There are lots of things you can do to prevent heart disease! The key is to live a healthy lifestyle and see your doctor for regular checkups.
To learn more about heart disease risk factors, please visit https://cle.clinic/3r3iKQh
Videos
HEALTHY DIETS: BALANCED CARBOHYDRATE RATIO – LOW FREE SUGARS + HIGH FIBER
Are all carbohydrates equally important to you? Considering carbohydrate quantity but also quality has a crucial importance for a healthy and balanced nutrition. Balanced Carbohydrate Ratio has been developed and scientifically proven in order to identify products and diets with the most optimal carbohydrate content.
ANALYSIS: ‘HEALTH CARE REFORM IN THE BIDEN ERA’
President Biden has released a health care plan that proposes reducing the age of eligibility for Medicare to 60 years and introducing a public option. Larry Levitt, MPP, Executive Vice President for Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Karen Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, Co-Director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy (CHEP) at @Washington University School of Medicine, and Lawrence O. Gostin, JD from the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University discuss prospects for health care reform under the new administration. Recorded January 21, 2021.
MEDICAL VIEWS: ‘MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH’
Macular degeneration is a leading cause of visual impairment in people over 65 and can lead to blindness. One in three people will eventually suffer some degree of macular degeneration, which is caused by abnormal blood vessels under the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye. We treat both the more common “dry” as well as the more dangerous “wet” forms of macular degeneration. While there is currently no cure for this disease, we offer the latest treatments to reduce the risk of vision loss and blindness. These include anti-VEGF drugs—which attack proteins that create the abnormal blood vessels that cause macular degeneration—and photodynamic therapy, in which patients ingest medication that is then activated with a laser.
To learn more about macular disease at Yale, visit: https://www.yalemedicine.org/departme….
COMMENTARY:
This high quality video shows several aspects of macular degeneration. It discusses treatments with stem cells that are in the research phase; in the future there may be replacements for the abnormal support cells, the vascular cells and pigmented epithelium, that are diseased in macular degeneration.
Current treatment centers on control of abnormal blood vessels either by photo active laser, laser coagulation, or anti-VEGF.
Macular degeneration has two forms, wet and dry. The wet macular degeneration has accumulations, or Drusen, under the epithelium. There are also machines to check the thickness of the macula, which is an aid in diagnosis.
The main symptom of macular degeneration or loss of vision especially in The center of the visual field, which is essential for reading.
As I mentioned in my podcast, I made a posting on macular degeneration that includes an amsler grid. Some early symptoms of macular degeneration include waviness of the lines of this grid. Certainly if you have any visual distortion or loss you should see an ophthalmologist.
If your medical plan permits it, I feel but a regular check buy an ophthalmologist approximately every 6 to 12 months, is very useful. My own ophthalmologist checks my retinal thickness, optic nerve, pressure and peripheral Field ( to pick up glaucoma) as well as my vision on each visit.
Dr. C.
COVID-19: ‘WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE NEW MUTATIONS’
As new coronavirus variants sweep across the world, scientists are racing to understand how dangerous they could be. WSJ explains. Illustration: Alex Kuzoian/WSJ
Innovations: New ‘Remote Patient Monitor’ – Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, ECG
HD Medical touts the world’s first intelligent stethoscope and ECG that doesn’t need long wires and can monitor heart health remotely.
Analysis: ‘The Explosive Growth Of Telemedical Healthcare In 2020’ (Video)
Join CNET during CES 2021 for talks with three medical luminaries to discuss what we’ve gained — and need to fix — with telehealth over a turbulent pandemic year.
COVID-19: ‘HOW MRNA VACCINES WORK’ (VIDEO)
Messenger RNA—or mRNA—vaccines have been in development for decades, and are now approved for use against COVID-19. Here’s how they work and what you should know about them. Visit https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19 for even more resources.
Covid-19: ‘mRNA Vaccine – How It Works’ (Video)
Its decision time for Covid vaccines, especially for 88-year olds. The choice is among live-attenuated vaccines, whole virus vaccines, Split virus vaccines, and RNA vaccines, and I prefer the latter because of its simplicity. It delivers just the mRNA coding for covid spike protein, without the risk of a live vaccine, and the extra substances in whole and split- virus vaccines.
mRNA utilization for a vaccine is not new technology. The idea has been floating around for decades in cancer immunotherapy research. The sophisticated understanding of the technology is reassuring. It has a high efficacy, approaching 95%. Between the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, I prefer the Moderna vaccine, because the Company was already working on a mRNA platform for MERS, a Covid-family virus, and has developed their own lipid capsule as a vector.
The Moderna vaccine does not require the extremely low storage temperatures like the Pfizer product. With all production located within the company, Moderna will be ready to go if a new strain nullifies covid 19 vaccines, or if another virus spreads worldwide. Timing is important. The mRNA vaccine requires 2 doses. I intend to take the first Moderna dose when I can get it locally without standing in line.
Since I intend to continue Masking and Distancing until the cases in my community are low, I will probably delay the second dose until summer, to increase my likelihood of effective antibody levels this coming fall and winter. Also, there will be more information by that time on the Vaccine’s effectiveness and duration in the Elderly.
The pathogenicity of the English, or any other newly mutant strain will be hopefully known by Summer. The rapid Covid test using sputum, and outpatient treatment with monoclonal and convalescent antibodies for early cases will then be available. I want a treatment plan in case I get infected. This is a treacherous, nasty infection.
–Dr. C
WOMEN’S HEALTH: HOW ‘HPV (HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS) LINKS TO CERVICAL CANCER’
This video tells the story of Ana, a cervical cancer survivor, who encourages women to recognize abnormal Paps as an opportunity to speak to your doctor about gynecologic health.
Doctors Without Waiting Rooms 