General Wellness

COVID-19, CYBER SICKNESS and HAIR LOSS

CYBER SICKNESS. This issue started to creep into our healthcare world long before Covid but the significant increase in screen time as a result of isolation and working from home has definitely increased its prevalence. Symptoms like eye strain, visual changes, headaches, sleeping problems and dizziness are all related to increased screen time. Our brains simply did not evolve to sit in front of a screen all day long, stimulating the virtual cortex with little else useful going on. Sitting in front of a screen also increases the chances of watching videos and news reports, the vast majority of which are negative, which increase stress. There are some early studies suggesting that early childhood exposure to all the screens impact on vision as a teen and adult. Some helpful hints to try to mitigate all the screen time include:

• Take lots of breaks. Get up and walk around at set intervals. Set an alarm on whatever device you use to remind you to move. Do some calisthenics regularly to move your blood and your muscles, not to mention giving your eyes and brain a break.
• Wear blue light blocking glasses which reduce eye strain. This is particularly important within 2 hours of bed since ALL screens decrease melatonin production, which dramatically impacts on sleep latency, duration as well as quality. Lower melatonin levels have also been linked to poorer outcomes from SARS-Cov-2 infections.
• Get a standup desk. Just standing and doing your work makes a big difference.
• Dim the screen. Definitely set the automatic dimming settings which most devices now have.
• Get off the darn device! And when you take a break, don’t look at another screen (ie binging on Netflix on TV). What’s the point of that? Go outside.

HAIR LOSS. At any one time, 1/3rd of your hair is growing, 1/3rd is falling out and 1/3rd is just sitting there doing nothing. Stress has been certainly linked to hair loss and these times are understandably more stressful than what most people are used to. Not to panic though. The hair which falls out usually regrows eventually. Chronic stress however, does cause chronic release of cortisol which leads to increased weight and disrupts hormone production. There is a reason heavier people have thinner hair. Fat cells produce hormones and the hormone dysregulation leads to increased hair loss, specifically because of increased levels of testosterone (there is a reason they call it male-pattern-balding). All the hormones also increase insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) and increases the risks of hormonal cancers like breast and prostate. No simple answer to stress here. I can tell people up the wazoo to “stress less”. I wish I could take my own advice, and I do try really hard.

• Exercise and move more.
• Meditate and practice gratitude.
• Eat better (less caffeine, fat, salt and sugar)
• Sleep better.
• Appreciate what you have and know that this will all pass eventually.

In the meantime, you got it:

• Wear a MASK and wear it properly covering your nose. PLEASE.
• DISTANCE when you have to be out.
• WASH your hands and use proper hand sanitizer judiciously (there are some crappy sanitizers out there so read labels).
• Get VACCINATED for the flu.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎😷

In case you don’t want to read the whole post, let me summarize:

NO. In US studies, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Zithromax have NOT been shown to significantly help treat Covid-19. In fact, they have caused much more damage, through heart arrhythmias, heart attacks and even death. This has been seen in numerous studies all over the US, as well as locally, at the hospitals I work at. A respected local infectious disease specialist I know well, agrees.

Just as a reminder, Hydroxychloroquine is a drug originally developed to treat Malaria, a disease caused by a parasite, and Zithromax is an antibiotic, already overused to treat bacterial infections. 

SARS-Cov-2 is a VIRUS, not a parasite or bacterium. The antiviral Remdesivir, has been shown to help in some people. Makes sense.

So why are some studies in other countries showing some benefit? First of all, many of those studies have been re-evaluated and the benefits may not have been as good as they initially reported. Any benefit probably has to do with the fact that both drugs are also immune modulators, meaning that they impact on our immune response, decreasing inflammation. In fact, most antibiotics are immune modulators to some degree. That is why HCQ is also used as an effective treatment for the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. And, by the way, because of the inappropriate overuse of HCQ with covid, many RA patients are suffering because there is a shortage. 

So, the likely mechanism of it possibly showing some benefit is this dampening effect on the immune system. The problem is that, as immune modulators, they are not that potent, unlike dexamethasone (Decadron), a steroid, which has been shown to be effective in dampening the cytokine inflammatory storm..

In the meantime, by taking HCQ and Zithromax, you are killing healthy microbes in the intestines, which is where 70% of our immune system resides, and impair our health and ability to combat other infections and inflammatory processes.

In addition, people in other countries are simply healthier than Americans are so maybe their Covid patients are not as at much risk and would have gotten better anyway. Again, we rank somewhere in the 40s for both degree of chronic disease rate and life expectancy. We are also he mst overweight and obese coountry on the planet. We also take the most drugs. Is there a pattern here?

Why are some US doctors promoting these treatments based on their personal findings? Maybe their populations were also healthier overall or were not that sick with Covid to begin with. Maybe they have ulterior motives? Who knows. It is not clear.

As far as Zinc is concerned, it does impact on the ability for the virus to attach to the ACE-2 receptor, decreasing the risk of infection or the load of infection. HOWEVER, cofactors like Zinc and Vitamin D are only shown to be of benefit if you are deficient to begin with. If you are living a healthy lifestyle, getting some sun, eating your fruits and vegetables, and your levels are normal, supplementing won’t help. If you are not sure, just get tested.

Supplements or superfoods won’t make up for the rest of your diet being crappy, your sleep being poor, you being stressed or not exercising. In the same way, supplements and medications won’t make up for not practicing all the things we know you can do to minimize or avoid being infected with SARS-Cov-2.

WEAR YOUR MASK and wear it properly covering your nose. Stop touching it.

DISTANCE if you must go out or are with vulnerable people.

WASH YOUR HANDS.

WORK ON YOUR HEALTH.

GET VACCINATED, at least for the FLU.

Oh, and stop spraying your bananas 🍌 with windex 😜

Stay safe and be well. 

AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎😷