General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
For millions of years, human race has suffered and continues to suffer from tiny pathogenic organisms, viruses, that use the genetic material of our own in order to multiply and be incorporated, thus remaining in our body forever.
It is estimated that our planet has more viruses than all stars in the universe, so many that we can associate 100 million viruses per star. We have 10 times more viruses in our body than the total of all our cells that are about 37 trillion. About 300,000 of these viruses can infect mammals, but strangely only a few leads to diseases. What is now known is that many viruses are necessary for our organism because they contribute to vital processes. The question, then, is why some viruses cause infections, why some viruses reappear every year-often carrying mutations – while others appear every 10-50 years and cause pandemics? Due to this co-existence with our own organism, viruses know well how to invade our cells and how to escape from our immune defenses that are at a disadvantage because they cannot attack the viruses when they are hiding inside our own cells. Moreover, when viruses leave our cells, their coat is composed of the outer (plasma) membrane of our cells and therefore they cannot be recognized by our immune system.
The development of vaccines was a key contribution to the management of certain viruses, such as those of poliomyelitis and mumps, primarily because these viruses do not mutate easily and the antibodies developed against them via immunization can neutralize them when they are outside the cells, and thus allow cells of our immune system to destroy them.
For other viruses, however, such as those of Influenza and Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which undergo rapid mutations, the facts are very different because neither immunizations nor our immune system can annihilate them, even though they can minimize the serious sequelae, especially in the respiratory system. In an effort to stop the viral infection, our immune system develops a ‘storm’ of pro-inflammatory molecules, such as the cytokines, which in turn also destroy the body’s tissues. In other words, we develop an autoimmune, sadly chronic, condition that cannot be contained easily and can destroy different organs in our body.
In spite of their usefulness, vaccines and other recent drugs against coronavirus ‘force’ the virus into developing mutations with unpredictable consequences. For example, the new drugs inhibit the activity of an enzyme that cleaves off a piece of the spike protein thus allowing the coronavirus to enter the cells. However, the use of such drugs has let to mutated forms of the virus that contained a pre-cleaved spike protein so that enzyme is not required any more rendering these drugs are essentially useless.
One of our recent publications reported that the coronavirus spike protein can activate the microglial cells, which constitute the brain’s defense, to synthesize and release destructive pro-inflammatory molecules (cytokines) via activation of a specialized area of the cell surface membrane (a receptor), which is called Toll-like Receptor-4 (TLR-4). This receptor is distinct from the known receptor Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) which is the target for vaccines and other drugs. For instance, vaccines neutralize the part of the spike protein that binds to the ACE2 receptor and reduce cell infectivity. However, they increase the ability of the virus to bind to the TLR4 receptor, activation of which leads to the release of molecules that contribute to inflammation and damage to brain cells and vessels leading to the development of chronic neurological symptoms, especially cognitive dysfunction and brain fog.
These symptoms are known as Long-COVID and has been considered the next catastrophe of the health system in the United States with an estimated economic burden of $3.7 trillion.
In addition to the problems stemming from the coronavirus, we are now facing more problems due to the recent resurgence of other viruses recently such as Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial virus (the recent Camel virus) from the Middle East. Consequently, thus there is pressing need for the effective prevention and treatment of viral infections. It is well known in pharmacology that the more area-targets-receptors one intervenes, the more effective is the prevention or resolution of symptoms. This approach is known as Integrative and has so far been applied successfully in the case of the HIV virus.
In contradistinction to the few drugs that are available for the prevention and treatment of viral infections, there are some effective natural substances that were identified only recently.
Algonot, LLC, which is located in Sarasota, FL (www.algonot.com) and has been operating for over 20 years, is proud to have just launched ViralProtek®. This formulation is the only dietary supplement in vegetarian capsules containing purified ingredient from olive leaves (oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol) , broccoli (sulforaphane) and citrus limon (eriodictyol)with established antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. These active ingredients were selected among the top five best from billions of small molecules tested with superfast computer simulation for their ability to:
• Interfere with viral binding to cell surface receptors
• Prevent viral infectivity
• Reduce inflammation
• Minimize neurological symptoms
In case Long-COVID develops, cognitive dysfunction and brain fog can be improved significantly by the dietary supplement BrainGain.® ViralProtek® and BrainGain,® like all other dietary supplements of Algonot®, were developed based on extensive published scientific evidence, are covered by many patents and trademarks, and are supported by clinical studies. Algonot, LLC has a Food License from the State of Florida, is registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and all products have a Certificate of Free Sale from the FDA.
Biographical: Dr. Theoharis C. Theoharides, BA, MS, MPhil, PhD, MD, FAAAAI, is Adjunct Professor at Tufts University, and Professor of Neuroimmunology and Director of the Center for Neuroinflammation Research at Nova Southeastern University, Clearwater, FL.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S.
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture presents a captivating evening with acclaimed singer-songwriter Alkinoos Ioannidis, who will perform at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall on Saturday, April 27, 7:30 PM, in a solo concert.
ATHENS - The "OLYMPOS - Global Spiritual Center" Association presents on Saturday, April 6, at 6:00 pm, at the "Antonis Tritsis" Amphitheatre of the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens, 50, Acadimias Street, the truly ingenious funding proposal for the construction of Heptapolis in the wider area of Delphi, entitled "World Green Taxation Fund".
ATHENS - Disregarding the recommendation of a prosecutor who said there wasn’t enough evidence, an Athens Mixed Jury Court found a 55-year-old man guilty of raping a 12-year-old girl but found her mother innocent of pornography.