Glow and Grow Society

Metabolism doesn’t change with age — at least not how you think it does
Stop blaming it all on your metabolism.
Using data from 6,500 people ranging from 8 days to 95 years old, researchers from Duke University discovered that there are four very distinct periods of life – as far as metabolism goes. The study also found out that there are no real differences between the metabolism of men and women after controlling for other factors.

“There are lots of physiological changes that come with growing up and getting older,” study co-author Herman Pontzer, associate at Duke University, said in a press statement. “Think puberty, menopause, other phases of life. What’s weird is that the timing of our ‘metabolic life stages’ doesn’t seem to match those typical milestones.”

A new approach to metabolism
Pontzer and a team of scientists analyzed the average calories burned by a group of people as they went about their lives in 29 countries. Previous studies measured how much energy the body uses to perform basic vital functions, such as breathing or digesting. But that only represents 50% to 70% of the calories we burn each day.
To measure the total daily energy expenditure, the researchers used a urine test known as “doubly labeled water”. It involves having drink water in which the hydrogen and oxygen in the water molecules have been replaced with naturally occurring heavy forms – and then measuring how quickly they are flushed out.

The technique is considered the most accurate way to measure daily energy expenditure during normal daily life outside of the lab, and its not novel — it has been used since the 1980s but studies have been limited in size and scope due to its cost. That’s why for this new study multiple labs decided to share their data and gather their measurements into a single database.

With Delta surging, it’s time to talk about upgrading masks
Cloth masks just don't cut it anymore
As the highly contagious Delta variant is sweeping through the United States and other countries across the globe, retailers are reporting new mask shortages, bringing back memories from the pandemic’s debut.

Five states broke records for the average number of daily new COVID cases over the weekend, according to CNBC, despite the fact that this time a significant portion of the population is vaccinated. That’s because Delta is far more contagious than the original strain. For instance, these Chinese researchers previously found that people infected with Delta had about 1,000 times the viral load in their respiratory tract compared to those infected with the original strain.

Louisiana had 126 cases per 100,000 residents as of Sunday, which is more than three times the national average, while Mississippi and Florida averaged 110 and 101 cases per 100,000 residents, respectively.
As a result of these surges in cases, many cities, businesses, and even entire states have reintroduced mask mandates, which has driven up the sale of cloth and surgical masks. Mask sales in the last week of July were up 51% over the week prior, according to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, which tracks more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites.

However, this is as good a time as any to have a conversation about mask quality. You see, at the beginning of the pandemic, public health experts were very wary about what guidelines to issue concerning face covering. That’s because they were concerned that people would start hoarding vital medical supplies, leading to dangerous shortages for medical workers.
Although manufacturers and retailers are now reporting trouble keeping up with this recent heightened demand, the supply chain for personal protection equipment is much more robust than in early 2020. Back then, people were advised to use whatever they could find, even if that meant making a cloth mask with their own hands at home. Some facial covering is better than nothing at all, the thinking went.

But we’re past that now. Experts advise that people buy quality masks with a very tight fit that offer much more reliable protection from infection, especially for those who are unvaccinated or part of vulnerable populations.

“A cloth mask surely can give you some protection. But it’s not the kind of protection that you’ll get when you use a much more effective mask. We have not talked about that nearly enough,” Michael Osterholm, leading epidemiologist and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told NBC’s Meet the Press.

According to Axios, N95 and KN95 are the most effective face coverings, followed by surgical masks, and then by cloth masks with a double layer. N95s are not suitable for children for all-day wear, who should wear a mask that has at least two layers.

Moderna is better than Pfizer against the Delta variant
Fully vaccinated people can still get infected with SARS-CoV-2, but their risk of hospitalization and death is very low.
The Delta variant which is currently dominating COVID-19 cases in the United States and elsewhere in the world is much more contagious than earlier strains. What’s more, data from the CDC released last month suggests that vaccinated people can also transmit Delta, which wasn’t thought to be the case with other variants. Two new studies released this month confirm that the mRNA vaccines are less effective than during the original clinical trials before Delta. However, Moderna’s vaccine seems to offer significantly higher protection than the one designed by Pfizer/BioNTech.

Delta variant is putting a dent in vaccine efficacy, but Moderna seems to do better
All viruses evolve, undergoing mutations that can significantly change the way they spread and replicate. It’s a game of chance, and after hundreds of millions of dice rolls, new variants that are more dangerous than the original coronavirus strains were bound to surface.

Scientists have identified more than 20 mutations in the Delta variant, but two may be crucial in helping it transmit more effectively than earlier strains. The first is the L452R mutation, which increases the spike protein’s ability to bind to human cells, thereby increasing its infectiousness. This mutation may also aid the virus in evading the neutralizing antibodies produced by both vaccines and previous infection. The second is a novel T478K mutation on the virus’ spike protein that clings onto the ACE receptor in human cells, facilitating viral entry into the lungs.