Introduction

The COVID-19 outbreak started in Thailand in midJanuary 2020. The pandemic has had a significant impact on all sectors of Thai society, including refugees and asylum-seekers. In the urban context, UNHCR has been working with a range of partners, including Asylum Access Thailand (AAT), the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees (COERR), HOST international, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Tzu Chi Foundation and UNICEF to ensure that the protection needs of urban refugees and asylum-seekers are met and thereby support the Royal Thai Government (RTG) in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having observed increased levels of vulnerability relating to restrictions on movement, loss of livelihood opportunities and access to healthcare, these organisations, led by UNHCR, carried out a multi-sectoral Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) to strengthen understanding of the situation of this oftentimes hidden population. This focused on a range of areas, including: COVID-19 knowledge, experience, behaviour and norms, health, education, employment and access to basic necessities. The findings, outlined below, provide a stronger evidence base from which to design protection and programme interventions.

Since May 2016, UNHCR, through its implementing partner, COERR, has been using multi-purpose cashbased interventions (CBI) to provide protection,assistance and services to the most vulnerable refugees in the urban context. The number of urban refugees approaching UNHCR and COERR for financial support has more than doubled since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is anticipated that the financial needs of the urban refugee population will grow as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt. To ensure that UNHCRs multipurpose CBI framework for urban refugees in Thailand is as effective as possible, a Post-distribution Monitoring (PDM) exercise was conducted simultaneously with the RNA. PDM is a mechanism to collect and understand refugees' feedback on the quality, sufficiency, utilization and effectiveness of the assistance - in this case cash assistance - provided to them by UNHCR. The findings of the PDM will support assessment of the impact of CBI for urban refugees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the appropriateness of funding levels, distribution modalities and the use of cash to support refugees.

The report provides an overview of findings from the RNA and PDM exercise and proposes a series of recommendations to strengthen efforts by UNHCR, other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the RTG to better support refugees and asylum-seekers during this unprecedented and particularly challenging time.

Read the original here:

COVID-19 Impact Assessment: Urban Refugees and Asylum-seekers in Thailand - Multi-sector Rapid Needs Assessment and Post-distribution Monitoring of...

Gojek is rebranding its Vietnam operations as it renews its SEA expansion. Source: Shutterstock

Last week, Indonesian unicorn Gojekfinally announced that its official Gojek mobile app is now accessible in Vietnam.

The announcement was expected, coming on the heels of Vietnamese affiliate GoViets recently revealed plans to merge its app and branding with its parent firm. The unification of services and brand identity resolves a period of upheaval at GoViet, which burst unto Vietnams ride-hailing scene in 2018 with plenty of promise.

GoViet was originally envisioned as a local, autonomous Vietnamese partner for Gojek, offering ride-hailing and logistics services at the outset, with food delivery and digital payments being added later on. The launch of GoViet two years ago complete with its own standalone branding and management team was the start of Gojeks ambitious, US$500 million international expansion plans, with Thailand set to be the second standalone market.

Gojek co-founder and CEO Nadiem MakarimtoldChannel NewsAsiaat the time that the firm would put a lot of trust in the autonomy of the local teams and have them make autonomous and critical strategic decisions about where to go.

Even then, some analysts expressed reservations over this autonomous partnership model for entering new territories, worrying that a lack of a cohesive regional strategy might see the Gojek brand itself become damaged or diluted.

GoViet, at the time, was one of a score of ride-hailing operators entering a competitive space that had just been vacated by Uber, and where regional heavyweight Grab was by the far the dominant operator with a 73% market share, in the fourth-largest ride-hailing market in Southeast Asia according to a report by Google, Singaporean state-owned holding company Temasek, and US management consultancy Bain.

After 2 years in the driving seat, GoViet is giving way to parent entity Gojek in Vietnam. Source: AFP

Despite scoring 100 million rides on its ride-hailing service in just over a year of operation (a 400% growth from its launch kickoff), GoViet failed to break Grabs dominance in Vietnam and subsequently went through two experienced CEOs last year as it attempted to achieve its expansion mission directives of maintaining growth, retaining riders, and satisfying customers enough to pry market share away from Grab.

Gojek, the most valuable startup from Indonesia, finally succumbed to absorbing its first autonomous unit and is replacing GoViets offerings with its on-demand, all-in-one app platform that has become synonymous with digital services in its native Indonesia. The Gojek app will provide customers in Vietnam with access to its GoBike motorbike ride-hailing service, GoSend logistics service, and GoFood food delivery options for the time being.

Thanks to GoViets two-year imprint in the Vietnamese scene, the Gojek app will come with out-of-the-box access to over 150,000 riders and at least 80,000 food merchants in the cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, ready to serve local clientele.

Joe Devanesan | 9 June, 2020

At the announcement, it was also revealed that the Gojek app will be made available in Thailand over the coming weeks. Like GoViet in Vietnam, Gojeks initial entry into the Thai market was as the standalone GET app, with its own founding team and supplying motorcycle-taxi and food delivery services in urban parts of Thailand.

After two years of operations, the service is ready to be rebranded as the Gojek app, as Indonesias most valuable startup readies to bring its super app offering iterative additions to new markets. Like Chinas WeChat app to which it is often compared, in Indonesia Gojek is a one-stop mobile platform offering in excess of 20 services (and counting), linking up over 170 million users, 500,000 merchant partners offering myriad products and services, plus over two million driver-partners providing rides and deliveries across its diverse ecosystem.

Unifying our apps and brands across Southeast Asia is by far the biggest project weve undertaken at Gojek, involving a huge on the ground effort as well as a technically challenging overhaul of our platforms, said Gojek co-founder Andre Soelistyo in his LinkedIn post commemorating the Vietnam launch.

Joe Devanesan | @thecrystalcrown

Joe's interest in tech began when, as a child, he first saw footage of the Apollo space missions. He still holds out hope to either see the first man on Mars, or Jetsons-style flying cars in his lifetime.

Go here to read the rest:

Gojek refocuses its regional ambitions in Vietnam is Thailand next? - Tech Wire Asia

5 whole-grain foods you must include in your diet to stay healthy, lose weight |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi: New Delhi: Anyone who undertook their fitness journey may have already brushed up the basics by now, and must know how important it is to eat right in order to lose weight and be healthy. Contrary to popular belief that exercise helps a person lose weight, anyone who has experienced it first hand can vouch for the fact that eating healthily is key to getting in shape and staying healthy.

One of the most popular foods that are talked about when a conversation about fitness or eating healthy happens are whole-grain foods. We often hear/read people, medical professionals, and health blogs talk about the importance of whole-grain foods in our diet.

Whole grains, as the name suggests, contain all parts of the grain the bran, endosperm, and the germ. Whole grains are very healthy, as they not only contain several nutrients, they are also rich in fibre, minerals, protein, and plant compounds.

Apart from helping in weight loss and reducing the risk of obesity, whole grains can help keep your heart healthy, reduce risk of stroke, lower risk of and help in diabetes management, reduce inflammation, and may also help keep chronic diseases such as cancer at bay.

While there are a variety of whole grains that you can choose from, some of the most popular, widely consumed, and beneficial ones are listed below.

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Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.

Read more here:
5 whole-grain foods you must include in your diet to stay healthy, lose weight - Times Now

Someone Like You singer Adele was well known for her signature look when she first shot to fame with her incredible voice, thanks to her voluminous hair and sixties-style eyeliner flicks. But the star has made headlines with her appearance in recent months for a very different reason. Adele showed off her seven stone weight loss on Instagram with a birthday snap - and fans dubbed her unrecognisable as they praised her new look.

The dramatic change has wowed the singers fans, after she posted the photo in May following a break from social media.

Adele had last shared a photo at Christmas in 2019, looking notably slimmer - but five months later she revealed the results of her weight loss journey in a little black dress.

The star reportedly used the Sirtfood Diet to help shed the pounds, a diet which focuses on sirtfoods which help to activate the so-called skinny gene.

The specific list of foods contains sirtuins, a group of proteins which have been shown to regulate metabolism.

However, the diet, which was created by two celebrity nutritionists in the UK, also involves a lot of calorie restriction as part of a rapid weight loss plan over the course of three weeks.

READ MORE:Experts behind Adeles diet say pizza and champagne is on the menu

But while Adeles successful weight loss has largely been put down to diet, it seems the star has also been getting fitter as part of her new health kick.

Its been revealed that she regularly goes to pilates classes - and shes not the only famous face to enjoy it.

The LA-based star has reportedly been attending her local class with Meghan Markle, who also loves the calming exercise.

The pair live just around the corner from each other now that Meghan and Prince Harry have set up home in their exclusive Beverly Hills neighborhood.

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A source close to the two famous friends said: "Meghan and Adele have been having Pilates lessons. They are loving it.

"The instructor has also been giving lessons to Harry. It's a great stress-buster," they told the Mirror.

Pilates is a low-impact exercise which helps to build strength and flexibility, and is particularly good for recovering after injury.

Though similar to yoga, it tends to be at a slightly faster pace and has fewer spiritual connotations.

However, its thought to be a very specific type of pilates that the celebrity friends do in order to stay toned.

Adele is said to be a fan of reformer pilates, just like the Duchess of Sussex.

The Hello singer apparently began the classes with The X Factor judge Ayda Field, who is married to Take That star Robbie Williams.

The stars trained with pilates teacher Camila Goodis at the couples swanky LA home.

The all-over body workout uses a machine which adds resistance to the usual pilates movements - making it far more intense.

Meghan Markle has previously revealed she is a fan of the Megaformer, which is an even more advanced reformer pilates machine.

The Megaformer was designed by trainer and CEO of Lagree Fitness, Sebastien Legree, and aims to add cardio to the resistance exercise for a low intensity workout that really makes you sweat.

Meghan has commented before that the class is hands down the best thing you could do for your body, saying that youll notice a difference after just two classes.

As well as pilates, Adele has been working with a personal trainer to get fit - but he said its not just about weight loss for the star.

Pete Geracimo took to Instagram to talk about his work with the singer.

"When Adele and I started our journey together, it was never about getting super skinny, he said.

"It was about getting her healthy. Especially post pregnancy and post surgery.

He noted that they were getting her ready for a gruelling tour schedule after her album 25 was released.

"She embraced better eating habits and committed to her fitness and 'is sweating'! I could not be prouder or happier for her!

Read the original post:
Adele weight loss: Singers royal-approved intense pilates workout that helped lose 7st - Express

If you have diabetes, your body isn't able to regulate blood sugar properly, either because the pancreas doesn't produce insulin (type 1 diabetes) or the body has become resistant to it (type 2 diabetes).

As a result, people with diabetes have to carefully manage their blood sugar levels through diet, exercise, and medications to make sure it stays in a healthy range.

But sometimes, blood sugar can become too high. In many of these cases, people with diabetes will be able to quickly lower blood sugar on their own, by taking more insulin. However, other times, they may need to visit the ER for immediate medical attention.

Here's how to tell if your blood sugar is too high and what you'll need to do in order to lower it quickly.

People with diabetes are considered to have high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, if blood glucose levels are higher than:

While there are other conditions that can cause hyperglycemia, it is most commonly linked to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. That's why it is important for people with diabetes to check their blood sugar using blood glucose meters with the goal of keeping levels from getting too low or too high.

In addition, there are other signs and symptoms of high blood sugar you might notice.

The most common symptoms of hyperglycemia are:

"If someone has hyperglycemia, it would mean they would be very thirsty, tired, they might be urinating more frequently and basically not feeling well," says Sam Zager, M.D. a family medicine physician in Maine.

Hyperglycemia is not automatically an emergent situation. Anyone with diabetes knows high blood sugar readings will happen, and it's okay, as long as it doesn't last too long or get too high.

If it does occur, here are a few ways to quickly lower blood sugar on your own:

Insulin can be used to treat acute cases of high blood sugar for people with diabetes.

People with type 1 diabetes (who always use insulin) and some people with type 2 diabetes (who sometimes use insulin) can give themselves an extra dose of insulin to quickly lower their blood sugar to safer levels. How much to take depends on the situation and what your doctor recommends.

When you have high blood sugar, you may experience frequent urination as your body tries to get rid of the extra glucose. Losing this fluid can cause dehydration and make hyperglycemia symptoms even worse.

It's important to drink water when you have hyperglycemia in order to stay hydrated and help your body regulate and lower blood sugar. But drinking lots of water won't necessarily lower blood sugar on its own. For more information, read about how much water you're supposed to drink a day.

Exercise isn't always the safest or most effective way to quickly lower blood sugar. It is important to note that exercise only works if there is insulin present, whether naturally or through injection, so that glucose can get into the cells to be metabolized.

If there is no insulin, your body will start burning fat for energy, and this could lead to a dangerous condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. People with type 1 diabetes should not exercise if they have hyperglycemia.

However, exercise can lower blood sugar for most people with diabetes it just shouldn't be used in emergency situations. In a 2013 study in the journal Diabetes Care, more than 5,000 people with diabetes recorded their blood glucose levels before and after exercising for as little as 10 minutes. Overall, more than 75% of people saw their level decrease an average of about 17%.

Overall, Zager says that exercise is important for managing diabetes, but warns that it isn't a great short-term fix. For more information on how to control blood sugars in the long-term, learn about the 6 best ways to lower blood sugar naturally.

For people with type 1 diabetes, untreated high blood sugar can lead to a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA.

When there is no insulin and glucose can't get into cells, your body starts breaking down fat into a fuel called ketones. If ketones build up in your blood, it becomes dangerously acidic. DKA can cause very serious health complications such as fluid building up in the brain, kidney failure, and cardiac arrest.

If your blood sugar is above 240 mg/dL, you should check your urine for ketones, a sign you may be at risk for DKA. You can do this with an at home test, but you also should contact your doctor. If there are ketones in your urine, you should go to the emergency room. Other symptoms of DKA include:

In rare occasions, DKA can occur in people with type 2 diabetes, but the more common complication for people with type 2 is called hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state, or HHS. HHS occurs when blood glucose levels are high for an extended period of time. The extra sugar is passed into the urine, causing the person to urinate frequently and become severely dehydrated, just like with DKA.

For people with type 2 diabetes, blood sugar above 600 mg/dL indicates HHS. Other symptoms include:

These symptoms generally come on slowly, but you should contact your doctor immediately. In the ER, doctors will likely use insulin to lower your blood sugar, as well as give you fluid and electrolytes, to keep your heart, kidneys, muscles, and nerve cells functioning properly.

For people with diabetes, a single instance of high blood sugar is generally not an emergency, as long as it is addressed. Usually, taking an extra dose of insulin will quickly lower your blood sugar back to normal levels. However, if you are on insulin and run out, or have symptoms of DKA or HHS, you should get medical attention right away.

See original here:
How to lower your blood sugar quickly and what to do if it's an emergency - Insider - INSIDER

Born on December 14, 1984, Ramanaidu "Rana" Daggubatiis known to be an actor who is also a producer, a television personality, a visual effects coordinator, and an entrepreneur.

Arguably, his most famous films to leave an impact on the Indian audience was the Baahubali seriesfor which he went through an incredible body transformation and heres how he did it.

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In multiple interviews, Rana has expressed his love for non-vegetarian cuisines and said that he loves to indulge in some spicy Chettinad chicken delicacies and constantly eats rice-based dishes such as idlis and dosas.

According to the actor, during his transformation for the project he did not make any massive changes in his diet and ate everything that he used to eat on any other day. He confessedthat he had to eat five-eight meals a day.

What he did mention specifically is that he doesnt have a sweet tooth and that he keeps himself away from anything sweet.

However, Ranas trainer Kunal Gir is a sucker for a well-balanced diet who leans towards a diet full of vegetables and milk proteins as mentioned in his interview with The Indian Express.

According to workoutinfoguru.comRanas diet therefore consists of a blend of all the important macro nutrients in nearly perfect proportions.

Breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal with nuts, five slices of brown bread, eight egg whites and vegetables. Fruits like watermelon or papaya are also included.

Snack 1: At 11 AM, Rana had one scoop of protein powder mixed in water with and some fresh fruits

Lunch: Fish/Chicken for protein along with greens.

Snack 2: Four slices of brown bread and four bananas before starting the evening weight training.

Dinner: Around 9 PM, Rana used to consume a high-protein dinner in order to repair the muscle tissues after punishing them with weight training overnight. He also adds a salad to this meal..

Overall, Rana is a very active person and likes to be on his feet rather than sitting in one spot for hours. According to GQ Indiahe starts his day with an hour of cardio every morning followed by two-hours in the gym, typically weight training in the evening after he's done shooting his films.

Since Rana was also a boxer during his high-school years, he likes to mix it up from time to time.

While preparing for the second movie of the Baahubali series, his trainer Kunal Gir worked on his physique while paying special focus to his chest and biceps. According to yet another GQ India interview, Kunal would divide Rana's weight training sessions into 9-10 sets for each muscle group, divided into three different exercises. The actor would exercise five days a week and gave his body a two-day rest before getting back to the hustle once again.

Photo: Arka Mediaworks (Main Image)

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Heres How A Skinny Rana Daggubati Transformed Himself Into The Baahubali Beast - MensXP.com

Few, if any people will have complete physical, mental and social wellbeing all the time. Trevor Smith, senior member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, will join us every week to talk about health and wellbeing

For the last few weeks, we have been discussing ways in which we can help our bodies to be healthy and boost our immune system. Last week we specifically looked at the new Better Health campaign from the government, which aims to support as many people as possible to lose weight and develop a healthier lifestyle.

Consequently, I thought this week it would be prudent to discuss some of the basics surrounding nutrition, as it is not just being physically active that contributes to a healthier body and mind.

Your body needs lots of different nutrients, from a variety of sources, and in unique amounts. When you hear the word diet, do you immediately think of being hungry and depriving yourself of your favourite foods? I believed this for a long time too. For years there was always the latest fad diet going around at work. Usually the fad diets ask you to cut out a major food group such as carbohydrates or proteins. These can be ill-advised, and care must be taken. There may well be an initial weight loss, however, this is rarely sustained and as soon as the missing food group is returned to the normal daily food intake, the weight that was initially lost does normally return.

Trevor Smith, Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity

I do not think it will come as a shock to anyone when I say that unfortunately, there are no quick fixes for natural weight loss. A healthy, balanced diet with regular exercise is still the best way to maintain a healthy weight or to facilitate natural weight loss of approximately 2 lbs per week.

When I decide to improve my food choices, and I usually end up doing this in January after the Christmas break, what I find works for me is I also use smaller plates. When dishing up your meals you will usually and unconsciously make the portion size appropriate to the plate you are using. Therefore, if you are using a smaller plate and make your portion size appropriate to that plate then you are already consuming less food.

Our body does some of the most wonderous things without us even knowing it. Our food and drink choices can help the body to continue to function effectively or they can hinder it. To give an example, did you know that some types of cancer can occur due to a lack of fibre in the diet? Heart attacks can occur when someone is carrying too much weight, especially around the waist. Arthritis and joint problems can become worse if you are carrying excess weight and high blood pressure (which can lead to a stroke) can occur if there is too much salt in the diet. This is not intended as a scare tactic rather this is information that we should all be aware of. So how can we act to guard against these illnesses? It is all down to the food choices we make.

There are five main food groups but let us just look at the two biggest ones today.

Fruits and vegetables (where you get most of the essential vitamins and minerals). We should aim to eat at least five portions of these every day. It is easier than you think:

Simply add some fruit to your breakfast cereal (I have started doing this and found I stay full for much longer).

Snack on fruit or vegetables (such as carrots or cucumber for example).

Have a side salad with a main meal or on the side of a sandwich.

Add vegetables into a sauce for example bolognaise.

Starchy Carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals, oats). These should account for about half of your daily diet. Choose wholegrain or high fibre options with less added fat, salt and sugar. Sugars are classed as carbohydrates. Be careful, sucrose (the sugar you might put into your cup of tea) is very easily converted to body fat. It gives your body a quick energy burst followed by a rapid drop in blood sugar levels. This leaves you feeling tired, listless, and hungry. On the other hand, the complex carbohydrates release the energy into your blood stream at a much slower rate meaning you feel fuller for longer and your blood sugar levels remain stable.

This Weeks Challenge:

Considering this weeks information, I would like you to keep a food diary for one week. This will give you an overview to see how much of each food group you are eating. What changes do you need to make, if any, to ensure that your diet is well balanced? Only you choose what you eat, so make every mouthful count.

Share your healthy meals and recipes on Twitter with us @TheNorthernEcho and @TSmith_PE

Trevor Smiths works at Premier Education. He is a senior member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity

Read more:
Being healthier is not all about the exercise food counts too - The Northern Echo

For a short while, the novel virus identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, was referred to in the media as SARS-CoV-2, due to its supposed similarity to the SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome) coronavirus identified in 2003. Between late 2002 and summer of 2003, SARS had generated about 8,000 confirmed cases and almost 800 deaths were credited to the outbreak, indicating a death rate (per confirmed case) of about 10 percent.

After about the middle of April, 2020, the global media apparently stopped making comparisons between SARS and COVID, even though they had similar symptoms and were both caused by a contagious coronavirus transmitted via respiration. I went searching online, yesterday, for comparisons between the SARS virus and the COVID virus, but could not find any relevant articles dated later than about the middle of April. Four months later, in mid-August, public health officials presumably know more about COVID and they ought to be able to make a better comparison. But there seems to be little interest in SARS comparisons at this point.

From what I can tell, COVID is much more contagious than SARS, but also much less deadly.

And speaking of much less deadly, a Daily Post reader sent me a link to an interesting article this week: How Bad is COVID Really? (A Swedish doctors perspective) by Sebastian Rushworth, MD. According to Dr. Rushworths short bio:

I am a practicing physician in Stockholm, Sweden. Every day I get asked questions by my patients about health, diet, exercise, supplements, and medications. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet and it is easy to get the wrong advice, and hard to tell what is right and what is wrong if you dont have advanced scientific training. The purpose of this blog is to share what the science actually says.

One might have the impression, from this bio, that Dr. Rushworth is interested in sharing scientifically-valid information, with ordinary people (like you and me) who have been getting misinformation via the Internet, and who have possibly come to non-scientific conclusions. Those of us without advanced scientific training.

Doctor Rushworths story begins like this:

Ok, I want to preface this article by stating that it is entirely anecdotal and based on my experience working as a doctor in the emergency room of one of the big hospitals in Stockholm, Sweden, and of living as a citizen in Sweden. As many people know, Sweden is perhaps the country that has taken the most relaxed attitude of any towards the covid pandemic. Unlike other countries, Sweden never went in to complete lockdown. Non-essential businesses have remained open, people have continued to go to cafs and restaurants, children have remained in school, and very few people have bothered with face masks in public

And it concludes like this:

If only 6000 are dead out of five million infected, that works out to a case fatality rate of 0.12 percent, roughly the same as regular old influenza, which no one is the least bit frightened of, and which we dont shut down our societies for.

In the space between those comments, the good doctors essay proposes that Sweden which chose not to lock down completely during the pandemic simply allowed the people to die, people who (he surmises) would eventually die from COVID anyway even if the economy had been locked down and then reopened later. As a result, Sweden is now basically done with COVID, and on to better things, the doctor suggests.

He predicts that the countries that locked down will eventually see the same death rate as Sweden when they eventually reopen fully but will simply take longer to get there.

Dr. Rushworth is obviously a cool guy, to judge by his winning smile and his tattoo.

If you do a Google search for Sebastian Rushworth, you will find literally pages and pages of results that link to, or quote, his above mentioned article. Among the people and media outlets who believe the US made a huge mistake in shutting down our economy, Sebastian Rushworth MD has become an international hero. But do we know anything about Dr. Rushworth? And is his oft-quoted article built upon what the science actually says?

None of the articles I could find on Google told me much about Dr. Rushworths background. None of them, for example, linked to the good doctors LinkedIn page, where we can learn that he currently works in a rather large hospital north of Stockholm (Danderyds Sjukhus AB), and that he graduated from Karolinska Institute in January 2020, and that hes an Underlkare which translates (via Google) as assistant physician. (A fully accredited doctor in Sweden is often designated as a Lkare.)

In order to find Dr. Rushworths LinkedIn page, I had to do a search for sebastian rushworth underlkare sverige Sverige being the Swedish name for Sweden. (The bio on his own website tells us almost nothing about his background.) But we do know that hes reasonably honest about what the science actually says because he began his essay with this comment:

Ok, I want to preface this article by stating that it is entirely anecdotal

The article is written in English, so we need not translate that sentence. It says, quite clearly, that the essay is entirely anecdotal. That means it is entirely non-scientific. Although Dr. Rushworth would like to share with his readers, and the world, what the science actually says he has given us an essay that is entirely anecdotal. It would appear that thousands, maybe millions, of people around the globe have now read his non-scientific story, and are sharing it.

How many of those readers paid attention to the very first sentence?

I dont work in one of the larger hospitals in the Stockholm area, and I dont have a license from a medical school. But I can write anecdotal essays with the best of them, because anecdotes have nothing to do with science. They have to do with personal experiences in a small town in Colorado, or in an emergency room in Stockholm.

Read Part Two, on Monday

Bill Hudson

Bill Hudson founded the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 based on the belief that community leaders often tell only one side of the story while the public deserves to hear all sides.

Here is the original post:
EDITORIAL: COVID and the Power of Anecdotal Stories, Part One - Pagosa Daily Post

Welcome to your skin check-in with Life & Styles resident health and beauty expert, Dr. Will Kirby, a celebrity dermatologist and Chief Medical Officer of LaserAway. Every week, hell be spilling his candid thoughts and professional advice on all things skin, beauty and wellness as it relates to you and your favorite stars.

Skin chafing refers to superficial irritation of the skin often caused by physical forces. Skin-to-skin contact or clothing-to-skin contact coupled with repeat episodes of incidental friction is the most common cause of skin chafing. Chafing most typically occurs on the thighs, the groin, the armpits and even the nipples. This week I reached out to the nations leading skin experts to discuss ways to prevent and treat skin chafing! Check out these tips:

1. Dress Right Wearing the right clothing can make a huge difference in the prevention of skin chafing, says dermatologist Dr. Deanne Mraz Robinson. Wearing breathable cotton undergarments during the day and donning looser, moisture-wicking, seamless clothing while exercising will help tremendously. Also consider sleeping in a cool room, with lightweight cotton sheets, and completely naked your chafed, irritated skin will thank you!

2. Stay Dry Chafing can be worse in hot, humid environments and although it can be very difficult to accomplish in hot weather and especially while exercising, staying dry is a great way to prevent certain types of chafing, finds plastic surgeon Dr. Gaurav Bharti. So consider using an antiperspirant before exercising or working outdoors during the summer and always immediately dry the area with a clean towel after sweating!

3. Get In Shape While fit athletes can suffer from chafing, individuals experiencing obesity have a much higher incidence of irritating skin to skin contact, acknowledges dermatologist Dr. Tejas Desai. As such, losing weight via diet, exercise, and lifestyle modification or even surgery to minimize the surface area where chafing occurs should be a discussion point in heavy patients with a history of chafing.

4. Lubricate You can pre-treat to prevent chafing with a high quality moisturizer like Skin Medicas Rejuvenative Moisturizer before chafing even starts, says dermatologist Dr. Merrick Elias. But if chafing has already set in then consider applying a thick coat of Aquaphor three times a day. This will heal the irritated skin and minimal future friction.

5. Seek Professional Care While chafing is typically minimal and easy to treat, on rare occasions it may be severe and a frictional or mechanical burn may develop, notes dermatologist Dr. Alpesh Desai. If you have suffered from repeated episodes of chafing or have active chafing and notice prolonged pain, significant redness, crusting, bleeding or a discharge, you may need professional care so seek medical attention from a skin expert as an infection may be occurring.

So there you have it! The skin experts have spoken! Prevent and treat skin chafing by avoiding moisture and friction and if you develop chafing, follow these expert tips to heal it quickly!

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With the explosion of lockdown-friendly home exercise programmes and advice, it may seem as if its never been easier to workout at home. But the reality is, its probably never been harder. For every person posting a sweaty crushed it selfie on Instagram, theres another one (or four) just trying to endure pandemic-induced stress. Add in constant access to the refrigerator and a pantry overstocked with panic buys, and the guilt about what weve eaten or the exercise we havent done piles on faster than you can say Quarantine 15.

So youve gained weight, says Elyse Resch, a nutrition therapist. So what? Youre alive. Were doing the best we can with the resources we have. (Not to mention many others straining under severe challenges, like significant health concerns and financial worries.)

You, too, can shrug off minor or moderate weight gain or the loss of your pre-pandemic fitness level. Read on.

Above all, have compassion. I dont think most people change their minds by being yelled at or punched in the face, but thats how we talk to ourselves, says Phoenix Jackson, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma. When Jackson is having trouble speaking to herself as kindly as she might a beloved friend, she likes to find a photo of herself as a child and think of how gently shed like that person to be spoken to.

Next, recognize that weight and ambitious exercise regimens may offer the illusion of control in a world that seems out of control, but the anxiety they produce is not helpful. This is part of a larger problem: most of us feel pressure to achieve or maintain a certain body size because weve been taught that its important. Excess weight has been linked to considerable health risks, though it does not, by definition, mean a person is unhealthy. Unfortunately, fatphobia promotes just the opposite: fat people are denied health care, earn less money at work and have a harder time finding work in the first place, research has shown.

Break the cycle by asking yourself where you learned that weight gain was something to be ashamed of, Paula Freedman, a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating disorders, writes in an email. Ask, does this belief help me be the type of person I want to be? (Freedman added that you may have to break this down further: What type of person do I want to be? How do I want to treat myself and other people?)

Christy Harrison, a nutrition therapist who examined the issue of excess weight and the virus in an article in US Wired, published in April, said in an interview last month that few of the early research studies on the matter controlled for race, socioeconomic status or quality of care social determinants of health that we know explain the lions share of health disparities between groups of people, she wrote. Nor did they control for how doctors biases influence the way they care for higher-weight patients. But strong evidence exists that obesity (defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher) puts you at greater risk of dying from Covid-19.

At the end of the day, regardless of what the science does or doesnt say about Covid and weight, we still dont have any way for people to lose weight and keep it off, Harrison said.

She suggested asking yourself: What am I getting out of worrying about food and my body right now, and what am I losing? What could I be doing with that time and energy? One survey suggested women fretted for 21 minutes a day and men for 18 minutes a day. (And to some people, that number may sound awfully low.) Still, thats a lot of time that could be devoted to anything from guilty pleasures to relationships or to life- and world-changing causes.

Fearing weight gain and feeling bad about your body takes you away from what really matters and being able to participate in this cultural moment, Harrison said.

One tenet of diet culture or wellness culture, which is really just the rebranding of diet culture is that eating for any other reason besides screaming biological hunger is a bad thing. This belief came from the rise of diet clubs in the 1960s, where women went to talk out their feelings so they could avoid emotional eating.

You have to be starving to deserve to eat in this culture, Harrison said. But we are designed to get pleasure out of food and connect over food.

Lets say food really is giving you comfort. Go with it, love it, be grateful for it, Resch says. With one caveat: youll need to stay present to get the actual comfort and satisfaction. If youre too busy judging yourself when you eat, youre not savouring the texture and flavour.

So youre not working out enough, or as hard as you did pre-lockdown, and you think this is a problem. This may be because, for you, exercise is about controlling your body or compensating for what youve been eating yet another belief to be discarded.

Exercise is its own pleasurable thing you can do for joy and for mental health benefits, Harrison says. Its hard to tune into that when you have all these voices in your head saying, But if I cant get my heart rate to this Im not going to get the benefits.

Resch prefers the word movement to exercise.

Exercise connotes something you have to do, she says. You want to take out the sense of doing it for a purpose like weight loss or keeping muscle on. Instead, ask yourself what makes you feel good in your body. It could just be standing up and stretching.

Channel your energy into something more productive than obsessing about weight and exercise like working to change diet culture, such as calling out thin-promoting or fat-shaming comments on your social networks. Suman Ambwani, an associate professor of psychology at Dickinson College, says people are sometimes reluctant to challenge these sorts of statements. But we found in one study a couple of years ago that someone who called attention to this issue and rejected appearance-related self-worth and the thin ideal was actually seen as more likable than someone who just colluded with body-shaming, she says.

Ambwani suggests following the health-at-every-size movement a nearly 20-year-old movement that promotes weight inclusivity and social justice to educate yourself, and then looking for ways to get involved.

Finally, look at feeling bad as the canary in the coal mine the indicator that something might be ready to change, says Elizabeth Hall, an intuitive eating coach in Connecticut, USA. Although people often respond by vowing to buckle down or work harder, she says, the way to end the guilt and shame is actually just to notice those feelings, and to ask yourself if they are serving you or causing suffering.

Feeling bad is actually an invitation to expand and shift our consciousness and let go of expectations and old programming, she says. New York Times

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