September 17, 2020 Thursday
Last night I watched my older son learning to make alpha masks in Photoshop for his art class. And my other son is starting to use Apple's Garageband to do multitrack recordings of his flute playing. Neither wants my help. I think this is another positive and unintended consequence of the pandemic - forcing them to work in a digital world. Perhaps all kids are doing this stuff, and I am just out of touch? Either way, it made me happy.
----Latest Data---
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
----
The NY Times reports on one of the many monoclonal antibodies in the development. The information reported sounds like an interim-study press release. The Times did an excellent job framing the meaning and describing how monoclonal antibodies work. Moreover, this treatment is for COVID+ patients not hospitalized. We have no other treatments for this cohort of patients.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/health/coronavirus-drug-eli-lilly.html
Wired offers an article on concerns about post-COVID heart damage in athletes and the young. The headline is scary, but the physiology described (COVID -> inflammation of various systems, including the heart -> risk of heart rhythm problems) is sound. JAMA and related articles are cited. One more good reason not to get this virus.
https://www.wired.com/story/if-youve-just-had-covid-exercise-might-not-be-good-for-you/
More on facemasks.
1) CDC Director Robert Redfield spoke very clearly about the value of masks to Congress yesterday (and out of step with others in the executive branch). I worked with Dr. Redfield for a bit in residency. The conviction he expressed in the video is more consistent with the person I worked with 20 years ago.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-vaccine-redfield-cdc-masks-30db3e33-dc30-40ed-ad5b-f364a0e544c0.html
2) A few loyal readers shared articles about coronavirus variolation. In other words, masks permit a low-dose inoculation of coronavirus to induce an immune response without conferring the full disease—an interesting notion backed by some interesting data. Variolation was the first form of vaccination for smallpox (as I have covered the history of in months past). This notion's upside is that we should all be wearing masks; this is just another reason.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913
and
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/face-masks-could-giving-people-covid-19-immunity-researchers/
Learn medical pearls - my favorite tweet from yesterday on some interesting medical factoids - Wolbachia is a bacteria that infect things that infect us - " [It is] a parasite's parasite becomes [that is] so successful that the parasite can't live without [Wolbachia]." So killing the Wolbachia protects us. This is how some antibiotics work. That's biological realpolitik if I have ever seen it.
https://twitter.com/allisonrbond/status/1305936265401884676?s=10
and
https://twitter.com/Concealocanth/status/1305952566069604352
Infographic of the day - Natural Sweeteners -
https://cen.acs.org/food/Periodic-Graphics-Natural-sweeteners/98/i32
Look at how complicated the structure of mogroside V (from monk fruit) is. It would also make an excellent name for a fictional Visigoth king - "In the year 503 AD, Morgroside V finally conquered the Roman lands in Numedia, something his father, Morgroside the IV, could not accomplish. It was sweet!" Ouch. Sorry.
-----National Nephrology Nurses Week---
This week, instead of a bonus round, I will be sharing some thoughts and data in recognition of National Nephrology Nurses Week.
I want to finish out my email week with the importance and impact of person-centered kidney care. Person-centered care describes a focus on the individual, their family, and friends, rather than focusing on their disease. Person-focused care promotes an equal relationship between people who use health services and the people responsible for delivering said services. But it is hard. It takes time and listening and focuses on the interwoven complexities of health, psychology, and the practical realities of life. It means exploring and respecting patient choices that might not yield the most extended lifespan but helps them achieve their goals. Often, the patients are not clear about what they want, just what they don't want. But, this the most humane way to treat patients in healthcare. And, our healthcare system's realities mean that only through team-based care, with our nurses and social workers leading the charge, can we begin to walk toward this ideal.
Articles:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6450337/
https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20191010/personcentered-approach-infrastructural-changes-to-health-system-needed-for-patients-who-forgo-dialy
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
Have a safe weekend. I'll be back on Monday.
Last night I watched my older son learning to make alpha masks in Photoshop for his art class. And my other son is starting to use Apple's Garageband to do multitrack recordings of his flute playing. Neither wants my help. I think this is another positive and unintended consequence of the pandemic - forcing them to work in a digital world. Perhaps all kids are doing this stuff, and I am just out of touch? Either way, it made me happy.
----Latest Data---
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
----
The NY Times reports on one of the many monoclonal antibodies in the development. The information reported sounds like an interim-study press release. The Times did an excellent job framing the meaning and describing how monoclonal antibodies work. Moreover, this treatment is for COVID+ patients not hospitalized. We have no other treatments for this cohort of patients.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/health/coronavirus-drug-eli-lilly.html
Wired offers an article on concerns about post-COVID heart damage in athletes and the young. The headline is scary, but the physiology described (COVID -> inflammation of various systems, including the heart -> risk of heart rhythm problems) is sound. JAMA and related articles are cited. One more good reason not to get this virus.
https://www.wired.com/story/if-youve-just-had-covid-exercise-might-not-be-good-for-you/
More on facemasks.
1) CDC Director Robert Redfield spoke very clearly about the value of masks to Congress yesterday (and out of step with others in the executive branch). I worked with Dr. Redfield for a bit in residency. The conviction he expressed in the video is more consistent with the person I worked with 20 years ago.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-vaccine-redfield-cdc-masks-30db3e33-dc30-40ed-ad5b-f364a0e544c0.html
2) A few loyal readers shared articles about coronavirus variolation. In other words, masks permit a low-dose inoculation of coronavirus to induce an immune response without conferring the full disease—an interesting notion backed by some interesting data. Variolation was the first form of vaccination for smallpox (as I have covered the history of in months past). This notion's upside is that we should all be wearing masks; this is just another reason.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913
and
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/face-masks-could-giving-people-covid-19-immunity-researchers/
Learn medical pearls - my favorite tweet from yesterday on some interesting medical factoids - Wolbachia is a bacteria that infect things that infect us - " [It is] a parasite's parasite becomes [that is] so successful that the parasite can't live without [Wolbachia]." So killing the Wolbachia protects us. This is how some antibiotics work. That's biological realpolitik if I have ever seen it.
https://twitter.com/allisonrbond/status/1305936265401884676?s=10
and
https://twitter.com/Concealocanth/status/1305952566069604352
Infographic of the day - Natural Sweeteners -
https://cen.acs.org/food/Periodic-Graphics-Natural-sweeteners/98/i32
Look at how complicated the structure of mogroside V (from monk fruit) is. It would also make an excellent name for a fictional Visigoth king - "In the year 503 AD, Morgroside V finally conquered the Roman lands in Numedia, something his father, Morgroside the IV, could not accomplish. It was sweet!" Ouch. Sorry.
-----National Nephrology Nurses Week---
This week, instead of a bonus round, I will be sharing some thoughts and data in recognition of National Nephrology Nurses Week.
I want to finish out my email week with the importance and impact of person-centered kidney care. Person-centered care describes a focus on the individual, their family, and friends, rather than focusing on their disease. Person-focused care promotes an equal relationship between people who use health services and the people responsible for delivering said services. But it is hard. It takes time and listening and focuses on the interwoven complexities of health, psychology, and the practical realities of life. It means exploring and respecting patient choices that might not yield the most extended lifespan but helps them achieve their goals. Often, the patients are not clear about what they want, just what they don't want. But, this the most humane way to treat patients in healthcare. And, our healthcare system's realities mean that only through team-based care, with our nurses and social workers leading the charge, can we begin to walk toward this ideal.
Articles:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6450337/
https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20191010/personcentered-approach-infrastructural-changes-to-health-system-needed-for-patients-who-forgo-dialy
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
Have a safe weekend. I'll be back on Monday.
Comments
Post a Comment