According to the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), six million working days were lost last year due to mental health problems. These absences cost society more than €1 billion a year.
Mental illness currently accounts for more than one in three days of sick leave paid by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) in Finland. The annual cost of lost work effort exceeds one billion euros, which is an increase of almost half a billion euros compared to ten years ago.
– The true cost of lost workdays is likely to be even higher than our estimate, Mikko Rissanen, senior specialist at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle.
In 2023, almost six million working days will be lost due to mental health problems, which is the equivalent of 26,000 full-time employees being absent from work for a whole year. This is an increase of two million working days compared to a decade ago.
If short periods of sickness, which are shorter than the qualifying period for sickness compensation, are also taken into account, the total number of working days lost could exceed seven million, according to Kela.
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Significantly more 15-year-olds in Finland say they have a personal belief in God than before. In just five years, the proportion of young people who believe has increased significantly – and the desire to belong to the church has also strengthened, according to a new comprehensive study involving over 100,000 participants.
The study, which was published in the Finnish journal Uskonto, katsomus ja kasvatus, analyzed changes in young people’s religious beliefs over time, with a particular focus on gender differences. The study was conducted by researchers at Diakonia University of Applied Sciences and the University of Eastern Finland. It is based on survey data collected from over 100,000 young people who participated in confirmation classes between 2019 and 2024. In Finland, young people usually attend confirmation classes in the year they turn 15, and according to the study, nearly three-quarters of all 15-year-olds participate in the classes. Among those belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, participation is over 90 percent.
The surveys included questions about young people’s religious beliefs – such as belief in God, the resurrection of Jesus, prayer habits, and willingness to belong to the church – as well as how they themselves felt that their faith and relationship with the church had been affected by the instruction.
Belief in God is increasing
The results show that girls’ belief in God remained stable at around 35 to 37 percent between 2019 and 2023, but increased to as much as 50 percent in 2024, an increase of 13 percentage points in one year. At the same time, belief in the resurrection of Jesus increased from around 34 percent to 45 percent during the same period.
For boys, belief in God increased from 36 percent in 2019 to 62 percent in 2024. A similar increase was seen in boys’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus, which rose from 39 percent in 2019 to 60 percent in 2024.
– Existential questions were relevant in 325 and still are in 2025, said Juha Pihkala, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Tampere, commenting on the study to Finnish state broadcaster Yle.
Other surveys have also shown that more young Finnish adults are turning to the church.
More people want to belong to the church
The proportion of young people who want to belong to the church has also increased. Among boys, the figure rose from 52 percent in 2019 to 66 percent in 2024. For girls, the corresponding figure rose from 63 to 67 percent.
At the same time, the proportion of boys who said they were encouraged to pray during lessons rose from 43 to 59 percent. Among girls, the corresponding figure rose from 43 to 53 percent. The proportion of boys who felt that their faith had been strengthened through confirmation classes increased from 42 to 65 percent, while the proportion of girls rose from 42 to 55 percent.
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.
