Alex Wong/Getty ImagesThe failure of Trumpcare, and now an ill-considered attempt at reviving it, have indefinitely delayed the President Trump's plans to reform the US tax system. For Wall Street, this is a source of trepidation. For Main Street, it's really good news.That's because Trump's tax plan overwhelmingly favors the rich, according to various independent analyses.The Tax Policy Center in Washington says, "the plan would cut taxes at every income level, but high-income taxpayers would receive the biggest cuts, both in dollar terms and as a percentage of income."That would exacerbate a decades-long trend that has pushed US inequality to levels not seen since before the Great Depression, almost a century ago.Business Insider/Andy KierszTrump, who campaigned on a populist, pro-worker platform, could seize the moment to introduce changes to the tax code that address the disconnect between soaring corporate profits and CEO compensation on the one hand, and stagnant wages for the majority of workers on the other. That could include substantially higher taxes on the wealthy and a boost to subsidies for the poorest, including an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit."Our findings suggest that tax progressivity changes influence pre-tax income inequality," economists Enrico Rubolino of Uppsala University and Daniel Waldenstroem of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics write <a href="http://voxeu.org/article/tax-reforms-and-top-incomes">in a new study.</a> "Focusing on large, progressivity-reducing tax reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, we can show that they had a positive, increasing effect on top income shares in all the countries we studied." Instead, an administration, padded with Goldman Sachs bankers like White House advisor Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is pitching the same trickle-down, supply-side economics that has failed Americans for so long. They're even now arguing the tax cuts will pay for themselves. "'Tax reform' will in the end likely just become a deficit-financed tax cut for the rich and corporations that expires in 10 years-a decade of free money for groups that don't really need it and a problem for policymakers to deal with in the future," <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/likeliest-outcome-of-tax-reform-is-a-deficit-financed-tax-cut-for-the-rich-that-will-expire-in-a-decade/">argues Hunter Blair, budget analyst at Economic Policy Institute</a>, a liberal think tank in Washington.Economic Policy InstituteMoreover, Blair adds, the notion that tax cuts for the middle class will provide a serious boon to their bottom line is also dubious, because stagnant pay, not exorbitant tax rates, are the underlying problem."The federal income tax rates faced by middle-class Americans have nothing to do with their struggles to maintain economic security amid stagnating living standards in recent decades."Economic Policy Institute <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/conjuring-movie-lawsuit-warner-brothers-ed-lorraine-warren-annabelle-james-wan-2017-4">Warner Bros. might have to pay $900 million if it can't prove ghosts are real</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

There's one really good reason middle-class Americans should hope Trump fails on tax reform

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After seeing a dramatic resurgence in cases in line with other European countries, <keyword id="23050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword> has introduced new <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> measures.</li><li>The country famously chose to follow a no-lockdown policy that favored loose recommendations over strict rules during the first wave. </li><li>Ten people living there told Business Insider how they felt about the new changes.</li><li>Most people said they were happy that rules had been tightened — but some viewed it as too little, too late.</li><li>Others said they were surprised to see a second wave in Sweden after health officials reassured the country in the Spring that cases would be "quite low" at this time of the year.</li><li>Most people were upset that the spread of the virus in nursing homes continues to be a problem despite government officials promising that more actions would be taken.</li></ul>Ines Green felt a sense of relief after Sweden announced stricter coronavirus measures for the first time since the start of the pandemic.The 23-year-old supermarket worker, who lives in the capital city of Stockholm, has been watching anxiously as people around her continue to live their lives <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-sweden-highest-death-toll-150-years-lockdown-herd-immunity-2020-8">despite a surge in new COVID-19 cases.</a> "At my work, I have come to see that people don't care at all. It's so crowded, people are not really distancing or wearing masks, and when they ask me for help, they stand really close to me," Green told Business Insider."So I was pleased to see the government announced new restrictions. I think people realized that things were getting out of control," she added.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-what-life-is-like-sweden-with-no-lockdown-guidelines-2020-5">Sweden chose a unique strategy at the beginning of the pandemic</a>, opting to follow a no-lockdown policy that favored loose recommendations and consent over strict rules. The country's chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-coronavirus-chief-immunity-levels-studies-contradict-2020-8">was confident the plan would drive down infection numbers by the autumn while building up immunity among the population.</a><div type="image" title="sweden coronavirus" height="1004" width="1339" msid="79474996" hostid="261"></div>But the outcome has been far worse than predicted. During Europe's first wave, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid19-covid-lockdown-restrictions-rules-deaths-cases-stefan-loftven-2020-11">Sweden's death rate rose to among the highest globally</a>, with most of those deaths among the elderly and in care homes.In recent weeks, after getting the virus under control, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-from-sweden-to-greece-covid-19-second-wave-2020-11">Sweden — like much of Europe — has seen a dramatic resurgence.</a>The country's rate of new infections is now more than double that of earlier this year, and its total number of deaths — 6,681 — exceeds those of neighboring Norway, Denmark, and Finland combined, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/sweden">according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University.</a>As a result, some of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-brings-in-regional-measures-cases-surge-2020-11">Sweden's regions started implementing stricter rules.</a> And then, earlier this month, officials <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid19-covid-lockdown-restrictions-rules-deaths-cases-stefan-loftven-2020-11">announced the strictest national rules yet,</a> including limiting public gatherings to eight people (from 50) and introducing a ban on the sale of alcohol after 10 pm in restaurants and bars."People knew the restrictions were coming, even younger people. It just makes so much sense; it's not a full lockdown, but it's also not a light lockdown either — it's a good middle ground," Green said.Business Insider spoke to 9 other people living across the country to see how they feel about the changes. They were all happy that rules had been tightened — but some viewed it as too little, too late.<h2>'I'm surprised we're having a second wave'</h2>Mikaela Eklund, a 24-year-old social worker who lives in Gothenburg, said the measures were "very much needed.""At this point, it's quite clear that with the second wave, we really need to do something," she said.But she was still shocked to find that they had to be imposed in the first place. In May, chief epidemiologist Tegnell <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-herd-immunity-second-wave-coronavirus-cases-hospitalisations-surge-2020-11">predicted that the number of infections in the autumn would be "quite low"</a> due to the country's herd immunity approach.However, as hospitalizations continue to increase, Tegnell was forced to acknowledge that the high number of cases seen in the first wave had not protected the country in the second wave.Earlier this week, Tegnell also admitted that experts had seen <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-24/sweden-says-it-sees-no-signs-herd-immunity-is-stopping-the-virus">no signs of immunity in the population slowing down the rate of infection right now.</a><div type="image" title="Anders Tegnell" height="2739" width="3653" msid="79474997" hostid="261"></div>"I'm surprised we're having a second wave since we were told all along by our experts that we won't have a large number of new cases, but now we do," Eklund said."So when I saw the cases are going up, it made me think about how much I should trust the experts. I understand that everyone is trying to do their best right now, but it leads to a different type of uncertainty," she added."I think the government might be a bit embarrassed over the fact that they were wrong," Eklund said. <h2>The government recommendations can be confusing</h2>Mikael Olson, an engineering student, living in Lund, was also "somewhat surprised" about the latest resurgence of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> cases, telling Business Insider he felt people got "too careless" during the summer months. But Olson also said the government's messaging — which has mostly been based on advice — has contributed to people's relaxed attitudes. "I think the messaging has been quite confusing. The recommendations are always changing and can be quite contradictory," the student said. "You're watching numbers go up, but everything the government says is based on advice, so sometimes you don't know what you should or shouldn't do," said Olson.In line with its no-lockdown policy, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-why-people-are-happy-with-no-lockdown-coronavirus-plan-2020-5">shops, restaurants, bars, parks, and schools in Sweden remain open and the high-trust country is still mostly relying on official advice. </a>But as the months stretch on and cases continue to rise, some of these guidelines — <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden/sweden-to-lift-covid-ban-on-visits-to-care-homes-idINKBN2661WP">including visitations to care homes</a> — haven't been as clear as people had hoped, leading to growing uncertainty among locals.Cathy Xiao Chen, who helps lead a coworking space in Uppsala, also said the government's messaging has led to confusion. "I feel like the government is sending quite conflicting messages. From a business perspective, it's very difficult to manage the situation," Chen said."Despite people being told to stay away from public spaces, businesses are not being told to close down, and are not offered additional financial assistance to ensure that they can remain operational at the end of this," she added.<div type="image" title="Sweden coronavirus" height="1279" width="1705" msid="79474999" hostid="261"></div>Many of the people that Business Insider spoke said that Swedes were good at following recommendations without needing firm, enforced rules.But others are skeptical that the latest measures will make much of a difference.Axel Berggren, who works in communications in Stockholm, told Business Insider that he noticed more people were following recommendations compared to earlier in the pandemic but added: "I don't really think that closing bars at 10 will make much of a difference, to be honest, people will always find ways to meet up and drink."And Keith Begg, who lives in a Stockholm suburb and has started a campaign against Sweden's coronavirus response, told Business Insider there are "serious shortcomings" to the latest measures that have caused even more confusion.Begg described the new measures as a "smokescreen" to mask government "inaction" on the virus, adding: "On the one hand Stefan Löfven, the Prime Minister of Sweden, is stressing the importance of not visiting cafes, bars, gyms, and restaurants but on the other hand they are all open." "It is like advising someone not to jump off a cliff and then pushing them over the edge," Begg said. <h2>Nursing homes are still a major issue </h2>Soaring deaths in care homes marked Sweden's first wave and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/19/anger-in-sweden-as-elderly-pay-price-for-coronavirus-strategy">health officials quickly admitted they had failed the elderly population</a>, promising to step up protections in the future.But despite this acknowledgment, deaths in care homes are now spiking again.<div type="image" title="sweden coronavirus ppe" height="1466" width="1955" msid="79475000" hostid="261"></div>"One feature of the Swedish COVID-19 strategy seems to be the acceptance that the country will have a high death and infection rates, but a complete reticence to protect the most vulnerable in society," Begg said."Overall, in my nine months of witnessing the ineptitude and negligence of the Swedish strategy, what has struck me the most is the scientific, ethical, and moral bankruptcy that has taken place in COVID-19 Sweden. But worst of all, no one has been held accountable for the disastrous decisions made," he added.Other experts have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid-19-policy-experts-too-early-judge-2020-7">previously noted to Business Insider</a> that Sweden's general lack of restrictions contributed to the virus getting into care homes.Mazdak Dorosti, who works in banking in Stockholm, said: "I think the main Achilles heel in the Swedish strategy compared with other Scandinavian countries, was how we dealt with retirement homes.""Compared with other Scandanavian countries, our retirement home structure isn't working well and COVID-19 brought that to light. That's the only area I believe we could have done a better job in," Dorosti added.<h2>'I don't see a major change'</h2>Sweden's strategy has been viewed as an outlier compared to the rest of the world's response.But many there say their lives have not been that different to those in other countries because, they claim, Swedes have been so good at following recommendations, meaning harsh rules to enforce those recommendations simply haven't been as widely needed.Karin Beland Lindahl, an associate professor at Lule University of Technology, emphasized how Sweden is a high-trust country, meaning people tend to follow government and experts' rules and recommendations. This reality means that Sweden's strategy, even if it goes poorly, would still likely have better results than if the same strategy would be used in countries like the US.She said the new rules were meant to address some people who had been breaking the rules but don't change much for most people in the country, who were already distancing and minimizing their interactions."I think there are tougher regulations now because people are not as receptive during the Spring, especially younger people," she said.<div type="image" title="sweden coronaviurs" height="999" width="1332" msid="79475002" hostid="261"></div>But in general, life hasn't changed much for Lindahl: "I think the idea that we have changed our strategy and become more like other countries is the perception of critics, rather than the perception of Swedes," she added.Lindahl also noted that some rules and recommendations had actually been eased: the elderly were no longer told to isolate, and universities are now open, while they were closed in the Spring.Others have noticed more significant changes. Sean Magnus Clarke, who lives in Stockholm, told Business Insider he'd noticed far fewer people in cafes and shops and using public transport than earlier in the pandemic.He said the move was necessary as people had grown more complacent with distancing: "I do believe, like in most other countries, people have pinned their hopes on a vaccine saving the day and have unfortunately acted as if it was imminent."<h2>Face masks are a hotly-debated topic</h2>More people are also choosing to wear face masks, especially on public transport — but it's still considered taboo to wear one.Many of the people Business Insider spoke to for this article said they have felt judged by others for wearing one.<div type="image" title="stockholm sweden coronavirus" height="1000" width="1333" msid="79475003" hostid="261"></div>Face coverings have become a hotly-debated topic in the country in recent weeks. Tegnell continues to argue that he hasn't seen any convincing studies yet that show they are beneficial in stopping the virus's spread. But as they continue to become the norm in other countries, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-face-masks-idUSKBN27Z27X">more Swedes are now buying more face masks</a>.Lukas Dahl, who works for a startup in Stockholm, told Business Insider that he thinks Sweden's policy still seems "a bit too relaxed." "I think there could be a few more restrictions they could have put in place a bit earlier, especially with endorsing face masks. I think they could have done from the start and I think it would have helped. I don't see how it would have made things worse," he said. "It's quite difficult to impress upon people that the situation should be taken more seriously now that the situation is worsening."When asked about how he thinks Sweden has done compared to other countries during the pandemic, Dahl says that it's still too early to make any conclusions — an opinion shared by many of those interviewed by Business Insider. "I'm happy with the overall decisions that have been made," said Dahl. "I respect their judgment call and I think we're going to come out ahead and that we will do better in the long run."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid19-covid-lockdown-restrictions-rules-deaths-cases-stefan-loftven-2020-11">Sweden, having refused to lockdown, is now bringing in tougher COVID-19 restrictions as cases and deaths soar. 'This is the new norm,' the prime minister said.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-herd-immunity-second-wave-coronavirus-cases-hospitalisations-surge-2020-11">Sweden has admitted its coronavirus immunity predictions were wrong as cases soar across the country</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-decline-coronavirus-deaths-cases-2020-9">Sweden's coronavirus deaths have dropped dramatically, but that doesn't mean its herd-immunity strategy worked, experts say</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-brings-in-regional-measures-cases-surge-2020-11">Faced with the reality of a winter surge, Sweden is finally bringing in some harsher restrictions after months of being one of the few countries with no lockdown</a></li></ul>

10 people in Sweden told us their trust in the government is dwindling as it pivots away from its no-lockdown coronavirus policy

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Shutterstock/antoniodiazMore than just a cute face?</div></div></div><ul><li>A 12-year study of 3.4 million Swedes found that dog owners are less likely than their peers to develop heart disease.</li><li>The study authors said that single dog-owners were especially protected.</li><li>Scientists aren't sure whether owning a pet causes better health or whether it's just an indicator of a better life.</li></ul> Pet ownership may be a prescription for good health.A massive, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16118-6">12-year study</a> of 3.4 million Swedish people released Friday in the journal Scientific Reports reveals that adult dog owners are less likely to die than their dog-free peers.For the study, researchers from Uppsala University compared data from Sweden's national dog ownership registry with hospital visits for adults aged 40 to 80. (That analysis would be nearly impossible to replicate in the US, since American pet owners are not required to register their pooches the way Swedes are.)Researchers started following the 3.4 million people in 2001, and selected the group so that no participants had pre-existing heart conditions. After 12 years, they found that people with dogs had a 23% reduced risk of death from cardiac diseases like heart failure, stroke, or heart attack than their dog-less peers. Dog owners were also 20% less likely to die, period.If you're a single dog-owner, the news is even better: The study found that people who live on their own with a dog had a 33% reduced risk of death compared to their non-dog-owning single counterparts. "Dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone," Mwenya Mubanga, lead junior author of the study, said <a href="http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/uu/pressreleases/dog-ownership-linked-to-lower-mortality-2277104?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=Alert&amp;utm_content=pressrelease">in a release</a>. "Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households."But not all dog breeds "protected" their owners equally, according to the study. Owners of hunting-breed dogs had some of the lowest risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and death. People with pointer dogs, for example, were 40% less likely to die, and people with retrievers were 26% less likely. Overall, the study in Sweden backs up a similar finding that the American Heart Association reported in 2013. <a href="http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/127/23/2353">The AHA said</a> dog owners get more exercise, have better blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and even have "diminished sympathetic responses" to stress.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldineen/3287528506">Flickr / Paul L Dineen</a></div></div></div>But it's difficult to determine why people with dogs see these health benefits. The Swedish study didn't try to answer that question empirically, but the researchers have a few ideas.Senior study author Tove Fall said the link might be due to the fact that dog ownership gets people moving around more and going for walks. She also suggested that having a dog might lead to "increased well being" or more social interaction. Having a dog around could even help keep a person's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-microbiome-affects-health-2016-1">microbiome healthy</a> too, Tove said, since the bacteria and viruses on dogs could expose people to a higher diversity of microbes. But the study authors are aware that dog owners may not actually owe their good health to their pets. It could be that healthy people are just more likely to bring a furry friend into their home in the first place.A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2017.1335103">study</a> released earlier this year found that kids in the US who grow up with cats have fewer behavioral issues. But as James Hamblin at <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/08/cats-pets-health-benefits/536304/">The Atlantic</a> pointed out, the health benefits for cat owners disappeared when the researchers factored in socioeconomic status. As Hamblin put it, "pet ownership is more of a signifier of the sort of life that leads to better health, not the driver of that better health." That may be the case in Sweden too, but more research into the potential health benefits of dog ownership is needed to know for sure. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-dogs-see-world-rods-cones-2017-9">Here's how dogs actually see the world</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

A study of 3.4 million people suggests dog owners are less likely to develop heart disease

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="23050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword> lags behind much of the world in its <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> <keyword id="46701" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="testing">testing</keyword> rate.</li><li>Some residents with coronavirus symptoms say they can't get tested — and without a test, they're not able to receive proper care.</li><li>Some Swedish residents say the lack of testing is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-coronavirus-plan-is-a-cruel-mistake-skeptical-experts-say-2020-5">reflective of a general attitude</a> that the virus isn't a serious threat.</li></ul>On the first day of her illness in March, Yvonne Karolin was so exhausted, she could barely lift a spoon to her mouth. Within a week, she had shortness of breath, a sore throat, headaches, and a low-grade fever — all <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-symptoms-cdc-list-2020-4">symptoms of the coronavirus</a>."It is not possible to distinguish COVID-19 from other infections from only the symptoms," the Swedish Public Health Agency <a href="https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden/communicable-disease-control/covid-19/">website</a> reads. "A laboratory test is required."But Karolin, a 50-year-old development manager who lives in Stockholm, never got a test.After calling Sweden's free healthcare hotline, Vårdguiden 1177, she was told to go the hospital. There, she waited two hours in a tent, only to be told by the doctor that the hospital wasn't administering diagnostic tests for COVID-19."She said, 'No, we don't test. We don't test anyone. We don't even test ourselves.' And then she left," Karolin said of the doctor's response.Four other people in Sweden with coronavirus symptoms told Business Insider similar stories.Unlike other countries in Europe, Sweden opted not to impose a nationwide lockdown. Instead, it asked citizens to exercise social responsibility by maintaining a safe distance from one another and isolating if they felt sick. But the nation lags behind most of the world in terms of coronavirus testing rates, making it hard to determine the full scale of its outbreak. Sweden is currently administering around 27 tests per 1,000 people. That's far less than nearby Iceland and Denmark, which are administering 180 tests and 94 tests per 1,000 people, respectively. Even the US, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-coronavirus-testing-error-resolved-by-throwing-away-reagent-2020-3">struggled with early delays</a> in getting diagnostic tests distributed and available, is testing around 56 out of every 1,000 people.Public-health experts agree that widespread testing is critical to know whether an outbreak is contained."I think there has been no testing at all here in Sweden, more or less," Karolin said. "That is the biggest mistake ever in this country that they haven't tested anyone."<h2>Those without life-threatening symptoms struggle to obtain tests</h2>Sweden initially limited tests to hospital patients and healthcare staff.But even Katharina, a 45-year-old doctor living near Gothenburg, said she couldn't get tested.Katharina, who requested to go by her first name due to the nature of her work, told Business Insider she visited the emergency room three times with headaches, a sore throat, cough, and shortness of breath. Her husband, however, got tested two weeks after developing mild symptoms because he works with pediatric cancer patients, she said. The results came back negative."I have the impression it's really impossible to get one," Katharina said. "I don't know who gets it, actually, because you have to be really, really sick."<div type="image" title="Sweden coronavirus" height="1200" width="1800" msid="76327750" hostid="261"></div>On May 19, Sweden <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20200519/sweden-expands-coronavirus-testing-to-include-people-with-mild-symptoms">announced that it would expand testing</a> to include those with mild symptoms. As of May 8, about 1,000 people were being tested in Stockholm per day, according to <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20200508/lack-of-clarity-over-swedens-coronavirus-testing-goal-of-100000">TheLocal.se</a>, an English-language <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> service for Sweden. By comparison, New York City was <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nyc-coronavirus-testing-test-new-york-city-citymd/6190928/">conducting around 20,000 daily tests</a> as of May 17.Christina Dahlgren, an architect in Malmo who has been sick for eight weeks, said she has called her general practitioner every week to ask about a test. Before Monday, she hadn't gotten past the receptionist, she told Business Insider. At the start of her illness, Dahlgren said, she developed a headache, body aches, chills, sore throat, and diarrhea. These days, she primarily feels fatigued and has experienced nerve pain in her hands and feet. When she finally spoke to a doctor this week, however, Dahlgren was told that a diagnostic test had to be performed within a few days after her symptoms arrived.Daryl Tunster, a 37-year-old living in Sweden's southernmost county, Skåne, said he hasn't gotten a test, either — despite having shortness of breath since March."It's still not easy to get tested unless you are admitted to hospital," he said.<h2>Without a test, sick residents struggle to get care</h2>Most of the Swedish residents with potential coronavirus symptoms who spoke to Business Insider said it's difficult to receive medical care without definitive proof that they're sick. "I worry that without a formal diagnosis, I won't get the help I need in the future," Tunster said. "It's been tough 'knowing' you have the disease that is killing so many people worldwide, and feeling like you aren't taken seriously."A <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606082345/http://www.healthpowerhouse.com/files/EHCI_2015/EHCI_2015_report.pdf">2015 report</a> from Swedish think tank Health Consumer Powerhouse found that Sweden's health care system "has a long tradition of steering patients away from taking up time for their doctor" unless a patient is "really sick."During the second week of his illness, Tunster was so fatigued, he couldn't stand. But even then, he said, healthcare professionals told him to drink fluids and call an ambulance if he couldn't breathe.Karolin, meanwhile, said her doctor told her she didn't have the coronavirus because she had been sick for more than two weeks. Scientists are learning, however, that coronavirus patients can be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mild-coronavirus-cases-recovery-symptoms-last-a-month-2020-4">sick for several months</a>.Karolin joined two online groups for coronavirus patients: a Swedish forum on Facebook, and an American forum on Slack. The American patients, she said, seem to be communicating more often with their doctors and receiving better care."If you look at the Swedish group that I'm in, they don't get scans of the lungs. They get some help, but a very, very small amount," she said. "It's not in any way close to the things people talk about in the American group."Katrin Rychel, a 41-year-old PhD candidate from from the US, moved to Sweden eight years ago. She told Business Insider she developed a fever, sore throat, body aches, nasal congestion, and chest pain around March 17. Her chest pain still hasn't gone away."I always joke about how every time I try to call the doctor, they just tell me to rest and drink water, even though I'm the kind of person who doesn't call unless I'm really, really, really sick," she said. "You constantly have to advocate for yourself."Rychel said she's been told there are no tests available in her city, Uppsala, which is about 30 minutes outside Stockholm. The area is served by Sweden's oldest university hospital, Akademiska. "They should have the facilities, but I don't know why there are no tests," Rychel said. "The ER doctor said that he heard that there might be someplace in Stockholm that can do it, but he wasn't sure." <h2>Sweden's high death rate may be a product of limited testing</h2><div type="image" title="Sweden coronavirus" height="682" width="1024" msid="76235418" hostid="261"></div>Sweden has more coronavirus deaths per capita than most other countries: around 43 deaths for every 100,000 residents. That's lower than in Belgium, Spain, and Italy, but more than in Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and Germany. As of June 2, the US had around 32 deaths per 100,000 residents.Sweden's death rate — a calculation that divides the number of coronavirus deaths by the number of cases — is also quite high. Around <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality">11% of people officially given a COVID-19 diagnosis</a> in Sweden have died compared to 6% in the US and 5% in Germany.Sweden's high death rate could be partially explained by the fact that around half of the country's COVID-19 deaths were in nursing homes, <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/sweden-forced-to-face-runaway-covid-19-care-home-deaths-1.4253784">and around 88% were people over 70</a>. (The country didn't ban visits to nursing homes until March 31.) But Sweden's low testing capacity could also be inflating its death rate, since the rate tends to drop when widespread testing catches more mild cases."They are simply not testing. There is no testing going on at a significant rate compared to any other developed nation," Marcus Carlsson, a mathematician at Lund University, told Business Insider. "We are totally in the dark. This is not an example to follow."Karolin said Sweden's lack of testing is reflective of a general attitude that the virus isn't a serious threat."We have a lot of deaths, but a common discussion around that is that it's the elderly," she said. Since the start of the pandemic, healthy Swedish residents have been allowed to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-what-life-is-like-sweden-with-no-lockdown-guidelines-2020-5">go to restaurants, bars, parks, and retail stores</a>. Currently, Sweden's public-health agency does not recommend face masks for the public. Vulnerable groups, including the elderly, have been urged to stay home. But schools have remained open.When she first developed symptoms, Rychel said, she called Vårdguiden to ask if she should keep her kids home. She was concerned they could pass the illness to others, but the health line told her not to worry."They're like, 'No, just send them to school. They don't have symptoms. They're fine,'" Rychel said. "I felt really uncomfortable about that."<h2>'You can turn out like me'</h2><div type="image" title="Sweden coronavirus memorial" height="853" width="1280" msid="76235419" hostid="261"></div>Katharina, who is originally from Germany, said she has thought about returning there to receive better care. "I really love the Swedish system, but I don't understand what's happening here," she said. "People know by now that something didn't work out right."Even at the supermarket, she said, she often sees people ignore social-distancing guidelines."It's not so difficult here to keep social distance," Katharina said. "You have so much room here. So many people didn't have to die."Rychel said she hasn't seen a single person wear a face mask."I'm trying to educate my friends who are out and going to bars," she said. "I'm like, 'You guys, you really need to be smart about this, because you think that you're young and you won't get it, but you can turn out like me.'"But Karolin said she has found it difficult to convince friends that she might have the coronavirus."People that are like me, we don't exist," Karolin said, referring to those who haven't tested positive but show symptoms. "If I talk to friends and family, it feels almost like they don't trust me anymore."To be safe, Karolin said, she is self-isolating in a hotel. Her teenage son is still at home, and on Thursday, he finished his second year of high school. For now, she's decided not to congratulate him in person."I cannot meet him because I don't want to risk anything," she said. "I don't want to put anyone into this situation."

Sweden never locked down and isn't testing widely for the coronavirus. Residents with COVID-19 symptoms say they feel invisible.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">clarissa rossarola / Flickr</div></div></div>Losing one night of sleep may do far more damage to your body than simply making you groggy the next day.A few years ago, scientists figured out which <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7424/full/nature11704.html">genes are associated with your biological clock</a> - the thing that wakes you up in the morning and tells you when you need to get some sleep. These so-called <a href="https://www.unifr.ch/biochem/assets/files/albrecht/publications/AlbrechtRipperger.pdf">"clock genes"</a> make proteins that rise and fall throughout the day and control various bodily functions, including when we sleep and and when we wake up. Our body clocks also help regulate many other things, from our body temperature to our heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. In a small <a href="http://press.endocrine.org/doi/pdf/10.1210/JC.2015-2284">study published earlier this month</a>, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden found out that our "clock genes," like <a href="http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/intro/">many</a> of our other genes, may be negatively affected by external factors in our environment, a field of research known as epigenetics. And these changes, they hypothesized, could take place over the course of just a single night of missed sleep.While epigenetics itself is still a pretty new field, scientists are discovering that the genes that are altered in this way - known collectively as our epigenome - are affected by everything from what we eat to how stressed we are.It's important to keep in mind that the effects the researchers observed didn't involve changes to the genes themselves, but rather in how they were expressed. Researchers liken these effects to switching genes on our off. And not sleeping - even for just a single night - appeared to switch some genes off.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/carloszgz/15812476716/in/photolist-q6i5qU-owerM1-ovZkHV-oubgav-ow4oEm-owfotq-oueoPo-oeKUfF-oeKoJs-ovYKkM-owhd3e-oew2or-oy4UyB-ow8GZr-ovNdrB-oeVTgV-owss1G-ocWhHX-oetQuq-otVvVt-oy2ARM-ovZM1i-ocHMHj-odcxuo-ow4Q4Y-rpG6iT-ounPEt-osbKdC-oe3tFd-osji5j">Flickr / Carloso ZGZ</a>This can't be comfortable.</div></div></div>To get their results, the researchers had 15 healthy men in their early 20s spend two nights in a lab. On one of the nights they got to sleep a full eight hours, but on the other night they had to stay awake, which the researchers ensured by keeping a close eye on them and not letting them get into bed.On both mornings, the researchers collected samples of connective tissue below the skin and skeletal muscle to get a look at their genes.In just one night of not sleeping, some genes appeared to have been hypermethylated, or essentially switched off. That could be bad news for the metabolism, since some of the genes that are affected by lack of sleep are also the genes that break down the sugar from the food we eat. If these blood-sugar-processing-genes are silenced, they can't to do their job. Christopher Payne, a professor of human molecular genetics at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, expressed some concerns over the limitations of the study: particularly the small sample size, the fact that they only looked at two samples of tissues and only studied four genes. But, there's one positive thing the study did find, Payne said:"The study does provide evidence that there are measurable changes to the circadian clock from just one lost night of sleep."The researchers haven't figured out if these changes are permanent yet. Payne said from what we know about epigenetics, the changes are likely reversible, so long as they're not consistently repeated. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/3-tips-get-good-night-sleep-rest-fall-asleep-2015-3">3 keys to getting a good night's sleep</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lybmQ1dDoYt2pnk5ebIu92OEwrmuGzj5" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Not getting enough sleep might be way worse for you than we thought

Sweden's renegade COVID-19 policy looks like a disaster — but the country is quietly determined to see it through despite the cost in lives

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/angryjuliemonday/5422360488/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Flickr user angryjuliemonday</a></div></div>When you lose out on even just one night of <keyword id="6372996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sleep">sleep</keyword> you end up binging on <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword>, especially high calorie food, a new study suggests. 
Not only does a loss of sleep decrease your self-control and decision-making abilities, but it also seems to make you hungrier. These two factors work together to make you reach for that donut after losing sleep. 
"We hypothesized that <keyword id="72481" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sleep-deprivation">sleep deprivation</keyword>'s impact on hunger and decision making would make for the 'perfect storm' with regard to shopping and food purchasing-leaving individuals hungrier and less capable of employing self-control and higher-level decision-making processes to avoid making impulsive, calorie-driven purchases," study researcher Colin Chapman, of Uppsala University, <a href="http://dmmsclick.wiley.com/view.asp?m=79vxw4myi6wl7a67ac9f&amp;u=22723996&amp;f=h" target="_blank">said in a press release</a>.
The new study was published <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20579/abstract" target="_blank">Sept.5 in the journal Obesity</a>. The researchers kept 14 normal-weight people away overnight, given breakfast, then gave them $50 to go grocery shopping. Half of the foods they could choose from were low-calorie, and half were high-calorie. 
The subjects ended up buying more calories, and more food, than they did if they weren't sleep deprived. Even though the men had eaten, they had higher levels of ghrelin in their blood, a hormone that makes you feel hungry and want to eat. 
The new study builds on a bunch of older research about sleep and <keyword id="6364492" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Obesity">obesity</keyword>. When low on sleep <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/overweight-the-culprit-may-be-your-sleeping-habits-2012-6" target="_blank">our brains crave fattier foods</a>, likely because they will provide a quick burst of energy. 
Another study showed that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sleep-deprivation-is-making-you-fat-2012-10" target="_blank">losing sleep disrupts your metabolism</a>, changing the way your fat cells respond to insulin, the hormone released when we eat sugar. Sleep deprived people reacted to insulin in ways similar to diabetics.
Keeping up a normal sleep schedule and get eight full hours a night may help people lose weight and eat less.

You Searched For "uppsala university" and got 7 results

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10 people in Sweden told us their trust in the government is dwindling as it pivots away from its no-lockdown coronavirus policy

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Hilary Brueck

Sweden never locked down and isn't testing widely for the coronavirus. Residents with COVID-19 symptoms say they feel invisible.

Aria Bendix,Sinéad Baker

Not getting enough sleep might be way worse for you than we thought

Lydia Ramsey

Sweden's renegade COVID-19 policy looks like a disaster — but the country is quietly determined to see it through despite the cost in lives

Sinéad Baker

Losing Sleep Makes You Buy Higher-Calorie Food

Jennifer Welsh