Week of August 8, 2022
Summer 2022: my wife asked me to opine on a ranked preference list of infectious diseases to contract. Amongst polio, monkeypox, and COVID, COVID is my preferred least bad choice (especially if fully vaccinated). I am simultaneously amused and horrified.
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COVID case rates are plateauing or declining in many states. Hospitalizations and deaths are still rising (though more slowly) or plateauing.
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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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a COVID-19 treatment locator - searchable by zip code and address. Very useful if you are looking for Evusheld, paxlovid, or bebtelovimab.
https://covid-19-therapeutics-locator-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/
The Gothamist covers some new Columbia University research on "cryptic" coronavirus variants in wastewater. Not only is it a good description of how wastewater surveillance works, but it speaks to the diversity of sub-variants of the virus. (In other words, the Omicron BA.5 variant mutated in many ways across the population of N.Y. City).
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-wastewater-shows-link-between-cryptic-covid-variants-and-worse-phases-of-the-pandemic
more on this topic:
https://twitter.com/SolidEvidence/status/1553815862750085120
Speaking of wastewater surveillance, N.Y. State has detected polio. The first wild cases in a decade. While 93% of Americans (who adhere to recommended childhood vaccines) are immune, pockets of specific religious and anti-vaccine populations are particularly vulnerable. The two counties in N.Y. State at the center of this outbreak have some disproportionately low polio vaccination rates.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-virus-hundreds-of-infections-possible-new-york-health-department/
Let's remind ourselves what polio looked like before Dr. Salk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfoxqghXxEs
CDC recommended vaccine schedule:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
Dr. Jeremy Faust covers a lot of information on Monkey Pox
https://insidemedicine.bulletin.com/monkeypox-update-three-small-controversies-with-huge-implications
Medical Realities and Technology: Snake Oil edition
Patients and their families frequently ask me to comment on different dietary supplements, salts (sea salt, Himalayan salt, etc.), and "miracle" foods. The reality is most supplements are not needed (they are often just excreted in the urine or stool), salt is mostly just NaCl (which most of my patients need to avoid), and there is no magic food to "restore" health.
This week, I learned about "structured water filtration systems" - typically a combination charcoal filter and vortex tube. Removing contaminants from water with charcoal filters MAY be appropriate in some places. But the notion of rotating and transforming water [so it] "flows more efficiently throughout our body and into cells sharing [nature's] information wherever it goes" is absurd at best.
Australian chemist Timothy Schmidt wrote about why "structuring water" is nonsense. His essay is an excellent example of offering critical thought in the face of celebrity-endorsed health products.
https://theconversation.com/dont-fall-for-the-snake-oil-claims-of-structured-water-a-chemist-explains-why-its-nonsense-188159
Infographics!
A Pairing of infographics this week:
Global Beer Consumption by Country
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/which-countries-drink-the-most-beer/
and The Chemistry of Beer
https://twitter.com/compoundchem/status/1555639854855233536/photo/1
Things I learned this week
(It was a week of weird finds -roaming the internet while stuck at an airport.)
Insect chirping is called stridulations, the result of rubbing parts of their exoskeleton together. This video on cricket communication and mating got my attention. There is a lot to learn - from females with ovipositors and no stridulation ability to the "ears" on their legs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3uNUrAnss
and study up on your cricket anatomy:
https://sciencing.com/tell-male-female-crickets-7692270.html
And, learn about cooking with crickets!
https://www.insectgourmet.com/cricket-recipes/
I learned that the professional competitive eaters association, Major League Eating, has a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection entitled "Gurgitator Genesis Series."
https://www.majorleagueeating.com/
https://nft.majorleagueeating.com/
Putting aside the problematic misuse of the word "gurgitate," competitive eating is not a good career choice. This "sport" comes with numerous underappreciated negative health consequences and, I suspect, no good health or retirement benefits.
https://www.ahchealthenews.com/2018/07/02/dangers-competitive-eating/
and
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3589306/
and
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/25/joey-chestnut-study-food/
"Gurgitate" is not the word I think they think it is (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gurgitation)
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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