BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You’ve heard the warnings: cold and flu season is no joke. But despite our best intentions (and fully stocked vitamin C stash), plenty of us still fall into avoidable traps when trying to fend off seasonal bugs. Sure, COVID has dominated the conversation for years, and for good reason, but the flu and common cold never really left the chat. In fact, experts say it’s time we stop underestimating them. “The reality is [people] should be scared of influenza,” says Dr. Steven Lamm, internist and director of NYU Langone’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men’s Health. Not terrified, but let’s say… respectfully cautious. So if you’re hoping to dodge the sniffles, steer clear of these seven mistakes infectious disease experts really wish people would stop making. 1. Underestimating the flu like it’s a harmless inconvenience We get it! Compared to the early panic of the COVID era, the flu might feel like the flu-light. But that’s exactly the problem. “People are underestimating the seriousness of influenza,” says Dr. Lamm, who adds that this mindset leads to a “cascade effect” of bad decisions. Not only can the flu send you to bed for a week, but it can trigger long-term symptoms like brain fog and fatigue in some people, a phenomenon Dr. Lamm calls “long influenza.” Even scarier: research shows that having the flu quadruples your risk of a heart attack shortly afterward. Do this instead: Treat flu season like the serious health risk it is. Keep up with current research, and remember that both flu and COVID can cause downstream complications like heart attacks or strokes, even in people who seem otherwise healthy. 2. Skipping the flu shot because “I never get sick” Ah yes, the classic. But your clean track record doesn’t make you invincible. “People think that the flu vaccine prevents you from getting the flu,” says Dr. Lamm. The reality is is, is that it doesn’t offer total immunity, but it does dramatically lower your risk of severe illness or hospitalization. Even if you do get sick post-vaccine, the shot can make your case much milder. “You can feel pretty comfortable that things are going to go okay unless you are older or severely immunocompromised,” he says. Do this instead: Aim to get vaccinated by November or December before flu activity peaks in January or February, advises Dr. Allison Agwu, infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins. Confused or hesitant? Ask your doctor. “Try to keep an open mind about your medical opinions,” Dr. Lamm says. You don’t have to know everything, you just need to be willing to ask. 3. Powering through your symptoms like a hero (or martyr) “I think it comes from being in a society where a lot of people can’t take that time off,” Dr. Agwu says. Still, ignoring early cold or flu symptoms and pushing through your schedule can make you sicker and more contagious. Going to that dinner party with a sore throat? Congrats, you’ve just become patient zero. Do this instead: Take the sick day. (No, seriously. Take the sick day.) If you can’t skip work entirely, scale back where you can. “It’s not just not going to work, but it’s not going and partying when you feel the itch in your throat,” Dr. Agwu says. Be a good human. Keep your butt at home. 4. Treating vitamin C like it’s a cure-all We love a fizzy wellness drink as much as the next person, but moderation matters. While vitamin C can shorten a cold, more isn’t always better. “Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and stomach distress,” Dr. Agwu notes. In fact, that’s kind of what you can expect if you’re chugging multiple 1000mg packets a day. Do this instead: Focus on getting vitamin C from food like oranges, broccoli, and tomatoes. Or stick to no more than 2,000 mg per day, per Mayo Clinic guidelines. One Emergen-C is fine. Three? Your bathroom might disagree. 5. Mixing meds and “natural” remedies without doing your homework Ginger tea and elderberry might seem harmless (and often are) but if you’re also on blood thinners or other medications, you might be walking into trouble. Dr. Lamm explains that “for the most part, [home remedies] are safe. There’s just very little evidence-based data that they make much of a difference.” Do this instead: Don’t panic, but do check. “Make sure that you check with your provider or do the research as to whether there are any drug interactions,” says Dr. Agwu. Just because something is “natural” doesn’t mean it plays nice with your prescriptions. 6. Mocking the “happy birthday” hand-washing trick Yes, it’s been memed to death but singing “Happy Birthday” while scrubbing your hands is legit. “We realized during COVID… we had very low incidences of influenza,” Dr. Lamm says. All those precautions? They worked. Do this instead: Stick to the basics. Wash your hands for 20 seconds minimum, avoid touching your face, wear a mask in tight spaces, and keep your immune system humming with rest, nutrition, and movement. “These things actually are important,” Dr. Agwu reminds us. 7. Skipping the doctor when you’re high-risk If you’re over 65, immunocompromised, have asthma or diabetes, or even just smoke, your flu risk is higher. In those cases, antiviral meds can make a huge difference, but only if taken early. “It’s very important that you do not delay,” says Dr. Lamm. These medications are most effective within the first 48 hours of symptoms. Do this instead: At the first sign of something nasty, call your doctor. This is a non-negotiable if you’re high-risk. “Don’t delay by taking a whole bunch of herbal things,” Dr. Lamm adds. The biggest danger is wasting precious time when treatment could help the most. The bottom line Cold and flu season isn’t a vibe, but you don’t have to white-knuckle your way through it. With smart habits (and zero eye-rolls during hand-washing), you can lower your risk of getting seriously sick and avoid spreading germs to everyone else in the process. You don’t need to live in a bubble. Just wash your hands, get your shot, and maybe rethink that second packet of vitamin C.The post 7 cold and flu season mistakes doctors want you to quit making first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a transformative leap for regenerative medicine, scientists have developed the first entirely human-engineered bone marrow system. This lab-grown “blood factory” may change how researchers study blood diseases, test treatments, and ultimately care for patients battling conditions like leukemia and anemia. Constructed from human cells and built to replicate the biological complexity of actual bone marrow, the new model is not just a technical achievement. It also offers a potential alternative to animal testing and brings precision medicine closer to reality. What’s the deal with bone marrow? Bone marrow plays a vital but often overlooked role. Hidden inside our bones, it is responsible for generating the blood cells that fuel our immune systems and carry oxygen throughout the body. When that process breaks down, as in cancers like leukemia, the consequences can be life-threatening. Understanding how blood is made, and how it goes awry, has traditionally required animal models or simple cell cultures. But these systems fall short of fully capturing how human marrow functions. That is what researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel set out to change. Their study, published in Cell Stem Cell, describes a bioengineered model that mimics the complex, three-dimensional environment where human blood cells are born. Building a human niche from the ground up The team, led by Professor Ivan Martin and Dr. Andrés García García, began with a synthetic scaffold made from hydroxyapatite, a mineral naturally found in human bones. Into this framework, they introduced reprogrammed human pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells are capable of developing into multiple types of cells, including those found in the bone marrow. Through a carefully staged process, the researchers guided these stem cells to generate a diverse population of blood-producing cells. The result was a small but functionally rich human bone marrow model just eight millimetres in diameter and four millimetres thick that successfully maintained blood cell production in the lab for several weeks. Most importantly, it recreated a specific zone in the marrow known as the endosteal niche. This region, located near the surface of bones, is where blood stem cells live and where certain blood cancers are known to resist treatment. Until now, no lab-grown model had succeeded in capturing the biological complexity of this niche. “Our model brings us closer to the biology of the human organism,” said Martin. “It could serve as a complement to many animal experiments in the study of blood formation in both healthy and diseased conditions.” Toward better treatments and fewer animal tests The ethical and practical implications are significant. By offering a human-specific model, the system could reduce reliance on animal testing while improving scientific accuracy. This aligns with broader efforts in the scientific community to refine, reduce, and replace animal experiments. The research team also sees promise in using the model for drug development. While the current version is too large for high-throughput testing, miniaturised versions could one day allow researchers to test multiple drug compounds in parallel. Looking further ahead, the researchers envision even more ambitious applications. In theory, doctors could use a patient’s own cells to build personalised marrow models, allowing for treatment plans tailored to each individual’s biology. Such a strategy could significantly improve outcomes in blood cancer therapy. But the road to that future is still long. “For this specific purpose, the size of our bone marrow model might be too large,” noted García García. Further refinements, including downsizing the model and integrating it into broader diagnostic workflows, would be necessary. A foundation for future care Even with those caveats, the creation of a fully human, lab-grown bone marrow system marks an important milestone in medical research. It shifts the focus from animal proxies toward human-specific biology and opens up new possibilities for testing drugs, studying disease, and designing therapies that meet patients where they are. This “blood factory” may be miniature in size, but it holds enormous potential both for understanding the inner workings of the human body and for reshaping the way we treat its failures. Source study: Cell Stem Cell—Macro-scale, scaffold-assisted model of the human bone marrow endosteal niche using hiPSC-vascularized osteoblastic organoidsThe post Scientists build first fully human bone marrow model to revolutionize blood disease research first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

A Roman amphora containing remains of tiny sardine bones has been discovered in Gebenstorf, Switzerland. This the first archaeological evidence found proving that sardines were consumed in Roman Switzerland. The amphora was found in fragments within the remains of a Roman building complex on the Limmat River. Three large buildings were discovered in a rescue excavation prior to construction of a residential development. The complex was almost exactly one Roman mile (2.2 km, 1.4 miles) from the legionary camp of Vindonissa. The first large timber and clay building was constructed in the 1st century A.D. on a deliberately levelled hill. The finds associated with the structure indicate it was a warehouse for goods transported via the river destined for the legionary camp. The remains were so well-preserved that part of the rammed earth walls and the wall paintings that decorated them survived. The western building was a two-aisled hall with porticoes (covered arcades) in front. The central building featured a cryptoporticus, a covered walkway largely sunken into the ground, a common feature of Roman forums (marketplaces). The eastern building had a complex ground plan with several rooms, entrances, corridors, and courtyards. This distinguishes it significantly from the other two large structures. The southern ends of all three buildings lie outside the excavation area and may still be preserved beneath the current cantonal road. The site on the Limmat was therefore likely not only a trading center but also a political and legal hub, possibly even for a planned urban settlement. The building’s role in shipping and storage of goods was confirmed by the discovery of thousands of fragments of shattered amphoras from Italy, southern France and Spain. The excavation also found three stone and ten lead weights for Roman scales, a small folding ruler and writing styluses that underscore the buildings’ commercial and administrative use. The evidence from the complex indicates that the legions at Vindonissa built and operated a transshipment depot to provide their own supplies for about 50 years. The complex was deliberately demolished to the foundations when the 11th Legion withdrew in 101 A.D.  Nothing was rebuilt over it.   The excavation ended in May, but researchers are still studying recovered archaeological material. Among the fragments of shattered amphorae, the team found one complete amphora. It was in fragments, but they were still in place rather than scattered. A greyish-white sediment was visible inside the amphora. To whole object was recovered en bloc and transported to the cantonal archaeology restoration laboratory where the sediment was collected and sent to the University of Basel for analysis. The sediment was strained through several fine sieves. What remained were tiny bones of marine animals from the liquid that had once been contained in the amphora. This liquid was fish sauce, one of the most popular condiments of antiquity. Ancient sources mention various names for it, such as flos liquamen, (h)allec, muria, salsamenta, and perhaps the best-known, garum. These terms denote different qualities of fish sauce. The bones were primarily remains (bones, scales, vertebrae) of Sardina pilchardus, also known as the Atlantic or European sardine. This marine fish is relatively widespread, found in the Northeast Atlantic and also in the Mediterranean. Sardines form very large schools near the coast and are still important food fish today. The remains from the amphora came from very small specimens, less than ten centimeters long. This is the first evidence of sardine remains at a Roman-era site in Switzerland. […] Since the amphora itself can also provide clues about its place of production, an amphora specialist from the cantonal archaeology department examined the fragments. Based on the quality of the clay, the amphora, and therefore also the fish sauce it contained, was likely produced on the coast of the Roman province of Baetica, present-day Andalusia. However, an origin in Gaul, in the area surrounding present-day Lyon, cannot be entirely ruled out. The amphora and its contents were probably manufactured and traded between approximately 25 and 50 AD – comparisons of its form suggest this. The cantonal archaeology department has produced a documentary about the 14-month excavation of the Limmat River Roman building complex. Click the gear icon to select the English language audiotrack and/or English subtitle options.

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