Commentary: raised c-troponin levels as a sign of myocardial injury after COVID-19 vaccination in healthy individuals are worrying.

Background: Recently, Buergin et al. (Eur J Heart Fail 25(10):1871-1881, 2023 doi:10.1002/ejhf.

Effects of Viktor Philippi's Bioenergetic Meditation on Anxiety, Burnout, and Depression: An Analysis of Four Feasibility Studies.

Introduction: Anxiety, burnout, and depression cause a substantial psychological and social burden. Bioenergetic meditation (BM) was developed by Viktor Philippi as a method to strengthen psychological and physical health. This work presents the results of four feasibility studies investigating the effects of BM developed by Viktor Philippi as a support for people suffering from these psychological disorders.

Why do people consent to receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations? A representative survey in Germany.

Objective: To answer the question: Why do people consent to being vaccinated with novel vaccines against SARS-CoV-2?

Design: Representative survey.

Setting: Online panel.

Participants: 1032 respondents of the general German population.

Identifying factors associated with COVID-19 related deaths during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe.

Aim: To clarify the high variability in COVID-19-related deaths during the first wave of the pandemic, we conducted a modeling study using publicly available data.

Materials And Methods: We used 13 population- and country-specific variables to predict the number of population-standardized COVID-19-related deaths in 43 European countries using generalized linear models: the test-standardized number of SARS-CoV-2-cases, population density, life expectancy, severity of governmental responses, influenza-vaccination coverage in the elderly, vitamin D status, smoking and diabetes prevalence, cardiovascular disease death rate, number of hospital beds, gross domestic product, human development index and percentage of people older than 65 years.

Results: We found that test-standardized number of SARS-CoV-2-cases and flu vaccination coverage in the elderly were the most important predictors, together with vitamin D status, gross domestic product, population density and government response severity explaining roughly two-thirds of the variation in COVID-19 related deaths.

Bayes Lines Tool (BLT): a SQL-script for analyzing diagnostic test results with an application to SARS-CoV-2-testing.

The performance of diagnostic tests crucially depends on the disease prevalence, test sensitivity, and test specificity. However, these quantities are often not well known when tests are performed outside defined routine lab procedures which make the rating of the test results somewhat problematic. A current example is the mass testing taking place within the context of the world-wide SARS-CoV-2 crisis.

Vitamin D Resistance as a Possible Cause of Autoimmune Diseases: A Hypothesis Confirmed by a Therapeutic High-Dose Vitamin D Protocol.

Vitamin D (cholecalciferol) is a secosteroid and prohormone which is metabolized in various tissues to the biologically most active vitamin D hormone 1,25(OH)D (calcitriol). 1,25(OH)D has multiple pleiotropic effects, particularly within the immune system, and is increasingly utilized not only within prophylaxis, but also within therapy of various diseases. In this context, the latest research has revealed clinical benefits of high dose vitamin D therapy in autoimmune diseases.

Low Vitamin D Status in a Cancer Patient Population from Franconia, Germany.

Background: Vitamin D has been shown to be associated with reduced risk and severity of COVID-19 and exerts regulating effects on all hallmarks of cancer. The goal of this study was to analyze the vitamin D status of a cancer patient cohort from our clinic in the Franconian region, Germany.

Methods: 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were available for 116 patients included in prospective trials in our clinic.

The Epistemology of a Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test.

We investigate the epistemological consequences of a positive polymerase chain reaction SARS-CoV test for two relevant hypotheses: (i) V is the hypothesis that an individual has been infected with SARS-CoV-2; (ii) C is the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of flu-like symptoms in a given patient. We ask two fundamental epistemological questions regarding each hypothesis: First, how much confirmation does a positive test lend to each hypothesis? Second, how much evidence does a positive test provide for each hypothesis against its negation? We respond to each question within a formal Bayesian framework. We construe degree of confirmation as the difference between the posterior probability of the hypothesis and its prior, and the strength of evidence for a hypothesis against its alternative in terms of their likelihood ratio.

When is a Ketogenic Diet Ketogenic? Comment on "Satiating Effect of a Ketogenic Diet and Its Impact on Muscle Improvement and Oxidation State in Multiple Sclerosis Patients, 2019, , 1156".

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Wilhelm Brünings' forgotten contribution to the metabolic treatment of cancer utilizing hypoglycemia and a very low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diet.

The growing interest in the alterations of tumor cell metabolism and their possible therapeutic exploitation also spurred new complementary and integrative approaches such as treating patients with a ketogenic diet (KD). KDs aim at inhibiting glycolytic tumor metabolism and growth, and have therefore been proposed as adjuncts not only to standard-of-care, but also to other therapies targeting tumor metabolism. Here I describe the life and forgotten work of one of the earliest researchers who realized the importance of altered tumor cell metabolism and its possible exploitation through metabolic modifications: Wilhelm Brünings.

The emerging role of ketogenic diets in cancer treatment.

Purpose Of Review: Altered glucose metabolism in cancer cells is an almost ubiquitous observation, yet hardly exploited therapeutically. However, ketogenic diets have gained growing attention in recent years as a nontoxic broad-spectrum approach to target this major metabolic difference between normal and cancer cells. Although much research still needs to be done, new knowledge has been gained about the optimal utilization of ketogenic diets for cancer treatment that this review aims to summarize.

A fatal case of Fournier's gangrene during neoadjuvant radiotherapy for rectal cancer.

Purpose: To report the development of an ultimately fatal occurrence of Fournier's gangrene in a rectal cancer patient undergoing neoadjuvant radiotherapy without chemotherapy.

Methods: A 53-year-old male patient with G2 cT3 cN1a cM0 stage IIIB adenocarcinoma of the lower rectum and several comorbidities including ulcerative colitis was treated with 56 Gy to the primary tumor in 28 fractions because he declined the recommended simultaneous chemotherapy. He was also enrolled in the ketogenic diet arm of our KETOCOMP study, so that prospective measurements of blood parameters, quality of life, and body composition were made.

The inflammation paradox: Why are Tsimane protected against Western diseases while Westerners are not?

We here describe two apparent paradoxes concerning high CRP levels and NCD risk. One has emerged from observational studies in the Amazon region showing that the indigenous Tsimane in Bolivia appear protected against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases despite increased inflammatory markers. These findings stand in contrast to Western societies, where an increasing body of evidence demonstrates that low-grade-inflammation is the driver of NCDs.

The sedentary (r)evolution: Have we lost our metabolic flexibility?

During the course of evolution, up until the agricultural revolution, environmental fluctuations forced the human species to develop a flexible metabolism in order to adapt its energy needs to various climate, seasonal and vegetation conditions. Metabolic flexibility safeguarded human survival independent of food availability. In modern times, humans switched their primal lifestyle towards a constant availability of energy-dense, yet often nutrient-deficient, foods, persistent psycho-emotional stressors and a lack of exercise.

TKTL1 expression in human malign and benign cell lines.

Background: Overexpression of transketolase-like 1 protein TKTL1 in cancer cells has been reported to correlate with enhanced glycolysis and lactic acid production. Furthermore, enhanced TKTL1 expression was put into context with resistance to chemotherapy and ionizing radiation. Here, a panel of human malign and benign cells, which cover a broad range of chemotherapy and radiation resistance as well as reliance on glucose metabolism, was analyzed in vitro for TKTL1 expression.

Applicability of the linear-quadratic formalism for modeling local tumor control probability in high dose per fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy for early stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Purpose: To compare the linear-quadratic (LQ) and the LQ-L formalism (linear cell survival curve beyond a threshold dose dT) for modeling local tumor control probability (TCP) in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials And Methods: This study is based on 395 patients from 13 German and Austrian centers treated with SBRT for stage I NSCLC. The median number of SBRT fractions was 3 (range 1-8) and median single fraction dose was 12.