• Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will begin offering an “end-to-end” healthcare experience called LillyDirect.
• The service will help patients get access to doctors and to the company’s medicines, including weight loss drug Zepbound.
• Obesity doctors welcomed the announcement, saying it will help expand access for many Americans.

American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will begin offering a suite of healthcare services, including access to independent telehealth providers and free shipping on medication.

The company announced the launch of LillyDirect on January 4, 2024, and bills it as an “end-to-end digital healthcare experience.” The program is targeted at individuals with obesity, migraine, and diabetes.

It will offer pharmacy and healthcare services, including convenient access to medications like insulin and the recently approved obesity medication Zepbound.

“With LillyDirect, our goal is to relieve some of those burdens by simplifying the patient experience to help improve outcomes. LillyDirect offers more choices in how and where people access healthcare, including a convenient home delivery option to fill Lilly medicines they have been prescribed,” David A. Ricks, Eli Lilly’s chair and CEO said in a press release.

Services offered by LillyDirect include:

• Access to an online pharmacy for the company’s medicines with free shipping.
• Educational information about disease management.
• Tools to find independent healthcare providers via both telehealth and in-person settings.
• Manufacturer savings on medicines

Eli Lilly has partnered with telehealth company Form Health for telehealth options and Healthgrades for in-person doctors. They also make it clear that all healthcare providers are independent of Eli Lilly.

“The LillyDirect listing is not an endorsement or recommendation of the independent clinician networks or telehealth clinicians. The telehealth service providers and healthcare professionals listed through the “find in-person care” feature on LillyDirect are independent and separate from Lilly. Treatment decisions and prescribing practices are made at the discretion of the provider’s care team,” a representative for Eli Lilly told Healthline in an emailed statement.

A welcome addition to obesity care

Dr. Caroline Apovian, MD, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, welcomed the announcement.

“I think this is a great move. Lilly is really helping patients by getting them to a telemedicine program run by doctors who can get them access,” she told Healthline.

Those sentiments were echoed by other experts contacted for this story.

“From my perspective, anything that helps patients have access to care, and in particular to specialized high quality care and drugs is positive,” said Dr. Dan Azagury, MD, section chief of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery and medical director for the Bariatric and Metabolic Interdisciplinary clinic at Stanford University.

Both Apovian and Azagury disclosed that they are medical consultants to Form Health.

Lowering barriers to access

Telehealth services that sprang to life during the pandemic are now important to obesity care. Both Azagury and Apovian say that telehealth is now essential to help them keep up with the demand for care.

“I would say, in general, obesity care lends itself very well to telehealth. I’ll tell you that my practice has switched to telehealth because of COVID, but we’ve never switched back,” said Azagury.

“There are many people out there who want our services. We are hiring more physician assistants and nurse practitioners to help the MDs and hiring more MDs because clearly with 42% of Americans who need obesity treatment, we don’t have enough obesity medicine specialists to do it,” said Apovian.

Apovian told Healthline that telehealth services also give her greater freedom to see patients who require more complex care and have serious comorbidities.

“My slots in my center to see in-person patients can be reserved for patients with congestive heart failure and obesity or kidney failure with obesity,” she said.

Ongoing obesity drug shortages

LillyDirect could also help play a role in ensuring that patients who need medication can reliably get it.

Novel diabetes and obesity medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), including semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), have proven to be exceptionally effective for weight loss. They have simultaneously grown in popularity and burst into pop culture and headlines across the United States.

However, the popularity of the drugs has been a blessing and a curse. Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy has faced numerous shortages and supply chain issues while attempting to keep up with demand.

The conundrum has, in some instances, left patients unable to get access to their medication. 

Just this week, Ricks said that Zepbound had reached 25,000 new prescriptions per week and that the company’s current output might not meet demand. While the company is investing in more manufacturing infrastructure, how much of the drug they can actually produce is unclear.

The bottom line

American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will begin offering healthcare services through their new program LillyDirect.

LillyDirect services include an online pharmacy, tools for finding in-person and telehealth doctors, and some financial incentives like free shipping and manufacturer savings on medication.

Obesity experts contacted by Healthline were supportive of the initiative, saying that it would help expand access and help meet surging demand for obesity drugs, including Zepbound.

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• New research indicates that chronic pain patients using medical cannabis are at a higher risk of heart arrhythmia than non-users.
• The Danish study noted a two-fold increase in the risk of arrhythmia, although the overall risk was still low.
• More research is needed to establish a link between cannabis and cardiovascular disease.

People who use medical cannabis for chronic pain are more likely to experience atrial fibrillation and other forms of heart arrhythmia compared to non-users. 

Those are the findings of a study published this week in the European Heart Journal.

However, the authors noted that data on medical cannabis is still lacking due to legality issues, and more research is needed to support the findings.

Additionally, the authors also noted that the study did not address whether the risk is linked specifically to smoking cannabis, ingesting cannabis edibles, or a combination of both.

Another major limitation that the authors noted is that the study was not able to look at “disease severity, clinical measures, blood tests, and lifestyle factors,” all of which could contribute to an increased risk of heart issues independent of cannabis use.

Although the risk of arrhythmia among medical cannabis users was still low, it was statistically significant.

Researchers did not find any association between medical cannabis and acute coronary disease (ACS), an umbrella term that includes serious cardiovascular events like heart attack and unstable angina.

“There is very insufficient evidence related to medical cannabis and cardiovascular side-effects. Clinically, associations have previously been found with recreational cannabis use, but to our knowledge, this is the first study investigating associations with prescribed medical cannabis,” Dr. Anders Holt, MD, of Copenhagen University in Denmark, and author of the study told Healthline.

A Two-fold increase in arrhythmia risk

The study found that risk of new-onset arrhythmia, which included conditions like atrial fibrillation, flutter, and paroxysmal tachycardia, was doubled in those who used medical cannabis to manage chronic pain compared to a control group.

Holt and his team utilized health data from national Danish health registries to investigate the link between medical cannabis and arrhythmia. Medical cannabis is not formally approved for chronic pain management in Denmark, but a government program has allowed physicians to prescribe it for that reason.

Researchers looked at data from more than 1.8 million patients with chronic pain.

Out of that group, only a very small number of patients received medical cannabis: about 5,000 people.

The group of medical cannabis users were matched 1:5 with 27,000 patients that had similar characteristics, including age, sex, and use of other pain medications.

In large, population-based studies like this, it is impossible to remove all confounding factors, but the goal is to remove as many as possible. 

Patients in the study did not have a history of arrhythmia, nor had they previously been prescribed medical cannabis.

Over a 180-day follow-up period, 42 patients who used medical cannabis developed an arrhythmia; in three out of four cases, it was atrial fibrillation.

Overall 0.8% of medical cannabis patients experienced an arrhythmia compared to 0.4% in the control group. The risk was greatest in patients with cancer and cardiometabolic conditions like diabetes. 

No association was found between medical cannabis and acute coronary syndrome.

“These findings should spur further investigations into the viable use of cannabis treatment for chronic pain and particularly into possible side effects. It should be paramount to physicians that the ongoing legalization of cannabis meant for therapeutic use is kept purely scientific and not political,” said Holt.

Statistical versus clinical risk

Although the study demonstrates an increase in risk, questions remain about how this risk should factor into patient care.

“You need to distinguish statistical significance from clinical significance,” said Dr. Rod Passman, MD, a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Arrhythmia Research at Northwestern University. Passman wasn’t affiliated with the study.

“If you tell someone their risk is double, that’s really important. But if you tell someone their risk goes from 0.4% to 0.8%, most of us would not believe that that is a major increase in risk that would impact clinical decision making like whether I would take a medication or not,” he said.

He notes that many pain medications, even over-the-counter nonsteroidal (NSAID) medications like ibuprofen, are associated with arrhythmia.

Opioids, pervasive and powerful pain medicines like morphine, codeine, and fentanyl, are too.

A 2018 review found that even at low doses could increase the risk of arrhythmia.

Patients and healthcare professionals will always need to assess risks and benefits when assessing treatment needs.

“I don’t think that I would take someone who was in chronic pain, which failed typical therapies, and prevent them from getting medical marijuana because of the potential risk of exacerbating their atrial fibrillation when that risk is going to be relatively low,” he said.

A dearth of data on medical cannabis

Both Passman and Holt acknowledge that good data on medical cannabis is sorely lacking. Prior research has tended to focus on recreational cannabis usage. With the rise of legalization in Europe and the United States, use of medical cannabis is steadily increasing. 

“This is of increasing interest given the increasing use of cannabis, both for medical and recreational purposes…Often there’s a lot of problems with these studies because, historically, this has been an illegal medication. So we don’t have a lot of good, solid data on it,” said Passman.

“Prescribed medical treatment must be founded on sufficient evidence of effect, including considerable knowledge on side-effects which this study adds a sliver of, but more is certainly needed,” said Holt. 

The American Heart Association has stated that there are “no cardiovascular benefits” to using cannabis, either recreationally or medicinally. In a scientific statement on cannabis and cardiovascular health issued in 2020, the AHA points out that in a variety of studies, cannabis consumption has been associated with atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular disease. They too, acknowledge a need for more and higher quality data and that there is “an urgent need for carefully designed, prospective short- and long-term studies.”

AHA spokesperson Robert L. Page II, PharmD, a Professor at the University of Colorado and Chair of the AHA’s 2020 scientific statement on cannabis, told Healthline that the Danish research “absolutely” aligns with the AHA’s statement.

“I treat cannabis use (particularly when vaped or smoked) as a potential risk factor for heart disease, which is why I do not recommend smoking or vaping any form of cannabis. Thus, medical providers should be screening for underlying cardiovascular risk factors or underlying conditions that could contribute to a heart attack, stroke or heart rhythm disturbance in anyone who uses cannabis,” he said.

The Bottom Line

A European study found that patients with chronic pain who used medical cannabis were more likely to experience heart arrhythmia than a control group.

While the risk of arrhythmia was still low (0.8%) among the medical cannabis group, it was a two-fold increase over the control group (0.4%).

Researchers and organizations, including the American Heart Association, say there is a tremendous need for more studies and high quality data on the association between cannabis and cardiovascular disease.

• Actor Barry Keoghan has revealed that he developed necrotizing fasciitis — a potentially deadly infection.
• Necrotizing fasciitis is a serious infection that can lead to amputation and death. 
• Symptoms include fever and chills, blisters, ulcers and black spots on the skin, and confusion, shock, and drowsiness. 
• Patients who suspect they have contracted necrotizing fasciitis should seek urgent medical care. 

Actor Barry Keoghan has revealed he almost died from necrotizing fasciitis infection.

The Irish actor, best known for his roles in Saltburn and The Banshees Of Inisherin, told GQ that he developed the life threatening infection in his arm in October 2022.

In the interview, Keoghan recalls asking doctors, “But I’m not gonna die, right?” and the doctors responding, “Well, we don’t know.”

“I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off,” Martin McDonagh, the British-Irish playwright who wrote Keoghan’s role in The Banshees Of Inisherin, told GQ. “We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up. But he was like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m going to be fine — I’ll see you on Tuesday.’”

Though rare, necrotizing fasciitis infection can spread quickly through the body and become deadly.

What is necrotizing fasciitis infection?

“Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare and life-threatening infection that causes the death of the body’s soft tissue,” explains Dr. Semiya Aziz, founder of Say GP.

“It can happen when a wound gets infected by certain types of bacteria, most commonly streptococcal bacteria.”

As the infection spreads, it produces toxins that destroy nearby tissue, harm blood vessels, and stop the flow of blood.

If not treated quickly, it can cause serious side effects like septic shock and organ failure, sometimes resulting in the need for amputation.

Highlighting the seriousness of the infection, Aziz says even with treatment, the infection can be fatal in up to 30% of cases.

How does a necrotizing fasciitis infection develop?

“Bacteria can enter through a break in the skin like a cut or burn,” says Dr. Christina M Wojewoda, chair of the College of American Pathologists Microbiology Committee. “Those bacteria have toxins and other pathogenic factors that can lead to the death of tissue.”

It’s important to note that there are different types of necrotizing fasciitis due to the strain of bacteria that causes the infection.

Wojewoda says the most common type of necrotizing fasciitis is caused by a mixture of different types of bacteria and usually occurs in the abdominal or groin areas.

The next most common type is due to Streptococcus pyogenes, the same bacterium that causes strep throat. “This is more common in young, healthy adults with a history of injury and involves the extremities,” Wojewoda explains. “The third type is Vibrio vulnificus, which is found in seawater.”

While anyone can contract necrotizing fasciitis, Aziz points out that some people will be more at risk of developing it, such as those living with diabetes, have a weakened immune system, or living with a chronic illness.

Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis infection

Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis can include:

• Fever and chills
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Blisters, ulcers, and black spots on the skin
• Intense pain or loss of feeling near the cut or wound
• Confusion and drowsiness
• Shock
• Swelling

Recognizing the symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis infection is crucial. Aziz says the symptoms can vary depending on the stage and severity of the infection.

However, people most commonly experience fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

“These are signs of systemic infection or sepsis,” Aziz explains.

The infection also causes blisters, ulcers, or black spots on the skin, which may indicate tissue death or gangrene.

“There may be intense pain or loss of feeling near a cut or wound, and the pain may be much worse than expected from the injury,” Aziz adds.

You should also look out for confusion, drowsiness, or shock — which are signs of low blood pressure or organ failure — as well as swelling, redness, and warmth of the skin around the affected area.

What to do if you suspect you have necrotizing fasciitis

Delays in treatment can lead to death, so Aziz says it’s crucial that you seek medical care right away.

To get medical help, you should either call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible.

When you seek medical assistance, Aziz says you can expect to be examined by a doctor who will look for signs of necrotizing fasciitis, such as severe pain, swelling, redness, blisters, and skin discoloration.

They may also run blood and imaging tests and take tissue samples to confirm the diagnosis and identify the type of bacteria causing the infection.

Once diagnosed, necrotizing fasciitis is typically treated with a combination of antibiotics, surgery, and supportive care.

In some cases, Aziz says amputation of the affected limb may be necessary to save the patient’s life.

How to reduce your risk of necrotizing fasciitis

As with many diseases and infections, prevention is better than cure. So, what can you do to minimize your risk of contracting necrotizing fasciitis?

Remember, bacteria can be introduced through cuts, burns, insect bites, surgery, or injecting drugs.

“If you have a break in the skin, make sure to keep it clean with soap and water and cover it with a clean bandage until healed,” advises Wojewoda.

While you have a break in the skin, you should also avoid going into the water, and this includes swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes, and oceans.

Aziz says practicing basic hygiene is key.

“Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially before and after touching a wound or changing a bandage,” she advises.

You can also use antiseptic cream on larger wounds to help prevent infection.

Takeaway

Necrotizing fasciitis can be deadly, so if you suspect you have it, you must get it treated right away.

“Necrotizing fasciitis is an extremely dangerous illness that has to be treated quickly and aggressively since it has the potential to be lethal. However, the odds of survival and recovery are higher the earlier the treatment is initiated,” says Wojewoda.

• Cardiovascular disease deaths involving substance use increased from 1999 to 2019, even as overall cardiovascular disease deaths fell during that time.
• Alcohol was involved in 65% of cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use, but death rates for cannabis and psychostimulants increased more sharply.
• Women, American Indian and Alaskan adults, younger adults, and rural residents also saw larger increases in cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use.

Deaths due to cardiovascular disease that involved substance use increased an average of 4% per year from 1999 to 2019, even as overall cardiovascular disease deaths decreased during that time, a new study shows.

“The results are concerning, as they mark a significant upward trend in cardiovascular deaths where substance abuse was noted,” said Dr. Sameer Amin, cardiologist and chief medical officer at L.A. Care Health Plan, who was not involved with the new research.

“Considering this is in the midst of an overall decrease in cardiovascular death during that time period, this appears to be an exception to our progress in treating cardiac disease,” he told Healthline.

Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Calif., pointed out that the data in the study only goes through 2019, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been data pointing out that substance use and abuse have worsened starting in 2020 with the pandemic,” said Chen, who was not involved in the new study. So “it’s concerning to think that this trend may be getting worse in more recent years.”

The study was published Jan. 10 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Many substances linked to cardiovascular disease

In the study, researchers used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database to examine cardiovascular disease death trends from 1999 to 2019.

The rate of cardiovascular deaths related to substance use increased from 9.9 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 21.4 per 100,000 population in 2019, researchers found — an average increase of 4% per year. From 2012 to 2019, the death rate increased even more rapidly: 6.2%.

In comparison, the overall rate of cardiovascular disease deaths decreased an average of 1.5% per year, researchers found.

Several substances, such as alcohol, opioids, stimulants, sedatives and cannabis increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, heart failure and irregular heart rhythms, the researchers point out.

Overall, 65% of the cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use were linked to alcohol,  followed by opioids (13.7%), cocaine (9.8%), stimulants (6.5%), sedatives (4.1%) and cannabis (0.5%).

However, people who used cannabis (12.7%) and psychostimulants such as amphetamines (16.8%) had higher increases in the average annual percent change in cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use.

“It’s troubling to see that there have been increases in cardiovascular disease mortality with all different types of substances, not only the most commonly used substance, alcohol,” Chen told Healthline.

The study did not include smoking/tobacco use as a form of substance use. Smoking is linked to heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases, as well as lung and other cancers.

While the findings highlight long-term trends in cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use, researchers did not have information about other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as a condition such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure or whether people had a family history of cardiovascular disease.

Who is most impacted by cardiac deaths

The new study’s findings show that certain groups were impacted more by cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use.

For example, increases in the average annual percent change for death rates were higher for American Indian or Alaskan individuals (5.4%); people ages 25 to 59 years (5.3%); people living in rural areas (5.0%); adults ages 55 to 69 years (4.9%); and women (4.8%).

“I am particularly concerned at the disparities in outcomes for women, American Indian/Alaskan individuals and rural area residents,” said Amin. This “could represent healthcare inequities in our system.”

The death rate was higher for people living in rural areas (15.2 per 100,000) than urban areas (14.1 per 100,000). It was also higher for men (22.5 per 100,000) than women (6.8 per 100,000).

Although death rates were higher in men than in women, women saw larger increases during the study period, researchers found.

“Data from prior studies have found notable increases in substance use among women over the last 20 years, and women may face unique societal risks that may contribute to the increases noted in our study,” study author Dr. Dmitry Abramov, cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Loma Linda University Health in Loma Linda, Calif., said in a news release.

In addition, there were differences in rates among racial and ethnic groups.

The highest death rate was among American Indian or Alaska Native adults (37.7 per 100,000), in comparison to Black adults (20.3 per 100,000), white adults (14.1 per 100,000), Hispanic adults (13.0 per 100,000) and Asian adults or Pacific Islanders (3.6 per 100,000).

Chen said understanding which groups are most affected by cardiovascular disease deaths related to substance use could help target public health efforts aimed at reducing substance use, and related health outcomes, among these groups.

In addition to trends through 2019, Amin is concerned about what has happened since then. In particular, he highlighted that there appears to be an upward trend for some groups starting around the time of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

“If this is associated with an increase in socioeconomic inequality and a widening gap in economic disparity [between certain groups] during that time, we have to be particularly vigilant post-COVID pandemic,” he said. “The effects of the post-COVID economic environment could potentially exacerbate the gap.”

Takeaway

Researchers used data from the CDC to examine cardiovascular disease death trends from 1999 to 2019. In particular, they focused on deaths that involve substance use.

During that time, cardiovascular disease deaths involving substance use increased by an average of 4% per year — with a faster increase from 2012 to 2019 — even as overall cardiovascular disease deaths fell.

Rates of cardiovascular disease deaths involving substance use increased faster for women, American Indian and Alaskan adults, younger adults, and rural residents, as well as for those who used cannabis or psychostimulants.

• A new study estimated that, on average, one liter of bottled water contains 240,000 detectable plastic fragments. These are known as nanoplastics.
• Nanoplastics are a cause for concern because they are difficult to detect and can pass through intestinal, tissue, and blood-brain barriers, which can result in serious health implications.
• To make sure your water is safe to drink, you can place water filters on the faucets and/or use them prior to drinking the water to get rid of some of the unwanted particles. 

Health experts have become increasingly concerned about microplastics and their impact on humans and the environment.

Researchers are now looking into nanoplastics, which are even smaller than microplastics. A primary source of the problem is bottled water, which is filled with thousands of plastic fragments.

Nanoplastics are so small that they can directly enter the bloodstream and eventually make their way to other bodily organs and systems. 

A new study published January 8 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looks at how many nanoplastics can be found in a single plastic bottle of water.

“Our previous research has highlighted the widespread presence of microplastics in New York City’s waters and air, and their capacity to transport pollutants like PCBs, pharmaceuticals, and pathogens (Funded by the Hudson River Foundation),” Beizhan Yan, study author and Associate Research Professor at Columbia Climate School Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told Healthline. “In comparison, nanoplastics are expected to have an even greater ecological and health impact due to their higher partitioning rate and associated nanotoxicity.” 

Large amounts of nanoplastics in bottled water

For the new study, Yan and fellow researchers looked for seven types of plastic, which only made up approximately 10% of the nanoparticles in the water samples.

This suggests determining particle composition is quite complex.

The researchers estimated that an average liter of bottled water contained 240,000 identifiable plastic fragments. 

Further research is necessary to determine if drinking bottled water containing nanoplastics could lead to adverse health effects. 

“If people are concerned about nanoplastics in bottled water, it’s reasonable to consider alternatives like tap water,” said Yan. “However, it’s important to emphasize that staying hydrated is crucial for health. Therefore, we do not advise against drinking bottled water when necessary, as the risk of dehydration can outweigh the potential impacts of nanoplastics exposure.”

In the future, the researchers plan to expand their research platform to include a broader range of environmental samples, Yan explained. This will involve analyzing tap water, air samples, and biological tissues.

Their aim is to deepen our understanding of the presence and impact of nanoplastics in these environments. Yan and his research team also intend to investigate potential adverse health outcomes that may arise from exposure to nanoplastics.

Are nanoplastics dangerous?

“Plastics often contain a heterogenous mixture of various chemicals that provide a particular type of plastic its functional and structural capabilities,” Christopher Hine, PhD, of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute stated. “Many of these types of chemicals, once leached out of the plastic containers in forms of microplastics and nanoplastics can serve as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).”

Hine was not involved in the study.

These EDCs can mimic our natural hormones, such as the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) mimicking estrogen and activating estrogen receptors.

Conversely, other nanoplastic chemicals disrupt certain systems in the body including the pituitary and adrenal glands, and thyroid organ among others.

“A major concern for nanoplastics is twofold, in that they are: 1) Difficult to detect and filter out of consumer food and drink products; and 2) More readily able to cross intestinal, tissue, and blood-brain barriers thus potentially negatively impacting multiple organ systems,” Hine added.

Why there’s so much plastic in food

“In most consumer goods, be it food, drink or cosmetics, there is a long and complicated production process each encounters from the harvest of raw material to the finishing, packaging and shipping,” said Hine. “At each step, the product can be exposed and contaminated with various plastic-related chemicals. Thus, it is not surprising that with the author’s utilization of new techniques to detect the nanoplastics [found] so many new nanoparticles in consumer goods.” 

Likewise, harmless chemicals placed into consumer goods and packages can sometimes degrade over time due to exposure to environmental agents such as UV radiation, normal spectrum light radiation, heat, ozone, and age and be chemically and physically modified into new chemical forms that can pose dangers to health, Hine added.

Therefore, it is important to store packages of consumer goods (food, drink, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals) as they are indicated as well as discard items that are beyond their expiration date.

How clean is your water?

Next, the researchers plan to examine tap water.

“Most municipalities and utilities companies that provide water to their communities follow stringent laws and regulations to ensure the product they deliver is safe for consumption,” Hine stated. “However, sometimes there are disruptions in water supply due to aging pipe and water main infrastructure failures that enable leaching of unwanted chemicals or microorganisms to the taps of consumers. Most of these disruptions are temporary and by following the directions of the municipal utility, such as running the tap or boiling the water, consumption of these unwanted items can be avoided.” 

Furthermore, adding water filters on the faucets and/or using them before drinking the water can help eliminate some of the particles that may contaminate a water source.

“While there usually are less micro- and nanoplastics in tap water compared to commercially bottled water, if consumers end up storing their tap water in plastic containers that are exposed to heat, sunlight, and/or detergents this can increase the plastic contamination of the water,” said Hine. “Homes with well water may also have micro- and nanoplastic contamination due to environmental runoff of plastics pollution from landfills, trash, or soil/watershed pollution.”

The safest way to drink water

“Water is essential for life, and drinking water should be a part of one’s healthy daily routines. Drinking from the tap, from plastic bottled water, or from filtered devices are all ways we can use reach our water consumption goals,” Hine explained.

However, it is important to consider limiting exposure to unwanted micro- and nanoplastics when consuming water and other beverages. 

“While tap, bottled, and filtered water are usually safe methods for consumption, tap water tends to have decreased amounts of these plastics while also providing fluoride as a preventative measure against tooth decay,” said Hine. “Thus, if the local municipality provides clean drinking water via the tap, this can be seen as one of the safest sources for drinking water. If the water is to be stored in plastic containers, then keeping them out of direct sunlight and in cool environments can also diminish plastics leeching into the water.”

Takeaway

According to a new study, an average liter of bottled water contains 240,000 detectable plastic fragments, also known as nanoplastics.

These tiny plastic particles are particularly problematic since they are hard to identify and can make their way into the blood and ultimately, bodily organs.

Health experts recommend using water filters to reduce the amount of plastics and contamination.

Burned patients: New blood test might spot deadly sepsis early! – Sepsis…

Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com

• New research from a team at Stanford University’s School of Medicine have found a way to increase your hypnotizability.
• Hypnosis is increasingly being explored as a way to treat psychological conditions as well as pain disorders.
• The study indicates that transcranial deep brain stimulation does tangibly increase hypnotizability, but more research is needed in this emerging area.

A team of researchers from Stanford University are hopeful that their new findings could pay dividends for those in chronic pain.

The article, published this week in Nature Mental Health, is focused on how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can increase hypnotizability for a short time.

How to improve hypnosis

The research was conducted as a double-blind randomized controlled trial with 80 individuals. Half of the participants were given the treatment while the other half were given a version of transcranial magnetic stimulation that is not strong enough to penetrate the skull, but follows the same procedure. 

In general an estimated 15% of people are considered highly hypnotizable and on the 10-point measure of hypnotizability, they would be expected to score a 9 or 10.

Previous studies have found that hypnosis-based intervention can aid in psychological therapies as well as with those experiencing chronic pain. For their study, the researchers used a technique known as Stanford Hypnosis Integrated with Functional Connectivity Targeted Transcranial Stimulation (SHIFT).

The study involved participants being scanned via both a standard MRI and a functional MRI These scans allowed the researchers not just to observe brain activity that is connected to someone’s hypnotizability, but also to know where best to apply the magnetic coil that is used during transcranial magnetic stimulation. Having already undergone a test to see what their hypnotizability score was prior to the procedure to establish a baseline, those involved were tested again afterwards. 

Those who had the neurostimulation were found to have a significant increase in hypnotizability meaning they scored one point higher on the 10-point measure of hypnotizability. Those who did not get the neurostimulation had no increase.

Lead author, and postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, Dr. Afik Faerman (PhD) says that he’s optimistic that this proof of concept study will allow hypnosis-based therapies to be better utilized in the future, particularly for those with chronic pain conditions. 

“We know that individuals that are experiencing pain are automatically good candidates for hypnosis-based treatment, because we know hypnosis works for pain. And the benefit that hypnosis has on the first line of treatment is that it’s drug free.”

All of the participants included had fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that was chosen because of how it manifests in the body.

Dr. Jean-Philippe Langevin, director of restorative neurosurgery at Pacific Neuroscience Institute who also is a faculty member in the department of neurosurgery at UCLA, says that he sees promise in what Faerman and his team have found. 

Langevin wasn’t involved in the study.

“There’s always this thought that perhaps neuromodulation can be used not only to correct problems like mental health issues… but perhaps it could also be used in the future to enhance some capabilities of humans,” Langevin said.

How hypnosis is used in medicine

Hypnosis is far from a new phenomenon in research circles, but Dr. David Spiegel, professor of medicine at Stanford University and a co-supervisor on the study, says that it has, at times, fallen out of favor. 

“Hypnosis is actually the oldest Western conception of psychotherapy… [It’s sometimes] sort of pushed to the side as either a stage show trick or something dangerous or irrelevant.”

According to the study, and previous research done by Spiegel and his colleagues, hypnotizability is determined by a combination of how two different cortexes in the brain interact, what Faerman calls a “…Fine-grained pathway that these structures have that we are trying to target.” 

One of the aspects of this study that makes it different from other interventions is that it is non-invasive. Langevin says that transcranial magnetic stimulation, and the use of an fMRI during the treatment process, could have significant implications for the field in conjunction with or beyond hypnosis, particularly when it comes to more common treatments.

“I do research in post traumatic stress disorder. So that’s one active field where neurostimulation through transcranial magnetic stimulation is also being used,” Langevin said. “If we find partial results, or perhaps partial benefits, in those patients who are more severe, we can go back and implant a permanent [stimulator] to replicate the results.”

How hypnosis can help with chronic issues

Spiegel says that, fundamentally, this approach is challenging dominant narratives in medicine and offers patients an alternative option for treatment.

“The standard in modern medicine is incision, ingestion or injection. Do something physical, treat the body like it’s a broken car and replace the parts and fix it,” Spiegel said. “And in fact, people can learn to do this [modulate pain sensations] extremely well with techniques like hypnosis. And in this case, augmented with transcranial magnetic stimulation.”

In the future, Faerman would like to see a process like this conducted with a wide variety of patients and that doing so will lead to time and cost savings. 

“My vision…as a clinical psychologist and in general, is that patients will come to see their psychologist or psychiatrist for psychotherapy and before they walk into their therapy appointment, they’re going to have a brief stimulation session, and hopefully, it is going to increase the effectiveness of the treatment that you’re getting,” Faerman said.

Takeaway

Researchers say they may have found a non-invasive way to increase hypnotizability for a short period of time. Hypnosis can help treat certain conditions including issues with chronic pain.