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Here is why shooting glasses are so important.

Protective eyewear is one of the most important investments you can make if you're a regular at the shooting range. A good pair of glasses offer eye protection not just from spent shells or casings, but from things like unburned powder and small pieces of material that may ricochet off your target and back at you.

Safetyglasses are arguably as important as hearing protection for preserving two of your most important senses. But while people talk about ear protection all the time, eye protection is a secondary thought.

Which is why we're addressing this issue today. We're going to give you some suggestions on the bestshooting glasses out there and why you should be wearing them more often.

Both men and women who shoot guns need to take this simple advice: find a pair of shooting glasses that work for you, and never skip wearing them for as long as you're aiming down a barrel.

As we've already stated, shooting can be hazardous to the eyes. The biggest and most realistic thing I've encountered is spent casings. Every once in a great while, my Glock 19 handgun will throw a piece of hot brass back in my face. You don't want something like that to hit your eye. It could cause permanent damage and in some extreme cases, even blindness.

When you're shooting a target at close range, there is also the chance for pieces of your target or even unburned powder to get deflected back at you. Now, you should always be taking precautions to avoid this type of thing. But weird stuff happens sometimes, and a piece of debris can get launched back at you from far downrange. The more you shoot, the more likely something like this will happen to you.

The other reason why shooting safety glasses are so important is simply because of the off chance of a catastrophic failure. It's very rare, but if something happens and a round leaves the barrel sideways or there's an obstruction in the barrel, it could cause your firearm to literally blow up in your hands.

If your face is down peering through a scope or set of sights, that puts your eyes in immediate danger in a situation like this. Protective eyewear could literally save your vision.

There are many different things to consider for eye protection. First off, I've seen some people just wear a simple pair of sunglasses from off the rack at Walmart. While this will protect your eyes from the little things like spent brass or powder, you should really use a pair designed for shooting.

That's because most safety glasses are made with a polycarbonate material that helps prevent them from shattering. This goes back to what I said about preparing for a worst-case scenario. Many glasses will have a list of safety standards they meet in their promotional materials.

You might see the phrase "ANSI Z87.1 certified" tossed around in marketing for shooting glasses. It's not a marketing buzz term. This simply refers to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The Z87.1 just means it meets basic standards. It's not a bad idea to get a pair of shooting glasses that satisfies them.

In regards to lens color, you'll be inundated with a ton of choices. I find clear lenses work best for most scenarios. Many people stick to clear just for indoor ranges, and tinted when they shoot outside. I suggest trying several pairs to see what you like best.

The lens color can actually enhance your shooting if you know what to look for. Have you ever watched an Olympic shooting event on TV? You probably noticed the shooters change their lenses depending on the lighting conditions.

For instance, if it's sunny and clear out, you'll see them wearing darker lenses that look like sunglasses. But if there are clouds in the sky, you might see them in blue, bronze or yellow-colored lenses.

There's a tactical advantage here, especially for clay shooters.

The contrast created by the colored lens, especially the yellow option, helps them more easily pick up their target. Some of the best ballistic shooting glasses on the market today offer interchangeable lenses to help adapt to the conditions.

You should also consider a comfortable fit, especially if you're going to be wearing them for extended periods of time. Look at things like the nose pads and flexibility. If they leave a mark on your nose, they probably aren't ideal. Users of eyeglasses are already aware of how important a comfortable nosepiece can be.

Some styles will protect better than others. A flat, aviator style of glasses isn't going to offer better protection than a wraparound style.

Other features to consider are how scratch-resistant a pair is, and whether or not they are covered by any warranty. You want to get your money's worth, right? Oh, and don't forget about anti-fog properties. Nothing is more annoying than having to constantly wipe the lenses because your warm breath or thick humidity keeps fogging them up.

I used to wear prescription eyeglasses when I was younger. These days I wear a pair of yellow-tinted glasses to protect my eyes from computer eye strain while I'm working. So, I'm aware of the problems a pair of glasses can cause when it comes to simple things like using binoculars or rangefinders.

I'm sure many of you will agree with me when I say that sunglasses or shooting glasses designed to fit over prescription eyeglasses are a real pain to use. Annoyingly, I've never found a pair I liked. The choice was always between hassling with annoying gimmicks that never seemed to work properly, or sacrificing my vision while shooting.

But fortunately, some companies have recognized this and are now offering specialty prescription eyeglasses that allow you to keep your vision and protect your eyes from danger at the same time.

If you're lucky, your ophthalmologist may be able to order a pair of these for you. Otherwise there are companies like Tactical RX or Revision Outdoors that you can order a pair from. They are more expensive than a standard pair of safety glasses, but at least you won't have to fool with adapters or fit-over styles anymore. It's probably worth the investment in the end.

We checked out some of the offerings of the top brands out there and here are a few with great impact resistance we can recommend that will help protect your eyes at the shooting range.

The good news about most of these glasses is that they are very reasonably priced.

These Wiley X Saber Advanced glasses are one of the top offerings on Cabela's. They carry high ratings from users on the site for their comfort and adaptability. The Wiley X meetsANSIZ87.1 and OSHA standards and feature foam on the nosepiece for a more comfortable fit. They also come with a variety of lens options including grey/rust, grey/clear and grey/rust/vermillion options to truly get your money's worth. Some reviewers say they get double use as UV protection as sun/driving glasses off the shooting range!

Sometimes simplicity is best. These Beretta glasses are available with clear, orange or yellow polycarbonatelenses. The frame is plastic, meaning these are extremely light weight. This is a wrap-around style which should fit most faces comfortably. We especially like the price. At just $20, this is a great option to protect your sight on a budget.

These Cabela's branded glasses are also priced at only $20. But these are a little more stylish if you want to use them off the range to keep harmful UV rays out of your face. They're ANSI-rated and include a rubberized nosepiece. That will help keep them on your face for a long day at the range. As a bonus, you get a pair of foam earplugs with these in case you haven't bought hearing protection yet.

You know what they say, you get what you pay for. Oakley is a very popular brand of high-quality eye protection that you can trust to keep your eyes safe. These M Frame Alpha impact resistant glasses come with an anti-fog coating and the ability to swap out lenses via a "Trap Door" exchange system. The only downside to them is the price. These glasses cost $156.

For more outdoor content fromTravis Smola, be sure to follow him onTwitterand check out hisGeocachingandOutdoors with Travis Youtube channels.

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Shooting Glasses: Why You Need Them, and the Best to Choose From - Wide Open Spaces

A man testifying in the trial of two brothers, one of them a Toronto police officer, accused of brutally beating a black teen nearly three years ago, described peering through his window that night and seeing two people repeatedly punching someone against a wall.

James Silverthorn told the court he awoke in the early hours of Dec. 28, 2016, to the sound of screams so loud he believed they were inside his Whitby, Ont., home, and after realizing they came from outside, rushed to see what was happening through the shutters of his bathroom window.

"I could see that one individual was being beaten by two other people," between his home and the neighbouring one, Silverthorn said Tuesday. "It was continuous, it was very hard."

Shortly afterward, a black male began pounding on Silverthorn's front door, yelling for someone to call 911, he testified. Silverthorn's wife had already made the call and he quickly went back upstairs to speak to the dispatcher, he said.

The banging at the door stopped, and at some point, Silverthorn looked through his front window and saw someone on the ground of his driveway next to his wife's SUV, he told the court.

One of the two people he had seen doling out punches earlier stood nearby, holding what looked like a broomstick or pipe and using it to "stab down" and prevent the person on the ground from getting up, he said. The other person from earlier was at the end of the driveway talking on a cellphone, he said.

Silverthorn, a district chief with Toronto Fire Services, was in the witness box inthe trial of Michael Theriault, a Toronto police constable, and his brother Christian Theriault, who are jointly charged with aggravated assault in the beating of Dafonte Miller in the early hours of Dec. 28, 2016.

Michael Theriault, who was off duty at the time, and his brother are also separately charged with obstruction of justice in connection with how they portrayed the incident to investigators. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors allege the brothers saw Miller, then 19, walking in the area with friends, chased him, assaulted him, then continued that assault after he briefly escaped them.

Court heard the pair told police they caught Miller breaking into their car. The young man was arrested that night but the charges were later dropped.

In a brief opening statement on Tuesday, Crown attorney Peter Scrutton said the brothers could also be found guilty of aggravated assault for carrying out an unlawful arrest or using excessive force during that arrest.

A police officer called to investigate the incident testified that she first saw Miller face down on the ground with a white man restraining him, but was able to see him more clearly after the teen was pulled up.

"There was a quantity of blood coming from his left eye.It appeared to me to be a significant injury," Durham Regional Police Service Const. Jennifer Bowler told an Oshawa, Ont., court.

"It made me a little queasy," she said.

Bowler said she was dispatched to the outside of a home after three calls were made to 911 one by Miller, one by a resident, and one by a man reporting that he had caught someone breaking into cars.

She was tasked with photographing the area and anything that seemed relevant, including any injuries, the officer said.

Bowler said she took photos of Miller and of Christian Theriault's hand, which had a cut, but that no other injuries were reported or visible. She told the brothers to get in touch if injuries appeared in the next few days but to her knowledge, they did not, she testified.

Under cross-examination, the officer said it was possible the brothers would have been in shock immediately after the incident, and would have seen a doctor rather than police if any injuries emerged later.

Among the other things Bowler saw and photographed at the scene were blood spots and droplets, a pair of black gloves, a metal pole, two cellphones and some change, she told the court.

The constable eventually went to take photographs of a truck at a nearby home after another man, this one in his 50s, said it was "entered as part of the incident," she testified. Bowler took photos that showed the inside console of the truck was left open.

When she returned to the original scene, she noticed blood on the hood of a car in the driveway, and assumed the "tissue" came from Miller's eye, she said.

After collecting items at the site, Bowler took them to a police station for processing, and noticed that some of them appeared to have blood on them, including the metal pole, she said.

The pole, roughly a metre long, was shown in court Tuesday.

Lawyers for Miller have previously alleged race was a factor in the incident, and that the Theriault brothers kicked their client and hit him in the face with a metal pipe.

Miller's left eye was knocked out of its socket and split into four, his lawyers have said. He also suffered a broken nose, broken orbital bone, bruised ribs, reduced vision in his right eye and a fractured wrist, they said.

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Witness testifies he saw 2 men punching someone 'very hard' in Dafonte Miller beating trial - CBC.ca

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

Photo: Edgar Degas/The Phillips Collection

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

"La rptition au foyer de la danse" (ca. 1870-1872) is included in the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition "Degas at the Opera."

Degas had a gift for conveying the truth - even when he was making it all up

PARIS - Fake news and truth, the terms we hear so much about lately, are supposed to be mutually exclusive. Truth is obdurate and aloof. Fake is fake: It's a sham. Simpering and obscene, it demeans everyone it touches.

We want - we need - the distinction to be clear-cut, since so much rides on it. But in the realm of art (isn't it always so?) things are more complicated.

Take Edgar Degas, whose work is now the subject of a sprawling, stupendous show, "Degas at the Opra," at the Muse d'Orsay. (It will travel in modified form to the National Gallery of Art next year.)

Degas is supposed to have been on the side of truth. But truth in art and truth in public life are very different things. And we get Degas badly wrong if we mistake him for a documentarian.

The standard Degas narrative is that he dispensed with the stale repertoire of religious, mythological and historical subjects and turned his gaze instead to contemporary life: the city's racetrack, cafe concerts, milliners' shops, brothels and ballet classes. Everyone knows, too, that Degas helped form the Impressionist group - and what was Impressionism about if not showing the world as it is?

That story is fine as far as it goes. But neat stories - especially those involving sunlight and poppy fields - don't really adhere to Degas. He was an indoor creature, slightly vampiric, ferociously independent. ("If I were the government," he once said, "I would have a special brigade of gendarmes to keep an eye on artists who paint landscapes from nature. Oh, I don't mean to kill anyone; just a little dose of birdshot now and then as a warning." And you want to call this guy an Impressionist?)

In the century since Degas's death, the idea that he embraced Impressionist-style spontaneity and natural light has been hard to shake. So has the notion that he was an intrepid realist haunting the hidden corners of Paris. But when we look at Degas through the lens of the one subject that dominated his oeuvre - the Paris Opra - both notions finally fall apart.

Unlike other subjects, which Degas treated only sporadically, the Opra was a continuous subject for about four decades. As you move from one image to the next in this show (which was organized by Degas biographer Henri Loyrette, with the assistance of Leila Jarbouai and Marine Kisiel of the Muse d'Orsay and Kimberly Jones of the National Gallery), you could be fooled into imagining that Degas was giving you a brisk tour of the Opra building:

Here is the stage ... There is the orchestra ... Here are the dancers ... Here is where they rehearse ... And here is where the gentlemen subscribers in top hats come to procure sexual favors.

Surely not from those sweet ballerinas in tutus?

The "little rats"? Yes, yes. From them.

Degas, however, was no tour guide. Nor was he a journalist. For him, it all went far, far deeper. Everything he did had an underlying aesthetic rationale. And everything was invented.

That's right: Degas was a fabulist. His art was a studio product. ("No art is less spontaneous than mine," he said.) It did not come from standing about in the fields like a damn cow. It came from hard work and imagination, and always drew from the Old Masters, toward whom Degas's reverence was palpable.

Even the settings of the Opra works were mostly invented: The first Paris opera house Degas came to know was on the rue Le Peletier. Already scheduled for demolition by the time he started attending, it was destroyed by fire in 1873. The fire kick-started the stalled construction of the new opera house, the opulent Palais Garnier (the famous setting for "The Phantom of the Opera"), which finally opened in 1875.

But Degas much preferred the old building, so he proceeded as if the Palais Garnier simply didn't exist: The identifiable settings of almost all his depictions of the Opra are in the destroyed building on the rue Le Peletier.

So much for truth-telling.

Casting off false notions about Degas frees us to perceive the Opra's significance to him. Certainly he was attracted to the music. (Degas was an aficionado, with sophisticated tastes. He loved 18th-century composers - Bach, Rameau and especially Gluck - and rejected the cult of Wagner then sweeping Europe.)

But the deeper reason the Opra seduced him as an artist stands in plain sight: It was a place of make-believe, of spectacle, of artifice. For Degas, according to Loyrette, it was "a closed universe," "a microcosm of infinite possibilities, allowing all kinds of experimentation."

Degas reveled in this. In his Opra pictures, he played with points of view and contrasts of light and dark; with movement and gesture; with cropping and composition; and with format, medium and scale.

The Opra's appeal must also have been psychological. Anyone who goes to the theater gets it immediately. Stage, backstage, curtains, scenery, audience: The atmosphere is infectious. You feel the thrill of voyeurism, the possibility of adopting alternative personas, the tart, vinegary taste of so much brazen artifice. (One thinks of Matisse describing the hotel rooms in Nice that he transformed into stage sets, decked out with Oriental fabrics and adorned with local models posing as odalisques: "Everything was fake, absurd, amazing, delicious.")

In his great essay "The Painter of Modern Life," Charles Baudelaire argued that beauty is composed of two equal parts. One part hinges on eternal values; the other is "relative, circumstantial" and plugged into the contingent present. Degas - perhaps even more convincingly than his friend douard Manet - met the challenge of how to express such beauty pictorially.

He united suggestions of an impersonal, Arcadian dream with an intense, streaming, present-tense intimacy. The intimacy burns cleanly, drawing its fuel from Romanticist color and movement and its oxygen from modern disjuncture. The Arcadian side of his work, meanwhile, draws on the timeless spell of ancient Greece (via Degas' hero, the neoclassicist J.-A.-D. Ingres).

Only the Opra gave Degas the license to bring all this together.

The first of his Opra-inspired works was an 1867 depiction of a well-known dancer, Eugnie Fiocre, on the set of a ballet, "La Source." For many years, the picture confused art historians, because it looks like a landscape - a mountain scene in the Caucasus, no less, replete with a horse drinking from a stream. All that gives it away as a stage set for a ballet is a pair of pink ballet slippers visible between the horse's front legs.

Over the next few years, Degas painted many astute portraits of singers and musicians. He made a breakthrough in 1870 with "The Orchestra at the Opera," a portrait commissioned by the bassoonist Dsir Dihau. It shows Dihau in his natural habitat - the orchestra pit at the Opra, surrounded by fellow musicians.

Degas returned repeatedly to this composition - the dark pit in the lower half, the colorful stage above. It looks spontaneous, but the tableau was entirely artificial. The bassoonist, for starters, would not have occupied a place in the orchestra's front row. Nor did the musicians sit at right angles to the stage.

So many incredible images unfurl like a Chinese scroll painting from these early breakthroughs. The most famous, of course, are the dancers. Degas depicted them stretching at the bar, retying their slippers or perched atop a grand piano while stretching and scratching their backs. Here again, though, he freely invented features of the rooms they occupy and concocted details of their activities. When he asked a friend, Albert Hecht, for a pass permitting him to see the weekly dance examinations, he sheepishly admitted: "I have done so many of these dance examinations without having seen them that I am a little ashamed of it."

Next door to the Opra was a brothel. Degas did not ignore the sad, seamy fact of their connection. Yet again, though, his vision was filtered through someone else's imaginings. Inspired by best-selling novellas by a friend, the librettist Ludovic Halvy (who collaborated with Bizet on "Carmen"), Degas depicted men propositioning the young dancers. Most were desperately poor, working-class girls. Those who trafficked in sex were often pimped by their own mothers. In a series of monotypes, Degas even takes us inside the brothel and - uncharacteristically - lets his revulsion show.

As he aged and his eyesight slowly deteriorated, Degas maintained his devotion to themes he had been inspired by at the Opra. Retreating from his earlier fascination with people as unique psychological entities immersed in social space, he turned instead to a more private vision. His late dancers (clumps of overlapping girls resembling many-limbed, many-headed monsters, weirdly endowed with their own interiority) amount to a kind of long and death-haunted monologue - obsessive, ravished and, in the annals of art, unprecedented.

- - -

"Degas at the Opera"

Through Jan. 19 at the Muse d'Orsay, Paris. musee-orsay.fr.

Original post:
Degas had a gift for conveying the truth - even when he was making it all up - Alton Telegraph

Scientific advances with stem cells and gene editing have raised the prospect that many diseases, traumatic injuries, and chronic conditions could one day be treatedeven curedwith products derived from human biological materials. Most cell- and gene-based regenerative therapies remain in clinical trials or earlier stages of development; a handful have gained Food and Drug Administration approval as new drugs. However, hundreds of businesses in the United States have seized on public interest in this promising field to sell unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments directly to consumers. Patients receiving such products have experienced bacterial infections, permanent vision loss, strokes, and other harms.

Knowingly or not, many clinics offering cell-based therapies may be violating federal law and regulations governing the approval of new drugs, medical devices, and biologic products. FDA has taken important steps to prompt these businesses to comply with appropriate requirements, and the agency should continue enforcement activities to reduce and ultimately eliminate the marketing of unapproved stem cell products.

As of May 2017, at least 716 clinics, spread across 45 states and the District of Columbia, offered unapproved stem cell products.1 (See Figure 1.) The number of new stem cell businesses with websites doubled on average every year between 2009 and 2014, suggesting that the total number operating today could be significantly larger.2

Stem cell businesses promote their products as treatments for a wide range of conditions, from orthopedic pain and arthritis to multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease. Little to no evidence exists to support most claims, but several of these treatments have adversely affected patients. For example:

Such cases underscore the public health risks when businesses fail to demonstrate a products safety and effectiveness to FDA prior to marketing and do not adhere to the agencys rules for good manufacturing practices.

Broader enforcement activitiesbacked by sufficient resources from Congressare needed to protect Americans from the risks that unapproved stem cell products pose. The agency should maintain pressure on businesses offering these products to ensure that this promising medical field develops into one that clinicians and patients can trust and safely access.

FDA established a regulatory framework for regenerative therapies in 2005 and issued four guidance documents in November 2017 to clarify the characteristics and approval requirements associated with low-, middle-, and high-risk products. High-risk therapies include those in which stem cells undergo more than minimal manipulation or are intended to perform a different function in the recipient than they do in the donor; this is referred to as nonhomologous use.7 Such products must receive FDA approval as new drugs, devices, or biologics before they enter the market.

These materials laid important groundwork for broader enforcement efforts. Agency leaders have said they will target enforcement resources at products that pose the greatest risks to patients until November 2020. FDA should build on this foundation for effective oversight by using its full array of enforcement tools, including:

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FDA Enforcement Will Foster Development of Safe, Effective Regenerative Therapies - The Pew Charitable Trusts

ALAMEDA, Calif. & DOUGLAS, Isle of Man--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX; NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for human aging and regeneration, and Juvenescence, a life sciences company developing therapeutics and technologies to treat diseases of aging and to increase human longevity, announce the publication of a new paper in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Regenerative Medicine. The paper is on the engineering of allogeneic cells to be hypoimmunogenic (universal), so as not to produce an immune response. The strategies reviewed in the paper include deletion of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class Ia/II proteins, expression of HLA class Ib molecules, and manipulation of immune checkpoints.

In addition, the paper presents a previously unpublished in vivo observation on allogeneic human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) modified with AgeXs proprietary immunotolerance technology, UniverCyteTM. In humanized mice (those with a functional human immune system), UniverCyte-positive hPSCs formed larger and heavier tissue compared to controls. This observation provides support for the premise that UniverCyte-expressing tissue was potentially hypoimmunogenic and might have escaped recognition by a functional human immune system and continued to grow. Further work is required to substantiate this preliminary in vivo finding.

Hypoimmunogenic allogeneic cells are the Holy Grail in regenerative medicine, and a number of accomplished researchers have made great strides toward engineering them over the last few years, commented Dr. Nafees Malik, Chief Operating Officer at AgeX, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy at Juvenescence (a major investor in AgeX), and lead author on the paper. This is a huge area of focus for us at AgeX, via our UniverCyte technology platform. In support of our own research and as a service to the overall field, we decided to put together this paper, analyzing all the leading strategies to engineer universal cells and encapsulating them in one paper.

Dr. Maliks co-authors on the paper are Gregory Bailey, MD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AgeX and CEO of Juvenescence; Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP, who serves on the Board of Directors of AgeX; and Jim Mellon, Chairman of Juvenescence.

Mr. Mellon added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology platform will not only be important to the company in developing in-house therapies, it may also be transformative for the wider cell therapy industry via collaborations and licensing deals. It is quite conceivable that in the near future, allogeneic cell therapies may potentially need to be universal to be clinically and commercially competitive.

AgeX is developing its UniverCyte technology platform at its new 15,700-square-feet R&D facility, in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has current good manufacturing practices (cGMP)-capable manufacturing capacity.

Universal cells would help us and others to fulfill the original vision of cell therapy, said Dr. Bailey. Thus, I am pleased that my colleagues at AgeX and Juvenescence have put together this paper, as it should be of considerable benefit to researchers, possibly enabling them to accelerate their progress. He added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology uses a novel, modified form of the tolerogenic molecule HLA-G, which in nature plays a key role in preventing a mother from rejecting her semi-allogeneic baby.

The paper is being published online ahead of print on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. It may be found here.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a whole host of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform named induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies and slowly release iTR molecules in the body. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to form licensing and partnership agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms for non-core clinical applications.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Juvenescence

Juvenescence is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in AgeXs reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

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AgeX Therapeutics and Juvenescence Publish Paper on Engineering Strategies for Universal Cells and Provide in Vivo Observation on Immunotolerance...

Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat, turned heads this week when he announced that his company is going to become the Amazon or Tesla of the meat industry.

Like, why is Tesla able to do what it does? Brown told Business Insider on Wednesday. There is a DNA to certain companies that allow them to get an insight into an industry and get far enough ahead before others catch on. And then the game is to just stretch that lead and continue to play into your strengths.

It may not offer an online store that offers almost everything, nor does it promise to popularize the electric car, but Beyond Meats plant-based burgers could have a major influence on the $1.4 trillion meat industry.

Alternatives to traditional meats termed alt-meats by the New York Times and Fast Company are on the rise. While plant-based burgers have made a big impact on the market, new foods and even lab-grown meats could take it to all-new levels.

I dont think Ive personally, in a very long career, seen anything quite like this, Marie Wright, chief global flavorist for Archer Daniels Midland, tells Inverse. I think its exciting and I think its necessary. We need other sources of protein, other sources of food, if were going to feed the world.

Traditional meat has played a key role in the human diet for thousands of years. Human remains in a cave near Beijing suggest some of the earliest modern humans regularly ate fish 40,000 years ago.

Fast forward 40 millennia and foods that recreate the taste of animal meat are on the rise. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, founded in 2009 and 2011 respectively, are both aiming to use plants to recreate the taste of meat. Lab-grown meat, which some experts expect to reach dinner plates in 2021, encourage stem cell growth in a bioreactor to produce more animal tissue and eventually cut the animal from the equation.

Plant-based meats have made a big impact on the market. The Good Food Institute, a non-profit organization that lobbies for alt-meats, released a report in July that found plant-based meat is growing five times faster than animal meats in the American retail space.

Its set to rise further. Consultancy firm AT Kearney found in June 2019 that plant-based meat would account for 10 percent of the market by 2025. By 2040, its set to account for 25 percent of the market while lab-based meat accounts for 35 percent.

The main area where these products will grow is expanding into other areas of meat. Wright explains that new advancements in flavor technology can unlock new alt-foods. Developing a cleaner pea protein, for example, could mask its vegetable tastes and enable its use in other products. Beyond Meat uses pea protein, while Impossible Foods uses soy and potato protein. Advancements in flavor can pave the way for new dishes.

I think were going to see an expansion into other products, Wright says. Steak. Chicken, which is a much lighter tasting meat. Maybe fish eventually. Fish is a hard one, but chicken certainly.

Both companies are already expanding their repertoire. Impossible Foods has been experimenting with an anchovy-like broth that could make fish. Its partnered with Wow Bao to make an Impossible Bao, while Dos Toros is using the firms ground beef to create burritos. Beyond Meat has partnered with Subway to create a plant-based meatball sub.

These new meats may pose problems. Chicken is relatively easy to accomplish, but the use of coconut and palm to simulate chicken fat could pose sustainability and taste issues. Fish is a more complex and harder meat to simulate in terms of taste.

But Wright also notes that foods of the future may not necessarily aim to simply replace meat. It could mix both meat and meat replacements, appealing to flexitarians less concerned with reducing animal consumption. It could experiment with more flavors and spices, appealing to consumer interest in food variety. The race to directly mimic meat products could fade away: Wright notes how China has a long history of using meat alternatives like seitan, which retain the umami flavors of meat.

At the moment excitement is on the mimicking, Wright says.

Lab-based meat could transform this area. Researcher Mark Post publicly ate a cultured burger in 2013, a burger that experts at the tasting previously told Inverse resembled a McDonalds burger.

Ahead of an expected launch in supermarkets over the next two years, researchers have been growing meat in space, developing edible scaffolding, and even experimenting with new meats. Suggested products include kangaroo, bacon, steak, foie gras, seafood, and even combination portions that take cells from multiple animals.

Wright suggests, however, that these meats may still require some perfection to attain the feeling of traditional meat.

Meat as it is today, whether its grass-fed, the age, Wright says. Theres different flavors associated with that. Its like wine. If you grow wine in different terroirs, you get different flavors.

Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Browns comparison to Tesla may have raised eyebrows, but it could prove particularly relevant as this area develops. When Tesla launched the Roadster in 2008, it could only travel 240 miles per charge. Its second-generation Roadster, set to launch next year, reaches 620 miles per charge. Similarly, the initial offerings from Beyond Meat and others could pale in comparison to what comes next.

Plant-based meat, a passing fad? The alt-meat industry could just be getting warmed up.

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As Beyond Meat aims to be the next Tesla, heres how alt-meat could surge - Inverse

SportsPulse: Lorenzo's locks have been just over 70% these season but he isn't satisfied. He wants a perfect weekend. Here's his locks for Week 9. USA TODAY

OWINGS MILLS, Md. Every time Mark Andrews jogs off the field between possessions in a game, he slips off his receiving gloves and pricks his finger. Then he does it again. And again. And maybe one more time, just to be sure.

While his teammates are sipping Gatorade and reviewing film, the Baltimore Ravens tight end has an additional responsibility. As therare Type 1 diabetic in the NFL, Andrews pricks his fingers approximately30 times over the course of game to monitor his blood sugar levels and make sure he's not too high or too low, striking a careful balance that will allow him to play at his best.

"Its one of those things where Im at the stage that this is my job, so I cant let (diabetes) affect it," he told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday."And I havent."

Andrews, 23, has become one of the league's most reliable tight ends and the favorite target of MVP hopeful Lamar Jackson. He leads the team in catches (36) andreceiving yards (449) and is tied for the team lead intouchdowns (3) as the Ravens prepare to host the undefeated New England Patriots on Sunday night the team's first game in November, which is National Diabetes Month.

Sep 15, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (89) runs for a first quarter touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports(Photo: Tommy Gilligan, Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)

Andrews has reached those professional heights while also managing Type 1, the autoimmune disease that prevents his pancreas from producing insulin unlike Type 2 diabetes, in which the body produces too little insulin or doesn't process it effectively.

"He handles it really well," fellow tight end Hayden Hurst said."He has a system set up and he kind of follows things pretty closely. He does a really good job with it."

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The American Diabetes Association estimates that1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, butit is extremely rare among NFL players. While retired quarterback Jay Cutler, longtime Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Kendall Simmons and a handful of others played with Type 1,Andrews is believed to be the only active NFL player with the disease, which has no known cure.

Andrews has dealt with diabetes for the majority of his life. He was 9 years old when he received his diagnosis.His parents, Paul and Martha, were worried that their youngest childwas repeatedly subbing out of youth soccer games to use the bathroom, so they took him in for a check up.

"It was the first time Id ever seen my parents break down and cry," Andrews said. "I knew at that point that something serious was going on in my life."

Andrews said his parents were a bit wary, at first, about their son playing sports at least right away. But he loved soccer, and his team had a big tournament coming up the weekend after his diagnosis. So, despite their nervousness, they let Andrews play. And he proceeded to score three or four goals in his return to the field proving to himself that he could still compete, and showing his parents that he was going to be alright.

Football didn't become Andrews' focus until high school, when he was alanky wide receiver in a suburb of Phoenix, carrying a drawstring "diabetes bag" filled with snacks and other supplies that help him check and maintain his blood sugar levels during every game.

Andrews still carries one of those drawstring bags with him now, as a second-year player with the Ravens, though managing his blood sugar has gotten a bit easier thanks to technological advances. He wears a continuous glucose monitor that gives him real-time information on his phoneabouthis blood sugar levels and shares it automatically through an app with family members, his agent and Ravens head trainer Ron Medlin.

"Im always checking this thing before the games and making sure that my numbers are flat and steady and ready to go," said Andrews, who added he prefers to prick his fingers during games for convenience and immediacy.

The 6-foot-5, 256-pounder also keeps a relatively strict diet, especially leading up to games, to keep his blood sugar from fluctuating. He has four eggs before every game, and two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches one the day he plays, and one the night before. ("A lot of peanut butter, not a lot of jelly," he said, noting peanut butter's value as a complex carb.)

During games, and while at practice,the training staff fills separate bottles for Andrews with Gatorade Zero which has no sugar or carbs, and therefore doesn't affect his blood sugar levels. If those levels get too low at any point, he'll eat a pack or two of fruit snacks for a quick jolt. If they get too high, which is rare, he'll have to reconnect his insulin pump.

"He's got to manage all of that while hes still playing football," said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief medical officer at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. "And the margin of error is not great. If he gets too low, his muscles wont work as well. ... Too high, he can get dehydrated. And physical performance can be affected, as well.

Its sort of an added thing that he has to do and juggle that other people dont."

Andrews views diabetes as a complicating factor, but not a limiting one. And he's gone out of his way to become a visible advocate and support system for others with the disease particularly children, and their parents.

He doesn't want any high-school football player with Type 1 to wonder if they can make it to the NFL, or any college coach to be concerned about recruiting a player with diabetes.

"I tell this to everybody: Diabetes is incredibly difficult, but I wouldnt change it for the world," Andrews said. "Ive had people tell me I cant do things and doubt me, whatever it may be, because of my diabetes. So Ive used it to kind of fuel me and just shape who I am as a person.

"Its why Im at where Im at, and why Im playing the way I am.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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'I wouldn't change it for the world': Ravens TE Mark Andrews not slowed by Type 1 diabetes in breakout season - USA TODAY

Physical exercise helps lower your blood sugar level and you should aim for 2.5 hours of activity a week, according to the NHS. You can be active anywhere as long as what you're doing gets you out of breath, including:

One of the primary benefits of exercise is it helps people to lose weight, and carrying excess weight is particularly risky for people with type 2 diabetes.

According to Diabetes.co.uk, studies suggest that abdominal fat causes fat cells to release pro-inflammatory chemicals, which can make the body less sensitive to the insulin it produces by disrupting the function of insulin responsive cells and their ability to respond to insulin.

The health site added: Obesity is also thought to trigger changes to the bodys metabolism. These changes cause fat tissue (adipose tissue) to release fat molecules into the blood, which can affect insulin responsive cells and lead to reduced insulin sensitivity.

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Type 2 diabetes: Include this oil in your diet to lower blood sugar - Express

In celebration of our 15 Year Anniversary, Academic Editor Ronald CW Ma highlights advancements published in PLOS Medicine in diabetes research and care, including improved precision medicine.

Happy 15th Birthday to PLOS Medicine! I still remember reading about the PLOS journals and the idea of making science accessible to all back when PLoS was first launched. It is amazing how far the Open Access movement has developed, how far that idea has advanced and how scientific publishing has been revolutionized. Congratulations PLOS Medicine on this important milestone!

Among the many articles that I have enjoyed reading in PLOS Medicine over the years, I would like to highlight two for sharing with other readers on this special occasion.

1) Event Rates, Hospital Utilization, and Costs Associated with Major Complications of Diabetes: A Multicountry Comparative Analysis

This paper by Philip Clarke and colleagues from the ADVANCE Collaborative Group, published back in 2010, highlighted the significant economic burden of diabetes and rates of hospitalization resulting from diabetes co-morbidities, using data from the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) study, a landmark multi-centre trial on the treatment of diabetes conducted in 20 countries. Within the ADVANCE trial settings, the study demonstrated important differences in the rates of hospitalization for different diabetes complications in different regions of the world (Asia, Eastern Europe, and established market economies such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada), mirroring epidemiological observations of comparative higher nephropathy rates, higher stroke risk, and lower risks of coronary artery disease among Asians (mostly from Chinese centres in this particular trial) with type 2 diabetes, thereby highlighting the heterogeneity of risk of diabetes complications (and costs) in different populations.

This study also provided important tools to facilitate estimation of healthcare expenditure associated with diabetes in different healthcare settings. At the time of the study, it was estimated that the average annual per capita health expenditure was approximately 216 international dollars in China, and 698 international dollars in Russia, but that the annual hospital costs for people with diabetes experiencing major macrovascular complications such as coronary or cerebrovascular events would be around four and ten times these average per capita expenditures. Perhaps not fully appreciated at the time was the significant burden associated with hospitalization with heart failure, which is a topic of much current interest in relation to recent advances in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Although the work was focused on evaluating the economic burden of diabetes in different parts of the world, this work can be considered as an important example of early attempts to deconstruct the heterogeneity of type 2 diabetes. As the diabetes epidemic continues unabated, the healthcare burden of diabetes complications has become a major concern globally.

2) Type 2 diabetes genetic loci informed by multi-trait associations point to disease mechanisms and subtypes: A soft clustering analysis

The second article, by Jose Florez and colleagues, utilized a state-of-the-art multi-omics approach to use available genetic and epigenomic data to probe the issue of heterogeneity of diabetes. The authors showed that identified genetic loci linked to diabetes can be segregated according to underlying biological mechanisms which can be used to classify individuals, to provide a way forward for individualized diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. The study highlighted the potential role of genetic variants related to the beta cell, pro-insulin, obesity, lipodystrophy and liver/lipid traits in accounting for different patient characteristics, as well as long-term diabetes outcomes.

What was particularly interesting is the soft-clustering approach adopted by the authors, which did not require genetic variants to fit into only one pathway, or for individuals to be classified to have diabetes due to only one specific pathophysiological defect, but instead, for individuals to be identified to have scores in each of the above-mentioned categories, and thereby accepting that individuals may have developed diabetes with different contribution from the different underlying pathophysiology. The use of such genetic risk scores may be useful in selecting the most appropriate therapies for individualized care in the future.

Over the last 15 years, the global burden of diabetes has more than doubled, from less than 200 million people affected back in the early 2000s to now more than 422 million people affected globally (with the majority in LMICs). These 2 articles represent important advances in our understanding of type 2 diabetes over the last decade. Whilst the ADVANCE study was a landmark study that generated much interest, the Clarke paper highlighted much of the burden of diabetes complications, and our lack of understanding regarding the heterogeneity in risk of diabetes complications. Together with the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) and Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT) studies, these landmark studies, published between 2008-2010, have highlighted the potential dangers of hypoglycaemia, and heralded the debate and call for more individualized treatment in type 2 diabetes, and contributed to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) to propose in their joint position statement on management of hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes in 2012 to move away from a one-size-fit-all approach to treatment, but instead adopt a treatment strategy that is more tailored to individual patient profile, disease duration, co-morbidities and expectations. This represented a major watershed moment in the evolution of diabetes research and care.

With recent advances in genomic medicine and the genetics of type 2 diabetes, some of which have been reported in PLOS Medicine, the era of precision medicine in diabetes is very much here to stay. We, as diabetes researchers and clinicians caring for people with diabetes, look forward to further advances in our understanding of how best to treat individuals with diabetes based on their underlying genetics, pathophysiology, and needs, and to improving outcomes for people with diabetes.

Congratulations again PLOS Medicine and we look forward to the next 15 years of exciting advances!

Ronald Ma is Professor and Head of Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and co-lead of the Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Research Centre in Diabetes Genomics and Precision Medicine. He is a member of the Executive Board, Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD), and member of the editorial board of PLOS Medicine.

Acknowledgement: RCWM acknowledge support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Research Impact Fund (R4012-18).

Image Credit: stevepb, Pixabay (CC0)

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Charting the evolution of diabetes research and care | Speaking of Medicine - PLoS Blogs

BALTIMORE, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Deadly. Blinding. Costly. Epidemic. These are the words used to describe diabetes, a devastating condition affecting more than 30 million Americans (about 9.4% of the population). Of those, nearly 30 percent (or 10 million people), have diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding disease that costs Americans more than $500 million every year.

The new Versant Health white paper, The health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy, outlines the toll both physically and financially that diabetic retinopathy can take on a person. Not only can the disease have a debilitating impact on vision, but medical costs associated with diabetic retinopathy are higher than with other diabetes-related conditions, including neuropathy and chronic kidney disease.

"Early intervention is critical when it comes to the successful treatment of diabetic retinopathy," says Mark Ruchman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Versant Health and contributor to the white paper "In its early stages, when treatment has the greatest likelihood of success, patients are typically asymptomatic. Thus, a regular eye exam is a critical component of any health and wellness program to reduce blindness from this disease."

Versant Health supports the overall health of its diabetic members in several ways, striving to reduce the risk for and/or severity of diabetic eye disease, including Diabetic Outreach, medical management, and detailed provider portal questionnaires. To learn more, download the health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy white paperfrom the Versant Health website.

About Versant HealthVersant Health is one of the nation's leading managed vision care companies serving more than 33 million members nationwide. Through our Davis Vision plans and Superior Vision plans, we help members enjoy the wonders of sight through healthy eyes and vision. Providing vision and eye health solutions that range from routine vision benefits to medical management, Versant Health has a unique visibility and scale across the total eye health value chain.As a result, members enjoy a seamless experience with access to one of the broadest provider networks in the industry and an exclusive frame collection.Commercial groups, individuals, third parties, and health plans that serve government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and Medicare are among our valued customers.

For more information visitversanthealth.com.

SOURCE Versant Health

versanthealth.com

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Versant Health releases white paper: The health and financial costs of diabetic retinopathy - PRNewswire

Type 2 diabetes is a common condition in the UK and causes the body not to respond to insulin properly, so it doesn't produce enough. This causes a persons blood sugar levels to become too high. If blood sugar levels arent controlled and stay too high it can lead to a number of problems, including kidney failure, nerve damage, heart disease and stroke, so its important to make lifestyle changes to help keep blood sugar in check.

Regularly eating a poor diet can increase a persons risk of developing type 2 diabetes, so making changes to what you eat is advised.

Experts say theres nothing you cannot eat if you have type 2 diabetes, but certain foods should be limited.

The NHS says you should: Eat a wide range of foods - including fruit, vegetables and some starchy foods like pasta, keep sugar fat and salt to a minimum, and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day - do not skip meals.

But individual food and drink have also been proven to have blood sugar lowering qualities, and when it comes to the first meal of the day, breakfast, a certain fruit has been shown to have a positive effect on blood sugar levels.

READ MORE:Type 2 diabetes: Adding this superfood to your breakfast could lower your blood sugar

A 2003 animal study showed fig extract can contribute to diabetes treatment by normalising blood fatty acid and vitamin E levels.

But this isnt the only part of the fig plant proven to help blood sugar levels.

A 2016 study in rats showed ficusin, an extract from fig leaves, improves insulin sensitivity and has other antidiabetic properties.

Some people may be sceptical over eating fruit because of its sugar content, but the sugar in whole fruit does not count towards free sugars, so it is not this type of sugar we need to cut down on, explains Diabetes UK.

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The charity explains: This is different to the free sugar in drinks, chocolate, cakes and biscuits, as well as in fruit juices and honey.

Its the amount of carbohydrate you eat that has the biggest effect on blood sugar levels after eating, says the charity.

It continues: A portion of fruit, such as a medium apple, generally contains about 15 to 20g carbs.

It is better to reduce your intake of chocolate, sugary drinks, cakes and other snacks than whole fruit when trying to restrict your carb intake to help manage your blood glucose levels.

Figs could be enjoyed on top of a bowl of oatmeal, which has also been proven to have a positive impact on blood sugar levels.

Oatmeal contains a soluble fibre called beta-glucan that can help improve insulin response and possible reduce blood sugar too.

A review of research on the benefits of oatmeal for people with type 2 diabetes found oatmeal has a positive effect on a blood sugar control.

Alongside eating healthily, being active can help lower blood sugar levels.

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Type 2 diabetes: The 50p fruit you could eat for breakfast to lower blood sugar - Express

Animal sociability through microbes

Accumulating evidence suggests that the microbiota living in and on animals has important functions in the social architecture of those animals. Sherwin et al. review how the microbiota might facilitate neurodevelopment, help program social behaviors, and facilitate communication in various animal species, including humans. Understanding the complex relationship between microbiota and animal sociability may also identify avenues for treating social disorders in humans.

Science, this issue p. eaar2016

Increasingly, it is recognized that the microbes resident in the gastrointestinal tract can influence brain physiology and behavior. Research has shown that the gastrointestinal microbiota can signal to the brain via a diverse set of pathways, including immune activation, production of microbial metabolites and peptides, activation of the vagus nerve, and production of various neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the gut itself. Collectively, this bidirectional pathway is known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis. In the absence of a microbiota, germ-free and antibiotic-treated mice exhibit alterations to several central physiological processes such as neurotransmitter turnover, neuroinflammation, neurogenesis, and neuronal morphology. Perhaps as a result of these neurological alterations, the behavior of rodents lacking a microbiotaespecially social behavioris remarkably different from that of rodents colonized with bacteria. Conversely, supplementation of animals with certain beneficial live bacteria (e.g., Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus) can lead to notable improvements in social behavior both in early life and in adulthood. Collectively, these results suggest that microbial signals are important for healthy neurodevelopment and programming of social behaviors in the brain. Although research on the functional and ecological implications of the gut microbiota in natural populations is growing, from an evolutionary perspective it remains unclear why and when relationships between microbes and the social brain arose. We propose that a trans-species analysis may aid in our understanding of human sociability.

Sociability comprises a complex range of interactive behaviors that can be cooperative, neutral, or antagonistic. Across the animal kingdom, the level of sociability an animal displays is variable; some are highly social (e.g., primates, termites, and honey bees), living within cooperative communities, whereas others have a mostly solitary existence (e.g., bears). Consequently, although studies on germ-free and antibiotic-treated animals have yielded insights into how the microbiota may influence social behaviors, they are perhaps too reductionist to fully appreciate the complex relationship between symbiotic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and host sociability when considering a broader zoological perspective. Some social interactions have evolved to facilitate horizontal transmission of microbiota. Observations across both invertebrate and vertebrate species suggest that factors such as diet and immunity generate selection pressures that drive the relationship between microbiota and social behavior. Although microbiota may influence behaviors endogenously through regulation of the gut-brain axis, some animal species may have evolved to use symbiotic bacteria exogenously to mediate communication between members of the same species. Hyenas, for example, produce an odorous paste from their scent glands that contains fermentative bacteria that is suggested to facilitate social cohesion among conspecifics. This complex relationship between animals and microbiota raises the hypothesis that microbes may have influenced the evolution of the social brain and behavior as a means to propagate their own genetic material.

Understanding the factors that affect the development and programming of social behaviors across the animal kingdom is important not only in terms of rethinking the evolution of brain physiology and behavior, but also in terms of providing greater insight into disorders of the social brain in humans [including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), social phobia, and schizophrenia]. Evidence for a link between the microbiota and these conditions is growing, and preclinical and emerging clinical data raise the hypothesis that targeting the microbiota through dietary or live biotherapeutic interventions can improve the associated behavioral symptoms in such neurodevelopmental disorders. Larger clinical trials are required to confirm the efficacy of such interventions before they are recognized as a first-line treatment for neurodevelopmental disorders. Although such connections between gut bacteria and neurodevelopmental disorders are currently an intriguing area of research, any role for the microbiota in the evolution of social behaviors in animals does not supersede other contributing factors. Rather, it adds an additional perspective on how these complex behaviors arose.

The bidirectional pathway between the gut microbiota and the central nervous system, the microbiota-gut-brain axis, influences various complex aspects of social behavior across the animal kingdom. Some animals have evolved their own unique relationship with their gut microbiota that may assist them in interacting with conspecifics. The relationship between the gut microbiota and social behavior may help to explain social deficits observed in conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and could potentially lead to the development of new therapies for such conditions.

Sociability can facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes such as division of labor, cooperative care, and increased immunity, but sociability can also promote negative outcomes, including aggression and coercion. Accumulating evidence suggests that symbiotic microorganisms, specifically the microbiota that reside within the gastrointestinal system, may influence neurodevelopment and programming of social behaviors across diverse animal species. This relationship between host and microbes hints that host-microbiota interactions may have influenced the evolution of social behaviors. Indeed, the gastrointestinal microbiota is used by certain species as a means to facilitate communication among conspecifics. Further understanding of how microbiota influence the brain in nature may be helpful for elucidating the causal mechanisms underlying sociability and for generating new therapeutic strategies for social disorders in humans, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

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Microbiota and the social brain - Science Magazine

SALT LAKE CITY When she was 8 years old, Mary was writing about diets in her journal. She did Optifast like Oprah Winfrey. She was always eating too much or eating too little, always thinking about what she was eating and what the scale said.

Only as a mom in her 40s was she able to stop obsessing about her weight, after having surgery that removed 80% of her stomach.

Surgery, for me, has really been a blessing, physically and emotionally. I feel free from the physical and emotional burden that I felt when I weighed so much more, the Utah mom said.

Thats why Mary was willing to consider bariatric surgery for her children when they, too, became extremely overweight. Four of her seven children have had their digestive system reordered, severely restricting what and how much they eat and drink.

The surgery is controversial and only rarely performed on minors, but that could change now that the leading group of pediatricians has issued a policy statement urging more access to metabolic and bariatric surgery for adolescents.

In a report released Sunday, the American Academy of Pediatrics said age should not be a barrier to surgery for a child with extreme obesity and that insurance companies should cover the procedure.

Although behavioral and lifestyle interventions will be successful for certain individuals, the overall outcomes of behavioral and lifestyle interventions are discouraging when viewed as a solution for a larger number of patients with severe obesity. Youth with severe obesity require effective intervention to prevent a lifetime of illness and poor quality of life, the AAP statement said.

Mary, who did not want to be identified because of potential problems with health insurance coverage, said that parents of extremely overweight adolescents should consider weight loss surgery if the child wants it, even though the procedure is rarely covered by insurance and can cost upwards of $10,000. She wishes shed had the option when she was a child and believes it would have radically changed her life for the better.

Think about how many parents are willing to shell out big bucks for braces, and thats primarily a cosmetic thing, Mary said. This is someones health. This is their longevity.

Goodbye, soda pop

Weight loss surgery has lifelong implications, but so does obesity.

Obesity is associated with cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease, among others. It is also increasingly implicated in 12 types of cancer.

And the number of American children with severe obesity has nearly doubled since 1999. Nearly 10% of 12- to 15-year-olds have obesity, and 14% of 16- to 19-year-olds do.

Even in Utah, where childhood obesity rates are historically among the lowest in the nation, obesity is increasing, said Dr. Eric Volckmann, director of the University of Utah Health Care Bariatric Surgery Program in Salt Lake City.

While behavioral changes can provide moderate, short-term success for young children and those at lower weights, for children whose obesity is severe, metabolic changes make it more difficult to lose weight and to keep it off, the AAP said.

There are a variety of ways to alter the digestive system so that people dont overeat. The most common are the gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, adjustable gastric band and biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Most people will have to make changes beyond how much they eat, however. For example, carbonated beverages can cause discomfort after some types of surgery, which means soda pop is history. Alcohol potency goes up by 300% in people who have had a gastric bypass. And most people will have to take vitamins and supplements for the rest of their lives, lest they become severely malnourished.

Anyone considering weight loss surgery needs to understand that the surgeries are just a tool and they all require patients to make dietary changes and lifestyle modifications to be successful and to maintain weight loss. None of the operations are a quick fix, Volckmann said.

The surgery is controversial for adults and rare among children or teens. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery says that of 227,000 procedures performed by its member surgeons in 2017, only about 300 involved people under the age of 18.

Dr. Daniel Cottam of the Bariatric Medicine Institute in Salt Lake City said he operates on a dozen or fewer teens every year.

Bariatric surgery appears to be a valuable tool in treatment of obesity, Dr. Jacob M. Appel, an assistant professor and director of ethics education in psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, said in an email. But, he added, It is only one tool in that arsenal. which should also include efforts at the societal level to improve the food environment for children and to address the nutritional deserts in which many low-income children are forced to live.

Are parents to blame?

Had she not had the surgery herself, Mary said she probably would never have considered it as an option for her children, even when several of them became more than 100 pounds overweight.

I spent so many decades of my life dieting and trying to lose weight and feeling like a failure every time the weight came back on. It has been refreshing for me to be free of that constant pressure I put on myself, she said.

Mary said she knows that some people will judge her parenting and blame her for what she fed her children when they were young. But she notes that many nutrition scientists have come to realize that her generation, and her parents, were given bad information about what comprises a healthy diet. And Mary said that her family is prone to gaining weight on a high-carbohydrate diet, even if the carbohydrates are nutrient-rich.

If I could do it over, I wouldnt have followed the food pyramid, which has so much focus on bread and rice and cereal and grain, she said. We are very carb-sensitive; we dont process carbs like most people do.

While some people still believe obesity is caused by a sedentary lifestyle and poor food choices, that hasnt been the position of the American Medical Association since 2003, when the AMA declared obesity a disease.

Skinny people believe obesity is caused by life choices. Thats only partly true, Cottam said. Most people who become really obese, especially children, they have metabolisms that predispose them to this.

In its 2018 best-practice guidelines for pediatric surgery, the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery said that, like cancer, obesity is a multifactorial disease caused by a combination of genetics, environment and metabolic programming. The group said that surgery shouldnt be a treatment of last resort but should be readily offered to adolescents who are extremely obese.

In its new policy statement, the AAP said that its recommendations are for adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 whose body mass index is 35 or greater, or a BMI that is 120% or greater of the 95th percentile for their age and sex.

Appel, the author of a new book on medical ethics, Who Says Youre Dead?, said all elective surgery should be approached with care, especially when children and adolescents are involved.

At a minimum, minors should assent to the surgery and be given sufficient time to reflect upon the decision and its implications. At the same time, delay until the age of majority while appropriate for some conditions may not be suitable here, he said.

Extreme obesity has both physical and psychological implications for many youths that cannot be reversed by surgery as adults, so pushing off interventions until the age of majority is often not in the best interests of the child or teen.

Safer than gallbladder surgery

No matter how effective, surgery of any kind comes with risk.

Death resulting from weight loss surgery is extremely rare; one study published in 2011 found 18 deaths within 30 days of bariatric surgery among 6,118 patients, despite the fact that bariatric surgical patients are virtually by definition high risk surgical candidates.

A study of 60,000 patients from physicians affiliated with the ASMBS had even lower one-month mortality rates: one out of 1,000 patients, or 0.13%.

This rate is considerably less than most other operations, including gallbladder and hip replacement surgery, the society says on its website.

But there are other risks, among them, a greater chance of developing an alcohol abuse disorder because the body develops a greater sensitivity to alcohol and some procedures result in higher levels of blood alcohol compared to people who have not had the procedure. Girls who have metabolic and bariatric surgery have a higher risk for pregnancy than their peers and may be at risk for complications during pregnancy and premature birth.

Some people report depression or sadness after having the procedure, and two studies have shown a small but significant increase in suicide.

The writer Roxane Gay, who had a sleeve gastrectomy in 2018, wrote about the experience, saying she was depressed and miserable.

Gay said that it is maddening that she can only eat tiny portions of the food that used to bring her comfort. After a few bites of anything, the discomfort begins, and then that discomfort evolves into pain, she wrote.

Besides the physical changes that weight loss surgery brings, it also shuts off or restricts a major source of human pleasure. That is one reason that Paige Fieldsted, a mother of two in Taylorsville, Utah, said that she has not seriously considered weight loss surgery and wouldnt have wanted it as a teen, even though she has struggled with weight issues since she was a child.

Food is very much for me, and for most people, a connector. Holidays center around food, and I want to be able to enjoy it, said Fieldsted, the author of Confessions From Your Fat Friend.

I understand what its like to be the biggest one in the room, to feel like the only way that things are going to get better for you is to get skinny. But I can also tell you from experience that thats not true, she said.

Mary also agreed that its important that parents of children with obesity focus on the positive things about their children and not just their weight. I wish I had focused more on their worth and self-esteem, all the great things about them. You have to be sure that they know you love them for who they are, that your love is not dependent on their weight.

Concerns about how a person will adapt to life-altering surgery is one reason that the American Academy of Pediatrics and most surgeons require an extensive period of preparation, especially for young patients. A comprehensive evaluation by a behavioral health clinician is essential early in the process to document the childs psychological well-being and to to assure that the child has the necessary social and emotional support to follow through with required postoperative lifestyle modifications.

No regrets

Despite the risks she and her children assumed, Mary said her family has no regrets about having had the surgery, which Mary and her husband paid for out-of-pocket. While she has not kept the surgery a secret from close family members and friends, she does not want to be publicly identified because of the possibility that her health insurance companies might not pay for any future complications that they might say were connected to the surgery, which they do not cover.

The possibility of complications is one reason that Volckmann in Salt Lake City warns people not to seek bariatric surgery for themselves or their children out of the country.

One adult from Utah died earlier this year after undergoing bariatric surgery in Mexico, and eight others were sickened by bacteria. But back at home, even minor complications will likely not be covered by any insurer who did not cover the initial surgery, Volckmann said. I would not allow a relative to have any type of surgical procedure where complications from that procedure werent covered. The financial risks would be too high. I dont think people understand that when they go to Mexico, he said, adding that he knows people who have had to declare bankruptcy because of medical bills stemming from complications from surgery.

The growth of medical tourism underscores the need for insurance companies to provide coverage for weight loss surgery, as the AAP recommends, he said. While the University Hospital does not offer bariatric surgery for anyone under the age of 18, he believes that if done in a well-developed program and done properly, it is appropriate to offer.

Its probably not for all adolescents, but its appropriate for some.

Volckmann said that insurance companies have resisted paying for weight loss surgery in part because there is no immediate benefit to them; a child will likely be off her parents policy before there is any payoff in improved health and lowered costs. But for society as a whole, there is a great return in terms of medical problems that can develop over time, Volckmann said.

At the Bariatric Medicine Institute, Cottam, too, expressed frustration with the lack of coverage. Why would you cover someones heart attack and not cover something that would prevent someones heart attack?

Mary, meanwhile, is happy with her choice to have surgery and to allow her children to do so. She notes, however, that her children were teenagers at the time of their surgery, and they made the decision without pressure from her.

Thats important for any family, she said.

If your child doesnt feel good about it, dont do it. But if the child is really wanting it and is determined and responsible and can be compliant, then I think that it can be a great blessing, she said.

Mary said that sometimes she will hear people making jokes about overweight people, and she sees it as a teachable moment. She will get out her phone and show them pictures of herself 110 pounds heavier. Despite the fact that she cant eat much without getting uncomfortable, shes comfortable now in ways she never was before. Never an athlete, she now hikes, runs and rappels.

Its not for everyone. I know people whose weight doesnt bother them, she said. But if I could have had that surgery as a teenager, I would have jumped at the chance.

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The pros and cons of weight loss surgery for children - Deseret News

INTERVALE The Miranda Leavitt Diabetes Fund and the Conway Area Lions Club are hosting a Diabetes Awareness Event on Saturday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Miranda Diabetes Care Center, located at 3 N.H. Route 16 A in Intervale.

This free event will offer diabetes risk assessments, education on the link between diabetes and vision loss, blood glucose screening, blood pressure checks, plus information on diabetes prevention, nutrition advice and more.

Diabetes nurse practitioner Justine Fierman from the Miranda Diabetes Care Center and registered dietitian Brenda McKay from Memorial Hospital will be there to educate the community in the proper management of diabetes symptoms, and how many can decrease their risk in developing Type 2 Diabetes.

With November as National Diabetes Awareness Month, Conway Area Lions Club zone chair Linda Rafferty felt it was the right time to support an event around diabetes and vision loss.

The Conway Area Lions Club is a longtime supporter of the Miranda Leavitt Diabetes Fund and is known internationally for its work to improve health issues.

We are tackling tough problems like blindness and drug abuse as well as diabetes awareness and finding help and training for the deaf, disabled, underprivileged and the elderly. Whatever the community needs to make life better, were there to help, Rafferty said.

Rafferty said the event fits well into the Lions mission and supports a service project she personally is spearheading in her zone, which includes Lions Clubs in Laconia/Guilford, Moultonboro, Wolfeboro, Wakefield, Whittier, Meredith and Conway area.

I have chosen to spread diabetes awareness to all. This illness has affected some of my own family and friends and continues to strike many people. I was fortunate enough to meet with Brenda Leavitt and Justine Fierman from the Diabetes Care Center to work together on this project.

According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes causes eye problems and may lead to blindness. People with diabetes do have a higher risk of blindness than people without diabetes. However, with regular checkups, most people with diabetes can keep minor vision problems minor.

Diabetic retinopathy is a general term for all disorders of the retina caused by diabetes. Huge strides have been made in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. The sooner retinopathy is diagnosed, the more likely these treatments will be successful. The best results occur when sight is still normal. Several factors influence whether someone develops retinopathy:

Blood sugar control.

Blood pressure levels.

How long you have had diabetes.

People who keep their blood sugar levels closer to normal are less likely to have retinopathy or to have milder forms. This is why the November 16 event will be offering free blood glucose screenings and providing risk assessment information for developing diabetes.

But high blood glucose levels are just one of the risk factors of developing diabetes.

Factors such as age, weight, smoking, gender, family history, high blood pressure, activity level and ethnicity can all be indicators that diabetes could develop. Awareness and prevention efforts, such as weight loss, healthier diet choices, managing blood pressure and quitting smoking can all reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and symptoms including vision loss.

Brenda Leavitt, founder of the Miranda Leavitt Diabetes Fund stated, We are gearing up for National Diabetes Month and the Miranda Leavitt Diabetes Fund, along with Conway Area Lions, is sponsoring this diabetes awareness event together. This disease is growing in our state and community, so the Diabetes Fund is putting together a series of screening, and education classes to follow. We are so pleased for the support from the Conway Area Lions Club and thank them for working with us on this event.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of Americans with diabetes continues to rise, with over 12 percent of the adult population estimated to have the disease, and more than a third of those aged 20 and over in the U.S. now thought to have prediabetes.

The Miranda Leavitt Diabetes Fund was founded in 2009 with a mission to provide resources, education and awareness for people with diabetes in the Mt. Washington Valley community. Miranda Leavitt passed away from complications of Type 1 Diabetes in 2007, and her parents, Rich and Brenda Leavitt, have tirelessly sought to raise funds and provide outreach around diabetes care and prevention.

The event takes place in the new location of the Miranda Diabetes Care Center in Intervale, NH. It is located at the intersection of Routes 16 and 16A. It is the practice of certified diabetes educator and nurse practitioner Justine Fierman. Fierman specializes in intensive diabetes management, insulin pump therapy, diabetes technologies, diabetes in pregnancy and continuous glucose monitoring.

For information on the Miranda Fund, go to Facebook page MLDFund. For more information on the Conway Area Lions, go to conwayarealions.org.

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Diabetes fund teams with Lions for awareness event - Conway Daily Sun

According to the CDC in the recent season, about 30% of adults in the hospital for the flu had diabetes.

The fact is people with diabetes, even if well-managed are at a higher risk of serious influenza complications.

According to the Director of Education and Patient Care at UHC, Brenda Conch these complications can result in hospitalization and sometimes even death.

"If they have diabetes specifically when they get the flu their diabetes is now out of control because that's what happens when an individual is ill, their glucose goes up," said Conch.

The reason those with diabetes or other chronic illnesses can get sicker from the flu is because their body is already fighting an illness.

"Your body is attending to that illness, so it doesn't really pay attention to something else coming at it," said Conch.

Conch says the flu shot is our best defense against the flu.

"Obviously the other ones is good hand hygiene and make certain you, but the best is through the flu vaccine," said Conch.

If someone with diabetes wants to get the influenza vaccine, it is recommended they must get the actual shot. Not the intranasal form because that can give you a minor case of the flu.

Obviously there are some misconceptions about the flu shot and how it works.

"Back in the old days it was a live virus, so there are people that still recall they got a shot a long time ago and they did get the flu with it. When you lived that it's hard to convince someone that is not how it is anymore. It does work, and it does work against flu we're immunizing for," said Conch.

Conch says there is an exception to every rule, but pretty much everyone needs to get the flu shot. The exception being infants or if your doctor tells you otherwise.

In addition, after an individual receives the flu shot it takes 14 days to take full effect.

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Those with Diabetes are at greater risk for the flu and flu complications - WDTV

How the changes impacted her life and health

The pounds dropped off of Snita, losing three stone to weigh in now at eight stone. To top it off, Snita received her blood test results shortly before her 50th birthday which revealed she was no longer within the diabetic range.

Snita now considers herself a running addict and regularly runs 5ks, 10ks and half marathons. Later this year, she will take part in the iconic Simplyhealth Great South Run, part of a series of mass participation running events which has partnered with Diabetes UK, to encourage more people to become more active.

Snita is effusive in her praise for the impact running has had on her life and recently delivered a talk, with the help of Diabetes UK, on the life-changing effect it can have on other people living with diabetes.

The impact running has had on my life has been huge. If I hadnt joined my running club and got the support Ive had from my coach and the rest of the group I wouldnt have kept it up.

Running has really helped my diabetes by getting me fitter and forcing me to address my diet, which together have helped me diabetes enter into remission.

Snita has been running medication-free for 19 months now and as well as running the Simplyhealth Great South Run later this year, has also recently completed half marathons in London, Liverpool and Dublin.

She feels happier, fitter and healthier now than she has since her 20s and is determined to continue challenging herself. Its been a real journey which Im still on and I feel like a changed person.

I have so much energy and do so much more in a day than I ever did before. Its been truly life-changing.

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Type 2 diabetes: Women puts her diabetes into remission by doing this activity - Express

Named after pioneering poet and activist Audre Lorde, Spelman College plans to establish a chair in queer studies, the first for a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), The Root reports. The position was supported by a $2 million donation from philanthropist Jon Stryker. In a statement issued to Forbes, Stryker states his donation helps to further students' education on LGBTQ rights.

"The more that people understand queer history and LGBTQ issues, the more likely they are to accept and support the LGBTQ community," Stryker said. "By empowering and educating the next generation, we can help make a future where LGBTQ people have full and equal protections under the law."

Mary Schmidt Campbell, Spelman's president, discussed the significance behind this new department.

A chaired professorship in Queer Studies enables the College to build on one of its strengths and that is the Spelmans educational inclusiveness, spearheaded by the Womens Research and Resource Center under the stellar direction of Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall," Campbell said. "Spelmans Womens Center has been and continues to be a pioneering leader in advancing scholarship in the area of Queer Studies. Jon Strykers generous contribution to further his commitment to LGBTQ inclusion and education will allow Spelman students to deepen their understanding around the study of sexuality and gender. We are honored to name the chair after the literary luminary and fierce activist, Audre Lorde.

Spelman College announces a $2M match from philanthropist Jon Stryker to establish an Endowed Queer Studies Chair named after poet and activist Audre Lorde. The professorship is the first-ever chair of its kind at an HBCU. https://t.co/nb7FVHEOal pic.twitter.com/fBIEfPFBdm

Spelman College (@SpelmanCollege) October 29, 2019

The news arrives two years after Spelman announced the admission of transgender women students, beginning in 2018."In adopting this admissions policy, Spelman continues its fervent belief in the power of the Spelman Sisterhood," Campbell said in a letter. "Students who choose Spelman come to our campus prepared to participate in a women's college that is academically and intellectually rigorous, and affirms its core mission as the education and development of high-achieving black women."

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'Yo! MTV Raps' Doctor Dre Discusses Living With Type 2 Diabetes And Partial Vision Loss - Vibe

In a previous related study conducted with a team from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden researchers also found that dietary fibres from barley kernel generates an increase of the gut bacteria Prevotella copri, which have a direct regulatory effect on blood sugar levels and help decrease the proportion of a type of gut bacteria that is considered unhealthy.

According to Diabetes UK, certain breakfast cereals can pose hidden risks for people with type 2 diabetes, as they contain free sugars. Free sugar is any sugar added to a food. Extra sugar means extra calories and eating too many calories can lead to obesity - a major risk factor associated with type 2 diabetes.

Breakfast cereals rich in free sugars include granola and cereal clusters, which, despite appearing healthy, are often full of free sugars and unhealthy fat.

As Diabetes Uk explained: When buying cereal, the best thing to do is look at the 'front of pack' label, and try to go for cereal with as many green lights as possible. But also check the ingredients list, some newer versions of granola simple have nuts added in.

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Type 2 diabetes: Eating this cereal for breakfast could lower blood sugar - Express

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Diabetes Association (ADA) strongly supports the introduction of the Insulin Price Reduction Act in the United States House of Representatives. The ADA thanks Congressional Diabetes Caucus Co-Chairs Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Representative Tom Reed (R-NY) for their leadership in introducing the House version of this legislation, which will lower the cost of insulin for many Americans who rely on it to stay alive. The Insulin Price Reduction Act was first introduced in the United States Senate on July 22, 2019.

For more than 7.4 million Americans, including all individuals with type 1 diabetes, insulin is a life-sustaining medication for which there is no substitute. Ballooning costs have put lifesaving insulin out of reach for an increasing number of Americans. Between 2002 and 2013, the average price of insulin nearly tripled. A 2018 ADA survey showed that individuals with diabetes who face high out-of-pocket costs are forced to make decisions about their insulin regimen that can have damaging consequences on their health. Many individuals with diabetes ration or forego insulin doses to reduce costs.

"Insulin is a matter of life and death," said LaShawn McIver, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy. "For the many Americans who cannot afford their insulin, the consequences can be dire, including serious complications, such as cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney disease, amputation, and even death. The American Diabetes Association applauds Representatives DeGette and Reed for their leadership in addressing this urgent issue. We urge all members of the House of Representatives to support this critical legislation and advance it through the legislative process."

The Insulin Price Reduction Act seeks to address the skyrocketing cost of insulin by encouraging insulin manufacturers to reduce the list price of all insulin products to their 2006 list price. Importantly, these lower-priced products would not be subject to health plan deductibles and would not be placed on less favorable formulary tiers. Rolling back list prices for insulin products by over a decade will make insulin more accessible for many Americans, both insured and uninsured.

The ADA continues to work diligently on the critical issue of insulin affordability. In 2016, the ADA's Board of Directors released a resolution calling on all entities in the insulin supply chain to increase transparency in insulin pricing and to ensure that no one living with diabetes is denied affordable access to insulin. The resolution also called on Congress to hold hearings with all entities in the insulin supply chain to help identify the reasons for the dramatic increases in insulin prices and to take action to ensure that all people who use insulin have affordable access to the insulin they need. The ADA's Make Insulin Affordable petition has achieved more than 487,000 signatures to date. In 2017, the ADA's Board of Directors convened an Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group, and the Working Group's findings were detailed in a white paper published in 2018 in the journal Diabetes Care. The ADA subsequently issued a public policy statement providing detailed recommendations to lawmakers. The ADA has also testified at multiple congressional hearings in 2018 and 2019 focused on the high cost of insulin. Resources are available through the ADA's call center at 1-800-DIABETES, and at InsulinHelp.org.

About the American Diabetes AssociationEvery day more than 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes in America. Nearly 115 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are striving to manage their lives while living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For nearly 80 years the ADA has been driving discovery and research to treat, manage and prevent diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. We help people with diabetes thrive by fighting for their rights and developing programs, advocacy and education designed to improve their quality of life. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

Contact: Alex Day, 703-253-4843press@diabetes.org

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The American Diabetes Association Applauds the Insulin Price Reduction Act, Introduced Yesterday by the House Diabetes Caucus - The Breeze

(StatePoint) Two in five Medicare patients with diabetes (40.9 percent) reach the Part D coverage gap, and are responsible for the full cost of their prescription drugs.(1)To help ease this financial burden, Eli Lilly and Company offers several solutions, including insulins with a lower list price.

People with diabetes will need to make important decisions for healthcare coverage during the Medicare open enrollment period (October 15 to December 7, 2019). To help ensure treatments are affordable, its important to consider the following when choosing a Medicare coverage plan:

Make a list of important priorities including cost, coverage and network that your plan must have based on your individual health needs.

A checklist can help guide important conversations when choosing a plan. Lillys checklist can help identify different cost, coverage and network considerations specifically for people with diabetes.

When considering which plan to choose, Lillys Plan Guide can help identify which Medicare Part D plans cover the lower priced insulin in each state.

The transition to Medicare for people with diabetes can be difficult and there are many factors, such as cost, that go into making a coverage decision. Were working to ease the financial burden for the growing number of people with diabetes who are in the coverage gap phase of their plan, said Tony Ezell, vice president, U.S. Connected Care and Insulins, Lilly. The goal is that Lillys solutions will help people with diabetes access affordable insulin until long-term, systemic changes are made to the U.S. healthcare system.

Visit InsulinAffordability.com or call the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center to learn more about the solutions available that may help people with diabetes significantly decrease the amount they pay for Lilly insulin. Helpline representatives are available at (833) 808-1234 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

PP-SP-US-0110 10/2019 (c)Lilly USA, LLC 2019. All rights reserved.

(1) American Diabetes Association. The Impact of Medicare Part D on the proportion of Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Costs Among Older Adults With Diabetes. Available at: https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/40/4/502.long. Accessed October 1, 2019.

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Medicare and Diabetes: A Few Things to Know - Coronado Eagle and Journal