ourselves and our children," Foon said in the press release.</p>
<p><br>Foon and Smith, both musicians themselves, noted that the pandemic has taken a toll on an industry that relies on live performances. The group has already organized two virtual festivals since quarantine measures began, one for Earth Day in April and one for World Environment Day in June.</p><p>"It is a bit terrifying to imagine the impact that the disappearance of culture and community will have on the upcoming election, though we must continue to find ways to connect and collaborate in the virtual plane, while following quarantine and social distancing guidelines," Smith said in the press release.</p>
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WHO Releases Plans for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution as U.S., China and Russia Opt Out
22 September
Health + Wellness
Headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak on Aug. 17, 2020. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday that 64 high-income nations have joined an effort to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine fairly, prioritizing the most vulnerable citizens, as Science reported. The program is called the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or Covax, and it is a joint effort led by the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
<p>The 64 high-income countries bring the total number of participating countries up to 156, but their participation is crucial to financing the 2 billion doses that the WHO hopes to purchase and distribute before the end of 2021, according to <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/21/64-high-income-nations-join-effort-to-expand-global-access-to-covid-19-vaccines-but-u-s-and-china-do-not/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">STAT News</a>.</p><p>The 156 economies participating in Covax make up 64 percent of the global population.</p><p>"COVAX is now in business: governments from every continent have chosen to work together, not only to secure <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaccines">vaccines</a> for their own populations, but also to help ensure that vaccines are available to the most vulnerable everywhere," said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, in a WHO <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/21-09-2020-boost-for-global-response-to-covid-19-as-economies-worldwide-formally-sign-up-to-covax-facility" target="_blank">statement</a>. "With the commitments we're announcing today for the COVAX Facility, as well as the historic partnership we are forging with industry, we now stand a far better chance of ending the acute phase of this pandemic once safe, effective vaccines become available."</p>
<p>The United States, Russia and China have not agreed to join Covax. The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration plans to withdraw from the WHO by next July so it refuses to participate in a WHO-led campaign, as STAT News reported. China has not said if it will participate or not, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/coronavirus-vaccine-covax-who/2020/09/21/d21c7b4a-f9d3-11ea-a510-f57d8ce76e11_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>"COVID-19 is an unprecedented global crisis that demands an unprecedented global response," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement. "Vaccine nationalism will only perpetuate the disease and prolong the global recovery. Working together through the COVAX Facility is not charity, it's in every country's own best interests to control the pandemic and accelerate the global economic recovery."</p>
<p>At a briefing on Monday, Ghebreyesus denounced vaccine nationalism again, according to The Washington Post. "The race for vaccines is a collaboration, not a contest," he said to a gathering of reporters. "This is not charity. It's in every country's best interest. We sink or swim together."</p><p>Once a vaccine candidate reaches all of its endpoints for safety and efficacy, the WHO's plan will be implemented in two phases under a "fair allocation mechanism." The first phase has two discrete parts. After enough doses of a successful candidate are produced, each participating country will receive enough doses for 3 percent of their population. That first batch would go to health care and social care workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. After that first batch is distributed, a second set of doses will be distributed equally so 20 percent of the population can be inoculated. The second set of doses will be for vulnerable populations like the elderly and people with complicating health conditions, according to Science.</p>
<p>The second phase will distribute vaccine doses by need rather than by equal distribution. Countries that take part in Covax will receive vaccines based on how desperately they are needed. To determine urgency, Covax will look at the transmission rate, whether other diseases like flu are spreading rapidly, and if a healthcare system is seeing its hospitals and intensive care units overwhelmed, as Science reported.</p><p>"Providing each country with enough doses to start protecting the health system and those at higher risk of dying is the best approach to maximize the impact of the small quantities of vaccines," said Mariângela Batista Galvão Simão, the WHO's assistant director general for access to medicines and health products, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>While the first phase of the plan may not address the most dire and urgent situations, the equal distribution of the vaccine in proportion to population is meant to encourage more countries to participate in Covax, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>"It's a very pragmatic and expedient way of trying to put forward a simple plan and will not ignite a food fight among different member states in the first phase," said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
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Exterior of Cold Tube demonstration pavilion. Lea Ruefenacht
By Gloria Oladipo
In the face of dangerous heat waves this summer, Americans have taken shelter in air conditioned cooling centers. Normally, that would be a wise choice, but during a pandemic, indoor shelters present new risks. The same air conditioning systems that keep us cool recirculate air around us, potentially spreading the coronavirus.
<p>"Air conditioners look like they're bringing in air from the outside because they go through the window, but it is 100 percent recirculated air," said Forrest Meggers, an assistant professor of architecture at Princeton University. "If you had a system that could cool without being focused solely on cooling air, then you could actually open your windows."</p><p>Meggers and an international team of researchers have developed a safer way for people to beat the heat — a highly efficient cooling system that doesn't move air around.</p><p>Scientists lined door-sized panels with tiny tubes that circulate cold water. Stand next to a panel, and you can feel it drawing heat away from your body. Unlike air conditioners, these panels can be used with the window open — or even outdoors — making it possible to cool off while also getting some fresh air. This reduces the risk of spreading airborne viruses, like the coronavirus.</p>
<p>"If you look at what the health authorities and governments are saying, the safest place to be during this pandemic is outside," said Adam Rysanek, an assistant professor of environmental systems at the University of British Columbia, who was part of the research effort. "We're trying to find a way to keep you cool in a heat wave with the windows wide open, because the air is fresh. It's just that it's hot."</p><p>Cooling panels have been around for a while, but in limited use, because scientists haven't found a good way to deal with condensation. Like a cold can of Coke on a hot summer day, cooling panels collect drops of water, so they have to be paired with dehumidifiers indoors to stay dry. Otherwise, overhead panels might drip water on people standing underneath.</p><p>Meggers and his colleagues got around this problem by developing a thin, transparent membrane that repels condensation. This is the key breakthrough behind their cooling technology. Because it stays dry, it can be used in humid conditions, even outdoors.</p>
<p>In air conditioners, a dehumidifier dries out the air to prevent condensation. This component uses an enormous amount of energy, around half of the total power consumed by the air conditioner, researchers said. The new membrane they developed eliminates condensation with no energy cost, making the cooling panels significantly more efficient than a typical AC unit.</p><p>The research team involved scientists from the University of British Columbia, Princeton, UC Berkeley and the Singapore-ETH Centre. They published their <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/08/17/2001678117" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">findings</a> in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>"This study demonstrates that we can maintain comfortable conditions for people without cooling all the air around them," said Zoltan Nagy, an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas, who was not affiliated with the study. "Probably the most significant demonstration of this study is that humans can be provided with comfort in a very challenging thermal environment using a very efficient method."</p>
<p>Researchers developed their technology for use in the persistently hot, muggy climate of Singapore, where avoiding condensation would be particularly difficult.</p><p>To test their design, they assembled a set of cooling panels into a small tunnel, roughly the size of a school bus. The tunnel, dubbed the "Cold Tube," sat in a plaza in the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore. Scientists surveyed dozens of people about how they felt after walking through the tunnel. Even as the temperature neared 90 degrees F outside, most participants reported feeling comfortable in the Cold Tube.</p>Scientists said they want to make their technology available to consumers as quickly as possible, for use in homes and offices, or outdoors. Climate change is producing <a href="https://time.com/5627355/climate-change-heat-waves/" target="_blank">more severe heat</a>, which is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">driving demand</a> for air conditioners. Researchers hope their cooling panel will offer a more energy-efficient alternative to AC units. If consumers can use less power, that will help cut down on the pollution that is driving climate change.
<p>Before they can sell the panels, researchers said they need to make them hardy enough to survive outdoors. The anti-condensation membrane is currently so thin that you could tear it with a pencil, so it must be made stronger. Scientists also need to demonstrate that the panels work efficiently indoors. Hospitals and schools in Singapore have already shown interest in the cooling system.</p><p>"We know the physics works. Now we need to do one more test so we have a bit more of a commercially viable product," Rysanek said. "It's really about trying to get this into people's hands as quickly as possible."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/new-cooling-technology-protects-against-severe-heat-and-viral-spread-1e5b96ae793a" target="_blank">Nexus Media.</a></em></p>
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The label of one of the recalled thyroid medications. FDA
If you are taking medication for an underactive thyroid, check your prescription.
<p>Acella Pharmaceuticals, LLC is recalling some of its NP Thyroid® tablets because they are not strong enough to work properly, according to an announcement published by the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/acella-pharmaceuticals-llc-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-two-lots-np-thyroidr-thyroid-tablets" target="_blank">Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Thursday</a>. Patients with underactive thyroids, technically known as hypothyroidism, who take weaker medicine may experience symptoms of the condition. These include fatigue, dry skin, low heart rate, depression and unexpected weight loss or gain.</p><p>"To date, Acella has received four reports of adverse events for these lot numbers possibly related to this recall," the company said.</p>
<p>The recall marks the second time this month that a thyroid drug was pulled for being too weak, or subpotent, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article245872655.html" target="_blank">the Miami Herald pointed out</a>. RLC Labs, Inc. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/rlc-labs-inc-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-all-lots-nature-throidr-and-wp-thyroidr-current" target="_blank">recalled</a> nearly 500 lots of Nature-Throid® and WP Thyroid® for the same reason Sept. 3. Weeks before that, several lots of thyroid medication were recalled for being too strong, <a href="https://www.slashgear.com/popular-thyroid-drugs-recalled-because-theyre-weaker-than-expected-05636932/" target="_blank">SlashGear reported</a>.</p><p>The most recent recall concerns one lot of Acella's 15-mg NP Thyroid® and one lot of its 120-mg NP Thyroid®. The recall comes because testing revealed the lots to be subpotent. They may contain as little as 87 percent of the amount of levothyroxine, or T4, indicated on the label.</p><p>"Acella is proactively notifying its wholesalers by email and phone to discontinue distribution of the two above referenced lots being recalled and is arranging for return of all recalled products," the company said in the recall announcement. "Patients who are currently taking NP Thyroid® from the lots being recalled should not discontinue use without contacting their healthcare provider for further guidance and/or a replacement prescription."</p>
<p>Pregnant or elderly patients with hypothyroidism face additional risks if they take subpotent medication. For pregnant people, the weakened drug could cause early miscarriage or damage to the fetus such as impairment of skeletal or brain development or the onset of fetal hyperthyroidism. In elderly patients or patients with preexisting heart conditions, taking the weakened drugs could lead to palpitations, heart pain or cardiac arrhythmia.</p><p>The recalled products were packed in 100-count bottles and had expiration dates of Oct. and Nov. 2020. Their lot numbers were M327E19-1 and M328F19-3.</p><p>"[C]onsumers may be able to determine that their product is not impacted by the recall if the 'use by,' 'discard after,' or 'expiration date' on their prescription bottle is on or after December 2020," the recall notice said.</p><p>If patients experience any harmful side effects from taking the medication, they should contact their healthcare providers. They can also report the adverse reaction to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program/reporting-serious-problems-fda" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Anyone with questions about the recall can contact Acella Pharmaceuticals at recall@acellapharma.com or 1-888-280-2044.</p>
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks onstage at the event Fourth Annual Berggruen Prize Gala Celebrates 2019 Laureate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in New York City on Dec. 16, 2019. Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for Berggruen Institute
The passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg means the nation's highest court has lost a staunch advocate for women's rights and civil rights. Ginsburg was a tireless worker, who continued to serve on the bench through multiple bouts of cancer. She also leaves behind a complicated environmental legacy, as Environment and Energy News (E&E News) reported.
<p>While it was often assumed that Ginsburg would decide in favor of environmental advocates in cases argued before the Supreme Court, the truth is that she often decided based on the nuances of the law rather than the decision that was best for the planet, according to E&E News.</p><p>She sided with the majority in the 5-4 decision of <em><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ruth-bader-ginsburg-leaves-a-nuanced-legacy-on-environmental-issues/" target="_blank">Massachusetts v. EPA</a></em>. That case, argued before the court in 2006 and decided in 2007, found that the Clean Air Act gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="_self">EPA</a>) the authority to regulate greenhouse gases that are spewed from the tailpipes of cars, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/19/ginsburgs-long-environmental-legacy-418324" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">POLITICO</a>.</p><p>That decision was instrumental in the Obama administration raising the tailpipe emissions standard to make new cars 5 percent more efficient annually until 2026. That rule was then rolled back by the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" target="_self">Trump</a> administration to make them just 1.5 percent more efficient, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-emissions/trump-finalizes-rollback-of-obama-era-vehicle-fuel-efficiency-standards-idUSKBN21I25S" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>And yet, Ginsburg also wrote the opinion of the court in the 2011 decision of <em><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/10-174.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American Electric Power Company v. Connecticut</a></em>. That decision stripped the authority of the states and private companies to sue power companies for their contribution to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> in federal court under a public nuisance law, as E&E news reported.</p><p>Ginsburg, in that decision, emphasized the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases, as POLITICO reported. That authority paved the way for the Obama administration to issue new rules for power plants that drastically reduced how much pollution they could spew into the air and waterways.</p><p>The decision, which on its face seemed to limit the rights of people and states to hold polluters accountable for their actions, actually empowered state attorneys general to sue in state court. This authority has been upheld, despite repeated attempts by the fossil fuel industry to move the cases to the federal courts, according to POLITICO.</p>
<p>Ginsburg did look to expand the authority of regulatory agencies to rein in polluters. She joined the dissent in two notable cases, <em>Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. Army Corps of Engineers</em> and <em>Rapanos v. United States</em>, both of which would have expanded the definition of the Clean Water Act, according to E&E News.</p><p>In 2014, Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in a case that allowed the EPA to regulate coal plants where their emissions blew across state lines and affected the air quality of states that were downwind, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-upholds-epa-rule-on-cross-state-pollution/2014/04/29/7978fd14-cfce-11e3-b812-0c92213941f4_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. That case is credited with putting an end to some of the country's filthiest power plants, according to POLITICO.</p><p>Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator under Obama and now the president and CEO of the National Resources Defense Council, said in 2014 that the decision was "a resounding victory for public health and a key component" of the agency's attempts to "make sure all Americans have clean air to breathe," as The Washington Post reported.</p>
<p>In an NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2020/200918" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a> on Friday, McCarthy praised Ginsburg's life work. "From her pathbreaking advocacy for gender equality to her relentless defense of democracy itself, Justice Ginsburg widened our vision of who we are, enlarged in law the values we share and raised, forever, the possibility of what we might become."</p><p>Other environmental advocates issued statements praising the late justice as well.</p><p>"Justice Ginsburg was a pioneer for gender equality, civil rights, and the right of citizens to sue to protect their environment. The legal community lost a champion for the underdog and the nation as a whole," said Trent Dougherty, general counsel for the Ohio Environmental Council, in a <a href="https://theoec.org/press-releases/rbg0920/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/09/sierra-club-statement-passing-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg" target="_blank">statement</a>, "As we mourn the loss of Justice Ginsburg, we should reflect on her words that 'Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. Those of us who strive to make change for good in this world — whether it be fighting for racial justice, reproductive rights, or for a livable future — must continue the fight in her honor."<span></span></p>
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Few U.S. Students Repeat a Grade but That Could Change Due to COVID-19
19 September
Health + Wellness
54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Maria Symchych-Navrotska / Getty Images
By Pamela Davis-Kean
With in-person instruction becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-grounded, especially for children from low-income families.
<p>Based on the association's findings and my own research <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sFKNk7EAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">regarding academic achievement and socioeconomic status</a>, I believe it's likely, based on these early projections, that the widespread and rapid switch to remote schooling will have negative long-term academic consequences.</p><p>One possibility is that the share of students who end up repeating at least one grade at some point could rise due to this unprecedented disruption.</p><p>According to government data collected in 2018, only about <a href="https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/9713-children-ages-6-to-17-who-repeated-one-or-more-grades-since-starting-kindergarten" target="_blank">6% of U.S. students</a> <a href="http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/graderet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to repeat a grade</a> before graduating from high school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI5NzkxNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzMxNzExOH0.selMyETdcP84ZFiYNqsaFZRjPHh0Zwj9HI9ySU77Yl4/img.png?width=980" id="952f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="99b9ddf4c6e5e0c4bcdbf9c2d9150f22" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Any potential effort to make students repeat a grade when they can't demonstrate they have learned enough to advance to the next one would build on some recent precedents.</p><p>Starting in 2001 with the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/nclb/methods/reading/reading.html#4" target="_blank">No Child Left Behind Act</a>, reading proficiency by third grade became one of the federal mandates for schools to receive designated streams of federal funding.</p><p>This <a href="https://www.fcd-us.org/assets/2016/04/DoubleJeopardyReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal legislation, combined with research</a> indicating that children who couldn't yet read <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.06.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fared better when they repeated a grade</a>, brought about a wave of state-level legislation. So far, a total of <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">16 states have enacted laws</a> that prevent students from moving on from third grade until they are considered <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proficient on standardized reading tests</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank">state laws vary</a>. Some states, like <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/1008.25" target="_blank">Florida</a>, require students who aren't reading well enough to repeat third grade altogether. Others, such as <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120B.12" target="_blank">Minnesota</a>, let children move onto fourth grade and provide them with supplemental reading assistance until they can read at what the state deems to be a third-grade level. In practice, students typically don't repeat more than one grade.</p><p>I consider it likely that the academic consequences of the extended period of remote learning that began in March 2020 will be unequal. These consequences are bound to fall more heavily on students who are growing up facing persistent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.294" target="_blank">economic hardship</a>.</p><p>The practice of making children who are struggling to learn how to read repeat third grade, however well-intentioned, can be risky. For example, students who repeat a grade can feel <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stigmatized and less motivated to learn</a>.</p><p>Therefore, I believe parents, educators and policymakers will all need to try to address the inevitable gaps in learning bound to arise from widespread remote learning during the pandemic.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pamela-davis-kean-1142666" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pamela Davis-Kean</a> is a </em><em>Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Pamela Davis-Kean receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).</em><span></span>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/few-us-students-ever-repeat-a-grade-but-that-could-change-due-to-covid-19-143883" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Teen Depression Was Already a Problem; The Pandemic Could Be Making It Worse
17 September
Health + Wellness
A teenager reads a school English assignment at home after her school shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 22, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images
The pandemic has affected everyone, but mental health experts warn that youth and teens are suffering disproportionately and that depression and suicide rates are increasing.
<p>"While young people are generally physically healthy, they are psychiatrically vulnerable." Dr. Richard Friedman wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/suicide-young-people.html?smid=em-share" target="_blank">New York Times</a> opinion piece in January.</p><p>The psychiatrist warned even then that there was already an "epidemic of teen depression and suicide" that was largely being overlooked and under-supported. He cited <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" target="_blank">evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a> that, after declining for almost 20 years, the suicide rate among Americans aged 10 to 24 had jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017. Suicide has been, and is still, the second leading cause of death, after accidents, for that same age range, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> reported.</p>
<p>Shutdowns and other responses to the coronavirus pandemic since Friedman's article have exacerbated the already precarious situation of youth mental health and well-being.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm" target="_blank">CDC survey on mental health in June</a> found symptoms of anxiety and depression "up sharply," <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911117577/the-pandemic-has-researchers-worried-about-teen-suicide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR</a> reported. 11% of respondents said they had "seriously considered" suicide in the past 30 days; among 18 to 34-year-olds, that number more than doubled to 25%. The news report offered up uncertainty about the future and the state of the world, educational and daily routine disruptions, and isolation from peers and caring adults as potential factors.</p><p>Teenagers crave structure, Mendi Baron, founder of Ignite Treatment Centers, told <a href="https://knpr.org/knpr/2020-07/toll-teens-mental-health-experts-say-pandemic-causing-uptick-depression-suicides" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KNPR's State of Nevada</a>. Without it, their mood and mental health suffer, she said.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" target="_blank">CDC</a>, many have experienced increased grief and loss due to the "drastic changes to daily routines and ways of life that usually bring us comfort and a feeling of stability." How adolescents experience and process this grief is similar and different than in children and adults, the center said.</p><p>"Adolescents may experience significant changes in their sleep patterns, isolate themselves more, frequently appear irritable or frustrated, withdraw from usual activities, or engage more frequently with technology," the CDC said. "It is important for parents or caregivers to engage with their adolescents over their grief to promote healthy coping and acceptance. Parents may also need to obtain mental health services for the adolescent and family to deal with grief."</p><p>Teens are also "hardwired to be social," Baron told the KNPR's State of Nevada. Caroline Edgeworth, a high school student and co-founder of Hope Means Nevada, told KNPR that school closures had "dramatically hurt" her and her friends because of lost time together and with their sports teams.</p><p>"It was kind of my escape from home and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cabin-fever-coping-skills-2645677793.html" target="_self">now I'm stuck at home</a>," she said, reported KNPR.</p><p>Lisa Damour, an adolescent psychologist, agreed.</p><p>"Teenagers are in a developmental space where it is critically important that they have regular contact with their peers and are able to develop close and ongoing relationships with adults outside the home, such as their teachers, their coaches, their advisers," she told NPR. "And I worry very much about what it means for that to be disrupted by the pandemic."</p>
<p>Spending more time at home due to quarantine also increases another major factor in youth suicides: increased access to lethal weapons.</p><p>NPR reported that gun ownership in a particular state was the single strongest predictor of youth suicide rates in the state. A 2019 study found that for each 10 percent increase in household gun ownership, the suicide rate for 10- to 19-year-olds increases by more than 25 percent in that state, NPR reported.</p><p>Gun sales also doubled between March and June, the report stated, with 40% of the 10 million new guns sold during that time being to new gun owners. It's a "red flag" because firearms are used in over half of youth suicides, NPR reported.</p><p>Not having guns in the home or keeping them safely locked away is especially important with adolescents having to stay home due to the pandemic because "teens are impulsive," Damour told NPR.</p>
<p>These factors are causing some experts to push for schools to reopen, including CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield, reported <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/schools-reopen-students-mental-health-experts-weigh/story?id=71969959" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ABC News</a>. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and American Psychiatric Association (APA) generally support the CDC's push to reopen schools for the sake of children's mental and developmental health, but not where coronavirus is circulating, ABC reported.</p><p>"Whether we are sending students back for in-person school or not, we need to put emphasis on providing mental health support," child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Avanti Bergquist, elected school board member and distinguished fellow of AACAP, told ABC.</p><p>Parents, caregivers and teachers can keep these tips in mind to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/childrens-mental-health-pandemic-family-support-2647353043.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5" target="_self">help kids and teens struggling during the pandemic</a>:</p><ul><li>Educate parents and teachers to recognize depression in young people and learn the warning signs of suicide, like sudden behavior changes, talking or writing about suicide, and giving away prized possessions, Friedman wrote in the New York Times.</li><li>Talk to kids. Check-in regularly. If a teen talks about hurting themselves or disappearing, ask directly, "Is that something you think you might really do or you think about doing? Or are you just letting me know that you're very upset right now?," Damour told NPR. Importantly, listen with compassion and without dismissing what they are saying.</li><li>Listen. The <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-vickroy-teens-mental-health-st-0826-20190823-xcp4eclb35hvjhhha7b6uiu25q-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chicago Tribune</a> reported on the importance of being heard. Ask students how they are doing, and listen with an open mind. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/advice-for-parents-mental-health-children-covid-19/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a> stressed fostering relationships and creating an open-dialogue about wellness and feelings. "The stronger the connections are, the more opportunities they'll have to address something before it becomes untenable," said Nadjeh Awadallah, director of a Chicago INSPIRE program, reported the Tribune.</li><li>Acknowledge grief and loss. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> suggested outlets to process and express grief such as music, art, writing, gardening and other creative activities.</li><li>Look out for anger as an indicator. "In teenagers, uniquely, depression can take the form of irritability," Damour said, reported NPR. "That depression in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs them the wrong way. And that is easy to miss because sometimes we'll just dismiss that as being a snarky teenager."</li><li>Foster strong coping skills, also suggested the Tribune. Awadallah suggested meditation, conversation and other means of self-regulation and centering. Being reflective and able to calm yourself down is an important self-care component that everyone, including adults, should practice, Awadallah told the Tribune. For these pandemic times and beyond, there are <a href="http://mindfulnessforteens.com/guided-meditations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">online resources</a> and <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/meditation-apps-to-try-now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">even phone apps</a> specifically catering to teens to boost their mindfulness and mental and emotional well-being. </li><li>Develop new rituals to replace lost ones. The CDC suggested those that live together to play board games or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/quarantine-fatique-2645923350.html" target="_self">exercise together outdoors</a>. Those isolated can play virtual games together online.</li><li>Encourage safe outlets. Look for safe sports, work or volunteer opportunities that allow teens to have social time and contact with other caring adults, Damour told NPR.</li><li>Use <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/online-therapy-coronavirus-2646114980.html" target="_self">tele-therapy</a>. Damour noted that therapy over video chat has worked "surprisingly well" with adolescents, NPR reported.</li></ul><p>Finally, "one of the most important things to know about grief is that there isn't a quick fix," licensed therapist Jody Baumstein told <a href="https://www.strong4life.com/en/pages/behavior/articles/helping-kids-and-teens-deal-with-grief" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life</a>. "The only way to truly deal with grief is to acknowledge it, feel it and work through it."</p><p><em>If you or someone you know is showing warning sides of suicide risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or at </em><a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>suicidepreventionlifeline.org</em></a><em>. The </em><a href="https://www.crisistextline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Crisis Text Line</em></a><em> is available by texting TALK to 741741.</em></p>
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