Tag Archives: Covid-19

Dr. C "Comments", Men's Health, Women's Health

HEALTH: HOW SLEEP HAS CHANGED DURING COVID-19

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From the Wall Street Journal (June 1, 2020):

“The biggest problem has been staying asleep,” says Philip Muskin, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “People aren’t exercising, their days have no structure at all.”

Preliminary results from a survey taken by around 1,600 people from 60 countries show that 46% reported poor sleep during the pandemic, while only 25% said they had slept poorly before it, according to Melinda Jackson, a senior lecturer at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University in Melbourne, who studies how stressful events affect people’s sleep. Forty percent also reported increased alcohol consumption.

The key is to prevent the sleep problem from becoming chronic, she says. It is important to avoid associating your bed or bedroom with a place where you are awake. Experts recommend that if you can’t fall asleep, or wake up in the middle of the night and are unable to go back to sleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed and do something relaxing.

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Dr. C "Comments", Men's Health, Prevention, Women's Health

COVID-19: CASE SEVERITY IS DEPENDENT ON VIRAL LOAD

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From the New York Times

….in the case of the new coronavirus, people who have no symptoms seem to have viral loads — that is, the amount of virus in their bodies — just as high as those who are seriously ill, according to some studies.

Harry Henri, a research assistant, working with blood samples from coronavirus patients at SUNY Downstate’s BioBank in Brooklyn.Credit…Misha Friedman for The New York Times

When experts recommend wearing masks, staying at least six feet away from others, washing your hands frequently and avoiding crowded spaces, what they’re really saying is: Try to minimize the amount of virus you encounter.

A few viral particles cannot make you sick — the immune system would vanquish the intruders before they could. But how much virus is needed for an infection to take root? What is the minimum effective dose?

And coronavirus patients are most infectious two to three days before symptoms begin, less so after the illness really hits.

Some people are generous transmitters of the coronavirus; others are stingy. So-called super-spreaders seem to be particularly gifted in transmitting it, although it’s unclear whether that’s because of their biology or their behavior.

On the receiving end, the shape of a person’s nostrils and the amount of nose hair and mucus present — as well as the distribution of certain cellular receptors in the airway that the virus needs to latch on to — can all influence how much virus it takes to become infected.

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COMMENTARY

Dr. C "Comments", Prevention, Videos

HEALTH: THE HISTORY OF FACEMASKS AND DISEASE THROUGH THE CENTURIES

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Originating during the Black Death of the Middle Ages, face coverings to protect against the transmission of disease are not just medical requirements; they’re now a fashion statement. Mark Phillips talks with medical historian Mark Honigsbaum (“The Pandemic Century”) about the purpose and style of facemasks.

COMMENTARY

Medicine has always operated in the context of theory, which is easier to generate than fact. The medieval physician with the “bird mask” thought he was protecting himself from “miasma”, which was theorized to be the means by which PLAGUE was spread. In fact, the masks’ main function was to hide his identity from his Patient, whom he could not help. The painting makes him appear to be the Grim Reaper himself.

The story of Guaiac, another illustration medieval medicine, is entwined with Syphillis, the stigmatizing STD of post Columbian Europe. Each country blamed Syphillis on its’ rival- the English called it the French disease, for instance-until they were able to blame it on the “new world”. Since it came from the Americas, so must its’ HERBAL REMEDY, according to theory.

GUAIAIC, the resin from the small tree from the Caribbean, became a popular cure. It might have even lessened suffering from Siphillis, since it was used instead of the highly toxic MERCURY.

Guaiac eventually found a use in Criminology, as a test for blood at the crime scene. When Guaiac is mixed with a suspicious spot and peroxide, it changes color rapidly to a bright blue. Medicine later used Guaiac as a test for hidden (occult) Blood In the stool; a positive, brilliant blue test throws suspicion on intestinal cancer as the culprit.

We come full circle to present day mask usage in the Covid epidemic. Some countries outlaw masks because masks interfere with criminal investigation. This interdict had to be relaxed during The Pandemic. How convenient for the rioters and looters in Minnesota!

—Dr. C.

In The Lab, Medicine, PODCASTS, Rx

CORONAVIRUS: CONFUSING HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE STUDIES (NATURE PODCAST)

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President Trump’s preferred coronavirus treatment is the focus of a new study suggesting it could cause more harm than good, but not everybody agrees. We discuss the fallout as trials around the world are paused and countries diverge over policy advice.

12:12 Are we rushing science?

Coronavirus papers are being published extremely quickly, while normally healthy scientific debate is being blown up in the world’s press. Is there a balancing act between timely research and accurate messaging?

18:49 One good thing

Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last week, including hedgerow brews and a trip into the past using AI.

Recipe: Elderflower ‘Champagne’

Video: Denis Shiryaev restores historic footage with AI

22:30 The latest coronavirus research papers

Noah Baker takes a look through some of the key coronavirus papers of the last few weeks.

News: Coronavirus research updates

medRxiv: Full genome viral sequences inform patterns of SARS-CoV-2 spread into and within Israel

Harvard Library: Reductions in commuting mobility predict geographic differences in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in New York City

Science: DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques

Opinion, Resources

DR. C’S MEDICINE CABINET: “OVERVIEW OF METABOLISM”

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“Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest”.

Albert Szent-Gyorgy

Overview of Metabolism – Seeing an Essence of Nanosystems in the Hum of a Vibrant City; the Skyscraper as Catalyst, and Thought as Electron

What did it take to bring the world to its’ knees? SARS-CoV2? We will never know, because we instituted DISTANCING to control the virus because the projected number of deaths were unacceptable.

The distancing and isolation did hold the number of deaths, still large, below projection. However, it DEVASTATED our Economy.

OUR WORLD is a  massive, cooperative, interdependent system, with hubs, factories, supply chains and a myriad of products. It is a COMPLEX SYSTEM.

I would like to use the world as an analogy, and compare it to another Complex System, the HUMAN BODY.

Our bodies are essentially a large pile of chemicals (mostly proteins) in a sack, our skin. These chemicals are constantly interacting with each other. If they grow to larger, more complex chemicals in a process we call anabolism, we take in more chemicals and energy by eating, and get bigger. If our chemicals get less numerous and complex in a process we call catabolism, we lose weight and get smaller.

Some of the proteins in our bodies are ENZYMES, and bring other proteins CLOSER TOGETHER, so that they can LINK TOGETHER  become more complex and PRODUCE things. Enzymes are a sine qua non of life. Without enzymes, life would slow so much as to be impossible. 

Let’s go back to our Society, Before Covid. 

Vast numbers of people are cooperating in close proximity, working together with machines, often supplied by other people far away, making things. This process takes place most efficiently in CITIES, where people are in closest proximity, doing things together.

Enter Covid. This interdependent process stops. What things that are produced are made to fight Covid. It is just like one of our cells infected by Covid: we have been HIJACKED  by the virus!

Lets’ GO BACK TO OUR CELLS. Our METABOLISM is like our teeming, cooperative CITIES, with SUPPLY CHAINS, factories and products. Our PROTEINS NEED PROXIMITY to function.

Some Proteins are at a critical HUB, and comprise a RATE-LIMITING step in the production line.

Many Vitamins and nutrients are COENZYMES, and act to ACCELERATE critical supply lines.

If the Hubs are OUT OF BALANCE and OVERACTIVE, many MEDICATIONS act to BLOCK THE ACTION of an enzyme to bring the system closer to balance.

Thus coordination, cooperation and careful monitoring to PREVENT A PROBLEM is superior to letting it break down and correcting the imbalance.

I hope that this Overview will be helpful. I will go through my MEDICINE CABINET to discuss a few of the 20,000 or so Medications approved by the FDA. I will also VIEW THE TEST RESULTS from my LABORATORY TESTS. NORMAL results show a SYSTEM IN BALANCE. Abnormal results show inefficiencies in the metabolism (supply chains, hubs), which need correction to restore balance.   

— Dr. C

Dr. C "Comments", Resources, TELEMEDICINE

TELEMEDICINE 2020: guidance to move forward in a POST-PANDEMIC world

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From a John Locke Foundation article (May 13, 2020):

A combination of stay-at-home orders, recommendations from health professionals, and the rollback of restrictive telehealth regulations boosted the use of telehealth.

….with an eye toward the future, the authors offer recommendations for all interested parties to consider moving forward. These recommendations were informed by our research and a stakeholder meeting of industry groups who work with telehealth. These groups included Doctor on Demand, the American Medical Association, and the Center for Connected Health Policy. The paper’s recommendations are as follows:

  1. Data on COVID-19 telehealth administration and programs must be collected and analyzed.
  2. Regulatory flexibility should be built into telehealth to accommodate the range of use cases.
  3. Telehealth services should be utilized for primary care to reduce service redundancies.
  4. States should be empowered to move away from parity models to reduce the cost of telehealth services.
  5. Telehealth services should be available to the medically underserved.
  6. Innovation, privacy, and data security in telehealth services should be the norm.

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COMMENTARY

Telemedicine  is an “almost perfect” extension of Medical Care for the Covid epidemic (1). As we ease away from Panic, we will not be abandoning distancing, cleanliness, and other personal measures that keep us well. SARS-CoV-2, or the next Pandemic Virus will be lurking in the background. 

Likewise, Medicine will always embrace Telemedicine for its’ convenience, safety, and efficiency, if we can overcome the roadblocks discussed in the above article.

One efficiency in particular, discussed in the previous RPA( from Australia) article stood out; the use of Nurse-triage to direct telephone (or someday audio-visual) Patients to the most appropriate destination; ER, Urgent Care, after-hours clinic, or home care.

The Schmidtt-Thompson protocol ( which guides triage) has been used since 1980, having stood the test of time and lawyers. It is available in electronic form, and when fully automated, it should be made available without cost.

Just imagine all of the unnecessary ER visits And Physician Visits potentially saved!

Telemedicine has indeed added convenience and safety in the Era ( it seems like forever) of Covid.

There are many Telemedicine ideas that will still be used when Covid hopefully  takes its’ place in the Influenza immunization vial.

—Dr. C.

Dr. C "Comments", Men's Health, TELEMEDICINE, Videos, Women's Health

TELEMEDICINE BENEFITS: PATIENT’S “CONVENIENCE & SAFETY” TOP THE LIST

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From a Permanente.org online article (May 11, 2020):

“Our patients are glad we offer telehealth options because they don’t want to come to the medical centers. This allows them to stay home and stay safe,” Dr. Lee says. “Before, telehealth was a choice and convenience, but now it’s one of the ways patients remain healthy with social distancing.”

The majority of telehealth visits are phone appointments, but Dr. Lee says video usage is increasing as more patients become comfortable with the platform.

Telehealth can also include services such as remote patient monitoring, which allows patients to take blood pressure measurements and blood sugar readings at home so that their care teams can monitor ongoing health conditions. In the case of the Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States region, doctors also use telehealth to do rounds virtually for patients who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

Patients at higher risk for complications are given pulse oximeters so their doctor can monitor for signs of severe respiratory infection before other symptoms might indicate a need for additional care, including hospitalization.

COMMENTARY

TELEHEALTH is HERE TO STAY. It came in with the telephone, and has been gaining in recent decades. The distancing and Patient convenience so characteristic of Telehealth made it a natural fit for Covid 19, which has accelerated its’ adoption.

Your CLINICAL HISTORY, led by the Story of your Present Illness, has since time immemorial been the MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT leading to accurate  DIAGNOSIS. During a TELEMEDICINE VISIT, your doctor must make the MOST out of your clinical history. She can’t do a proper Physical Exam, although she can usually see you, and maybe direct a SELF exam. Teledata, such as EKG,B.P., and blood sugar will become increasingly available.

Your Doctor can usually get enough information to order Lab work and Imaging; and prolix ordering can be tempered, since a good HISTORY of the PRESENT ILLNESS, systems review, past and family history can narrow the diagnostic possibilities considerably. The pressure of time and demanding computer Records may lead the overworked Doctor to use Lab Tests to make up for insufficient Medical History.

Integrated medical systems, such as Kaiser, can also easily access your past medical information, one of the advantages of having everything under one roof.

Informed Patients, SELF-EDUCATING themselves from the vast trove of medical information on the internet (and maybe DWWR) can author their own MEDICAL NARRATIVE, or at least make the Doctors job easier.

—Dr. C.

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Dr. C "Comments", Men's Health, Videos, Women's Health

HEALTH: “HOW THE BODY CLEARS COVID-19” (VIDEO)

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Understanding how the body clears the new coronavirus is becoming more important as the U.S. begins to reopen. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains how the body fights infection and why feeling better doesn’t equal being virus-free. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

COMMENTARY

This excellent video is well worth watching and listening to. It revisits how the immune system, both innate and adaptive responds to SARS CoV and other viruses.

It shows graphically how long the body takes to clear the the Covid 19 virus.

And it makes me, a susceptible 88 year old, even more alert to infection. We should keep our guards up.

Even if an effective vaccine is found, it will probably take its place, incorporated into influenza vaccine as an annual immunization.

Dr. C.

Opinion

OPINION: “HIGH ANXIETY IN THE TIME OF COVID-19”

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“Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. FORGET YOURSELF.“

Henry Miller

Individualism and authenticity are highly valued traits in a free democratic society. My own concepts of American ideals canonize the  associated freedom. But there is never a “free lunch” in the realm of human nature.

Roy F. Baumeister’s  Book, “Escaping The Self” (which I read a couple of decades ago and either loaned out or lost) started me thinking about the BURDEN OF SELFHOOD. I recently listened to a BBC podcast on the Philosophy of Authenticity (BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time has upwards of 1000 forty-five-minute programs on topics I recommend highly). They discussed the  plight of the “Existential Hero”, and rekindled my interest in the over-demanding Self,  which idea I will argue can help guide an approach to ANXIETY.

Cooped in by SARS CoV-2, the U.S. has experienced a sharp rise in Anxiety and Depression. The Pandemic has deprived us of the sociability, diversions and travel that had previously lured us outside ourselves, and our jobs (except for the computer-connected) which give us purpose. The connectivity (and self-abnegation preached) in religious services has long been on the wane in secular America, and Covid 19 has temporarily closed the remaining Houses of Worship.

How does the Idea of getting OUTSIDE OURSELVES help the person in the grips of Anxiety? If nothing else, it serves as an organizing principle for the CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR (eg. CBT) necessary for lessening Anxiety. Changes in behavior are necessary; you cannot merely will Anxiety away.

IMAGINE the self as an expensive over-large HOUSE. It’s construction started at the moment of your birth, and progressed through infancy (perhaps with a few defects- we can always blame our parents – i.e. attachment theory). It was damaged by Adolescence, improved by our education and occupation, and remodeling continues our entire lives.

Being restricted to our homes is like Solitary Confinement. Having only our own minds to keep us company is severe punishment for 99% of humanity. What would you do if deprived of the internet and confined to a mountain cabin for just one day?  We are used to pervasive and instant connectivity. Our norms of isolation now would have been considered quite expansive just a generation ago. Well, maybe practice living with ourselves is a benefit of Covid – that which does not kill us, etc…

Using the house analogy, we spend a lot of Money and effort decorating the outside of the house  to impress our neighbors (‘amor propre’ of Rousseau). Spending time on Facebook rather than improving the inside, via  re-framing and behavioral change. The many rooms of the house also suggests the many compartments of the mind, some of which are more accessible than others, some almost unknown.

The analogy is far from perfect. For one thing our house should have legs to let us, the little person inside (the ‘homunculus’ of consciousness metaphor), walk our expensive and beloved (I hope) house through the world. Or better yet, ESCAPE IT BY OUTWARD FOCUS.

The ‘yourself-embracing reality’, out in the world, without the distortions (and protections) of your carefully crafted identity.

Do you dare?

Service (work) gets you outside yourself. To quote Kant:

“I slept and dreamt that life that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold, service was joy.”

Mindfulness (meditation) gets you outside yourself, to focus on the outside world. The religions of the world prescribe much of our behavior, defining our self-importance, and our expensive houses as “pride”, as something to diminish.

The word Ecstasy (not the recreational drug) is from the Greek (“to step outside oneself”). Ecstasy ( as well as orgasm, i.e. Woody Allen) may be OK occasionally, but for every day, most of us would prefer the Delphic Oracle admonition: “Medan agan (μηδὲν ἄγαν) – “Nothing in Excess”.

Enough hot air already! For those who prefer practical tips or neurobiology to conceptual framework, see the articles below.

-Dr. C.

Article #1

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