General Wellness

I heard this weekend comments from a Whitehouse spokesman that “masks don’t work” and that we should “open things up and achieve herd immunity by allowing our immune systems protect us and develop immunity to the virus”. 

I’ll get to some of the other reasons why this approach is seriously flawed below but to start,a fundamental issue that the above comments ignores is that the average American’s immunity and overall health sucks!

The US has one of the worst life expectancies and chronic disease rates of all developed countries. We are the fattest and the sickest. Most Americans have more than one serious chronic disease which puts almost everyone in the US as risk of Covid complications. Just looking at weight alone, 20% of people under 20 and 42% of all Americans are obese. In all, 70-75% of Americans are overweight or obese and just being overweight increases Covid complication rates significantly. 40% are on statins. Nearly half have elevated blood pressure. All of these conditions affect our immune systems. If more people get sick, more will die unnecessarily.

The other flawed assumption in the Whitehouse comments, ones which our President has shouted out many times, is that having gotten sick is no guarantee that you won’t catch it again. There are now numerous cases of people getting re-infected and studies on people who donated convalescent plasma show that their antibody levels wane within months. Now that doesn’t mean they have no protection since we can’t look at the number of antibody-generating lymphocytes in the blood of survivors which might kick if and when re-exposure occurs, but those do little to prevent re-infection. They might shorten the course but in the meantime, you are once again infectious to others and will spread it again.

Lastly, the spokesman doctor cherry picked data to support his claim. Regarding masks and catching the disease, he was quoting a CDC paper looking at risk factors in patients who caught the disease. 85% of them reported that they wore masks regularly. Based on that isolated stat, the doctor made his comment that masks don’t work. He neglected to report that all those who caught the virus also reported that they regularly ate at restaurants, inside, and did not socially distance very well. What that doctor said was irresponsible and unethical. He should be ashamed of himself.

Spewing lies and misinformation doesn’t help.

MASKS work.
DISTANCING works.
HAND WASHING works.
VENTILATION helps.
Get VACCINATED against the flu. It helps.

It’s never too late to get HEALTHIER. We need to accept we are not healthy. Getting there takes work. You can’t just take a pill.

• Stop eating crap. YES eat more fruits and vegetables. Less animal products. Karma is a bitch!
• Get off the couch and move.
• Work on your stress.
• Sleep better.
• Think about others. Less about yourself.

Stay safe and be well.

AC

MASK update

A recent study performed by a particle physicist confirmed what we already know. Masks are not perfect, but they work. He confirmed that large particles containing the virus can travel even farther than 6 feet, although the vast majority drop to the ground before that. Smaller particles can travel farther and stay suspended for much longer but are also dispersed to a much greater extent, even with a slight breeze or flow of air. He tested numerous masks, both commercial and home-made.

1. A simple bandana. Not great but it helps, limiting particle spread to under 4 feet.
2. A thicker cotton mask can limit spread to 2 feet or less and a double layer can cut it down to inches.
3. There is a lot of leakage from the top. So DISTANCING is still crucial but the point here is also that you MUST cover your nose and try to keep it snug around the bridge of the nose.
4. Valves make it easier to breath and can protect you quite a bit but do virtually nothing for those around you. Spread can go out quite far.
5. Shields may stop larger particles coughed or sneeze out, in both directions, but are NO substitute for a mask. They are OK but ONLY if accompanied by a mask.
6. They did not address the issue of gaiters specifically but as mentioned before, they can actually make things worse because the stretchy material converts larger particles into smaller ones and they can travel or get inhaled, farther and deeper.
7. Ventilation is still important indoors since small particles do accumulate. Any amount of airflow will dissipate them however. Open windows, use a fan, keep AC, or soon, heating, on.

Brain fluid leakage after a nasal swab. 

The issue here is not that a nasal swab is dangerous, just that it needs to be performed properly. There was a report of someone developing a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak after a nasal swab for Covid. This apparently did happen but the patient had previous extensive sinus surgery for a brain cyst (an encephalocele). As a result of that surgery, the bony barriers separating the brain and the nasal cavity were removed. The swab was incorrectly used, going upwards into the nose, rather than straight back. The swab inadvertently cracked the thin delicate bone, or possibly only lining, left behind. This can be patched and the patient should be fine. Again the point is that you should make sure that the person performing the swab, or you if it is a self-administered test, does it correctly. They should be uncomfortable but they are not dangerous.

NEW SYMPTOM – Hearing Loss.

There have been some case reports of people presenting with sudden hearing loss as their only presenting symptom. Although it is impossible to say for sure at this point the impact on human hearing, animal studies have shown that SARS Cov-2 does cause damage to the delicate hair cells in the inner ear (cochlea) resulting in hearing loss. We do know that Covid -19 does result in vasculitis (inflammation of arteries) leading to clots in almost any organ so it makes sense that it could potentially affect hearing. 

ANOTHER reason why you do NOT want to catch this virus.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC