About science, health, MOOCs...

 " Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue, mainly made of  collagen —a rope-like structure that provides strength and protection to many areas of the body. It surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. And scientists increasingly recognize its importance in muscle and bone health." For more details: Fascia: The most neglected part of our body is finally starting to receive attention And a related book: Fascia Qigong

  $200   off Coursera Plus means big savings for your big goals! Make your next career move with confidence with Coursera Plus. Whether you’re looking to start a new job, switch careers, or advance in your current role, you’ll find the right program to help you reach your goals. For a limited time-only, get $200 off your annual subscription to Coursera Plus . That means unlimited access to 7,000+ learning programs from top companies and universities including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Yale and more for less than $1/day For more details and enroll: https://imp.i384100.net/m5vq1e

  What  You Will Learn  at the Fasting & Longevity Summit: Unlock the Secrets of Fasting & Longevity.  Dive deep with Dr. Valter Longo as he unravels the profound relationship between fasting-mimicking diets and longevity. Don't miss out on understanding how these diets can extend your healthy living years and potentially alter the aging process. Explore the Power of Fasting Against Cancer.  Tanya Dorff offers transformative insights into how fasting can directly counteract cancer progression. Empower yourself with the knowledge that could be a game changer in the fight against cancer. Boost Your Brain Health Through Fasting.  Join Dr. Joel Fuhrman to understand the profound benefits of fasting for cognitive function and neural health. Discover how fasting can be a preventive measure against degenerative brain diseases. How Fasting Impacts Your Skin Health.  Glow from within and let your skin tell the story of your health journey. Dr. Jonathan Carp showcases how fasting can

  Abstract "Cinnamon has long been a popular culinary (and medicinal) spice. Nowadays, in the West, it is predominantly found in sweet foods (e.g., desserts, traditional, and/or seasonal baked foods, such as cinnamon rolls, plum pudding, mince pies, and mulled wine), as well as in many cola beverages, perhaps explaining why it is widely considered to be a ‘sweet’ spice, despite having a slightly bitter taste. Historically, it was commonly used in savoury dishes as well. In the Middle East and India, the spice retains its association with savoury cuisine (e.g., in dishes such as curry and pilau, as well as meat tagines in Morocco). The four major commercially-viable species of cinnamon ( Cinnamomum verum, C. cassia, C. burmannii , and  C. loureiroi ) have distinct flavour profiles, meaning that care should be taken when using this spice in the kitchen, especially given the naming confusion that exists between cinnamon and cassia. Although essential oil is extracted from many parts

 " Do you want to better understand how hormonal health can be crucial in our daily lives? In this course on Alison.com, we will discuss the importance of hormonal health and how individual hormones can affect various functions of the human body. We will start with an overview of hormonal health and the human endocrine system. We will also go through the role of critical individual hormones in regulating the different functions within the human body. Are you curious about how lifestyle choices can improve your hormonal health and functionality? As we move along with the course, we will examine the role of hormones in regulating the various vital functions within our body, such as our hunger and sleep cycles, sexual health and stress response. We will also go through ways to improve our hormonal health, such as better lifestyle choices, diet and exercise routines. Over the years, different artificial methods have also been developed to address hormonal imbalances within our bodies.

 " Probiotics might be able to help people dodge the worst effects of   COVID-19 , new clinical trial results show. Unvaccinated people who took a lactobacillus-laced probiotic had reduced COVID symptoms and even delayed infection, researchers report in the January issue of the journal  Clinical Nutrition . The study suggests probiotics could be a simple and inexpensive way to treat folks who’ve been exposed to COVID, researchers said. Probiotics are designed to boost the beneficial bacteria and yeasts that live inside the body, primarily the gastrointestinal tract." For more details: Probiotics Might Help Ward Off COVID-19 And a related book: Gut Check: Unleash the Power of Your Microbiome to Reverse Disease and Transform Your Mental, Physical, and Emotional Health

 " An icon from the age of dinosaurs,   Tyrannosaurus rex   has featured in everything from blockbuster movies to the shape of chicken nuggets. As a creature to be feared for its bone-crushing bite or ridiculed for its inability to give a high five, T rex has captured the imagination of children and adults alike. One skeleton broke records in 2020 when it sold at auction for  US$32 million  (£25 million). But how well do you really know T rex? Here is the truth behind five common misconceptions about this dinosaur." For more details: Five things you probably have wrong about the T rex And a related MOOC: Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology " Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology is a 12-lesson course teaching a comprehensive overview of non-avian dinosaurs. Topics covered: anatomy, eating, locomotion, growth, environmental and behavioral adaptations, origins and extinction. Lessons are delivered from museums, fossil-preparation labs and dig sites. Estimated workload: 3-5 hrs/week

  "Specialization - 4 course series Space, the final frontier. Many of us have heard this phrase in our lives but how many of us believed we could actually explore that frontier? Regardless of your major or area of expertise, if you are interested in being a part of space, the Pathway to Space specialization is for you. Our species has only scratched the surface of understanding the cosmos. To further our knowledge of the universe requires the skills and talents of all people. Enter this specialization saying, “I like space…” and exit it saying, “I better understand space and have an idea of the path I can take to be a part of its exploration.” Our journey together begins with Course 1: Our Place in the Cosmos where we cover how our species’s wonder about space led to our current understanding of the cosmos and tools used to gain that knowledge. Course 2: Getting There and Going Beyond covers what defines space and the ways we explore our solar system and beyond. Course 3: The Bu

"Specialization - 3 course series The healthcare system is a rapidly evolving field with new research leading to advancements in medicine. Developed at Johns Hopkins University and led by top-ranked Hopkins faculty and cancer experts, this specialization on Cancer Biology focuses on the basics of cancer biology, how cancer metastasis occurs, and specifically, screening guidelines for prostate cancer, the most common cancer in American men. This specialization starts with an Introduction to the Biology of Cancer, introduces the molecular biology of cancer and the biologic hallmarks of cancer. The course also describes the risk factors for the major cancers worldwide, including lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, and stomach cancer. Experts at Johns Hopkins University explain how cancer is staged, the major ways cancer is found by imaging, and how the major cancers are treated. The specialization takes a deeper dive in Understanding Cancer Meta

"For sighted people, crossing a busy street based on hearing alone is an impossible task, because their brains are used to  relying on vision  to understand where things are. As anyone who has tried to find a beeping cellphone that’s fallen behind the sofa knows, sighted people have a very limited ability to pinpoint the location or movement of objects based on auditory information. Yet people who become blind are able to make sense of the moving world using only sound. How do people hear motion, and how is this changed by being blind?" For more details: Do you hear what I see? How blindness changes how you process the sound of movement   And a related MOOC: The Brain and Space "This course is about how the brain creates our sense of spatial location from a variety of sensory and motor sources, and how this spatial sense in turn shapes our cognitive abilities. Knowing where things are is effortless. But “under the hood,” your brain must figure out even the simplest of d

Woman Defies Alzheimer’s Despite Genetic Risk | Technology Networks : A woman who never developed Alzheimer's despite a strong genetic predisposition may hold the key to stopping the disease in its tracks. And a related new book: https://amzn.to/3Tz93ub "In 2006, Daniel Gibbs, author of A Tattoo on my Brain: A Neurologist's Personal Battle against Alzheimer's Disease (soon to be a documentary produced by MTV/Paramount+), first noticed symptoms which he now knows to have been early signs of his Alzheimer's Disease. Daniel still writes every day, something he credits with keeping his mind sharper and his demons at bay. This book is a personal collection of essays written over the past two years that describe his own personal experiences, first treating patients with Alzheimer's, and now living with the disease himself. The book presents an up-to-date discussion of recent advances and setbacks in Alzheimer's research. Humane and hopeful, this book offers evide

  There are 4 modules in this course An introduction to modern astronomy's most important questions. The four sections of the course are Planets and Life in The Universe; The Life of Stars; Galaxies and Their Environments; The History of The Universe. For more details and enroll: Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy

  "There are 5 modules in this course Our lexicon of mental illness is immense: There currently are hundreds of classified disorders and an extensive assortment of medications and therapies. This course explores the history of this productive science -- its discoveries, classifications, and treatments of psychiatric distress. The excursion begins with a general introduction and proceeds to explore 4 kinds of mental illness: neurasthenia, depression, attention deficits (ADD/ADHD), and narcissism. Each kind is examined in terms of its scientific research and classification; treatments developed to cure or alleviate its symptoms; lived-experiences of those so diagnosed with the disorder; and critical reflection on the diagnosis. This course departs from histories that mainly chronicle scientific achievements and, instead, invites you to investigate how the scientific discoveries and therapies were deeply informed by cultural conditions of the time. The cultural influences on psychiat

  "Welcome to this Big History course! In this course, renowned scientists and scholars from the University of Amsterdam and beyond will take you on a journey from the Big Bang until today while addressing key questions in their fields. After completing this journey you will have developed a better understanding of how you and everything around you became the way they are today. You will also have gained an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that have helped shape the history of everything and how they wil help shape the future. Last but not least, you will have developed the skill to use this knowledge to put smaller subjects into a bigger perspective with the aid of the little big history approach, which can help you develop some new ideas on these smaller subjects." For more details and enroll: Big History - From the Big Bang until Today

  This course provides a view of the history of spaceflight, from early writings telling of human's fascination of space through the early Russian and American space stations. Developed as an interesting and entertaining slice of space history that is accessible to anyone with an interest in human spaceflight For more details and enroll: A Brief History of Human Spaceflight

  Abstract "Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the initiators in foods and in the stomach of oxidized dietary lipids, proteins, and lipid-oxidation end-products (ALEs), inducing in humans the development of several chronic diseases and cancer. Epidemiological, human clinical and animal studies supported the role of dietary polyphenols and derivatives in prevention of development of such chronic diseases. There is much evidence that polyphenols/derivatives at the right timing and concentration, which is critical, acts mostly in the aerobic stomach and generally in the gastrointestinal tract as reducing agents, scavengers of free radicals, trappers of reactive carbonyls, modulators of enzyme activity, generators of beneficial gut microbiota and effectors of cellular signaling. In the blood system, at low concentration, they act as generators of electrophiles and low concentration of H 2 O 2 , acting mostly as cellular signaling, activating the PI3K/Akt-mediated Nrf2/eNOS pathways and

  New research  published  by neurology researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in  npj Parkinson's Disease  found that preventable risk factors play a significant role in a person's potential of developing Parkinson's disease. For more details: A substantial number of Parkinson's disease cases can be attributed to preventable risk factors, researcher says And a related free online course: Science of Brain Disorders This free online neuropathology course covers the causes, diagnosis, symptoms and treatment of common brain disorders. Many people suffer from brain disorders that can significantly impact their lives and the lives of those around them. This neuropathology course includes an in-depth study of several major brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and autism. We examine their causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and impact. We also lay out the preventative techniques used to avoid or manag

 ABSTRACT  "The pursuit of optimal eye health and the management of common eye conditions have led to a growing interest in exploring alternative therapeutic approaches. Natural ingredients derived from plants, herbs, and other natural sources have a long history of use in traditional medicine systems and are known to possess bioactive compounds with potential health benefits. This comprehensive review aims to explore the therapeutic potential of natural ingredients for promoting eye health and managing various eye conditions. It offers a thorough overview of the possible advantages of using natural substances by analyzing the scientific evidence supporting their usage, including their mechanisms of action and clinical efficacy. We have discussed various ingredients in detail with their function on the eye, such as turmeric, honey, neem, and rose water for their anti-inflammatory activity and anti-irritation activity of red sandalwood, phitkari, and bibhitaki. Other than these, th

 Abstract " Background: Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) calyces have been used in traditional medicine as diuretics, mild laxatives, and antihypertensive agents but to date, a comprehensive study of its pharmacological activity and safety has not been conducted. Aims of the study: The current study aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the antihypertensive efficacy and toxicity profile of Roselle (H. sabdariffa L.) calyces extract. Utilizing animal models, the investigation assessed the dose-dependent pharmacological effects and safety of H. sabdariffa L. Results: The findings indicate that the extract exerts a significant antihypertensive effect at a dose of 250 mg/kg body weight (BW), lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 10.12% and 11.63%, respectively. Ethyl acetate fractions administered at 112.5 mg/ kg BW demonstrated greater efficacy than n-hexane and aqueous fractions, suggesting that the active compounds likely possess semi-polar properties. Acute to

 " The dopamine menu concept is based on the notion that people with ADHD have lower levels of dopamine (a neurotransmitter that plays a role in pleasure, learning and motivation) in their brains. As a result, they need more stimulation. So, is there any scientific evidence to support the use of dopamine menus? Maybe – but to understand why, we must examine the brain reward pathway." For more details: Dopamine menus: the science behind the trend – and how it might help people with ADHD And some related books: https://amzn.to/471uLtS https://amzn.to/3ti10r3

"  Most of us don’t worry about getting vitamin D when the weather’s warm and the sun is shining. But as winter approaches, accompanied by overcast days and long nights, you may be wondering if it could be useful to take a vitamin D supplement – and what benefit it might have." For more details: Vitamin D supplements can keep bones strong – but they may also have other benefits to your health Some related posts: https://mysciencehealthmooc.blogspot.com/2023/11/vitamin-d-dose-guidance-may-not-be-high.html https://mysciencehealthmooc.blogspot.com/2023/11/getting-adequate-vitamin-d-in-fall-and.html And a related free online course: Introduction to the Role of Nutrition in Human Health

 " While it is only the third most reported disease transmitted from animals to humans, infections by mosquitos carrying the West Nile virus are growing in the EU, according to the EU Food Safety Authority (EFSA)." For more details: West Nile virus on the rise in Europe, finds authority And a related book: https://amzn.to/41mVYpG

Second “Code of Life” Cracked by AI | Technology Networks: Researchers have cracked the second code of life. In an exclusive interview with Technology Networks they explain how. https://www.technologynetworks.com/cell-science/news/second-code-of-life-cracked-by-ai-381942 And a related book: https://amzn.to/3GOcUvG

Stomach Bacteria Infection May Increase Alzheimer's Risk | Technology Networks : Infection with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease: In people over the age of 50, the risk following a symptomatic infection can be an average of 11 percent higher. And a related book: https://amzn.to/4aiL6gK