Compared to the primary series, booster effectiveness against symptomatic omicron infection was 49.4%, with the primary series 76.5%.
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Study shows probability of getting COVID for mask wearers vs. non-mask wearers
In the healthcare setting, 9% of the mask wearers and 33% of the non-mask wearers tested COVID-19 positive.
Additionally, in community settings, the team noted that 6% of mask wearers and 83% of non-maks wearers tested SARS-CoV-2 positive.
Sunday, August 14, 2022
COVID.gov/tests - Free at-home COVID-19 tests
The government is allowing people to get a third round of free COVID tests. If you should get seriously ill, you might want extra test kits. It may take several tests to verify that you are recovered, and you may have family members who also need to be tested.
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Fwd: Possible COVID exposure
FYI
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Coffey
From: John Coffey
Thank you for supporting the Greenwood Chess Club.
On Monday someone attended the Greenwood Chess Club who was symptomatic and later tested positive for COVID-19. If you attended the chess club on Monday, I suggest taking an in-home test. I tested myself and the test came out negative. However, I quarantined this week just in case.
You can get free tests from the government. They take several weeks to get delivered. https://www.covid.gov/tests
Drug stores also sell COVID-19 tests.
I feel like I should not have to say this again, but please do not come to the Greenwood Chess Club if you are feeling sick or if you have symptoms.
There is much misinformation being spread about COVID, so I will address some of these issues here:
1. The pandemic is over.
It used to be that measles was the most infectious disease on record, but the Omicron variant has surpassed measles. In early November of last year, we had barely heard of the Omicron variant, but by late January of this year, it had caused a major surge in the United States.
https://fortune.com/2022/07/09/is-covid-omicron-more-transmissible-infectious-than-measles-ba4-ba5/
2. Cloth masks don't work.
People who attack mask usage always say that cloth masks don't work, which is true. However, they ignore that other types of masks are at least partially effective at preventing the spread of COVID.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/surgical-masks-covid-19.html
"Wearing an N95/KN95 respirator (aOR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.05–0.64) or wearing a surgical mask (aOR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.13–0.90) was associated with lower adjusted odds of a positive test result compared with not wearing a mask (Table 3). Wearing a cloth mask (aOR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.17–1.17) was associated with lower adjusted odds of a positive test compared with never wearing a face covering but was not statistically significant."
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm
3. Vaccines don't prevent the spread of COVID.
As the virus has evolved, it reportedly has been more likely to have a vaccine breakthrough infection.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/why-measure-effectiveness/breakthrough-cases.html
"Raw data shows the risk of breakthrough cases is very small for vaccinated people, potentially 1 in 5,000.
Additionally, the risk of being hospitalized from COVID-19 after vaccination is extremely small, at about 5 in 100,000.
A new study found people who were not vaccinated were five times as likely to get COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated."
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-is-your-actual-risk-of-getting-covid-19-if-youre-vaccinated
"COVID 19 vaccines are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and even dying."
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
"Booster Shots of COVID-19 Vaccines Effective Against Omicron Subvariant"
https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/booster-shots-covid-19-vaccines-effective-against-omicron-subvariant#:~:text=A%20small%20study%20has%20found,and%20its%20most%20common%20subvariant.
"Research shows that spike proteins (here) remain stuck to the cell surface around the injection site and do not travel to other parts of the body via the bloodstream, they added. The 1% of the vaccine that does reach the bloodstream is destroyed by liver enzymes."
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
On Monday someone attended the Greenwood Chess Club who was symptomatic and later tested positive for COVID-19. If you attended the chess club on Monday, I suggest taking an in-home test. I tested myself and the test came out negative. However, I quarantined this week just in case.
You can get free tests from the government. They take several weeks to get delivered. https://www.covid.gov/tests
Drug stores also sell COVID-19 tests.
I feel like I should not have to say this again, but please do not come to the Greenwood Chess Club if you are feeling sick or if you have symptoms.
There is much misinformation being spread about COVID, so I will address some of these issues here:
1. The pandemic is over.
It has been my observation that most people are acting as if there is no pandemic.
However, hundreds of people are dying daily.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/hundreds-americans-dying-covid-day-signs-latest-surge/story?id=88203012
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/hundreds-americans-dying-covid-day-signs-latest-surge/story?id=88203012
One out of every 310 Americans has died from the disease. I lost a cousin to COVID. David Prowse (Darth Vader), Chloris Leachman, and Herman Cain died from the disease.
It used to be that measles was the most infectious disease on record, but the Omicron variant has surpassed measles. In early November of last year, we had barely heard of the Omicron variant, but by late January of this year, it had caused a major surge in the United States.
https://fortune.com/2022/07/09/is-covid-omicron-more-transmissible-infectious-than-measles-ba4-ba5/
2. Cloth masks don't work.
People who attack mask usage always say that cloth masks don't work, which is true. However, they ignore that other types of masks are at least partially effective at preventing the spread of COVID.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/surgical-masks-covid-19.html
"Wearing an N95/KN95 respirator (aOR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.05–0.64) or wearing a surgical mask (aOR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.13–0.90) was associated with lower adjusted odds of a positive test result compared with not wearing a mask (Table 3). Wearing a cloth mask (aOR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.17–1.17) was associated with lower adjusted odds of a positive test compared with never wearing a face covering but was not statistically significant."
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm
3. Vaccines don't prevent the spread of COVID.
As the virus has evolved, it reportedly has been more likely to have a vaccine breakthrough infection.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/why-measure-effectiveness/breakthrough-cases.html
"Raw data shows the risk of breakthrough cases is very small for vaccinated people, potentially 1 in 5,000.
Additionally, the risk of being hospitalized from COVID-19 after vaccination is extremely small, at about 5 in 100,000.
A new study found people who were not vaccinated were five times as likely to get COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated."
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-is-your-actual-risk-of-getting-covid-19-if-youre-vaccinated
"COVID 19 vaccines are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and even dying."
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
"Booster Shots of COVID-19 Vaccines Effective Against Omicron Subvariant"
https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/booster-shots-covid-19-vaccines-effective-against-omicron-subvariant#:~:text=A%20small%20study%20has%20found,and%20its%20most%20common%20subvariant.
I personally have stayed up to date with the booster shots and I have not yet caught the disease.
4. The vaccines are experimental.
5. The vaccines rewrite your DNA.
The only known case of this was outside the human body in a petri dish with just liver cells.
However, the actual vaccines work primarily at the injection site.
The vast majority of viruses rewrite your DNA in some of your cells. Your immune system finds these cells and destroys them. This is a much bigger issue with the disease than it is with the vaccines.
6. The spike protein is toxic.
First of all, you are going to get much more spike proteins with the disease than you are going to get with the vaccines.
Second, the vaccine spike protein was deliberately made different to prevent insertion into cells.
COVID-19 can have serious long-term consequences. COVID can damage your organs. COVID can cause 2% brain shrinkage, which is normally 0.1 to 0.2% per year in adults.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Friday, July 29, 2022
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Spinal cord repair
Eventually, this may be very useful.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Larry
From: Larry
A drug under investigation as a cancer treatment has shown exciting promise in a rather different branch of medical research, with scientists demonstrating how it can promote nerve repair following spinal injury. The breakthrough shows how the drug acts on a DNA damage response mechanism at play in both these unrelated conditions, and triggers a "remarkable" recovery in mice with injured spinal cords.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Saturday, July 9, 2022
10 Pearls of Wisdom From the Muppets | Inspiring Quotes
I don't care what you think of me, unless you think I'm awesome. In which case you are right.
— Miss Piggy
https://www.inspiringquotes.com/10-pearls-of-wisdom-from-the-muppets/Ymgx378QFgAHJpj5
— Miss Piggy
https://www.inspiringquotes.com/10-pearls-of-wisdom-from-the-muppets/Ymgx378QFgAHJpj5
Thursday, July 7, 2022
What the BA.5 Subvariant Could Mean for the United States - The New York Times
The most transmissible variant yet of the coronavirus is threatening a fresh wave of infections in the United States, even among those who have recovered from the virus fairly recently.
The subvariant of Omicron known as BA.5 is now dominant, according to federal estimates released Tuesday, and together with BA.4, another subvariant, it is fueling an outbreak of cases and hospitalizations.
"I think there's an underappreciation of what it's going to do to the country, and it already is exerting its effect," said Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, who has written about the subvariant.
BA.5 and BA.4, both subvariants of the Omicron variant that swept the world during the winter, are the most capable versions of the virus yet at evading immunity from previous infections and vaccines. Both variants have mutations in their spike proteins that are different enough from earlier versions of the virus that they are able to dodge some antibodies.
Waves of infection — and the subsequent immunity that comes with them — vary across countries and make for imperfect comparisons. Vaccination rates also vary. But in places where BA.4 and BA.5 have been dominant for weeks or months, the subvariants have caused increases in cases and hospitalizations, despite some population immunity from previous waves
The subvariant of Omicron known as BA.5 is now dominant, according to federal estimates released Tuesday, and together with BA.4, another subvariant, it is fueling an outbreak of cases and hospitalizations.
"I think there's an underappreciation of what it's going to do to the country, and it already is exerting its effect," said Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, who has written about the subvariant.
BA.5 and BA.4, both subvariants of the Omicron variant that swept the world during the winter, are the most capable versions of the virus yet at evading immunity from previous infections and vaccines. Both variants have mutations in their spike proteins that are different enough from earlier versions of the virus that they are able to dodge some antibodies.
Waves of infection — and the subsequent immunity that comes with them — vary across countries and make for imperfect comparisons. Vaccination rates also vary. But in places where BA.4 and BA.5 have been dominant for weeks or months, the subvariants have caused increases in cases and hospitalizations, despite some population immunity from previous waves
Jim Belushi, cannabis farmer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uWmQU2BbA0
I am personally against using intoxicating substances. I am for freedom.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Tiger dies from COVID complications at Ohio zoo: 'Jupiter passed away'
Diseases that have an animal reservoir are almost impossible to eliminate. We might be dealing with COVID for a very long time.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/06/30/tiger-dies-covid-ohio-zoo/7775785001/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/06/30/tiger-dies-covid-ohio-zoo/7775785001/
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Mad bicycle dash to cross a busy street.
In my opinion, bicycle riding has been great for my health. My tiny neighborhood is too small to make for an effective bike ride, so I do a very large loop involving the neighborhood to the west of me. Google thinks that the entire bike ride should take 13 minutes, but it initially took me 25 minutes and I have cut that down to 22 minutes. For parts of the trip, I ride on the sidewalk, but mostly I ride on the streets. Except on Middle Road, I rarely have to deal with cars. I try hard to avoid them.
There is a portion of my bicycle ride that is a little more dangerous because I am riding a short distance on Middle Road which is a pretty busy street.
Normally this jaunt over to the other street is a mad dash to avoid cars. I don't venture out until there are no cars coming, but they come so quickly on Middle road, especially from the south where I can't see as far, that I have had 4 of 5 cars unexpectantly come up behind me, which makes this portion of the bike ride more dangerous. Sometimes if there were cars coming from the south, and none coming from the north, I would switch over to the left side and ride along the left edge of the road. The most dangerous situation would be if cars would be coming from both directions, which rarely happens because I have a much better view of the traffic from the north.
I discovered that the sidewalk on my side of the road turns north just for a short distance followed by a metal utility plate on the ground, which allows me to enter Middle Road from the grass. The cuts down the distance on the road. I then proceed at about a 70-degree angle to the other street. I am entering Middle Road at the left turn region, which gives me the flexibility to change lanes.
In theory, I could ride the grass all the way up. Or I could cross Middle Road from Cedar Crest Drive to the sidewalk across the street. The curb is so high that I can't do this on the bicycle and would have to walk it across.
There is an intersection further south on Middle road that is much easier to cross. Sometimes I have ridden the sidewalk down there so that I could cross more safely.
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Saturday, June 18, 2022
The actual science of the "industrial seed oil" panic
I get frustrated with all the contradictory health information we hear regularly. This video does a good job of talking about the science and the arguments on both sides.
Boosters and Covid
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Larry
Dunn said hospitals in Utah have been "stable" until this week. The state dashboard reports a 27.3% increase in the seven-day average of COVID-19 hospitalizations, and a 35.3% jump in seven-day average cases in the ICU.
"The silver lining in this increase is that it's definitely not as steep," she said. "It's happening at a slower pace."
Dunn said the increase in cases could be from new Omicron subvariants and vaccination/booster shot immunity wearing off.
"We're starting to see that increase and with that, an increase in positivity," said Dunn. "So we're now seeing 25% to 30% positivity."
She said current positivity rates mirror similar peaks seen in early 2021 and beyond.
"The people-over-people method is up 625% since April 2," she explained. "The testing-over-testing method is up 850%."
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Fwd: Studies on Mask usage
Correlation is not causality. You could have more mask usage in higher-risk areas.
Previous studies showed some benefits from mask usage. If there is no benefit, then we need to know that. However, I think that there is a pretty good reason why everybody at the hospital is wearing masks.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Larry
From: Larry
If studies showed masks did not limit covid spread, that would be extremely frustrating. If they showed mask use increased covid spread, it would be horrendous.
Friday, June 3, 2022
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Alzheimer's discovery hints at drugs to stop cells frying "like eggs"
The work shows how protein clumps long associated with the condition can cause heat to build up and fry brain cells "like an egg," and more promisingly, demonstrated how drugs could be deployed to stop things from reaching harmful temperatures.
The breakthrough stems from the team's explorations in what's known as intracellular thermogenesis, an emerging field that centers on gauging temperature changes within cells. Advanced sensors have made such measurements possible, and the team is the first to apply it to the study of Alzheimer's disease, focusing their attention on one of the prime suspects in its onset known as amyloid-beta proteins.
The buildup of amyloid-beta proteins into toxic clumps is considered a key driver of the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease, and they therefore receive considerable attention from scientists working to better understand the condition. The Cambridge team had been investigating links between intracellular thermogenesis and amyloid-beta aggregation, and these advanced new sensors provided the perfect tools to delve into the details.
"Thermogenesis has been associated with cellular stress, which may promote further aggregation," said Chyi Wei Chung, the study's first author. "We believe that when there's an imbalance in cells, like when the amyloid-beta concentration is slightly too high and it starts to accumulate, cellular temperatures increase."
The breakthrough stems from the team's explorations in what's known as intracellular thermogenesis, an emerging field that centers on gauging temperature changes within cells. Advanced sensors have made such measurements possible, and the team is the first to apply it to the study of Alzheimer's disease, focusing their attention on one of the prime suspects in its onset known as amyloid-beta proteins.
The buildup of amyloid-beta proteins into toxic clumps is considered a key driver of the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease, and they therefore receive considerable attention from scientists working to better understand the condition. The Cambridge team had been investigating links between intracellular thermogenesis and amyloid-beta aggregation, and these advanced new sensors provided the perfect tools to delve into the details.
"Thermogenesis has been associated with cellular stress, which may promote further aggregation," said Chyi Wei Chung, the study's first author. "We believe that when there's an imbalance in cells, like when the amyloid-beta concentration is slightly too high and it starts to accumulate, cellular temperatures increase."
Have the Boomers Pinched Their Children’s Futures?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuXzvjBYW8A
The video is a bit long, but it highlights the problems with demographics and government spending, population expansion, the welfare state, and inflation.
Although the video is about England, it applies equally well to the United States. Although England has a National Health Service which is unsustainable, around 60% of health care spending in the United States is funded by the government. Regardless of which country you are in, the government is not going to have the money to keep all its promises.
These kinds of problems aren't unique to the United States and Great Britain. It is happening everywhere. China faces a demographic crisis because there aren't enough young people to support its aging population.
I was a little bit disappointed by his Climate Change views, calling it an emergency, but he points out that the next generation will have to produce 88% less carbon dioxide. This is completely unfeasible. A great many people are going to freeze in the wintertime. Far more people die from cold than they do from heat.
Population increase has always been a concern of mine. It puts pressure on finite resources and makes them more expensive. The cost of housing has reached insane levels, as have the property taxes on those houses.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
The rise of ‘bai lan’: why China’s frustrated youth are ready to ‘let it rot'
In recent days, this phrase – and more previously 'tang ping' (lying flat, 躺平), which means rejecting gruelling competition for a low desire life – gained popularity as severe competition and high social expectations prompted many young Chinese to give up on hard work.
But bai lan has a more worrying layer in the way it is being used by young people in China: to actively embrace a deteriorating situation, rather than trying to turn it around. It is close to other Chinese phrases, for example 'to smash a cracked pot' (破罐破摔) and 'dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water' (死猪不怕开水烫).
State media have taken note of this trend. "Why modern young Chinese like to 'bai lan'?" one recent article in official media outlet asked. "In fact, this is as a result of negative auto suggestion, repeatedly telling oneself I cannot make it… And this kind of mentality often leads people to adopt the 'bai lan' attitude."
But the reality is not quite as state media suggested, says Sal Hang, a 29-year-old creative industry professional in Beijing. He says that for his generation of young Chinese, this attitude of letting things rot is likely to be caused by a lack of social mobility and increased uncertainty in today's China.
"Unlike my parents' generation, young Chinese today have much bigger expectations, but there are many more uncertainties for us, too. For example, we cannot make any long-term plans for our lives anymore, because we do not know what is going to happen to us even five years down the road."
But bai lan has a more worrying layer in the way it is being used by young people in China: to actively embrace a deteriorating situation, rather than trying to turn it around. It is close to other Chinese phrases, for example 'to smash a cracked pot' (破罐破摔) and 'dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water' (死猪不怕开水烫).
State media have taken note of this trend. "Why modern young Chinese like to 'bai lan'?" one recent article in official media outlet asked. "In fact, this is as a result of negative auto suggestion, repeatedly telling oneself I cannot make it… And this kind of mentality often leads people to adopt the 'bai lan' attitude."
But the reality is not quite as state media suggested, says Sal Hang, a 29-year-old creative industry professional in Beijing. He says that for his generation of young Chinese, this attitude of letting things rot is likely to be caused by a lack of social mobility and increased uncertainty in today's China.
"Unlike my parents' generation, young Chinese today have much bigger expectations, but there are many more uncertainties for us, too. For example, we cannot make any long-term plans for our lives anymore, because we do not know what is going to happen to us even five years down the road."
Monday, May 30, 2022
Tony Robbins Life Force Review - Regenexx
I just heard Tony Robbins on the Brian Kilmeade show promoting miracle cures and his book on this subject.
There are most likely things that we can do to improve our health and longevity. Many of these are well known, like eating fewer calories and consuming healthier foods. I'll be posting links concerning fish oil, omega fatty acids, and vitamin D.
I have heard some things about various types of medical research that may be promising.
The upshot? I'm sure Tony is a great personal transformation speaker and obviously, he has a passion for whatever he does. However, at this point, my concern is that my patients are seeing his interviews on social media, and in my opinion, they are getting wildly misinformed."
Saturday, May 28, 2022
Re: $9 dollar pill prevents age related memory loss
On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 12:52 PM Larry wrote:
This could be a long way from a viable treatment. There could be side effects, but I welcome a chance to help people.
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