Science & Environment

[spaminator]

Scientists discover new clue linking obesity to dementia risk
The danger could be significant

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Akilah Johnson, The Washington Post
Published Jan 22, 2026 • 5 minute read

Fat diet and scale feet standing on electronic scales for weight control. Measurement instrument in kilogram for a diet control
Photo by Getty Images
Obesity in midlife may cause vascular dementia later in life by raising blood pressure over decades and quietly damaging brain vessels, according to new research released Thursday.


The danger could be significant. Having a higher body mass index increases the risk of vascular dementia by roughly 50 to 60 percent, according to the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. An association between obesity and dementia has long been the subject of study, and the new research strongly indicates there is indeed a link.


“We add a layer of evidence that suggests causality,” said Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, who was the study’s lead author and is a professor and chief physician at Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet and the University of Copenhagen. “For public health, this is an important message.”

More than 50 million people globally – 7 million of them Americans – live with dementia. Vascular dementia is the second most common form. It is caused by cerebrovascular disease, which shares many of the same risk factors as cardiovascular disease.

It is caused by problems with blood flow to the brain, which can happen after a stroke or when blood vessels are damaged over time from conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes or hardening of the arteries.


Over time the brain is unable to compensate. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease where memory tends to go first, with vascular dementia the loss of executive function – planning, organizing, decision-making – precedes memory loss. Loss of function is last.

The decline tends to happen in noticeable steps of stable periods interrupted by sudden drops in function, as opposed to the slower progression of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia experts said.

A substantial portion of the increased risk of vascular dementia – 18 to 25 percent – was explained by high blood pressure, the study found.

What makes the study notable is the research method used, which mimics a randomized clinical trial – the gold standard in science – and is called Mendelian randomization, dementia experts said. The team analyzed naturally occurring genetic differences that influence body weight.

“It’s like nature’s own randomized clinical trial, because the genes themselves are like randomized groups,” said Cyrus A. Raji, neuroradiologist, associate professor and principal investigator in the Neuroimaging Labs Research Center at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine


Raji, who researches obesity and dementia but was not involved in the study, noted genes are assigned at conception. “They aren’t influenced by lifestyle, education or illness later in life,” he said.

The study shows that genetic variants that raise body weight also raise dementia risk but not by themselves, he said. “But also, by way of high blood pressure.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, Raji said he would place the study at an eight in terms of importance.

“The only reason I wouldn’t give it a 10 is because it didn’t quite include the widest range of diverse populations to best understand the full range of these relationships,” he said.

Researchers analyzed blood samples from three biobanks – two in Denmark and one in the United Kingdom. All of the participants were White, a limitation the study authors acknowledged.

They used diagnostic codes to track who was and wasn’t eventually diagnosed with vascular dementia and then linking those outcomes to gene variants associated with high body mass index.


Of the 126,655 blood samples taken over the course of 27 years as part of two Danish population health studies, 2,260 developed vascular-related dementia, 2,111 developed Alzheimer’s disease, and 14,188 developed ischemic heart disease. And of the 377,755 people who were part of UK Biobank, 3,317 developed vascular-related dementia, 2,215 developed Alzheimer’s disease, and 45,539 developed ischemic heart disease.

“The public health message is clear. Controlling blood pressure in people with obesity may actually help prevent dementia,” said John N. Mafi, an internist and associate professor of medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. “It’s a huge problem, and yet, it’s not 100 percent clear what proportion of it is preventable.”

The current toolbox for reducing dementia risk is limited, and there’s no ways to prevent it outside of lifestyle changes. In 2024, the Lancet found that about 45 percent of dementia cases could potentially be delayed or reduced. It suggested people in midlife stop smoking, stop using alcohol excessively, get better sleep, exercise and maintain ideal blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar.


But the question of whether obesity causes dementia has been unclear, dementia experts said, because of confounding factors. One of the first symptoms of dementia – before ever being diagnosed – can be weight loss from not eating, experts said.

“In observational research, we get fooled time and time again,” said Mafi, who also studies dementia and cares for patients with the condition. While the study using genetic variants “is not perfect,” he said, “it is substantive. It’s a real step up in our knowledge.”

Another limitation of the study was the use of medical diagnostic codes, which often don’t reflect the full scope of the health situation. In the United States, “there’s a big inequality in getting the codes,” he said, pointing to research from the University of Michigan that showed Black patients with the same cognition as White patients got the codes – meaning the diagnosis – later. “So, you always have to take that with a grain of salt.”

The question remains if obesity is treated aggressively, will it prevent dementia down the line, he said. The ultimate proof of that, he said, would be a randomized controlled trial with a diverse pool of people. Still, he said the evidence was strong enough that he would discuss dementia prevention as an added benefit of weight loss with patients.

“I’m probably going to start telling my patients, ‘There may, in fact, be a link between your weight and vascular dementia, so that’s another motivation for us to focus on weight loss,'” he said.

Scientists discover new clue linking obesity to dementia risk

Obesity in midlife may cause vascular dementia later in life by raising blood pressure over decades and quietly damaging brain vessels

torontosun.com

 

[bill barilko]

Speaking personally the medicine they have for high blood pressure now is fabulous if somene hasn't been prescribed some of these new drugs they should ask why/ change doctors.

 

[spaminator]

'Doomsday Clock' moves closer to midnight
The scientists cited risks of nuclear war, climate change, potential misuse of biotechnology and the use of AI without adequate controls

Author of the article:Spiro Papuckoski
Spiro Papuckoski
Published Jan 28, 2026 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

Doomsday
The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, set at 85 seconds to midnight, is displayed during a news conference at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Washington. Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais /AP
The ‘Doomsday Clock’ has advanced to 85 seconds until midnight — meaning the Earth is closer than ever to destruction, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.


In a release, the advocacy group’s Science and Security Board (SASB) “called for urgent action to limit nuclear arsenals, create international guidelines on the use of AI, and form multilateral agreements to address global biological threats.”


The group is made up of 17 experts in nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies, which includes eight Nobel Laureates. The clock is moved back and forth depending on the risks and existential threats to humanity.

They say there were major factors that went into the decision to move the clock up four seconds from a year ago. One factor is the expiry of the nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia at the end of February.

“The dangerous trends in nuclear risk, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and biosecurity are accompanied by another frightening development: the rise of nationalistic autocracies in countries around the world,” said SASB chair Daniel Holz, a professor at the University of Chicago in the departments of physics, astronomy and astrophysics.


“Our greatest challenges require international trust and cooperation, and a world splintering into ‘us versus them’ will leave all of humanity more vulnerable.”

Powerful nations undermining cooperation
The group says Russia, China, and the United States, as well as other major countries, have become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic.” They warn that powerful nations are undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing global risks.

Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Rappler, a Philippines-based digital news outlet, said the world is now at a moment where the truth is being inundated with lies.

“Without facts, there is no truth. Without truth, there is no trust. And without these, the radical collaboration this moment demands is impossible,” Ressa said.

According to Ressa, an “information Armageddon” is being spread by “predatory technology” profiting from lies, which spread quicker than facts.


“We cannot solve problems we cannot agree exist,” the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, said. “We cannot cooperate across borders when we cannot even share the same facts. Nuclear threats, climate collapse, AI risks: none can be addressed without first rebuilding our shared reality. The clock is ticking.”

Doomsday Clock has its critics
However, critics have often said the Doomsday Clock — created in 1947 following the end of the Second World War — has lost its relevance as scientists and other experts have not explained the specific criteria and calculations into how they arrive at a particular time.

“Without a clear understanding of how each new time is being chosen, it becomes difficult to trust the clock’s verdict or to properly understand it,” argued Blane Aitchison in The Oxford Student, the student newspaper for the England university.

Christopher Combs, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the clock is “far too arbitrary and alarmist” to have meaning for anyone.

“Acting like we’re closer to apocalypse now than during the Cuban Missile Crisis is just silly,” he wrote on social platform X. “They jumped the shark a long time ago which caused the scale to lose all meaning and granularity.”

One person pointed out the clock moves closer to midnight when a Republican is elected U.S. president and falls back when a Democrat comes to power.

“The Doomsday Clock is great marketing but terrible metrics,” another wrote. “It’s a vibes-based gauge of global risk, not a model. Useful as a warning symbol, dangerous if you treat it as science. Basically it is pure BS.”

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2016548804590502393

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2016329819873542601

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2016206544577139136

http://oxfordstudent.com/2023/06/01/the-failings-of-the-doomsday-clock

PRESS RELEASE: It is 85 seconds to midnight

At the 2026 Doomsday Clock announcement, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board moved the Doomsday Clock forward from 89 seconds to 85 seconds to midnight, citing a failure in global leadership.

thebulletin.org

'Doomsday Clock' moves closer to midnight

Scientists cited risks of nuclear war, climate change, potential misuse of biotechnology and use of AI without adequate controls. Read more.

torontosun.com

 

[Taxslave2]

Speaking personally the medicine they have for high blood pressure now is fabulous if somene hasn't been prescribed some of these new drugs they should ask why/ change doctors.

That is going about health care the wrong way. As usual, Big Pharma is treating the symptoms instead of eliminating, or at least reducing the problems. There is no profit in a cured patient.

 

[spaminator]

Feds' single-use plastics ban to stand after Federal Court appeal ruling
The Responsible Plastic Use Coalition, representing major players in the Canadian plastics industry, had launched the court challenge

Author of the article:Ling Hui
Published Jan 30, 2026 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 1 minute read


The federal government scored a victory in its ban on single-use plastic items after the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision, allowing Ottawa to keep the ban in place.


In Friday’s unanimous decision, the three-judge panel quashed a 2023 Federal Court’s ruling that the Liberal government’s decision to list plastic items as toxic was “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”


The appeal court judges said that the lower court’s ruling was “predicated on an incorrect premise” and said the ban did not intrude on provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

“There is no constitutional issue here. The criminal law power has not been engaged,” the decision said.

The Federal Court also ruled that the government’s decision not to convene a board of review to further assess the environmental risks associated with plastics was also reasonable.

The Responsible Plastic Use Coalition, representing major players in the Canadian plastics industry, had launched the court challenge.

The ban, introduced by the previous Trudeau government, was used to cut the manufacturing and importing of six types of single-use plastics, including straws, grocery bags, cutlery and the six-pack rings holding pop and beer cans together.


Export ban on single-use plastics suspended
While the ruling allows Ottawa to keep the plastics ban, the federal government had suspended the export ban on single-use plastics just before it was set to take effect late last year.

The government shelved the ban on the sale of plastic items to foreign markets, citing tariffs and supply chain issues that were causing “significant pressure on the domestic economy.”

It had launched a 70-day consultation period which would end on Feb. 28, according to the Canada Gazette.

The government said the decision was made because the sales ban “will not fulfil an environmental objective commensurate to its economic impact.”

Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 159, Number 51: Regulations Amending the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations

December 20, 2025, Part 1, Volume 159, Number 51, Canada Gazette

gazette.gc.ca

Canada (Attorney General) v. Responsible Plastic Use Coalition - Federal Court of Appeal

The Federal Court of Appeal is a bilingual, bijural court that makes decisions on matters of federal law across Canada.

decisions.fca-caf.ca

Feds' single-use plastics ban to stand after Federal Court appeal ruling

The federal government scored a victory in its ban on single-use plastic items after the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in its favour.

torontosun.com

 

[Taxslave2]

Export ban on single-use plastics suspended
While the ruling allows Ottawa to keep the plastics ban, the federal government had suspended the export ban on single-use plastics just before it was set to take effect late last year.

So,like fossil fuels, plastics are OK to export, but don't use them here. Are there other manufactured goods that only pollute in Canada?

 

[spaminator]

4 Parkinson’s disease symptoms that can show up decades before a diagnosis
Symptoms can be managed with available treatments, but there is no cure

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Meeri Kim
Published Jan 31, 2026 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 6 minute read

Woman with shaky hands suffering from Parkinson's disease
Woman with shaky hands suffering from Parkinson's disease. Getty Images
Many people think of a tremor as the quintessential warning sign of Parkinson’s disease. But other symptoms – many of them not involving changes in movement – can appear much earlier than what’s known as a resting tremor.


In fact, a resting tremor, which is a rhythmic shaking of a body part such as a hand when at rest, isn’t even required for diagnosis. Up to 20 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease don’t have one.


“Parkinson’s is what we call a movement disorder because it affects our movement, but there’s a whole side of Parkinson’s that is non-motor,” said Rachel Dolhun, a neurologist and principal medical adviser at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. “We long thought it was just a movement disease, but now we see that it affects the whole body in different ways.”

– – –

Certain symptoms show up years before motor changes
Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common neurological disorders in the world, with cases expected to reach 25.2 million by 2050. While inherited genetic mutations are associated with 10 to 15 percent of cases, the rest have no known cause. Symptoms can be managed with available treatments, but there is no cure – although exercise is thought to reduce the risk of developing the condition. And there are several other things you can do to reduce your risk of Parkinson’s disease, as well.


To make a Parkinson’s diagnosis, neurologists look for characteristic movement symptoms, including slowness, stiffness and resting tremor. However, common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as constipation and loss of sense of smell, often precede such changes in movement by more than a decade. This early stage of Parkinson’s, known as the prodromal phase, marks the beginning of a gradual onset of disease.

“It’s a slow disease, and we’re realizing just how slow it can be,” said Ronald Postuma, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal. “It’s progressing in the brain, year by year, until it crosses a threshold at which doctors can make the diagnosis.”

Parkinson’s disease damages neurons that produce dopamine, a chemical that transmits signals between cells and plays a crucial role in controlling movement and coordination in the brain. By the time motor symptoms show up, 50 to 70 percent of these neurons in the substantia nigra, a small but vital structure for voluntary movement located in the brain stem, have already died.


In the last two decades, researchers have made major advances in understanding markers of prodromal Parkinson’s that they hope could, one day, be used for earlier diagnosis.

“It’s important to stress that not everyone who has these symptoms goes on to develop Parkinson’s,” Dolhun said. “But we know that in some people, these can be some of the earliest signs.”

Here are four early symptoms that often appear in people who are later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease:

– – –

Loss of sense of smell
The inability to detect odors, known as anosmia, can be a temporary side effect from a cold or sinus infection, or even a more permanent issue after covid. But more than 90 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease lose their sense of smell gradually over a long period of time. It can begin years or even decades before motor symptoms.

“We’ve estimated that the loss of the sense of smell is occurring 20 years before the disease is diagnosed,” Postuma said.

“We know that people who lose their sense of smell have about a fivefold increased risk of developing Parkinson’s in the future,” he said. “People lose their ability to detect and identify odors, and they are often not very aware because it happens so gradually.”


Researchers are still trying to understand what causes anosmia in Parkinson’s disease and why it is one of the earliest symptoms. One hypothesis states that the disease could actually begin in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that controls sense of smell, where abnormal proteins wreak havoc and damage neurons.

Adults ages 40 and older in the United States or Canada who have not been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease can request a free scratch-and-sniff smell test from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The test is part of a brain health study that uses loss of sense of smell as a way of identifying people who haven’t yet developed Parkinson’s but might in the future.

– – –

Acting out dreams
Normally, the body enters a state of almost total paralysis during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the sleep stage with the most vivid dreams. REM sleep behavior disorder is a chronic condition characterized by a loss of this paralysis that leads people to physically act out their dreams. They will sit up in bed, have one-sided conversations, and even punch or kick their partner.


Studies have shown that between 50 and 70 percent of people with REM sleep behavior disorder will develop Parkinson’s disease or a related condition such as Lewy body dementia within an average of five to 10 years. People ages 50 and older with REM sleep behavior disorder have a 130 times greater likelihood of developing Parkinson’s compared with someone without the sleep condition.

If you think you’re acting out your dreams, talk to your doctor and request a sleep study for confirmation. People who receive a diagnosis can sign up for a registry established by the North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy (NAPS) Consortium, which aims to develop treatments to delay or prevent Parkinson’s and related diseases.

– – –

Constipation
Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in the United States and usually not serious. However, chronic constipation that persists for several weeks or longer affects two-thirds of all people with Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s can affect the nerves that line the digestive tract, and studies have found clumps of abnormal protein in neurons lining the intestines of people with Parkinson’s.


A meta-analysis of nine studies found that people with constipation – either assessed by a questionnaire or diagnosed by a health care professional – were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s compared with those without constipation. Another study followed 6,790 men ages 51 to 75 over a 24-year period, and those who had a bowel movement less often than once a day had a greater risk of Parkinson’s.

“Even people who are constipated in their 20s or 30s seem to have an increased chance of getting Parkinson’s 30, 40 years later,” Postuma said. “So, now we’re starting to wonder: Is the disease affecting the nerves that control the gut, or is being constipated a risk factor for Parkinson’s, as well?”

– – –

Dizziness when standing up
Postural low blood pressure, known as orthostatic hypotension, is a drop in blood pressure that occurs when a person goes from sitting or lying down to standing. It can lead to dizziness, lightheadedness and even fainting. Orthostatic hypotension can be triggered by mild dehydration, low blood sugar or overheating. But chronic, persistent orthostatic hypotension can be more serious.


“When it’s neurological in origin – in other words, not dehydration, medication or a heart problem – about half of these patients develop Parkinson’s or a related condition,” Postuma said. “So it’s a very high risk factor. Most people, though, don’t have a neurologic cause.”

Researchers have identified orthostatic hypotension as a possible feature of prodromal Parkinson’s disease, although the evidence is not as strong as for other markers. For example, one study found that otherwise unexplained orthostatic hypotension was associated with an eventual diagnosis of Parkinson’s or a related condition in 18 of 79 (23 percent) patients after a 10-year follow-up.

– – –

What prodromal markers mean
At this point, these prodromal markers aren’t specific enough to definitively signal Parkinson’s on their own, and there’s a good chance they may be because of a different cause or medical condition. But if you have several markers at once or a family history of the disease, you may want to speak to your doctor.


“If you start to combine some of these symptoms, then it really increases your risk for developing Parkinson’s disease in the future,” said Kelly Mills, director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “If someone has constipation, loss of smell sensation, and they’re acting out their dreams, you’re adding the risk of those different factors. But don’t necessarily jump to any conclusions without getting an evaluation.”

4 Parkinson’s disease symptoms that can show up decades before a diagnosis

Common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's, such as constipation and loss of sense of smell, often precede movement by more than a decade

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ex-Starbucks exec says she was fired after reporting maggots in faulty equipment: Lawsuit
Janice Waszak worked with the company for nearly 20 years until she was let go in December 2023

Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Feb 03, 2026 • 2 minute read

A cup of coffee is seen in a Starbucks coffee shop in Houston on September 25, 2025.
A cup of coffee is seen in a Starbucks coffee shop in Houston on September 25, 2025. Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP /Getty Images
A former Starbucks executive is lifting the lid on the company after she claims she was fired over health and safety concerns.


Janice Waszak worked with the company for nearly 20 years, starting as a brand manager in 2004 before moving up the chain to serve as director of concept innovation, overseeing Starbucks’ Tryer Innovation Center in Seattle until she was let go in December 2023.


Waszak filed a lawsuit on Jan. 26 against the company, alleging that Starbucks fired her when she refused to report false information about the profitability and health and safety risks of a new equipment system, according to a news release from Waszak’s attorneys at Frank Freed Subit & Thomas.

When the alleged problems began
According to the lawsuit, per Fox News, an equipment system referred to as the Siren System was introduced in 2022, and meant to allow baristas to make a drink in 40 seconds or less.

But problems surfaced during a live demonstration for a large group of district managers and regional directors at the Tryer Center in October 2022, when “maggots dropped out of the overhead milk dispenser and fell onto the counter and beverages,” according to the suit.


The documents also alleged that “baristas flicked the maggots away to avoid attendees seeing them.”

Waszak claims to have discovered that maggots had bred in the machine’s milk dispenser because the design made it difficult to properly clean.

In September 2023, a Siren machine allegedly caught fire due to a manufacturing defect, which Waszak claims she expressed her concerns to her boss, vice president of global equipment Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, at the time.

However, Venkatakrishnan and others did not listen to her, she alleged.



Getting the boot
Instead, Waszak was terminated by Venkatakrishnan on Dec. 11, 2023, after a complaint was filed against her claiming she was “criticizing the employee’s job performance, giving ‘unclear and vague’ instructions, and ‘raising her voice and talking over’ the employee,” according to the filing.


A Starbucks’ ethics and compliance officer allegedly suggested Waszak receive a written warning, but she was fired.

Waszak claims she was let go in “retaliation for reporting and opposing its materially false or misleading statements about Siren’s profitability and health and safety risks.”

The court documents further claimed that Starbucks also “discriminated against Waszak based on her sex when it allegedly terminated her for inter-personal behaviors for which it has not discharged male employees.”

“Safety is a top priority for Starbucks, and these claims are entirely without merit,” Starbucks said in a statement, adding that Waszak “was separated from the company after an investigation into allegations that her conduct violated Starbucks workplace conduct policies.”

The company added that it looked forward to presenting “evidence in court.”

Former Starbucks exec says she was fired after raising concerns over maggots, safety: lawsuit

Former Starbucks executive is suing the coffee giant for allegedly firing her after she raised safety concerns about new equipment called the Siren System.

foxbusiness.com

Ex-Starbucks exec says she was fired after reporting maggots in faulty equipment: Lawsuit

A former Starbucks exec is lifting the lid on the company after she claims she was fired over health and safety concerns. Read on.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

MMMmmm. . . protein coffee!

 

[Taxslave2]

Ex-Starbucks exec says she was fired after reporting maggots in faulty equipment: Lawsuit
Janice Waszak worked with the company for nearly 20 years until she was let go in December 2023

Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Feb 03, 2026 • 2 minute read

A cup of coffee is seen in a Starbucks coffee shop in Houston on September 25, 2025.
A cup of coffee is seen in a Starbucks coffee shop in Houston on September 25, 2025. Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP /Getty Images
A former Starbucks executive is lifting the lid on the company after she claims she was fired over health and safety concerns.


Janice Waszak worked with the company for nearly 20 years, starting as a brand manager in 2004 before moving up the chain to serve as director of concept innovation, overseeing Starbucks’ Tryer Innovation Center in Seattle until she was let go in December 2023.


Waszak filed a lawsuit on Jan. 26 against the company, alleging that Starbucks fired her when she refused to report false information about the profitability and health and safety risks of a new equipment system, according to a news release from Waszak’s attorneys at Frank Freed Subit & Thomas.

When the alleged problems began
According to the lawsuit, per Fox News, an equipment system referred to as the Siren System was introduced in 2022, and meant to allow baristas to make a drink in 40 seconds or less.

But problems surfaced during a live demonstration for a large group of district managers and regional directors at the Tryer Center in October 2022, when “maggots dropped out of the overhead milk dispenser and fell onto the counter and beverages,” according to the suit.


The documents also alleged that “baristas flicked the maggots away to avoid attendees seeing them.”

Waszak claims to have discovered that maggots had bred in the machine’s milk dispenser because the design made it difficult to properly clean.

In September 2023, a Siren machine allegedly caught fire due to a manufacturing defect, which Waszak claims she expressed her concerns to her boss, vice president of global equipment Natarajan Venkatakrishnan, at the time.

However, Venkatakrishnan and others did not listen to her, she alleged.



Getting the boot
Instead, Waszak was terminated by Venkatakrishnan on Dec. 11, 2023, after a complaint was filed against her claiming she was “criticizing the employee’s job performance, giving ‘unclear and vague’ instructions, and ‘raising her voice and talking over’ the employee,” according to the filing.


A Starbucks’ ethics and compliance officer allegedly suggested Waszak receive a written warning, but she was fired.

Waszak claims she was let go in “retaliation for reporting and opposing its materially false or misleading statements about Siren’s profitability and health and safety risks.”

The court documents further claimed that Starbucks also “discriminated against Waszak based on her sex when it allegedly terminated her for inter-personal behaviors for which it has not discharged male employees.”

“Safety is a top priority for Starbucks, and these claims are entirely without merit,” Starbucks said in a statement, adding that Waszak “was separated from the company after an investigation into allegations that her conduct violated Starbucks workplace conduct policies.”

The company added that it looked forward to presenting “evidence in court.”

Former Starbucks exec says she was fired after raising concerns over maggots, safety: lawsuit

Former Starbucks executive is suing the coffee giant for allegedly firing her after she raised safety concerns about new equipment called the Siren System.

foxbusiness.com

Ex-Starbucks exec says she was fired after reporting maggots in faulty equipment: Lawsuit

A former Starbucks exec is lifting the lid on the company after she claims she was fired over health and safety concerns. Read on.

torontosun.com

She would not be the first to be fired for being honest.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

She would not be the first to be fired for being honest.

Quickest way to unemployment benefits I know of.

 

[spaminator]

Scientists finally may know why kidney patients die of heart disease
A new study found that diseased kidneys released tiny particles that were toxic to the heart

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Allyson Chiu
Published Feb 04, 2026 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 4 minute read

An elderly Indian man with heart problems

For years, scientists have been working to unravel the mystery of patients with failing kidneys dying from heart-related complications.


Researchers now say they’ve uncovered a clue that explains why people with chronic kidney disease have such a high risk of heart failure – and it could have major implications for the diagnosis and treatment of the two common health conditions.


A new study found that diseased kidneys released tiny particles that were toxic to the heart, according to findings published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation.

“We went on a mission to understand this interorgan communication between the kidney and the heart,” said Uta Erdbrügger, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who co-authored the study. “We found that there are molecules communicating between the kidney and the heart.”

That molecular discovery is helping to shed light on one way the kidney and heart are linked – and, in this case, to dangerous effect, said Susmita Sahoo, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.


“No one has shown this causal relationship before,” Sahoo said.

The kidney-heart connection
The relationship between chronic kidney disease and heart conditions is well documented. Studies show that the severity of cardiovascular complications is correlated with the stage of kidney failure. Some estimates suggest that more than half of people with advanced kidney disease develop cardiovascular problems.

“Heart failure and kidney disease are very, very closely intertwined conditions,” said Janani Rangaswami, a nephrologist and professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. “Almost 1 in 2 individuals with heart failure will have some degree of kidney dysfunction, and kidney disease is a very powerful risk enhancer for the development of heart failure.”

Kidney failure causes bodies to retain fluid, which can put more strain on the heart muscle, said Samir Parikh, president of the American Society of Nephrology. Kidney disease can also cause electrolyte imbalances, which can lead to dangerous heart rhythms, he said. The condition is also associated with accelerated hardening of arteries that can result in heart attacks.


“Each step that you lose kidney function is just a greater and greater stress on the heart,” Parikh said. “The kidney really has this profound influence on the health of the heart in all of its dimensions.”

The correlation between kidney and heart problems can also trace to shared risk factors, such as hypertension, smoking and diabetes. But the study’s author said that hypothesis can’t fully explain why kidney patients are more likely to also have heart failure.

Studying the link
In search of answers, the researchers homed in on microscopic liquid-filled sacs that are produced by almost all cells and serve as messengers in the body. Known as extracellular vesicles, the particles shuttle proteins and other materials between cells and organs.

The scientists collected blood samples from about 50 people, including those with varying degrees of kidney disease as well as healthy subjects. They observed that the blood from sick people contained vesicles carrying a type of noncoding RNA, the genetic material that orchestrates basic life activities, that had a toxic effect on heart tissue. They noted these harmful vesicles were being produced by the damaged kidneys and were not found in blood samples from healthy patients.


In early lab tests using mice, the researchers discovered that reducing extracellular vesicles in the blood using a drug led to improved heart function and fewer signs of heart failure even in mice with diseased kidneys.

Changing care
Rangaswami said the study was “very scientifically rigorous” and addressed a scientific gap in understanding kidney-specific factors harming the heart.

“That’s a very poorly understood area in this whole nexus of heart-kidney disease,” she said.

Sahoo said her team’s findings could help identify heart disease in kidney patients earlier, before they show symptoms.

“By measuring these cardiotoxic microRNAs, you can actually predict or identify or diagnose the patient who are on the way to developing a failing heart,” she said.

The research can also influence treatment recommendations, said Erdbrügger, the study co-author who is also a practicing kidney doctor. For instance, Erdbrügger said if she knew one of her kidney patients had a higher risk of heart disease, she would consider treating more aggressively by increasing drug dosages or using more combinations of medications.


“We are really going towards precision medicine,” she said. “The better we understand the pathophysiology or the mechanisms, the better we can intervene and develop a new drug.”

But she and other experts cautioned that more research is needed.

“These are potential biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets,” said Joseph Vassalotti, chief medical officer of the National Kidney Foundation, who was not involved in the study. “This is all preliminary, and there’s a lot of additional work that would need to be done to validate these findings, and to see if they apply diagnostically and therapeutically.”

Erdbrügger said scientists are working on a much larger, longer-term study to track whether people with chronic kidney disease develop heart conditions.

Know your risk
In the meantime, experts urge people to stay on top of monitoring their kidney health.

It’s critical to know your chances of developing kidney disease, Parikh said. He added that simple blood and urine tests can diagnose the condition.


Some risk factors include:

– Diabetes

– High blood pressure

– A family history of kidney disease or failure

– For women, adverse pregnancy conditions such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia

If you have any of those risk factors, Rangaswami recommended talking to a clinician about monitoring your kidney health.

“When we think about kidney health, we have to understand that preserving kidney health is so important to preserving heart health,” Rangaswami said. “We have so many amazing therapies that can really stabilize kidney function.”

Scientists finally may know why kidney patients die of heart disease

Researchers now say they've uncovered a clue that explains why people with chronic kidney disease have such a high risk of heart failure

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

So. . . da kidney-bone connected to da heart-bone?