By: Daniel Pearce, D.O., FCOI, AAHIVMS
92% OF DONATED NFL BRAINS ARE DAMAGED
376 brains of NFL players were donated to Boston University to study Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Of course if a player was acting strange the family would be more prone to donate the brain after death. Still that 92% is impressive. Their brains were compared to a low-impact sport, swimming. The test results before death of the 2 groups were similar except the NFL players had more problems with learning and memory.
Protect the kids you influence: try to steer them away from head impacts, e.g. in futbol heading the ball.
GRIM REAPER OF HEAT COMING FOR YOU
As temperatures increase, more deaths from cardiovascular disease are expected, especially in people of color and people who live in the city. We had 71 days in the US that the heat index was so high that more people died. Heat death is not as dramatic as a flood or hurricane but more people die from heat than other natural disasters; the deaths are more spread out over time.
The heat index is the measure of how much your body can take of heat and humidity combined since it is hard to cool you body by sweating when it is humid. If you can’t sweat it off, then your body temperature goes up. Don’t look to the Florida ocean waves to help, last year it reached 101degrees. Try to sweat off that in the water!
NOW A TEST FOR FENTANYL CAN BE ORDERED ON THE WEB
If you are concerned that your marijuana, meth, or narcotics might have fentanyl in them, you can do this urine test, send it in and get a result. Of course, it is best not to use these substances, next best is to use them near a sober friend who has a Narcan nasal pump and can call 911. I don’t see it just after it was approved, but maybe you should look for it: Alltest Fentanyl Urine Test Cassette (Hangzhou AllTest Biotech Co, Ltd)
But it may be life-saving if you get the other test kit that checks the drugs you have not put in your body yet. Search for CDC Fentanyl test kits for more information.
OMEGA 3s, DEMENTIA, TRIGLYCERIDES
Omega 3s are taken to help the brain and heart, but the studies do not support this idea. They lower high triglycerides (TG). The recommendation is to treat when they are above 500 and not treat when they are high (>200) but below 500.
With these in mind, a new, large database study shows an association between high TG and less dementia risk (the opposite of the claim about omega 3s). This means if you have high TG you may be protected from dementia so don’t rush to treatment.
Treating every “abnormality” and using unproven treatments may not make you more healthy, but you are helping others by donating your money to them.
HOSPITALS ARE TRACKING YOU ON THE WEB
The Biden administration has ruled that hospitals cannot track you on the web. Hospitals were asking Meta and Google to track you in order to find you and offer you services and some are suing the government about this to get this function back and legal to track you again.
HOSPITAL FULL AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR A DAY IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT HALLWAY FOR A DAY?
A study in France looked at one day and compared the death rate of 1598 patients in many hospitals, over 75 years old, and had to wait a day vs. those admitted to the floor. The death rate was 11% for those admitted vs. 16% for those who had to wait.
I have taken care of many patients in the hallway. The nurses are hard to find and many times are temporary hires or from a floor with different procedures and who don’t know the hospital systems well. We are waiting for tests to be done. It is noisy and not private, there is no location other than one of 6 gurneys in the hall, unlike a room number. It is hard to get off the gurneys/carts to use the bathroom. Privacy is poor. So the patient and care team are stressed until they are transferred to the floor. This seems like a situation where errors and omissions may occur.
SEVERE LONG COVID LASTS AT LEAST 18 MONTHS
A study out of Denmark showed that only half had not improved after 18 months. Again, the symptoms are the same: brain fog, fatigue, pain, and about 10 more symptoms. Covid seems to invade each body system. Of course, not all long Covid victims get all of the symptoms, but just a few usually.
The best way to avoid this, hopefully, is prevention (masking, distance) and the shots.
PAXLOVID FOR COVID DOES NOT PREVENT LONG COVID
This study is disappointing. But I sure felt great after the first dose back in January when I had Covid the only time so far.
MORE TIMES YOU HAVE COVID, THE HIGHER RISK OF LONG-TERM COVID
People infected multiple times with COVID-19 are more likely to develop long COVID. Those are two of the most striking findings of a comprehensive new 3-year research study of 138,000 veterans.
Wow, that is sad. Many thought that the more Covid episodes, the more immunity and maybe protection from severe and long-term Covid.
You may have a heart or kidney or diabetic problems. There is a chance that Covid pushed you into these diseases.
Keep those questions coming and be safe!
dpearce@western.edu
Daniel Pearce, D.O.,
FACOI, AAHIVMS
Associate Professor of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine HIV, Hepatitis B,C, Transgender, Suboxone Specialist, Neighborhood Health (Riverside, Hemet), Loma Linda SACH (San Bernardino) Member, Coachella Valley Clinical Research Initiative
REFERENCES: Medscape®