1. XBI Biotech Index Gets a 10% Bounce Off 5-Year Lows.
XBI has a negative 5-year return.
2. Crypto-Six Weeks of Inflows.
Cryptocurrency: Crypto funds saw the sixth consecutive week of inflows.
3. Gasoline Prices Fall for 7th Straight Week
Advisors Perspectives by Jennifer Nash, 11/7/23
4. Total Returns Since Jan 2022
Irrelevant Investor Blog https://theirrelevantinvestor.com/
5. Credit Card Debt Hits All-Time Highs.
6. Percentage of Credit Card Debt vs. Money in Bank at 20-Year Low
7. Credit Card Delinquency Rate Rising.
Courtenay Brown—Axios
8. Credit Card and Holiday Season Indicator…Amazon Right at Next Resistance Level from 2022
9. Weed may do way more damage to your heart than we thought-Business Insider
Smoking weed may have similar health consequences as cigarettes, and new research suggests cannabis use can be bad for your heart. Jamie Grill/Getty Images
- Two new studies suggests marijuana use can be harmful for heart health.
- Using marijuana may increase risk of issues like heart attack or stroke in frequent or older users.
- More research is needed, but users should be aware of the risks, experts say.
Smoking pot, taking edibles, or unwinding with a cannabis-infused beverage have become increasing popular as more states have eased up on laws restricting recreational use. But a marijuana habit isn’t risk-free, new research suggests.
Regular marijuana use is linked to significantly higher risk of cardiovascular issues like heart attack or stroke, according to a pair of preliminary studies to be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2023 Scientific Sessions. The findings suggest that marijuana may be more concerning for health than people suspect, particularly for frequent consumers and those with underlying health conditions.
Using marijuana every day may increase risk of heart failure In one study, researchers at Medstar Health in Baltimore looked at data from 156,999 people, who were initially free from heart failure, over four years of follow up to compare health outcomes with self-reported marijuana use. They found that people who used marijuana daily had a 34% higher risk of developing heart failure than people who never used marijuana.
The study defined marijuana use as any consumption that was not prescribed for a health condition. The findings suggest that more evidence on how marijuana affects health could help consumers and health professionals make more informed decisions, according to Dr. Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, lead author of the study and a physician at Medstar “Our results should encourage more researchers to study the use of marijuana to better understand its health implications, especially on cardiovascular risk,” Bene-Alhasan said in a the press release.
The long-term health effects of cannabis aren’t yet clear Along with evidence that smoking cannabis has similar risks as cigarette use, the findings warrant more caution around cannabis use and heart health, according to Robert L. Page II, professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Colorado and chair of the volunteer writing group for the 2020 American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Medical Marijuana, Recreational Cannabis, and Cardiovascular Health. Page, who was not involved with either study, said that inhaling cannabis smoke increases blood concentrations of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, as well as tar, both of which are linked to serious heart problems.
“Together with the results of these two research studies, the cardiovascular risks of cannabis use are becoming clearer and should be carefully considered and monitored by health care professionals and the public,” he said.Previous evidence also suggests that while other forms of cannabis use — like consuming edibles — may avoid some exposure to the toxins involves in smoking, they can still have negative effects on heart health. That’s because THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that gets you high, may be harmful to the heart.
10. Keep Forgetting Things? Neuroscience Connects This Simple Habit to 17 Percent Better Memory Outcomes
Forgetting things. It’s the worst.
BY BILL MURPHY JR., FOUNDER OF UNDERSTANDABLY AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INC.@BILLMURPHYJR
· “Hello, neighbor!” (We’ve lived on the same street for years and I can never remember your name!)
· “Yes, dear, I put that important document in a very safe place.” (If only I could recall where.)
· “I was smart! I put an Apple AirTag on my keychain.” (Now, has anybody seen my phone so I can track it?)
We’ve all been there. And if there’s one common, existential fear I hear among successful business owners and other leaders when talk turns serious, it’s the worry that forgetting things like this might foretell even more memory loss when we get older.
If that sounds familiar, you’ll likely be interested in a new study from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine that found a correlation between a specific but common type of diet during middle age, and a remarkable 17 percent better memory outcomes decades later.
Writing in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, researchers said they tracked data related to 5,116 women in the NYU Women’s Health Study over 30 years, focusing on answers the women provided about their diets between 1985 and 1991.
The women were an average of 49 years old at the time, and the researchers were focused on how closely their diets adhered to the DASH diet, short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, hypertension being the more formal medical term for high blood pressure.
Short version, according to Yu Chen, a professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU and senior author of the study:
With more than 30 years’ follow-up, we found that the stronger the adherence to a DASH diet in midlife, the less likely women are to report cognitive issues much later in life.
So, what exactly is the DASH diet? As diets go, it’s fairly simple and tasty. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is a U.S. government resource, it includes:
· Eating vegetables, fruits, and whole grains
· Including fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils
· Limiting foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils
· Limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets
Not too difficult, right? In fact, we’ve seen a lot of interesting research recently, suggesting things people can do that correlate with better memory, either in the near-term or more systemically as they get older. Some are easier than others:
· Avoiding a sleep debt, wearing a sleep mask at night, and possibly even sleeping on your side
· Drinking significant amounts of coffee, or possibly tea
· Eating specific foods, some of which would go right in hand with the DASH diet, such as porcini mushrooms, all sorts of other vegetables, and even dark chocolate and cinnamon
· Improving your work environment, specifically the lighting (“Dim lights are producing dimwits,” one study author said.)
· Engaging in brain activities like pleasure reading, having detailed hobbies that require you to process and recall information, and doing crosswords and other brain games.
Oh, and my favorite, backed by at least one study whose authors say they have no idea why it works–but that I’ve actually used myself to surprising effect: walking backward to trigger memory recall.
Look, the human brain is fascinating, and as I write in my free e-book Neuroscience: 13 Ways to Understand and Train Your Brain for Life, there’s no subject that seems to attract more universal interest than the unexpected ways in which it works.
Maintaining and improving memory are at the top of the list for so many of us — and doubly so if the behaviors we’re talking about are simple, tasty, and frankly things you might consider doing anyway.
Like this column? Sign up to subscribe to email alerts and you’ll never miss a post.
