Week of August 22, 2022
I let out a small yelp as two groundhogs barreled out of the woods, running directly towards me. I thought a small pack of animals was attacking. Surprisingly fast, they passed a few feet from where I was sitting in my yard, ignoring me as they chased one another. It was, I believe, my first experience being startled by groundhogs - another small reminder to be mindful of automatic thoughts and check my assumptions. (In this instance, about the agility and speed of groundhogs and that they do not eat humans).
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-groundhogs/
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bQA-XHjN3k
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In the U.S., COVID case rates and hospitalizations are declining in almost all states. Yet, daily across the U.S. (on average), 450 people are still dying, and there are 40,000 hospitalized patients.
N.Y. Times Tracker
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
Country Comparison from FT.com
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=eur&areas=usa&areas=twn&areas=nzl&areas=e92000001&areas=fra&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usnm&areasRegional=uspr&areasRegional=ushi&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=1&per100K=0&startDate=2021-06-01&values=deaths
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As kids head back to school and college, it is an excellent time to review the variables surrounding the household transmission of COVID. The Atlantic published a comprehensive article on the complexity of secondary attack rates amongst individuals sharing housing.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/08/covid-positive-household-quarantine-luck/671144/
The Atlantic also published an editorial from Lindsay Ryan, an internal medicine physician, who sums up many of my thoughts on the daily (sometimes moment by moment) risk/reward calculations and uncertainty posed by COVID. The pandemic is simultaneously over and not over.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/08/covid-immunocompromised-precautions/671182/
Drs. Eric Topol and Akiko Iwaskaki wrote an editorial in Science Immunology strongly advocating for government support and investment in nasal vaccines. Though somewhat technical, it is an excellent summary of the data - offering the possibility to more effectively reduce COVID transmission (more than just hospitalizations and deaths with the intramuscular vaccines).
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.add9947
This article highlights the evolution of scientific knowledge. The Journal of Nature Pediatric Research published a small observational study looking at the presence of SARS CoV-2 spike protein in the stool of newborn infants (on the first day of life). The babies were COVID PCR negative by nasal swab but were born to mothers who had COVID during pregnancy (all >10 weeks before delivery). Eleven out of 14 infants had coronavirus viral particles present in their stool. And all 14 newborns had increased inflammatory markers in their stool, perhaps indicating that viral proteins may have provoked an immune response. So here are the takeaways:
- COVID appears to have trans-placental spread, at least to the fetal G.I. tract.
- The viral particles in the newborns' G.I. tracts persist beyond the mother's infection.
- The coronavirus particles (not the virus) seem to elicit an immune response in infants.
- It is unknown if the inflammatory immune response affects gut microbiome development.
- Yet another good reason to ensure pregnant women avoid COVID (through masks, careful behavior, and vaccines).
This data highlights how little we know about infections during pregnancy and newborns' early immune system development.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-022-02266-7
Monkey Pox continues to spread. Journalist (and newsletter writer) Alina Cho interviewed E.R. physician (and newsletter writer) Jeremy Faust about the latest data on monkeypox. (You will have to wrap your mind around the fact that I (also a newsletter writer) am pointing you (a newsletter reader) to newsletter writers interviewing each other in a newsletter). The information is valuable, despite the newsletter inception issues.
https://alinacho.bulletin.com/the-3-things-you-need-to-know-about-monkeypox/
Medical Realities and Technology
I found this Cell article from researchers at Johns Hopkins on the impact of artificial sweeteners on the gut microbiome and human glucose tolerance. Though complex, the takeaway idea is that there is an increasingly clear connection between what we eat, the bacteria in our G.I. tract, and various physiologic conditions. The authors found that saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, and stevia alter the human intestinal microbiome. Moreover, the participants' gut microbiome changes impacted their insulin response. In other words, artificial sweeteners changed the balance of bacteria in the gut, which in turn altered how these individuals responded to carbohydrate (sugar) intake. (Think about drinking an artificially-sweetened beverage while eating pizza.) This data points to the notion that artificial sweeteners are not inert and MAY have some negative consequences.
Great Twitter thread by one of the authors
https://twitter.com/SuezLab/status/1560644383527026688
and
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867422009199?dgcid=coauthor
If you want to spend time on the other end of the body, try this article from Wired - a bit from a forthcoming book on living with trauma and chronic illness. This preview is about Sophia Papp, a woman whose personality and life radically changed after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is a fascinating look at what makes a person who they are.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-curious-afterlife-of-a-brain-trauma-survivor/
and
It is worth noting that TBIs have a well-known association with personality changes. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
Infographics!
Thanks to a loyal reader, I spent some time reading the details of NASA's upcoming series of launches to the moon, the Artemis missions. I found this well-done infographic about the plethora of microsatellites on the uncrewed Artemis 1 flight scheduled for August 29.
https://twitter.com/NASAArtemis/status/1559269475865792512/photo/1
background
https://twitter.com/NASAArtemis
and
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-stream-artemis-i-rollout-briefings-on-science-tech-payloads
Things I learned this week
I learned that Popular Science has an entire section on their website entitled "The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week." They write about things I cannot.
https://www.popsci.com/category/weirdest-thing-i-learned-this-week/
I direct your attention to this article on the evolving understanding of causes of death. Or, in other words, "why did people attribute death to
'affrighted,' 'planet,' and 'impostume'" (amongst other things) in 1632 London?
https://www.popsci.com/science/death-by-planet-17th-century/
A loyal reader introduced me to Felicette, the French Space Cat. She was a stray Parisian cat "enrolled" in the French space program (still cultured, a smoker, and possessing a distinguished palate, no doubt). Felicette had electrodes implanted in her skull to monitor her throughout her October 1963 suborbital flight in which she experienced 5 minutes of weightlessness. Felicette was the first cat to reach space. Nevertheless, she is not as recognized as other animals who expanded our understanding of mammalian physiology during high-speed and orbital flights. A 2017 Kickstarter campaign rectified this historical oversight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9licette
and
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/felicette-first-cat-space-finally-gets-memorial-180974062/
and
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sergethew/a-statue-to-felicette-the-first-cat-in-space/posts/2734913
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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