March 29, 2020
Part II of the Truth and Lies. I spend some time yesterday looking for data-rich articles. It is a challenge to obtain reliable, data-driven information in near real-time—all the more reason to be skeptical.
Have a peaceful Sunday.
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Themes of hope and hard work: what leadership can sound like, even in tough times.
https://wcbs880.radio.com/articles/news/cuomo-announces-4-more-temporary-hospitals
The latest FT Infographics.
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
You have to register for Medscape to see this one, but it is worth taking the time. A comprehensive overview of interpreting data concerning medications for coronavirus. Bottom line: Data is still not satisfying.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927342
Keep a sharp mind and do not make this mistake:
https://www.fallacyfiles.org/biassamp.html
And another new word I learned 'super-spreader' (which in other times could have referred to culinary activities or tools for extricating people from car wrecks. On that spectrum, this is more toward the latter.)
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-super-spreader-linked-to-quarantine-of-40000-in-india-2020-3
What's most interesting about this simulator is the discussion underneath the post. (Sorry for the potential of sucking you down the "Reddit rabbit hole," as Bre says). It appears that the analysis changes wildly based on assumptions of asymptomatic carriers, actual mortality rates, and how healthcare capacity is measured. It is interesting, nonetheless.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/fqf9tv/working_on_a_covid19_simulator_heres_a_few/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Here is the author's data and scripts on GitHub
https://github.com/paulvangentcom/python_corona_simulation
This seems to sum up how I was feeling after the upper three articles
https://i.redd.it/wbqxe6p74cp41.png
I am both amused and amazed at how much time I have spent thinking about masks in the last two weeks. More data on masks, this time from the Cochran registry. And a helpful roundup article from Science magazine.
cloth vs. surgical in healthcare environments
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/central/doi/10.1002/central/CN-01155110/full?highlightAbstract=masks%7Cflu%7Cmask
Masks + hand hygiene in the home
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/central/doi/10.1002/central/CN-01751277/full?highlightAbstract=masks%7Cflu%7Cmask
A pilot that shows that a randomized trial on mask use is possible
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25336079
Roundup of opinions
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/would-everyone-wearing-face-masks-help-us-slow-pandemic
Bottom line: I think mask use for the general public is still not supported. I like hand washing, no face touching, and distancing. Save the masks for healthcare - healthcare environments are a different story.
And for those of us who are spending too much time pondering our life decisions, I offer Psyc 157 - Psychology and the Good Life, a free course from Yale.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
My peripatetic internet habits lead me to Hormuz Island. A place I will likely never go, thanks to politics and the realities of who I am.
https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com/hormuz-irans-multicoloured-island/
Mining Flickr for some more images
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=hormuz%20island
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Bonus Round - Sunday Random Trivia
Famous people you might not realize were physicians. I understand this feels a little self-affirming. However, I think being a physician imparts a perspective or outlook that is a blend of science with the humanness of being human. But really, all of the historical figures I write about are nodes on the timeline of human thought and action. By understanding their education, life, and work, we might get a glimpse of how they saw the world, interpreted it, and pushed some ideas forward.
William Carlos Willams - A pediatrician from NJ, he is someone I learned about in college poetry classes. I even have a poster of the Charles Demuth painting of the WCW poem "The Great Figure" on my wall. He was good at describing visual images with words, imagism, which serves you well when you document stuff (like doctors do!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams
The Painting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Saw_the_Figure_5_in_Gold
The poem: https://poets.org/poem/great-figure
More of his work: https://poets.org/poems/william-carlos-williams
Anton Chekhov - This quarantine business may be a good opportunity to catch up on Russian literature. Checkhov is known for short stories and plays but was also wrote about issues in psychiatry and social medicine. Sadly, he died at age 44 of TB.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8633989
Arthur Conan Doyle - He was not an active physician for a good portion of his life, but his training certainly informed his writing (Sherlock Holmes and other stories). Interestingly, he tried to become an ophthalmologist, but was unsuccessful. There is an upbeat description of this very Victorian man hosted by his estate (which would make sense).
https://arthurconandoyle.co.uk/physician
To be sure, he was a prolific writer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle_bibliography
John Locke was a pediatrician. Locke was also a massive force in spreading the notions of rational thinking and modern liberalism (the social contract theory for those of you who took Poly Sci 101). It is difficult to succinctly capture how many fundamental ideas about government and human nature he contributed. And, it is astounding that he was a physician who cared for a variety of children and adults.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke
His medical career https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2083071/
Clean hands and sharp minds.
-AW
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