Catch 1 Flu, Get 1 Free
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Sometimes, having been infected with one virus will grant you immunity against a similar virusโas was famously the case with cowpox and smallpox, which led to the smallpox vaccine being developed.
If you are one of today’s lucky 10,000, then check out: WHO | History of smallpox vaccination, and the only human disease to have been eradicated so far
However, sometimes, getting one virus will just result in it inviting its cousin to come stay too!
The viral bonus (the bad kind)
Researchers (Dr. Alesandra Rodriguez et al.) found that exposure to one influenza strain can weaken one’s antibody response to a different strain encountered later.
Specifically, she and her team examined immune responses to two common influenza A subtypes (H3N2 influenza A and H1N1 influenza A) which frequently circulate in humans and cause seasonal flu.
The reason this happens is more interesting than you might expect, though. It’s not merely a case of “the immune system has taken a beating, so it works less well”. No, this happens even when the immune system has already fully recovered from the first one!
Rather, the effect, called immune imprinting (also known more colorfully as “original antigenic sin“), occurs when your immune system strongly remembers its first exposure to a virus, and reuses that response against related viruses even when it isnโt optimal.
For example, after the first infection, memory B cells rapidly produce antibodies during later exposures, but these antibodies may bind the new virus without effectively neutralizing it and can even interfere with the creation of a new, stronger immune response.
This goes down even to the molecular level, as structural analysis showed that even just a single amino-acid difference in the stalk epitope could dramatically reduce the effectiveness of many antibodies generated.
As a limitation, this was a pediatric study, but it’s expected that this will work the same way the same in older people tooโthe science just hasn’t been done yet to check.
You can read the paper in full, here: B cell imprinting in children impairs antibodies to the haemagglutinin stalk
So, what to do about it?
We’ve previously written about avoiding respiratory infections in general, for example: Why Some People Get Sick More (And How To Not Be One Of Them)
And for some specific key things to do:
- Being outdoors is better for reducing flu transmission than being indoors
- In other words, do avoid enclosed spaces with lots of people where possible, because this is a big factor. In fact, while people think of cold weather as increasing the risk of colds and flu, the main real difference comes from “when it’s cold, people spend more time indoors in close quarters together with the windows closed”. You can learn more about that here: The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold
- Facemasks are better for reducing flu transmission than being unmasked
- Importantly, masks do help, but are more important on an epidemiological level than personal (i.e. they protect society more than they protect the wearer), and they are impractical in many circumstances, and use of them is very low in most countries. So in other words: theyโre good! But may be a lost cause at least for the time being. See also: Mythbusting The Mask Debate
- Vaccination is better for reducing flu transmission than being unvaccinated
- Vaccines are considered the โgold standardโ against COVID and many other infectious diseases, for their very high rate of efficacy, clear science, and at least moderately lasting effects (i.e., itโs not something like handwashing*, which must be redone very frequently). Since vaccines are not without their popular misunderstanders, we have written a little about that, here: Vaccine Mythbusting
So, those are important ones, but still not the only things we can do; consider for example: Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters! โ most people donโt know these things and the huge difference they make!
Want to learn more?
For a deeper dive into immunity, here you go:
The 21-Day Immunity Plan โ by Dr. Aseem Malhotra
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Recommended
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
What are heart rate zones, and how can you incorporate them into your exerciseย routine?
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more popular in recent years partly because of the boom in wearable technology which, among other functions, allows people to easily track their heart rates.
Heart rate zones reflect different levels of intensity during aerobic exercise. Theyโre most often based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate, which is the highest number of beats your heart can achieve per minute.
But what are the different heart rate zones, and how can you use these zones to optimise your workout?
The three-zone model
While there are several models used to describe heart rate zones, the most common model in the scientific literature is the three-zone model, where the zones may be categorised as follows:
- zone 1: 55%โ82% of maximum heart rate
- zone 2: 82%โ87% of maximum heart rate
- zone 3: 87%โ97% of maximum heart rate.
If youโre not sure what your maximum heart rate is, it can be calculated using this equation: 208 โ (0.7 ร age in years). For example, Iโm 32 years old. 208 โ (0.7 x 32) = 185.6, so my predicted maximum heart rate is around 186 beats per minute.
There are also other models used to describe heart rate zones, such as the five-zone model (as its name implies, this one has five distinct zones). These models largely describe the same thing and can mostly be used interchangeably.
What do the different zones involve?
The three zones are based around a personโs lactate threshold, which describes the point at which exercise intensity moves from being predominantly aerobic, to predominantly anaerobic.
Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to help our muscles keep going, ensuring we can continue for a long time without fatiguing. Anaerobic exercise, however, uses stored energy to fuel exercise. Anaerobic exercise also accrues metabolic byproducts (such as lactate) that increase fatigue, meaning we can only produce energy anaerobically for a short time.
On average your lactate threshold tends to sit around 85% of your maximum heart rate, although this varies from person to person, and can be higher in athletes.
Wearable technology has taken off in recent years. Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels In the three-zone model, each zone loosely describes one of three types of training.
Zone 1 represents high-volume, low-intensity exercise, usually performed for long periods and at an easy pace, well below lactate threshold. Examples include jogging or cycling at a gentle pace.
Zone 2 is threshold training, also known as tempo training, a moderate intensity training method performed for moderate durations, at (or around) lactate threshold. This could be running, rowing or cycling at a speed where itโs difficult to speak full sentences.
Zone 3 mostly describes methods of high-intensity interval training, which are performed for shorter durations and at intensities above lactate threshold. For example, any circuit style workout that has you exercising hard for 30 seconds then resting for 30 seconds would be zone 3.
Striking a balance
To maximise endurance performance, you need to strike a balance between doing enough training to elicit positive changes, while avoiding over-training, injury and burnout.
While zone 3 is thought to produce the largest improvements in maximal oxygen uptake โ one of the best predictors of endurance performance and overall health โ itโs also the most tiring. This means you can only perform so much of it before it becomes too much.
Training in different heart rate zones improves slightly different physiological qualities, and so by spending time in each zone, you ensure a variety of benefits for performance and health.
So how much time should you spend in each zone?
Most elite endurance athletes, including runners, rowers, and even cross-country skiers, tend to spend most of their training (around 80%) in zone 1, with the rest split between zones 2 and 3.
Because elite endurance athletes train a lot, most of it needs to be in zone 1, otherwise they risk injury and burnout. For example, some runners accumulate more than 250 kilometres per week, which would be impossible to recover from if it was all performed in zone 2 or 3.
Of course, most people are not professional athletes. The World Health Organization recommends adults aim for 150โ300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, or 75โ150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.
If you look at this in the context of heart rate zones, you could consider zone 1 training as moderate intensity, and zones 2 and 3 as vigorous. Then, you can use heart rate zones to make sure youโre exercising to meet these guidelines.
What if I donโt have a heart rate monitor?
If you donโt have access to a heart rate tracker, that doesnโt mean you canโt use heart rate zones to guide your training.
The three heart rate zones discussed in this article can also be prescribed based on feel using a simple 10-point scale, where 0 indicates no effort, and 10 indicates the maximum amount of effort you can produce.
With this system, zone 1 aligns with a 4 or less out of 10, zone 2 with 4.5 to 6.5 out of 10, and zone 3 as a 7 or higher out of 10.
Heart rate zones are not a perfect measure of exercise intensity, but can be a useful tool. And if you donโt want to worry about heart rate zones at all, thatโs also fine. The most important thing is to simply get moving.
Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Share This Post
-
Broccoli vs Asparagus โ Which is Healthier?
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Our Verdict
When comparing broccoli to asparagus, we picked the broccoli.
Why?
Both are great! But broccoli does distinguish itself:
In terms of macros, broccoli has slightly more protein, carbs, and fiber. The two vegetables have the same glycemic index. We’ll call this a slight win for broccoli based mainly on the higher fiber, but it’s not by a huge amount.
When it comes to vitamins, broccoli has more of vitamins B5, B6, B9, C, K, and choline, whereas asparagus has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, and E. This would already be a 6:5 marginal win for broccoli, but it’s worth bearing in mind that broccoli’s margins are greater, especially with broccoli having around 15x the amount of vitamin C. So, a clear win for broccoli, respectable as asparagus may be.
In the category of minerals, broccoli has more calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while asparagus boasts more copper, iron, and zinc. A 6:3 win for broccoli here.
Both vegetables also contain generous amounts of antioxidant polyphenols and other beneficial phytochemicals, often a little different from each other, so that’s a case for enjoying both.
Still, if you’re going to pick just one, we recommend the broccoli!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Take care!
Share This Post
-
What Breakfast Means For Metabolic Syndrome
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
To fast or to breakfast? An important health question, with a clear answer, that’s belied by such things as the title of this book: Why Doctors Skip Breakfast โ by Dr. Gregory Charlop
The fact is: yes, intermittent fasting is good. No, skipping breakfast isn’t.
Now, of course, by some definitions, whenever we break a fast (which at some point we must, assuming we are to continue living), that meal is breakfast. But by “skipping breakfast” here what we mean is “not eating in the morning”.
So, why is it so important?
More reasons that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day
A recent systematic review with 118,385 participants found that people who regularly skip breakfast have a higher likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome and its key componentsโincluding elevated fasting glucose, abdominal adiposity, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, and hypertensionโall driven largely by insulin resistance. Which is bad.
In particular, the study associated skipping breakfast with:
- 26% higher risk of hyperglycemia (elevated fasting blood sugar levels, thus, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, as there were no participants with type 1 diabetes included in the first place, and adult development of type 1 diabetes is incredibly rare)
- 21% increased risk of hypertension (high blood pressure)
- 17% increased risk of excess visceral fat, listed in the paper under the category of abdominal obesity, but we’d like to underline the fact that it’s the least healthy kind of fat to have
- 13% increased risk of hyperlipidemia (high triglycerides)
The paper for this study can be found here: Association of Skipping Breakfast with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
So, those are the consequences, but what’s the mechanism?
The study was associative, so didn’t cover this, but we at 10almonds have covered this previously:
Breakfasting For Health? โ in which we cover the science of intermittent fasting in the context of the circadian rhythm.
Short version is: your body cares what time of day it is, and will do metabolically better or worse depending on what you do at different times of day. Eating the largest meal of the day in the morning is best of all, but failing that, having at least some meal in the morning is better than none. If you want to do intermittent fasting, it is better to have an early dinner (and thus begin your fast early in the evening) than a late breakfast (to end your fast late).
See also: What Size Breakfast Is Best, By Science?
Not only that, but there are also other health-related reasons to enjoy a good breakfast, too:
Meal Timings vs Osteoporosis Fracture Risk
Want to learn more?
Check out:
Fasting, eating earlier in the day or eating fewer mealsโwhat works best for weight loss?
Enjoy!
Share This Post
Related Posts
-
Do I need another COVID booster? Which one should I choose? Can I get it with my fluย shot?
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Australians are being urged to roll up their sleeves for a flu vaccine amid rising cases of influenza.
Itโs an opportune time to think about other vaccines too, particularly because some vaccines can be given at the same time as the flu vaccine.
One is the COVID vaccine.
Tijana Simic/Shutterstock Should you get another COVID shot?
More than five years since COVID was declared a pandemic, we hear much less about this virus. But itโs still around.
In 2024 there were 4,953 deaths involving COVID. This is nearly 20% lower than in 2023, but still nearly five times that of influenza (1,002).
Vaccines, which do a very good job at reducing the chances of severe COVID, remain an important tool in our ongoing battle against the virus.
Case numbers donโt tell us as much about COVID anymore as fewer people are testing. But based on other ways we monitor the virus, such as cases in ICU and active outbreaks in residential aged care homes, there have essentially been two peaks a year over recent years โ one over summer and one over winter.
This doesnโt mean we can predict exactly when another wave will happen, but itโs inevitable and may well be within the next few months. So itโs worth considering another COVID vaccine if youโre eligible.
Who can get one, and when?
There are several risk factors for more severe COVID, but some of the most important include being older or immunocompromised. For this reason, people aged 75 and older are recommended to receive a COVID booster every six months.
In the slightly younger 65 to 74 age bracket, or adults aged 18 to 64 who are immunocompromised, booster doses are recommended every 12 months, but people are eligible every six months.
Healthy adults under 65 are eligible for a booster dose every 12 months.
Healthy children arenโt recommended to receive boosters but those who are severely immunocompromised may be eligible.
What COVID shots are currently available?
Weโve seen multiple types of COVID vaccines since they first became available about four years ago. Over time, different vaccines have targeted different variants as the virus has evolved.
While some vaccine providers may still offer other options, such as the older booster that targeted the Omicron variant XBB.1.5, the recent JN.1 booster is the most up-to-date and best option.
This is a relatively recently updated version to improve protection against some of the newer strains of COVID that are circulating. The new booster only became available in Australia in late 2024.
This booster, as the name suggests, targets a subvariant called JN.1. Although JN.1 has not been the dominant subvariant in Australia for some time, this shot is still expected to provide good protection against circulating subvariants, including new subvariants such as LP.8.1, which is descended from JN.1.
While itโs great we have an updated booster available, unfortunately uptake remains poor. Only 17.3% of people 75 and over had received a COVID vaccine in the six months to March.
COVID vaccine uptake has been poor recently. Steve Heap/Shutterstock Getting a flu and COVID shot together
Data from more than 17,000 people who completed a survey after receiving the JN.1 booster shows that while 27% reported at least one adverse event following vaccination, the majority of these were mild, such as local pain or redness or fatigue.
Only 4% of people reported an impact on their routine activities following vaccination, such as missing school or work.
If you choose to get the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time, theyโll usually be given in different arms. There shouldnโt be a significant increase in side effects. Whatโs more, getting both shots at the same time doesnโt reduce your immune response against either vaccine.
Now is the ideal time to get your flu vaccine. If youโre eligible for a COVID booster as well, getting both vaccines at the same time is safe and can be very convenient.
Weโre conducting trials in Australia, as are scientists elsewhere, of combined vaccines. One day these could allow vaccination against COVID and flu in a single shot โ but these are still a way off.
If youโre not sure about your eligibility or have any questions about either vaccine, discuss this with your GP, specialist of pharmacist. Australian state and federal government websites also provide reliable information.
Paul Griffin, Professor, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The University of Queensland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Reduce Your Glaucoma Risk
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
We’ve talked before about eye health, including:
- Brain Food? The Eyes Have It! โ this is mostly about lutein, as found in leafy greens
- Fatty Acids For The Eyes & Brain: The Good And The Bad
- How To Avoid Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Today we’ll be looking at a large (n=9,973) study into how various factors increase or decrease glaucoma risk, discussing some of the fascinating statistics involved, and boiling it down to some practical takeaways:
The study
The researchers chose to express the increased or decreased risk of glaucoma in the form of logistic regression beta coefficients, which is not how most such papers (or especially their abstracts) do it; the usual way is to express risk as an odds ratio (sometimes called a hazard ratio in the case of risks, but mathematically it’s the same thing). So, for clarity, we’ve taken the logistical regression beta coefficients provided in the paper, converted them to odds ratios (using the formula eฮฒ=OR, since we don’t have the raw data to know the error rate to factor in), and then multiplied the results by 100 to get a percentage in each case.
With that in mind, here’s the list of things you probably can’t change, first:
- Older age slightly increases glaucoma risk: each standard deviation increase in age raises odds by about 5.1%.
Yes, just age. That’s it for relevant (i.e., that were found to have an impact) non-modifiable risk factors.
You may be wondering: personally, I age in years, not standard deviations, so what does this mean for me?
And the answer is: we had to scour the paper for this, but buried in a table in the middle we found that the mean age of those with glaucoma was 62.9 (standard deviation 7.99) and the mean age of those without glaucoma was 60.81 (standard deviation 7.49). Taking this information and taking into account the relevant numbers (9,631 people without glaucoma, and 342 with), means that the global standard deviation was a little over 7ยฝ years. So in practical terms, and rounding a little for simplicity: every 7ยฝ years, your risk increases by about 5%, which means that for every year, your risk increases by about 0.6%.
That might seem like a very small increase, but it has unfortunate implications if you plan to live to 120.
Now, for modifiable risk factors that increased the likelihood of glaucoma:
- High blood pressure increases glaucoma risk by about 72.4%.
- Diabetes increases glaucoma risk by about 47.4%.
- Smoking increases glaucoma risk by 29.5%.
- Alcohol consumption increases glaucoma risk by 26.3%.
Some notes:
- High blood pressure is defined as being 130/80 or higher; see: What Most People Donโt Know About Blood Pressure
- Diabetes is modifiable for most people; see: How To Prevent And Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
- Smoking was recorded as yes/no, not an amount, so even occasional smoking (in the past year) was included as a risk factor
- Drinking was recorded as yes/no, not an amount, so even occasional drinking (in the past year) was included as a risk factor
Finally, some things that reduced risk according to the abstract:
- Not being obese decreases glaucoma risk by 16.8%.
- Being illiterate decreases glaucoma risk by 5.5%.
- Having a low health-related quality of life (HRQoL) score decreases glaucoma risk by 3.9% (per standard deviation drop in score).
Those last two might be confusing, and here we see an issue with data collection, and at first glance this seemed almost certainly a case of reporting bias.
In other words:
- someone who is illiterate may be less likely to get their glaucoma diagnosed
- someone with a low HRQoL might also have less access to healthcare services (and/or poor/negligible/no ability to advocate for themselves), and again, be less likely to get their glaucoma diagnosed.
To learn more about reporting bias and other such problems, see: How Science News Outlets Can Lie To You (Yes, Even If They Cite Studies!)
However! When actually looking at the tabulated data, and reading the discussion in the article, it looks suspiciously like that there was simply a typo in the abstract, as doing our own calculations reveals that those two characteristics (illiteracy and low HRQoL) were, when all was said and done and investigated thoroughly, associated with a higher glaucoma risk.
In contrast, not being obese really was associated with a lower risk, as initially described.
You can read the paper in full here: Incidence and risk factors for glaucoma and its clinical, mental health and economic impact in an elderly population: a longitudinal study
What does this mean in practical terms?
There are a few key takeaways:
- Keep your blood pressure within healthy ranges (ideally under 120/80; the threshold for “high” is 130/80, but 120/80 is already “elevated”, and you don’t want that either; as for how, see: Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt)
- Keep your glucose metabolism healthy (so, eat in a way to avoid diabetes, per How To Prevent And Reverse Type 2 Diabetes; if you are unlucky and have Type 1 Diabetes, this advice still stands, as even if you can’t reverse T1D with your diet, you have even more reason to absolutely want to avoid insulin resistance / keep your insulin sensitivity high)
- Keep your weight within healthy rangesโalbeit the association here is most probably heavily mediated by cardio/metabolic disorder (e.g. hypertension/diabetes), rather than the adiposity itself, as well as the considerations we discussed in Fat’s Real Barriers To Health, which in turn are typically correlated with low HRQoL. If you want to lose weight, then here’s what we recommend: How To Lose Weight (Healthily!)
- Don’t smoke
- Don’t drink
For the latter two items, see: Which Addiction-Quitting Methods Work Best?
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Why Stretching Doesnโt Work After 50 (Unless You Fix These 3 Mistakes)
10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.
Over-50s specialist physio Will Harlow explains the missing knowledge that holds most people back:
How most people err
Three traps to not fall into:
- Not holding long enough: you need at least a 30โ60-second hold for each stretch because your Golgi tendon organs desensitize only after around 30 seconds, allowing you to access more range without actually lengthening your muscle fibers.
- Chasing intensity instead of consistency: pushing your stretches to maximum discomfort gives only a short-term benefit, and long-term gains are identical to moderate stretching. In reality, the biggest driver of progress is frequency, such as returning to the same 30-second stretch five times per day so your muscles never fully tighten back to baseline.
- Building flexibility without control: flexibility without strength and control increases injury risk, so every new range should be reinforced with active movement that teaches your body to support that position.
Three exercise do help you do it best:
- Romanian deadlift with a stick: sliding a barbell (or unweighted stick) down your legs while keeping your back straight helps you to improve your hamstring range and the control of your hip hinge by actively using your muscles, rather than relying on passive stretching.
- Wide squat: taking a wide stance and lowering into a comfortable squat improves mobility of your quads and adductors, while also reinforcing strength and control through that deeper range.
- Wall-assisted shoulder lift: walking your hand up a wall, then lightly lifting it off builds mobility and control in your shoulders because you actively move through the range rather than hanging on a passive stretchโand that way you’re much less likely to later injure yourself while getting something from a high shelf!
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesnโt Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Four Habits That Drastically Improve Mobility
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
