Health Blogs (951)

Mental Health in the U.S. could be greatly improved without the bloviators spreading hate, disinformation (lies) and mal-information, disrespect and bad jokes.

One good example of Fake News best of the haters pictured below

MYTH: The COVID vaccines were not rigorously tested, which is why they have only emergency authorization approval and not full Food and Drug Administration approval. (Update: Pfizer’s vaccine received full FDA approval on August 19)

FACT: “Vaccine developers didn’t skip any testing steps, but conducted some of the steps on an overlapping schedule to gather data faster.”—Johns Hopkins Medicine
Assoumou: This is the most common question I get asked. I think there is a perception that things moved very fast, but we want to underscore that the technology being used now was being studied for a decade. The main difference between emergency use versus full FDA approval is that you need two months of monitoring rather than six months. When you look at the history of vaccines, if patients were to develop side effects, these occurred within two months. We are now over six months into our experience with these vaccines. We have not seen anything that would make us believe that the risks outweigh the benefits. And vaccines have saved so many lives.

Hamer: The development was more rapid than many other vaccines. But it used the same process of phase one and phase two trials following appropriate safety measures. Stage three trials were large-scale trials done rigorously with very clear outcome definitions. The safety measures and approaches taken are standard for clinical trials. They just did it more rapidly than usual. The full process review is ongoing and we are already hearing that Pfizer will have full FDA authorization by September and Moderna soon after.

MYTH: The technology used to create the COVID vaccines is too new to be safe.

FACT: The technology used, called messenger RNA, or mRNA, is not new. Research on it actually began in the early 1990s, and two diseases that are very close to COVID—SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome)—helped bring the mRNA vaccine development to present day use.—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
Assoumou: The reason this is called SARS-COV-2 is that there was a SARS-1, the original one, and scientists were working on this vaccine. So when this pandemic arrived they had already developed a lot of the science. A decade of work was actually going on. That’s one issue I like to emphasize when people think it was rushed.

The other point I like to remind people is that these vaccines went through all the regulatory steps like any other vaccines. None of this was rushed. The FDA reviewed all the data. When you say “Emergency use,” people think it was rushed, but the way to think about it is that the benefits outweigh the risks.

MYTH: Breakthrough cases prove that even if I get the vaccine, I might still get COVID. So why bother?

FACT: As of August 9, the CDC said there had been 8,054 vaccinated people who were hospitalized or died who had also tested positive for coronavirus—out of more than 166 million fully vaccinated Americans. That’s roughly .005 percent. Additionally, CDC director Rochelle Walensky has said that 99.5 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 are in the unvaccinated.—Politifact, Fact Checking Joe Biden’s Figure on Unvaccinated COVID-19 Deaths
Hamer: COVID vaccines have been shown to be very powerful in preventing more severe disease and the need for hospitalization. Breakthroughs occur at a much, much lower rate than in people who are unvaccinated. The breakthroughs have been occurring more frequently with the Delta variant because of the high level of infectiousness (or transmissibility) of the Delta variant and lower protection of current vaccines against this variant. But people having breakthroughs have much more mild infection, more like an upper respiratory infection. The vaccines prevent severe disease and complications and allow people to return to a more normal state.

Joseph was born and raised in New York City. He had a job with the government and a few years after he retired, Joe decided to sell his house and move to Florida.
Not long after, Joe started worrying about his health and took his first colonoscopy at the age of 75. They found cancer and he went through surgery. He was lucky as they removed the cancer and he needs no additional treatment.
Joe was having issues with a swollen thyroid gland and went into surgery to have it checked out. Under anesthesia, they were unable to control his blood pressure and stopped in the middle of surgery. He remained in the hospital for testing and found that 2 arteries near his heart were blocked by 80%
Open-heart surgery would have been the normal procedure, but since he already had one issue, 2 stents were the least invasive and best thing.
He's recovering and should be out of the hospital this week.
All things considered... I wish him the best and reluctant to celebrate at the 'all you can eat' sushi restaurant. Pizza may also be out of the question.

I was at the dentist yesterday to repair a chipped tooth. The consultation, x-rays, waiting for the Novocaine to soak in, actually doing the repair and paying the bill was nearly 90 minutes. I used this dentist several times and like her work. She doesn't rush the process and the price becomes secondary.

A few weeks ago, there was a story in The New York Times about a woman in Minnesota who is suing her dentist. The same story was covered on a few news services. She's seeking more than $50,000 in damages, claiming to have received 4 root canals, 8 crowns and 20 fillings ALL IN A SINGLE VISIT.

C'mon, something is wrong what that scenario.

The average adult has 32 teeth (28 if the wisdom teeth are removed)
If 4 of those crowns are for the 4 root canals, that means every tooth had either a crown or a filling. All of them!

From my experience, a root canal requires two to three visits, the first being as much as 2 hours. A crown requires 2 visits, 90 minutes + 30 minutes after the tooth comes back from the laboratory and that can be 7 to 10 days.

I got through algebra and trigonometry, but to my best guess, that's more than $30,000 in dental fees and some 40 hours in the dentist's chair!

Maybe someone can figure the logic in her story and the dentist's reply. They are both on other planets right now!

If a third of what she claims to have been done, $50,000 in damages ain't nearly enough.

Link:

FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities

By Emma Colton, Fox News
Published Jan. 14, 2024
Updated Jan. 15, 2024, 9:45 a.m. ET

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.

“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the FAA’s website states. “They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”

“Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety?,” tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X last week. “That is actually happening.”

I say, flying could become a lot more fun in the future.
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
Is it superman?

Who cares?

Life is short, enjoy while you can.

I call BS on all scare mongering blogs just to add to my daily tally

So far, in the circle of friends, clients and coworkers it is. I'm starting to see more folks wearing masks in public places, especially grocery and department stores.
Most say it's flu-like symptoms while one customer of mine said it's kicking her arse right now and cancelled all appointments.

I live in Palm Beach County and sewage water testing for coronavirus is higher than last year and after months of declining vaccinations, it's reported people have started again. Yeah, it appears they check poop for virus.

South Florida has tourism and people coming here for the winter, so we get an influx of travelers. I went on a sales call to see clients after they returned from vacation... I waited a few days to book the appointment just to be sure they didn't get sick along the way and pass it around as another stop was to a client who recently had a newborn.
I'm considering masking-up when I meet new clients.

Is COVID on the rise? It would appear COVID or a variant is making the rounds again.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent, usually I play a very active part in this celebration at church...carry the Cross, or a candle, or helping to give out the Holy Communion etc. This year, I decided not to partake in anything, just attend church as usual. Last week, I got an e-mail from one of the priests, asking if I wanted to be a part of the Christmas play at church, as more people were needed I agreed to do so, as I'm off from work all next week.

Now I know why I decided not to be a part of the usual sunday Christmas celebrations at church. Since the end of october, I've been battling with a cold, it became better, but never left, the past week, it got worse, so much so, that last night I hardly slept because I was coughing so much. I had an appointment at the hospital this afternoon (if I had cancelled it, I would have had to wait another 3 or more months for a new appointment), before entering the waiting room at the hospital, I decided to put on a face mask. I'm glad I did, because the technician who was assigned to me is pregnant. After leaving the hospital, I kept on the mask, went to a pharmacy to get my usual medicines, as well as something for a cold, and decided to buy a Covid-19 test also.

Turns out I have Covid, now I know why I didn't want to partake in the Christmas celebrations at church. It's always good to trust your intuition. I'm not sad about having Covid, and don't expect any sympathy, just thought I'd write about it.

There's a narrow 2-lane road leading to the county park where I'm often seen with friends on weekends. Typically, I arrive between 9 or 10am and find it amazing to see the same guy walking along the way to the park. From the main road into the park and back is no less than four miles... doable for someone at a slow pace. The guy wears a floppy-style safari hat, t-shirt and shorts... typical to many of the people who go to the park. The thing most distinguishable about him is his hunchback-like posture. You can spot him from 100 yards as his head and neck are forward and he's usually looking downward. Only once in all the times I've seen him did he look up and acknowledge me as I drove by.

I admire someone so ritual in his exercise plan that I've nicknamed him 'Walker' as he's probably in his 70's and doesn't appear to have any body fat. Bravo!

As kids, do you remember an elder correcting you if you leaned over in a slouched position that could cause bad posture that would affect you as an adult? I do. Yeah, there are times where people have congenital problems that cannot be avoided. Other issues come from machine operators where one side of the body gets stress causing the body to be twisted. I knew a guitarist who played classical guitar for hours upon hours and his posture from so many years holding the instrument had his body twisted that required chiropractic treatments to help straighten his shoulders.

When I see someone with a hunchback, I'm always reminded to SIT STRAIGHT!

Towards the end of the year, all the healthcare providers attempt to get my business as it's the season for Open Enrollment. TV advertisements, mailers, emails, Billboards and radio ads are everywhere and they claim they are the best.

I used to be with a large company 'Florida Blue' that had a huge network. Four years ago, when I moved 40 miles north into a retirement community, I was approached by a woman who was an agent for a smaller company that offered lots of benefits... most of them I didn't use. The 'out of pocket' expenses were less, so as long as I'm healthy... they had better pricing. Do you see the humor in that? Cheaper than the others as long as you don't to go to the hospital.

My insurance plan is an HMO and years ago, I did a comparison to a PPO that some claim is better, but at that point in time, I stayed with the HMO. I need to do the research again.

More important than the plan, is the provider and the size of their network. What I don't like about my current provider is the limited network. Primary care is 6 miles away. That's okay, but one cardiologist in 200 miles. One pulmonologist in 50 miles. X-ray, MRI and blood work lab 2 miles away and they service all the major providers. Recently, I found a neurologist for back pain that's 10 miles away.

I'm in a large city, so It's all doable. I would hate to think of a rural environment where the closest sign of life is an hour drive!

In the mean time, it's HMO or PPO... but, I don't know which way to go!