Move over, COVID and Flu! We Have “Hybrid Viruses” To Contend With Now

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The 10almonds Team

Move over, COVID and Flu! We have “hybrid viruses” to contend with now

COVID and influenza viruses can be serious, of course, so let’s be clear up front that we’re not being dismissive of those. But, most people are hearing a lot about them, whereas respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has flown under a lot of radars.

Simply put, until recently it hasn’t been considered much of a threat except to the young, the old, or people with other respiratory illnesses. Only these days, the prevalence of “other respiratory illnesses” is a lot higher than it used to be!

It’s not just a comorbidity

It’s easy to think “well of course if you have more than one illness at once, especially similar ones, that’s going to suck” but it’s a bit more than that; it produces newer, more interesting, hybrid viruses. Here’s a research paper from last year’s “flu season”:

Coinfection by influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus produces hybrid virus particles

Best to be aware of this if you’re in the “older” age-range

It’s not just that the older we are, the more likely we are to get it. Critically, the older we are, the more likely we are to be hospitalized by it.

And..the older we are, the less likely we are to come back from hospital if hospitalized by it.

Some years back, the intensive care and mortality rates for people over the age of 65 were 8% and 7%, respectively:

Respiratory syncytial virus infection in elderly and high-risk adults

…but a new study this year has found the rates like to be 2.2x that, i.e. 15% intensive care rate and 18% mortality, respectively:

Adjusting for Case Under-Ascertainment in Estimating RSV Hospitalisation Burden of Older Adults in High-Income Countries: a Systematic Review and Modelling Study

Want to know more?

Here are some hot-off-the-press news articles on the topic:

And as for what to do…

Same general advice as for COVID and Flu, just, ever-more important:

  • Try to keep to well-ventilated places as much as possible
  • Get any worrying symptoms checked out quickly
  • Mask up when appropriate
  • Get your shots as appropriate

See also:

Harvard Health Review | Fall shots: Who’s most vulnerable to RSV, COVID, and the flu, and which shots are the right choice for you to help protect against serious illness and hospitalization?

Stay safe!

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  • Why We Remember – by Dr. Charan Ranganath

    The 10almonds Team

    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.

    As we get older, forgetfulness can become more of a spectre; the threat that one day it could be less “where did I put my sunglasses?” and more “who is this person claiming to be my spouse?”.

    Dr. Ranganath explores in this work the science of memory, from a position of neurobiology, but also in application. How and why we remember, and how and why we forget, and how and why both are important.

    There is a practical element to the book too; we read about things that increase our tendency to remember (and things that increase our tendency to forget), and how we can leverage that information to curate our memory in an active, ongoing basis.

    The style of the book is quite casual in tone for such a serious topic, but there’s plenty of hard science too; indeed there are 74 pages of bibliography cited.

    Bottom line: while filled with a lot of science, this is also a very human book, and a helpful guide to building and preserving our memory.

    Click here to check out “Why We Remember”, and learn how to hold on to what matters the most!

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  • Why Do Americans Pay More for Prescription Drugs?

    David Armstrong

    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.

    Drug companies in the U.S. face few restraints on what to charge for their products. A bipartisan bill would penalize those companies that sell their drugs at higher prices than the average of the prices in other wealthy nations.

    In the U.S., the price of Revlimid, a brand-name cancer drug, has been increasing for two decades. It now sells for nearly $1,000 a pill. In Europe, the price has been consistently lower — in some countries by two-thirds.

    I started reporting on Revlimid after I was prescribed the drug following a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Stunned by the high price, I found that the drugmaker, Celgene, had used Revlimid as its own personal piggy bank for more than a decade, raising the price in the U.S. whenever it saw fit.

    Even with lower prices in Europe, Celgene still made a profit there, a former executive told Congress. That added to the more than $21 billion in net earnings the company made after Revlimid was introduced in 2005.

    Of course, Revlimid isn’t the only drug with a price disparity. Americans pay more in general for prescription drugs than people in other wealthy countries. And costs keep going up, saddling patients with crippling debt or forcing them to choose between filling prescriptions or buying groceries. So why do we pay so much more? And is anything being done about it?

    In most other wealthy countries, governments set a single price for a drug that is usually based on analysis of the therapeutic benefit of the medicine and what other countries pay. In the U.S., drug companies determine what to charge for their products with few restraints. Insurance companies can refuse to cover a drug to try to negotiate a lower price, but for some diseases like cancer, that poses a risk of public backlash. Cancer is a “very politically charged disease,” said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, a Harvard Medical School professor who studies drug pricing and regulation. Some states also mandate that insurers cover certain cancer drugs.

    Pharmaceutical companies have consistently argued that American drug prices reflect the cost of research and development. Americans may pay more, but they also benefit from having first-line access to cutting-edge treatments. (Celgene has since been acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, which says its price for Revlimid, which it increased in the U.S. last year by 7%, “reflects the continued clinical benefit Revlimid brings to patients, along with other economic factors.”)

    Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, a leukemia specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center who studies drug pricing, said that pharmaceutical companies often overstate the cost of developing drugs and that many drug discoveries originate in hospital and academic labs funded through government grants. Funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health contributed to all but two of the 356 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010 to 2019, according to a Bentley University study. Companies also don’t spend all their profits on innovation: The 14 largest drug companies in the world spent more on stock buybacks and dividend payments to investors than on research and development, according to a 2021 analysis by the U.S. House Oversight Committee.

    One possible solution to bring down costs: tie American prices to what drugmakers charge in other wealthy countries. The Congressional Budget Office found last year that this would have the biggest impact on reducing costs of seven proposals it studied. It’s an idea with bipartisan support.

    Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., introduced a bill this week that would penalize pharmaceutical companies that sell their drugs at higher prices than the average of the prices in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom. Companies that sell above the average would face civil penalties equal to 10 times the difference between the U.S. list price and the average price in those other countries.

    President Donald Trump has advocated for similar actions. During his first term, he issued an executive order directing the Medicare program to employ a “most favored nation” approach in paying for drugs. The administration later developed a rule directing Medicare to select the lowest price from a basket of similar countries and make that the maximum amount the agency would pay for 50 drugs administered by doctors. A court blocked the rule from being implemented in the last days of the first administration.

    Now, according to reports this week, the administration is pushing plans to tie Medicaid and Medicare prices to lower prices charged in other countries.

    Linking U.S. prices to those in other countries is opposed by industry groups who say it would leave decisions on medications to the government rather than doctors and patients.

    “Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients,” said Alex Schriver, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group. He said efforts should be focused on fixing “the flaws in the U.S. system,” including money that flows to intermediaries such as pharmacy benefit managers.

    Some critics also warn so-called international reference pricing can be gamed and allows foreign governments to essentially set the value of medicines sold in the U.S.

    The Trump administration is expected to announce drug pricing plans as early as next week, according to a report. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

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  • How To Choose The Best New Year’s Resolution(s)!

    The 10almonds Team

    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.

    And how to make it work for you:

    First: what matters the most?

    Most people’s new year’s resolutions are health-related, and we are after all a health science publication, so that is what we will be focusing on today.

    But! Mental health is also just health, and it’s worth bearing that in mind too.

    Writer’s anecdote:

    ❝This year, my new year’s resolution was to undertake a “Sunrise Quest”.

    In few words: I resolved to see as many sunrises as I reasonably could this year.

    In more words: by “reasonably”, I mean that I’d try to, around sunrise time, be in a position to see the sunrise. But I would not go chasing sunrises like a stormchaser.

    • Pros: my bedroom faces south-east, where the sun rises at this latitude. So I could often do this without undue effort.
    • Cons: in summer, the sun rises at something past four in the morning where I live, and in winter, there is often thick cloud cover.

    Result? I saw 106 sunrises this year. Some were very beautiful; others were “yep, the sun is visible now”. All of them gave me a moment to pause and reflect, and experience the moment—while still simultaneously being aware of the passage of time, and the importance of making it count.

    According to my mood tracker bullet journal app, there’s enough data to conclude I have a better day, on average, when I see the sunrise.

    I’m glad I did this; it was a good idea.❞

    There can also be other resolutions to be made that aren’t directly related to health, but (like this writer’s “sunrise quest”), can have strong indirect benefits.

    Let’s apply this with a larger scope…

    Next: what matters the most, in the big picture?

    For example: Finding Your Ikigai ←the Japanese concept of “ikigai” is about finding one’s “purpose”. Not merely a function, but what actually drives you in life. And, if Japanese studies can be extrapolated to the rest of the world (and it is reasonable to assume this is so), it has a significant and large impact on mortality.

    Seriously, do not underestimate how significant and large the impact on mortality is. We go through the numbers in the above article, but in few words, looking at data from nearly 100,000 people, having or not having a sense of ikigai will decrease or increase (respectively) your mortality risk by a third to a half.

    So, finding your ikigai and pursuing it could be the best choice you make. Maybe you’ve already got it figured out, and if so, we can only recommend making sure to tend that particular garden, in the sense of making sure that you stay true to it as you go, for as long as it carries meaning for you.

    For example, this writer’s ikigai: to reduce suffering where and how I reasonably can without violating higher principles (e.g. triggering a global apocalypse on the grounds that nobody would be suffering afterwards would not be a way to pursue my ikigai). More prosaically: my work here at 10almonds helps me to fulfil that (by helping you to live your best healthy life!), as does a community volunteer role that I fulfil, as do some charitable endeavors. But it’s not all altruistic, because looking after my own health is part of my ikigai too, for I too am a person capable of suffering, and thus looking after my health helps minimize suffering as well.

    So, we’ll ask: What’s Your Ikigai?

    For more good ideas from Japan, see: 15 Easy Japanese Habits That Will Transform Your Health

    Finally: focus, but get synergistic

    Let’s assume you do want to do something health-specific (which is unlikely to be in conflict with the above in any case).

    So we’ll pose the same question again, just more specific now: what matters the most, healthwise?

    We have our own general answer in very broad strokes, in the form of the top 5 things that make the biggest difference to health, namely:

    1. Good diet
    2. Good exercise
    3. Good sleep
    4. Not drinking
    5. Not smoking

    If we were to add a sixth in terms of things that make a huge difference, it would be “manage stress effectively” and a seventh, beyond the scope of our newsletter, would be “don’t be socioeconomically disadvantaged” (e.g. poor, and/or part of some disprivileged minority group).

    But as for those five we listed, it still leaves the question: what are the few most effective things we can do to improve them? Where can we invest our time/energy/effort for greatest effect?

    And we answer that question here: These Top Few Things Make The Biggest Difference To Health ← this in turn includes “and what things to do to most benefit those 5 things”

    So, what’s this about “focus, but get synergistic”?

    It’s about how:

    • If you try to do everything at once from scratch, you will probably fail, likely immediately.
      • So picking one thing to focus on the most is important.
    • If you do only one thing and ignore all other aspects of health, your health will fail, likely quickly.
      • For example, “get x amount of protein per day” is great, but you do nothing but that, you might as well book your hospital trip now

    So, to avoid falling into either of those traps, it’s best to do a little of everything, with a strong focus on something.

    Let’s say you want to focus on your heart health. That’s great. Now remember the 5 things from just above, and ask yourself:

    Now, we only have so much room (and this writer just noticed she’s already done double the word count of what she’s supposed to, but never mind, you get bonus material today), so we can’t give you a list like that for every possible area of health you might personally choose to focus on, so the message here is “take this model and apply it to the area you want to focus on”.

    So, that’s the focus, where’s the synergy?

    The synergy comes from applying that model. For example, if you eat better, you’ll sleep better. If you sleep better, you’ll exercise better. And so forth. But since it’s hard to focus on all the things at once, that’s why we pick one focal thing to orient the other things around.

    Writer’s example: I will, all being well, have a major operation in a few months. The risk is low; don’t worry about me. However, it means that I’ll be focusing on being in optimal health for that, to do my best to ensure everything goes smoothly, and that I can recover as quickly and easily as possible afterwards. In particular, I’ll be focusing on my circulation, since a) that is where the main risk lies, no matter how small that risk may be, and b) that is what will best hasten my recovery afterwards. I’ll still be looking after all other parts of my health as best I reasonably can, but circulation will be my focal point, that everything else points to. I’ll be asking myself how best to eat for that, how best to exercise for that, etc.

    Using the handy search feature in the top right-hand corner of almost any 10almonds page, we can find articles that are relevant to this focus:

    www.10almonds.com/?s=circulation ← lots of good things easily forgotten if one doesn’t re-read them from time to time! Much more specific to circulation than the general heart health examples we went through, by the way.

    You can do the same, just substituting your own keyword (i.e. your own thing you want to focus on), and then apply the model shown above (where we gave the example of heart health, asking yourself the same questions, just, with your focus, e.g. brain health, mobility, glucose metabolism, gut health, etc)

    Want further pointers to get you started?

    Check out:

    Do You Have A Personalized Health Plan? (Here’s How)

    Want to make sure you actually follow through?

    We’ve got you covered:

    Take care!

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  • The Vagus Nerve’s Power for Weight Loss

    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.

    The 10almonds Team

    Dr. Arun Dhir is a university lecturer, a gastrointestinal surgeon, an author, and a yoga and meditation instructor, and he has this to say:

    Gut feelings

    The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve, also known as “vagus” (“the wanderer”), because it travels from the brain to many other body parts, including the ears, throat, heart, respiratory system, gut, pancreas, liver, and reproductive system. It’s no surprise then, that it plays a key role in brain-gut communication and metabolism regulation.

    The vagus nerve is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for rest, digestion, and counteracting the stress response. Most signals through the vagus nerve travel from the gut to the brain, though there is communication in both directions.

    You may be beginning to see how this works and its implications for weight management: the vagus nerve senses metabolites from the liver, pancreas, and small intestine, and regulates insulin production by stimulating beta cells in the pancreas, which is important for avoiding/managing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in general.

    Dr. Dhir cites a study in which vagus nerve stimulation (originally used for treating epilepsy and depression) was shown to cause unintentional weight loss (6-11%) in patients, revealing a link to weight management. Of course, that is quite a specific sample, so more research is needed to say for sure, but because the principle is very sound and the mechanism of action is clear, it’s not being viewed as a controversial conclusion.

    As for how get these benefits, here are seven ways:

    1. Cold water on the face: submerge your face in cold water in the morning while holding water in your mouth, or cover your face with a cold wet washcloth (while holding your breath please; no need to waterboard yourself!), which activates the “mammalian dive response” in which your body activates the parasympathetic nervous system in order to remain calm and thus survive for longer underwater
    2. Alternate hot and cold showers: switch between hot and cold water during showers for 10-second intervals; this creates eustress and activates the process of hormesis, improving your overall stress management and reducing any chronic stress response you may otherwise have going on
    3. Humming and gargling: the vibrations in the throat stimulate the nearby vagus nerve
    4. Deep breathing (pranayama): yoga breathing exercises, especially combined with somatic exercises such as the sun salutation, can stimulate the vagus nerve
    5. Intermittent fasting: helps recalibrate the metabolism and indirectly improves vagus nerve function
    6. Massage and acupressure: stimulates lymphatic channels and the vagus nerve
    7. Long walks in nature (“forest bathing”): helps trigger relaxation in general

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    The Vagus Nerve (And How You Can Make Use Of It)

    Take care!

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  • Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says

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    Sarah Diepstraten and John Eddie La Marca WEHI Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

    Cancer is traditionally known as a disease affecting mostly older people.

    But some worrying trends show cancer rates in younger people aged under 50 are on the rise.

    This week’s ABC 4 Corners suggest chemicals, including plastics, may play a role in rising rates of these early-onset cancers.

    So what does the evidence say is causing this increase? And what can we do about it?

    Why does cancer mostly affect older people?

    Each cell in your body contains a copy of your DNA – the instructions needed to keep that cell functioning properly.

    However, DNA can be damaged or “mutated” in such a way that a cell will no longer do the job it’s supposed to.

    Some mutations will allow a cell to make too many copies of itself and grow out of control. Others can protect it from dying. And others still allow it to move around and travel to other organs where it doesn’t belong.

    Accumulating too many of these DNA mutations can lead to cancer.

    Every time a new cell is made in our body, a copy of our DNA is made too. Sometimes, due to random chance, mistakes occur which introduce genetic mutations.

    Think of it like making a photocopy of a photocopy, and so on. Each copy will be slightly different than the original.

    Most DNA mutations are harmless.

    But your cells are making billions of new copies of themselves each day. So the older you get, the more DNA copies you will have made during your lifetime, and the more likely you are to have dangerous mistakes in those copies.

    As we get older, our bodies aren’t as good at recognising and removing cells with dangerous mutations. That’s why cancer is much more common in older people.

    What’s causing cancer in younger people?

    One of the reasons increased cancer rates in younger people is so worrying is it means there are likely environmental factors involved we don’t yet know about.

    Environmental factors are anything outside of our bodies: things such as chemicals, viruses and bacteria, the amount we exercise, and the foods we eat.

    Many of these environmental factors can increase the likelihood of DNA copying mistakes, or even directly damage our DNA, increasing our risk of cancer.

    One well-known example is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which can lead to skin cancer. Another is smoking, which can lead to lung cancer.

    Fortunately, public awareness campaigns about the dangers of sun exposure, and reduced rates of people smoking cigarettes, have led to falling numbers of skin and lung cancer cases in Australians under 50 over the past 30 years.

    But other types of cancer – including cancers of the liver, pancreas, prostate, breast and kidney – are increasing in young people in Australia. The trend is global, particularly among richer, western countries.

    What role do chemicals play?

    Researchers are working to understand the causes of these increases. Currently, chemicals are in the spotlight as an environmental factor of particular interest.

    We’re exposed to more chemicals in the modern day than many of our ancestors were – things such as air pollution, food additives, plastics and many more.

    Alcohol and cigarette smoke aside, most chemicals that are definitively linked to cancer are not ones most people would regularly encounter, as they’re restricted to spaces such as industry.

    One of the main chemicals of concern are plastics, which are ubiquitous: almost everyone encounters them, every day.

    Experts agree plastics represent an overall massive general risk to human health and the environment.

    But there are so many thousands and thousands of plastics, it’s hard to point fingers at specific ones causing specific problems, including cancers.

    Studies using animals can give strong evidence one way or another. But in humans who are exposed to thousands of different environmental factors every day, it’s difficult to definitively state “risk factor X contributes to cancer Y”.

    So, it’s not possible to point to a single “smoking gun” in the case of the increasing early-onset cancer rates.

    Let’s use colorectal cancer (also called bowel cancer) as an example to illustrate the issue.

    Why are young people getting bowel cancer?

    In older people, bowel cancer rates are actually falling. This is thought to be in part due to improved testing and screening helping to catch and destroy dangerous cells before they actually become cancer.

    But early-onset bowel cancer rates are rising.

    Some people speculate this may be due to increased exposure to plastics, as the digestive system is exposed to these through the food we eat. This includes things such as nano- or micro-plastics, or chemicals leaching out of the plastics into foods, such as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances).

    But there are other potential culprits, such as diet and lifestyle, with obesity and alcohol intake correlating with increased cancer rates.

    Bacteria may also play a role: the types of bacteria found in your microbiome are thought to contribute to bowel cancer risk. Even exposure to certain bacterial toxins has been linked to bowel cancer risk.

    How can you reduce your risk of cancer?

    While there is no definitive evidence linking chemicals to increased cancer risk in young people, this is an area of intense ongoing research. Reducing your use of and exposure to plastics and chemicals where possible is still probably a healthy thing to do.

    On top of that, you can reduce your overall cancer risk through regular exercise and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

    If you have any concerns, and particularly if you have a family history of cancer, consult your doctor.

    Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) and John (Eddie) La Marca, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    Don’t Forget…

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  • 25 Healthy Habits That Will Change Your Life

    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.

    The 10almonds Team

    Cori Lefkowith, of “Redefining Strength” and “Strong At Every Age” fame, has compiled a list of the simple habits that make a big difference, and here they are!

    The Tips

    Her recommendations include…

    • The healthy activities you’re most prone to skipping? Do those first
    • Create staple meals… Consciously! This means: instead of getting into a rut of cooking the same few things in rotation because it’s what you have the ingredients in for, consciously and deliberately make a list of at least 7 meals that, between them, constitute a healthy balanced diet, and choose to make them your staples. That doesn’t mean don’t eat anything else (indeed, variety is good!) but having a robust collection of healthy staples to fall back on will help you avoid falling into unhealthy eating traps.
    • Schedule time for healthy activities that you love. Instead of thinking “it would be nice to…”, actually figure out a timeslot, plan in advance, making it recurring, and do it!
    • Have (healthy!) no-spoil food options always available. No-spoil doesn’t have to mean “won’t spoil ever”, but does mean at least that it has a long shelf-life. Nuts are a good example, assuming you’re not allergic. Sundried fruits are good too; not nearly as good as fresh fruit, but a lot better than some random processed snack because it’s what in. If you eat fish, then see if you can get dried fish in; it’s high in protein and keeps for a very long time indeed.
    • Stock up on spices! Not only do they all have great health-giving properties (at least, we can’t think of a refutation by counterexample, Arrakis be damned), but also, they literally spice up our culinary repertoire, and bring joy to cooking and eating healthy food.

    If you like these, check out the rest:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically

    Further reading

    For more about actually making habits stick quickly and reliably,enjoy:

    How To Really Pick Up (And Keep!) Those Habits

    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

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