By: Daniel Pearce, D.O., FCOI, AAHIVMS
AR-15 wounds are huge and at close range the amount of tissue blown away is lethal and ugly especially in a dead child’s body. If we ban automatic weapons then that will help decrease many shootings as it did before in the 1) US before the ban expired and wasn’t reinstated, 2) in California (we have a low rate of mass shootings on a population basis and we have a ban on these weapons here), 3) in New Zealand, and 4) in England.
But mass shootings cover a small number of those killed by firearms. Many guns are at home and that increases the risk of home shootings e.g. domestic violence and suicide which make up the majority of gun deaths in the US. There are a few more than 1 gun per person in the US (over 300 million); since children and many adults don’t own guns, many are in the hands of a few people. California has about 10 registered guns per person.
Restricting those who can buy guns hasn’t worked well. But we should not remove this restriction since it may be working a tiny bit.
Having more guns in the hands of good guys hasn’t worked. Locking up children with one entrance and exit with soldiers at each school is not a good idea on many levels.
Any threat to a school, even without a shooter arriving, causes PTSD in many children.
Kids who have been victims of school shootings are asking adults to keep them safe and ban guns. Many adults are not listening.
We have many mass shootings per year, more per person than any other country.
Expect more mass shootings.
Risk Management: Life is a series of risks. We feel a surge of hope when we gamble in Las Vegas or in the Lottery, but the statistics show that the Las Vegas house wins ~48% of the time so your odds are less than 50-50. The Lottery odds are much worse. We feel a gun would make us safe but the statistics show that when there is a gun in the house, it is much more common to damage or kill a good guy than a bad guy. For example, in California, if you live with a gun owner you have twice the risk of being murdered by somebody. In the US 500 people per year die of accidental firearm discharge.
HOW IS MONKEYPOX DIFFERENT FROM SARS-COV-2?
• Monkeypox can be transmitted only when the infected person has symptoms.
• We’ve known about this virus since 1958.
• If left untreated, the mortality rate is 3%-10%.
• Most adults over 50 have had a smallpox vaccine (see the scar on their shoulder or thigh) and 90% of them are protected.
• Transmission happens only with close contact, e.g. sex, hugging, coughing in your face.
• It hides in rodents, not much in monkeys.
• Avoid close contact with someone who has a rash or a fever.
• No monkeypox deaths in this outbreak as of early June.
• No monkeypox mutations as of early June. This is the same virus for many years, unlike Covid which mutates in unvaccinated people fast.
Maybe the immune systems of the human population has been resting since other infections, like flu, are low, due to isolation, masks, hand washing and this is a setup for a rare disease to step in.
COFFEE PROLONGS LIFE, EVEN WITH SUGAR
I have mentioned that I started adding instant coffee to my banana/chard/prune/raisin/yogurt breakfast shakes a couple of years ago when evidence showed that coffee alone may prolong life a little. Now a large study in the United Kingdom found that with sweetener, or sugar, or without sugar the death rate was lower in the coffee drinkers vs. the non-drinkers over 7 years. This was not a double blinded placebo trial but based on questionnaires of 172,000 participants. This was true for any kind of coffee.
Please be aware that we no longer recommend too much sugar sweet drinks like juices since high sugar loads are unhealthy.
RUNNERS WITH KNEE PAINS CAUSED BY BACK PAIN?
A new study showed that runners with low back pain had more knee pain. This is perhaps from the back pain making the runner not run in a perfectly aligned way so that stresses on the knee are more in the wrong places causing breakdown/arthritis. Maybe those with back pain should take up a less traumatic sport like cycling, swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, elliptical stair climbing.
TEAM SPORTS FOR YOUTH PREVENT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
A new study showed that those who participated in team sport had less depression, anxiety
Or other mental problems than those who participated in individual sports (like wrestling, tennis) or those who did not participate in sports at all. It seems the interaction of teams has the power. Maybe the support of others and supporting others has healing and preventive, positive mental effects. Viva Futbol!
DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS AND LOW VITAMIN D
A new study showed that many diabetics with foot ulcers had low vitamin D levels. The worse the vitamin D level, the worse the ulcers. They recommend that diabetics have routine vitamin D level checks.
Keep those questions coming and be safe!
dpearce@western.edu
Daniel Pearce, D.O., FACOI, AAHIVMS
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine and HIV, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine and Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine HIV, Hepatitis B,C, Transgender, Suboxone Specialist, Borrego Health (Riverside, San Bernardino, San Jacinto) Member, Coachella Valley Clinical Research Initiative
REFERENCES: Medscape®