Women taking birth control pills may experience increased anxiety during the days they pause from hormones with placebo tablets and have withdrawal bleeding, compared to women who do not take birth control pills. According to a new Austrian study, these women showed a seven percent increase in anxiety and a 13 percent increase in negative emotional states.
Birth control pills contain the two hormones estrogen and progestogen, which halt ovulation. Some pills come in packs of 28 tablets, where only 21 are hormone-based and the rest are so-called placebos. The placebo tablets can result in a withdrawal bleed, similar to menstruation.
Researchers at the University of Salzburg in Austria wanted to examine changes in mental health in women during the seven days they were without hormones each month. The study involved 180 women aged 18 to 35, of which 120 had been using birth control pills for an extended period, and 60 did not use them at all.
The women’s well-being and mood were tested twice a month over a year. The results, published in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open, showed that women taking birth control pills felt worse during the seven days of the month when they took placebo tablets, i.e., were without hormones. The pill-taking women exhibited a 7 percent increase in anxiety and a 13 percent increase in negative feelings in general during these seven days, compared to women who did not take the pills.
– We don’t exactly know the mechanism behind this change, we are working on unpicking this just now. It is unclear, whether the change is a direct effect of hormone withdrawal or due to the physical side effects of the withdrawal bleeding which happens when you stop the daily pill, said Professor Belinda Angela Pletzer in a press release.
Swedish Professor Inger Sundström Poromaa at Uppsala University commented on the study, suggesting it indicates potential benefits for women to skip the placebo tablets.
– Many women prefer not to have withdrawal bleeding while on hormonal contraceptives. Professor Pletzler’s study provides important and additional evidence why pill-free intervals of hormonal contraceptives can be skipped, she said.
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Sauerkraut may protect the intestinal lining from inflammation, according to an American study. During fermentation, the nutritional content of cabbage changes – including an increase in levels of lactic acid, amino acids, and other beneficial substances that are formed during the breakdown and can promote gut health.
Fermentation is a natural process where microorganisms like lactic acid bacteria and yeast break down sugars in food. This often results in the conversion of sugar into lactic acid or alcohol. The process not only helps preserve the food – it also produces probiotics, meaning live bacteria that are beneficial for the gut.
Fermented foods have been eaten for thousands of years around the world. For example, eating fermented vegetables makes the nutrients in the food easier for the body to absorb, and some studies show that vitamin levels can actually increase. There are also studies that suggest fermented foods can have positive effects on health, particularly for digestion and the immune system.
Sauerkraut better than raw cabbage
Researchers at the University of California Davis in the USA tested whether the nutrients in sauerkraut could help protect intestinal cells from inflammation-related damage. The study compared sauerkraut, raw cabbage, and the brine left over after the cabbage fermentation process.
The experiments were conducted on an artificial intestinal wall exposed to inflammation by adding so-called cytokines – which are known to damage the intestinal lining. These can be activated in the gut, for example, by consuming too much ultra-processed food or too much sugar or salt.
Fermentation increases beneficial substances
The results showed that sauerkraut can protect the intestinal lining from inflammation caused by cytokines. Raw cabbage and the brine, however, did not help protect the gut. It didn’t matter whether the sauerkraut was store-bought or homemade.
Chemical analyses show that fermentation changes the nutritional profile of cabbage and increases the amount of beneficial metabolites such as lactic acid, amino acids, and plant compounds, which in turn are linked to gut health. These changes may explain why fermented foods are often associated with digestive benefits.
– Some of the metabolites we find in the sauerkraut are the same kind of metabolites we’re finding to be made by the gut microbiome, so that gives us a little more confidence that this connection we found between the metabolites in sauerkraut and good gut health makes sense, says Professor Maria Marco in a press release.
The researchers have found hundreds of different metabolites that are formed during fermentation and that they are now working to determine which ones play the biggest role in supporting long-term gut health. The next step in the research is to conduct studies in humans to see if the gut-protective metabolites found in sauerkraut can have the same positive effects when included in the daily diet, as was shown in the lab.
– A little bit of sauerkraut could go a long way, she says. We should be thinking about including these fermented foods in our regular diets and not just as a side on our hot dogs.
The COVID vaccine AeroVax is not to be injected – but inhaled according to a method that will be tested in Canada with government funding. This is despite previous vaccines being linked to millions of reported side effects and vaccine injuries, including heart muscle inflammation, blood clots, and sudden deaths.
At McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, researchers have launched a phase 2 study of a new COVID vaccine that is not administered by injection but is instead inhaled.
The vaccine, named ChAd-triCoV/Mac, will now be tested on 350 participants from across the country, with $8 million in government funding, and researchers say they hope the new vaccine will provide stronger protection against infection than previous injection-based vaccines.
– While the current, needle-based COVID-19 vaccines have prevented a tremendous amount of death and hospitalization, they haven’t really changed a lot of people’s experience with getting recurrent infections, claims Fiona Smaill, professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and one of the study’s leaders.
– We’re looking to change that by providing robust protection directly at the site of infection, she declares.
Targets three virus proteins
The new vaccine differs from previous COVID vaccines in several ways. In addition to being administered as an aerosol inhalation, it targets three different proteins in the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to the researchers, this should improve protection against any future variants of COVID.
When a vaccine is inhaled, the body’s immune system reacts differently than when it is injected, which McMasters claims is more effective in preventing the infection itself.
Results from preclinical studies, together with unpublished data from the phase 1 study, suggest that the inhaled vaccine elicits a stronger immune response than traditional injections because it targets the airways where the virus first enters the body.
For those already vaccinated – but not recently ill
AeroVax is intended for people who have already received at least three doses of an mRNA vaccine. To participate in the study, participants must not have had COVID-19 or been vaccinated in the three months prior to registration. Participants must be between 18 and 65 years of age, free of lung disease, and able to attend all on-site testing sessions.
The study includes 350 participants from across Canada. Two-thirds will receive the vaccine and one-third a placebo. None of the participants know which group they belong to, which the researchers say is crucial for an objective evaluation.
– Randomization allows for objective comparison between those who received the vaccine and those who didn’t, which can tell us a lot about the level of protection the vaccine could provide and its side effects, Smaill continues.
Canadian Government Begins Testing Inhaled Covid mRNA ‘AeroVax’
“The Canadian government has begun ramping up testing for a chilling new Covid mRNA “AeroVax” that seeks to overcome “vaccine hesitancy” by using aerosols to “vaccinate” the general public.
The study is led by researchers at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, and all development – from laboratory design to testing – is taking place in Canada.
– Every medicine or vaccine that we use and trust today has at one point gone through similar clinical trials processes, says Matthew Miller, director of the institute and a member of the research team.
– This is a highly regulated process with extensive oversight that ensures the safety of participants and will generate critical data to inform the next steps in development, he adds.
If the results are promising, the researchers plan to move on to a Phase 3 study with a larger group of participants – a step toward approval and market introduction.
Previous COVID vaccines were usually administered with a syringe. Photo: Canstockphoto
Millions of side effects
In this context, it is worth mentioning that since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began, millions of side effects and vaccine injuries, including deaths, have been reported globally – ranging from fever and nerve damage to blood clots, heart muscle inflammation, and sudden death.
Young men have shown an increased risk of heart inflammation, which has led to certain vaccines being withdrawn or restricted in several countries, and many have come forward to testify about long-term vaccine injuries that affect their ability to work and their quality of life – but their stories have been silenced or dismissed by the healthcare system.
Critics argue that authorities and vaccine manufacturers prioritized rapid distribution over transparency and safety, and that the long-term effects are still very poorly understood.
The vaccine is also believed to have had virtually no effect on the spread of infection, and US health authorities were eventually forced to admit that vaccinated people could carry as much of the virus as unvaccinated people. In Sweden, too, healthcare providers concluded that the vaccine did not stop the spread of COVID-19.
70 percent of Swedish youth consume more sugar than recommended, according to a dissertation from the University of Gothenburg. Primarily, young people consume soda, candy, and pastries.
The thesis looked at how much free and added sugar Swedish young people consume, something that has not previously been studied to any great extent. Added sugar refers, for example, to sugar in soft drinks, candy, cakes, pastries and some breakfast cereals, while free sugar includes both added and natural sugar found in, for example, honey, syrup and juice.
– Since there are guidelines for the intake of both added sugar, and since 2023 also for free sugar, it’s important to be able to follow up on how well these guidelines are adhered to, to have a basis for promoting public health through various health-promoting efforts, says Julia Wanselius, who wrote the thesis, in a press release.
The limits for the recommended maximum intake of sugar in Sweden are set in relation to the amount of calories consumed and then expressed in energy percent (E%). The intake of both added and free sugars is recommended to be limited to a maximum of ten energy percent, in other words, no more than ten percent of the calorie intake per day should be sugar. For an adult, this corresponds to approximately 50-75 grams of sugar per day.
Sugar linked to lower nutrient intake
The results show that only 30% of Swedish teenagers stay below the recommended maximum intake for sugar, which means that around 70% eat too much sugar.
The biggest sources of sugar are soft drinks, candy, cakes and pastries, which together account for about 70 percent of the added sugar that young people eat. The study also shows that a high intake of sugar is linked to a lower intake of important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and whole grains.
One of the conclusions of the thesis is that the information around sugar intake would need to change to influence young people to eat less. Instead of focusing only on recommending less sugar, Wanselius suggests that the guidelines should instead focus on reducing the consumption of certain specific foods such as soft drinks and sweets.
France has recently introduced a ban on carcinogenic PFAS chemicals in all cosmetic products.
A similar ban is also being discussed at EU level – but it is highly unclear when it might actually be introduced
France is described as the first country in the Union to completely ban PFAS in the beauty and fashion industry. Since February, make-up containing the chemicals cannot be imported or exported – although some substances are still exempt from the new regulations.
– I saw the film Dark Water about a poisoning scandal in the US and realized pretty quickly that this is the same kind of scandal that is happening around PFAS in Europe, French influencer, documentary filmmaker and activist Camille Étienne, 26, told tabloid Aftonbladet.
Through her reporting, she was instrumental in pushing through a ban and says that she herself tested her blood and discovered that it contained the harmful chemicals.
– Some of them are classified as carcinogenic by the WHO’s cancer research institute.The tragedy is that there is no way to get rid of PFAS already in the body.This is the asbestos of our generation, she continues.
Accumulates in food and drinking water
It has long been known that PFAS can affect fertility, cause liver damage, several types of cancer, weakened immune systems, and high cholesterol – and major cosmetics producers have frequently been pointed out as major culprits driving the poisoning of citizens.
PFAS refers to a group of thousands of highly persistent industrial chemicals often called “forever chemicals” because they remain for a very long time in both the environment and the human body.
These substances can accumulate in drinking water and food, thereby reaching people even in very small doses. Due to their long-term effects, PFAS is seen as a serious environmental and public health issue, and even at the EU level, a comprehensive ban on PFAS in consumer products is now under discussion.
“Impossible to say”
Sweden, together with countries like Norway and Denmark, has been a driving force in the matter, which is now being analyzed by the EU Chemicals Agency and various committees. However, the bureaucratic processes are expected to take a very long time, and a total ban is unlikely to become reality anytime soon – if it ever does.
– It’s impossible to say when a ban might be in place. First, all uses must be evaluated. Then a consultation follows on SEAC’s (Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis) draft opinion. After that, the opinions of RAC (Risk Assessment Committee) and SEAC, together with the proposal, are sent to the Commission, which in turn drafts amendments to the restriction annex in the REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), says Jenny Ivarsson, strategic advisor at the Swedish Chemicals Agency.
– This will then be discussed and voted on among the member states before a decision is reached, she continues.
The proposal was submitted as early as February 2023.
