Free Republic

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Glucosamine, an amino sugar and natural compound found in cartilage, is often used as a dietary supplement. Now, an eye-catching new study from West Virginia University is reporting glucosamine supplements may actually reduce one’s risk of cardiovascular-related death — and death in general for that matter — just as much as a regular exercise routine. Considering how essential regular exercise is, these findings are sure to raise an eyebrow or two. “Does this mean that if you get off work at five o’clock one day, you should just skip the gym, take a glucosamine pill and go...

There is still a stigma in our culture about pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and stillbirth. Here are three reasons not to keep it a secret.Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, revealed last week in a New York Times opinion article that she suffered a miscarriage last summer. Recently, supermodel Chrissy Teigen was also open about her grief over her pregnancy loss. While there is still a tendency in our culture to conceal pregnancy losses, I applaud the willingness of these well-known women to share their stories, and hope that their examples will help mothers and families in the same situation to be...

We should demand that our pastors mark the Nativity with pomp and refuse to support churches whose leaders cower behind the lie that church is nonessential. The Supreme Court’s ruling last Wednesday against discriminatory targeting of religious groups with COVID-19 restrictions marked a significant victory in the ongoing battle to preserve religious liberty. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, hostile stakeholders in public office have assaulted the first freedom through superciliously labeling religious services “nonessential.” Christians in much of the country now find themselves in the demeaning and intolerable position of being allowed to worship only in the manner and...

New York City’s blood supply is so low that the de Blasio administration is dangling prizes to donors — including a year’s worth of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Hizzoner pitched his answer to the blood health crisis at a press briefing Tuesday — where it was revealed the city only has enough of a supply stocked up for about three days, as opposed to the usual seven days.

Federal surveys show 40 percent of Americans are now grappling with at least one mental health or drug-related problem. But young adults have been hit harder than any other age group, with 75 percent struggling... In Oregon’s Columbia County, the number of suicides by summer had already surpassed last year’s total. DuPage County [Chicago suburb] has reported a 23 percent rise compared with last year. And in the city itself, the number of suicides among African Americans has far surpassed the total for 2019... Studies have established strong correlations between suicide and financial pressures..

In a tragic irony, the prospect of another 'life-saving' lockdown has drained some senior citizens of their will to live. Assisted suicides and depression are up.An elderly woman who had experienced strict confinement and isolation in a Toronto nursing home under a previous COVID lockdown has narrowly avoided reliving that experience, although at a horrible cost. Toronto went into Ontario’s most restrictive “grey” tier on Monday, including a near-complete ban on social gatherings. Unlike many others in North America who have packed up their belongings and relocated to less restrictive areas during the COVID-19 outbreak, however, her “escape” from lockdown...

Severe cases of Covid-19 have been known to lead to a mysterious condition whereby the body's immune system goes haywire and starts attacking healthy cells, rather than just those that are infected. This prolonged state of self-sabotage is known as a 'cytokine storm' and can be fatal, but researchers have struggled to understand how it works and how to treat it. Now new research has looked at the progression of a coronavirus infection in mice and found the cytokine storm is a vicious cycle, which leads to the overproduction of two signalling proteins called tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon...

Life is too short to live it in fear of dying.More than eight months after “15 days to flatten the curve,” our so-called medical experts, politicos, and pundits are bidding us to avoid our family at all costs over the holidays, lest we die. This Thanksgiving week, family separation is the name of the game, with governors and local authorities implementing onerous restrictions to discourage people from leaving their homes.“If you are planning to spend Thanksgiving with people outside your household, we urge you to reconsider,” wrote a group of governors in the pages of the Washington Post. These authors...

Keeping people from their suffering loved ones does not safeguard them. It merely subjects them to a different kind of suffering — one for which there might be no recovery.One year ago today, my father died following a 10-year battle with cancer. Our family’s final weeks with him likely mirrored those of many other families. With a new wave of COVID-19 lockdowns beginning, however, I feel compelled to share our story because that journey convinces me that we, as a nation, are subjecting the dying to physical and psychological torture in the name of fighting a pandemic.Caring for FamilyI’m not...

Power-hungry elites seek to destroy Scott Atlas because he and the scientific coalition he represents makes it clear that these public health emperors may have plenty of masks, but no clothes.The evidence continues to accrue that the dominant policies sold to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak were catastrophically wrong, yet those who pointed this out early on continue to be reputationally crucified by media and Democrat elites. A premiere case in point is White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Scott Atlas, who has been making science-based arguments against locking down healthy people since the earliest months of the pandemic. Because...

I will not be lectured by people who say that eating in a restaurant with health protocols is riskier than shutting down the largest economy in the world.My parents and in-laws haven’t seen their grandkids in nearly a year. Because we live states apart, the most time we spend together is during the holidays and a week in the summer. Due to the lockdown this year, the grandparents have only been able to see our kids during video calls. It could be worse; some dear friends of ours buried a parent during the lockdown with no guests or funeral, and...

Daughter's friend's mom is in ICU with COVID-19. She is not on ventilator, getting oxygen but going to use feeding tube because when she eats, oxygen goes down. She is early 60s...I don't know of any co-morbidities. She is too late to use Rendesevir...that could have been used 10 days ago... Anyone know if Zelenko protocol can be used for a late-case but prior to ventilator... Any other thoughts or suggestions?? AND PRAYERS FOR ANN and HER FAMILY VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

It’s just the flu, bro. How do the Coronavirus mask mandates and lockdowns compare to the great global delusions of the 20th century? We have the following great delusions: 1.Eugenics from the 1920s-40s which was embraced by the sophisticated scientists of the time 2.Socialism - although Bismarck started it in the 19th century, Americans only really embraced it under FDR and LBJ 3.90% marginal tax rates in the 50s 4.overpopulation- Paul Ehrlich in the 1970s built on Malthus’ work from the 18th century. Some would include the delusion that abortion is good as a subset of this 5.global warming 6.communism...

Excise taxes, often referred to as a nuisance or sin taxes, are typically implemented to raise revenues and deter certain “unhealthy” behaviors. In 2014, state governments collected approximately $32 billion by taxing so-called sinful products and activities, including gambling, smoking, and alcohol. As Clement Freud noted, “If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking, and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer.” Several states recently held ballot initiatives to increase taxes on all nicotine products including vape products. Not shockingly, many of these referendums passed, even though e-cigarettes are used as harm reduction tools and have a positive...

Jeyza Gary from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was born with rare skin disorder lamellar ichthyosis, which causes her skin to shed every two weeks. Rather than allowing it to define her, Jeyza has taken the condition in her stride and formed a successful career as the first ichthyosis model. For over the past sixty six weeks since creating her Instagram account, Jeyza, 21, has been spending time sharing uplifting messages and photos with her growing 30 thousand followers. Read her story

(Chen et al, Physics of Fluids, 2020) ======================================================================== Amongst the many problems we've had with the spread of COVID-19 is the coronavirus's ability to survive on surfaces for hours on end. While we can effectively wipe down hard materials or sterilize them with alcohol, what about more delicate surfaces like cardboard? Even in the atmosphere, SARS-CoV-2 can survive up to a few hours; on cardboard it can last for up to 24 hours, and viable particles have been detected on plastic up to three days after it was contaminated. Scientists across many disciplines are throwing their vast talents into tackling...

The decline in total testosterone was observed even among men with normal body mass index. From 1999 to 2016, testosterone levels have declined in adolescent and young adult men (AYA), according to results presented at the 2020 American Urological Association Virtual Experience1. “Overall male testosterone decline can be attributed to multiple etiologies. The United States has an aging population with older males exhibiting lower testosterone levels. Furthermore, overall population has an increase in comorbidities, including diabetes, which may have cause this testosterone decrease nationally,” Soum Lokeshwar, MD, MBA, incoming urology resident at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, said...

Volunteers on the Pfizer vaccine trial have compared the jab's side effects to a 'severe hangover' and said it left them with headaches, fever and muscle aches similar to the flu vaccine. One 45-year-old volunteer said the first dose left her suffering side effects similar to the flu jab but that her symptoms were 'more severe' after her second jab. Another volunteer, 44-year-old Glenn Deshields, said Pfizer's vaccine made him feel like he had a 'severe hangover' but that symptoms quickly cleared up. Carrie, a publicist from Missouri who asked for her last name not to be used, said she...

MADISON, Wis. — The state is recording an average of more than 4,200 cases a day and the average daily death toll has hit a record high. State leaders are urging Wisconsinites to take the basic steps to stop the spread of COVID-19: wear a mask, physically distance and stay home. “Frankly I’m surprised and disappointed that we’ve had as low success, or we’ve failed as much as we have to slow it,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ chief medical officer. Westergaard said data shows 1 in 10 Wisconsinites have been infected, which means many are...

When the Trump administration gave a well-connected Republican donor seed money to test a possible COVID-19-fighting blood plasma technology, it noted the company's “manufacturing facilities” in Charleston, South Carolina. Plasma Technologies LLC is indeed based in the stately waterfront city. But there are no manufacturing facilities. Instead, the company exists within the luxury condo of its majority owner, Eugene Zurlo. Zurlo's company may be in line for as much as $65 million in taxpayer dollars; enough to start building an actual production plant, according to internal government records and other documents obtained by The Associated Press. The story of how...