GI-Targeted Bitter Hop Extract Curbs Hunger, Food Cravings

 A gastrointestinal (GI)-targeted bitter hop extract reduced hunger and food cravings, as well as post-fast ad libitum energy intake, among women undergoing a 24-hour, water-only fast in a small, randomized crossover trial.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, crossover study with 30 normal-weight women ages 18-40 with BMIs of 18.5-25. The trial design was similar to that used previously to test the intervention among men.
• Participants engaged in a water-only fast for 24 hours (6 PM to 6 PM) on three occasions and were given an ad libitum meal to break each fast.
• Participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: placebo, a high-dose (500 mg) bitter hop–based appetite suppressant (Amarasate), or a low dose (250 mg) of the appetite suppressant.
• Treatment capsules of half the total dose were given twice daily (16 hours and 20 hours into the fast).
• Participants recorded their subjective feelings about appetite and food cravings using a visual analog scale at 30-minute intervals starting 16 hours into the fast.

TAKEAWAY:

• Both the high-dose and low-dose treatment groups experienced a significant reduction in appetite (ie, hunger, fullness, satisfaction, thoughts of food) and food cravings compared with the placebo group.
• Energy intake at the ad libitum meal was 14.3% lower in the high-dose group than the placebo group (P < .05). It was 8.1% lower in the low-dose group, but the difference was not statistically significant.
• In the high-dose group, two participants reported loose stools and one reported heartburn. In the low-dose group, one participant reported loose stools.

IN PRACTICE:

"These data suggest that appetite suppressant co-therapy may be useful in reducing hunger during fasting in women and show that gastrointestinal delivery of bitter compounds may also be an effective method of reducing cravings for food," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study, led by Edward Walker, PhD, of the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Auckland, New Zealand, was published online in Obesity Pillars.

LIMITATIONS:

The study has limitations that affect its application for weight management. First, the study included only normal-weight individuals, which limits extension of the results for weight loss treatments. Second, it involved acute fasting and does not assess any accommodation to the intervention that may occur over longer-term use. An additional limitation is the small number of participants.

DISCLOSURES:

The research was funded by Calocurb Limited. The article processing charge was funded by the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, a New Zealand government–owned Crown Research Institute. The authors declare no competing financial interests. The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited has licensed a hop extract as a dietary supplement to Calocurb to commercialize and currently holds a minor shareholding in this company.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/gi-targeted-bitter-hop-extract-curbs-hunger-food-cravings-2024a1000gli

Data-Center Power Needs Pushing Oracle To Consider Next-Gen Nuclear, Larry Ellison Says

 Oracle chairman Larry Ellison announced this week that AI's growing electricity demand is pushing Oracle to consider next-gen nuclear power.

During an earnings call, Ellison said the company is designing a data center that will need over a gigawatt of electricity, which would be supplied by three small nuclear reactors, according to CNBC. 

Ellison revealed that Oracle's planned data center would be powered by small modular nuclear reactors, which already have building permits. He didn't disclose the location but highlighted the growing energy demand that data centers would need on the earnings call.

The reactors in question, under 300 megawatts, promise faster deployment of carbon-free energy. Though promising, small modular reactors are not expected to be commercialized in the U.S. until the 2030s.

As we noted this summer, Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo is a Zero Hedge favorite and remains on pace to launch its first reactor by 2027. 

The company - which we have highlighted as the potential solution to the extreme forthcoming demands in energy as a result of artificial intelligence - makes nuclear power plants, ranging from 15 MWe to 50 MWe, utilizing liquid metal reactor technology.

And while licensing and fuel supply are still bottlenecks, according to the report, the company has "been selected by the Department of Energy for four cost-share awards to potentially commercialize advanced recycling technologies" and has "secured a site use permit from the DOE and a fuel award from INL," Reuters reports.

Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte commented: “We've tried to design and approach this whole thing in a way that we can get it built as soon as reasonably possible."

DeWitte added: “We're excited about the diversity of customers, because it shows that our size and business model clearly match with what customers are interested in."

“They're not starting overnight with a facility that's using that much power, but they typically build into that, and they want to have that n+1 or n+2 dynamic build up with them,” he added.

“You can't really do that if you're building a 300 MW reactor, but you can do that with what we're doing and that adds a lot of value."

Oklo's 'Aurora powerhouse' reactor will cost around $70 million for the 15 MW version, with an LCOE of $80-$130/MWh, similar to peaking gas-fired plants and offshore wind, per Lazard analysis.

Ellison is already a well known supporter of new energy in Tesla...could an Oklo and Oracle partnership be in the cards down the road?

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/data-center-power-needs-pushing-oracle-consider-next-gen-nuclear-power-larry-ellison-says

"We're Just Giving Them Away": EV Leases Have Plunged To As Low As $20 Per Month

 Thanks to tax incentive loopholes, the price of EV leases have plunged to as low as just $20 per month in some areas of the county. 

Leases have become the customer's method of choice for taking home EVs since sale prices have become too expensive, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Average monthly payments for new vehicles in the U.S. rose to $735 in the first quarter of 2024, while lease payments dropped to $595, according to Experian.

This has driven more EV buyers to opt for leases, which made up 32% of EV transactions in Q1, up from 11% a year ago, per Cox Automotive. EV leases are $88 cheaper per month on average compared to new electric vehicle loans.

Bloomberg writes that lease payments for electric vehicles have become more affordable due to cooling demand, automaker incentives, and changes in the $7,500 federal tax credit, which now often favors leasing over buying.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 limited tax breaks for EV purchases, so many models don’t qualify, but a loophole allows leased EVs to qualify as commercial vehicles.

This lets automakers apply the tax credit to lease deals, reducing monthly payments.

Manufacturers receive the tax credit on leased EVs but often pass it to consumers as a rebate or discount, the report says.

In some areas, it has led to stunning offers. In Colorado, some 2025 Nissan Leaf leases were offered for as low as $20 a month in July, thanks to EV tax credits and state incentives, the article notes.

At Koons Kia in Virginia, Finance Director Ramon Nawabi says few customers inquire about EVs, with high prices deterring them.

Some EV6 SUVs have been on the lot for over six months, leading Kia to offer discounted leases on top of the $7,500 tax credit. "In a sense, we're just giving them away," he told Bloomberg.

In the first quarter of 2024, BMW led EV leases with 89%, followed by Audi at 87%, according to Cox.

Tesla, the largest U.S. EV maker, leased only 24% of its cars. Tesla's leases are less appealing due to no lease-to-purchase options and because many models qualify for the $7,500 tax credit when bought.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/were-just-giving-them-away-ev-leases-have-plunged-low-20-month

Harris Debate Lie No US Troops In Combat Zones

 by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

During Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris falsely claimed that no US troops are currently deployed in combat zones as she traded barbs with former President Donald Trump about foreign policy issues. "As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century," Harris said.

US troops are deployed in Iraq and Syria under the anti-ISIS coalition and actively participate in combat operations. Less than two weeks ago, seven US troops were wounded in a raid against a suspected ISIS hideout in Iraq.

US troops have also been injured in recent weeks by drone and rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria, which significantly ramped up last year in response to US support for Israel’s onslaught in Gaza. Back in January, three US Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia were killed by a drone attack on Tower 22, a secretive US base in Jordan on the Syrian border.

AFP via Getty Images

Harris made the false claim while discussing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. She said that she agreed with President Biden’s decision to pull out but also criticized Trump for negotiating the deal that led to the withdrawal. "He bypassed the Afghan government. He negotiated directly with a terrorist organization called the Taliban," she said.

Trump defended the deal, calling it a "very good agreement" and criticized the way the Biden administration carried out the withdrawal. "These people did the worst withdrawal and in my opinion the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country," he said.

When the genocidal war in Gaza was brought up, Trump claimed Harris "hates" Israel and that the country wouldn’t exist if she were elected. "She hates Israel. If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now. And I’ve been pretty good at predictions. And I hope I’m wrong about that one. She hates Israel. At the same time in her own way she hates the Arab population because the whole place is going to get blown up, Arabs, Jewish people, Israel. Israel will be gone," Trump said.

Harris responded by declaring her strong support for Israel. "That’s absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people. He knows that. He’s trying to again divide and distract from the reality, which is it is very well known that Donald Trump is weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy," Harris said.

Harris also said in the debate that she would always "give Israel the ability to defend itself," meaning US weapons shipments will continue to flow if she becomes president.

Discussing the war in Ukraine, Trump said that he would try to end it before he is sworn in. "I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly — people being killed by the millions. It’s the millions. It’s so much worse than the numbers that you’re getting, which are fake numbers," he said.

Trump repeatedly blamed the invasion of Ukraine on Biden being "weak" on Russia and said both the invasion and the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel wouldn’t have happened if he were still president. Harris accused Trump of being fond of “dictators” and took a very pro-NATO line.

"Understand why the European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known, which is NATO. And what we have done to preserve the ability of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to fight for their Independence," Harris said.

Harris claimed that if Trump were still president, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be "sitting in Kyiv right now."

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/harris-claims-no-us-troops-combat-zones-during-trump-debate

Chronic Steroid Use Could Raise Diabetes Risk

 Taking steroids more than doubles a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study warns.

Patients taking steroid pills, injections or infusions are 2.6 times more likely to develop diabetes than those not on steroids, researchers reported Sunday in a presentation at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Madrid.

The results of this large-scale study confirm suspicions that the effects of steroids on blood sugar levels can boost diabetes risk, researchers said.

“Existing information on how much more common new diabetes is in patients treated with glucocorticoids is based on small studies including patients with one or a few conditions,” said lead researcher Dr. Rajna Golubic, a lecturer in diabetes and endocrinology with the University of Oxford. “We wanted to expand the data to get a more accurate idea of how likely it is that people could develop diabetes while being treated with these drugs.”

Steroids are used to treat a wide range of medical problems by helping quell inflammation. These include asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.

Unfortunately, the drugs also increase blood sugar levels by reducing insulin sensitivity and interfering with cells’ ability to absorb glucose, according to Diabetes UK.

To see whether this effect on blood sugar could cause diabetes, the research team analyzed data on more than 450,000 people treated between 2013 and 2023 by Oxford University Hospitals.

None of the people had diabetes at the start of the study, and none were taking steroids.

During the period of the study, nearly 4% of the patients began taking steroids while in the hospital, including prednisone, hydrocortisone and dexamethasone.

Of all the patients, about 2% of those taking steroids wound up with type 2 diabetes, compared with fewer than 1% of those who didn’t receive steroids, researchers found.

When age and sex were factored in, steroids increased people’s risk of diabetes by 2.6 times, researchers concluded.

“These latest results give clinical staff a better estimate of how likely new diabetes is to occur and could prompt doctors to plan clinical care more effectively to detect and manage new diabetes,” Golubic said.

People regularly taking steroids for asthma and arthritis should be monitored for diabetes, Golubic added.

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-09-10/chronic-steroid-use-could-raise-diabetes-risk

Govt. Study: Flu Shots Not Effective in Elderly–Potentially Deadly

 An important and definitive “mainstream” government study done nearly a decade ago got little attention because the science came down on the wrong side. It found that after decades and billions of dollars spent promoting flu shots for the elderly, the mass vaccination program did not result in saving lives. In fact, the death rate among the elderly increased substantially.

The authors of the study admitted a bias going into the study. Here was the history as described to me: Public health experts long assumed flu shots were effective in the elderly. But, paradoxically, all the studies done failed to demonstrate a benefit. Instead of considering that they, the experts, could be wrong–instead of believing the scientific data–the public health experts assumed the studies were wrong. After all, flu shots have to work, right?

So the NIH launched an effort to do “the” definitive study that would actually prove, for the first time, once and for all, that flu shots were beneficial to the elderly. The government would gather some of the brightest scientific minds for the research, and adjust for all kinds of factors that could be masking that presumed benefit.

But when they finished, no matter how they crunched the numbers, the data kept telling the same story: flu shots were of no benefit to the elderly. Quite the opposite. The death rate had increased markedly since widespread flu vaccination among older Americans. The scientists finally had to acknowledge that decades of public health thought had been mistaken.

Read the government study that found no flu shot benefit in elderly

In 2006, lead author Lone Simonsen spoke with me on the phone and agreed to do an on camera interview with me on her study results, which she felt were very important. However, her bosses at the National Institutes of Health blocked the interview. I ended up finding one of her co-authors who was independent from the government and was able to interview him. These study authors who were honest, at their own career peril, should be commended.

After the Simonsen study, many international studies also arrived at the same conclusion. You probably haven’t heard much about these “incendiary” findings. Too much money being made promoting flu shots?

Read Simonsen’s commentary on her study

Read current CDC flu information

Here’s my original video story on the topic. The video has been removed. If anybody has a copy, please write to me at info@sharylattkisson.com

Transcript below:

Flu shots and elderly, CBS News, Sharyl Attkisson
2006
Millions of seniors swear by their annual flu shots. After all, 90% of the people killed by the flu are 65 or older. But CBS News has learned that behind the scenes, public health officials have come to a new and disturbing conclusion: mass vaccinations of the elderly haven’t done the job. Dr. Walter Orenstein was among the first to notice the problem when he headed up the Centers for Disease Control’s national immunization program. He says it’s now become a consensus among public health experts.
Dr. Orenstein: “What is absolutely clear is that there is still a substantial burden of deaths and hospitalizations out there that has not been prevented through the present strategy.”
Here’s what scientists have found. Over 20 years, the percentage of seniors getting flu shots increased sharply from 15% to 65%. It stands to reason that flu deaths among the elderly should have taken a dramatic dip making an “X” graph like this (refers to graphic). Instead, flu deaths among the elderly continued to climb. It was hard to believe, so researchers at the National Institutes of Health set out to do a study adjusting for all kinds of factors that could be masking the true benefits of the shots. But no matter how they crunched the numbers, they got the same disappointing result: flu shots had not reduced deaths among the elderly. It’s not what health officials hoped to find. NIH wouldn’t let us interview the study’s lead author. So we went to Boston and found the only co-author of the study not employed by NIH: Dr. Tom Reichert.
Dr. Reichert: “We realized we had incendiary material.”
Dr. Reichert said they thought their study would prove vaccinations helped.
Dr. Reichert: “We were trying to do something mainstream. That’s for sure.”
Sharyl: “Were you surprised?”
Dr. Reichert: “Astonished.”
Sharyl: “Did you check the data a couple of times to make sure?”
Dr. Reichert: “Well, even more than that. We’ve looked at other countries now and the same is true.”
That international study, soon to be published, finds the same poor results in Australia, France, Canada and the UK. And other new research stokes the idea that decades of promoting flu shots in seniors, and the billions spent, haven’t had the desired result. The current head of national immunizations confirms CDC is now looking at new strategies, but stops short of calling the present strategy a failure.
Dr. Anne Schuchat: “There’s an active dialogue about how we can do better to prevent influenza and its complications in the elderly.”
So what’s an older person to do? The CDC says they should still get their flu shots. That it could make the flu less severe or prevent problems not reflected in the total numbers. But watch for CDC to likely shift in the near future more toward protecting the elderly in a roundabout way by pushing to vaccinate more children and others around the who could give them the flu. (Note: the government quickly followed this news with a recommendation to vaccinate children and infants for flu.)

Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Nonpartisan Investigative Journalist, New York Times Bestselling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure. I follow the facts, not the crowd

https://sharylattkisson.com/2023/07/govt-researchers-flu-shots-not-effective-in-elderly-after-all/

AbbVie sues rival BeiGene over alleged theft of cancer therapy secrets

 Pharmaceutical giant AbbVie (ABBV.N), opens new tab

 has sued cancer treatment maker BeiGene (6160.HK), opens new tab in Chicago federal court, accusing it of stealing trade secrets to develop a competing cancer-fighting therapy after hiring away a former longtime senior AbbVie scientist.

AbbVie's lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleged it had invested millions of dollars and “years of research” into developing a compound that might treat certain types of blood and bone marrow cancers that are associated with the growth of “B cells.”

The lawsuit focuses on the companies’ development of a cancer therapy drug called a “BTK degrader,” which targets and destroys a molecule present in B cell growth. Such cells produce antibodies that fight infection.

North Chicago-based AbbVie alleged that BeiGene, which has administrative offices in Basel, Beijing and Cambridge, Massachusetts, “enticed and encouraged” former AbbVie scientist Huaqing Liu to use his former employer’s trade secrets “to advance and accelerate” BeiGene’s BTK degrader program. Liu was named a defendant.

BeiGene in a statement on Monday denied AbbVie’s allegations and said the company will “vigorously defend our intellectual property rights against this lawsuit.”

AbbVie’s lawsuit was “introduced to hamper” the development of BeiGene’s competing BTK degrader, called BGB-16673, BeiGene’s statement said.

BeiGene said it filed patent applications for BGB-16673 before AbbVie made a patent filing for its BTK degrader. The company also said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year granted “fast track” designation to its drug, which is being used in a study to treat types of leukemia and lymphoma.

AbbVie and attorneys for the company at law firm Jones Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Liu started work at BeiGene in September 2019 after retiring from AbbVie, the lawsuit said. He had worked on AbbVie’s BTK degrader program for at least a year, according to the complaint.

“BeiGene encouraged and induced Liu to disclose AbbVie’s BTK degrader trade secret designs and information knowing he had an obligation to AbbVie to maintain their secrecy,” the lawsuit said.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/abbvie-sues-rival-beigene-over-alleged-theft-cancer-therapy-secrets-2024-09-09/