The world receives a daily serving of medical education as it waits expectantly for a silver bullet therapy against COVID. As the public watches the unfolding of the COVID 19 pandemic, each morning comes with an eagerness for reports that might tell us of a wonder drug against this invisible foe. One area which receives…
COVID-19 opened a whole new world of research including great effort into understanding why men fared worse than women with regard to disease severity. While women generally suffer from more autoimmune conditions, with this SARS CoV2 virus, men got the short straw. When this correlation for men continued to pop up from epidemiological studies, the…
Four diseases, common in America, could explain 2 out of every 3 hospitalizations for COVID. Imagine if we could have lowered those diseases. Many hospitalizations and many lives could have been saved. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure rose to the top of a computer model which took epidemiologic data and COVID mortality data to…
While mainstream medicine long ignored post-viral chronic fatigue, conventional doctors must now acknowledge the long term effects of Post-Covid Long Hauler syndrome alongside functional medicine providers who show no surprise at this situation. Functional medicine practitioners like our clinic have long treated patients who report months and years of debilitating physical and mental fatigue which…
While we endure living through the poorly written plot of a science fiction medical thriller – yes I am referring to COVID-19 – we must face the plot twist of viral mutations. Like it or not, 2021 continues the COVID-19 storyline with the so-called variant strains. The virus and its ensuing pandemic takes on an…
Besides frantically searching for therapies to combat this little coronavirus, scientists also continue searching for those factors which either help or hurt patients during COVID infection. Many risk factors find their ways into both scientific journals and social media. The question arose over whether NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, like ibuprofen and naproxen, could help or…
Will I turn red, break out in hives, and stop breathing? Many ask if the COVID vaccine will trigger an allergic reaction. They are considering whether or not to step in line for the vaccine in the coming weeks but have concerns about news reports of anaphylaxis or other allergic reactions in those receiving…
While research seeks to answer the burning questions of science, it’s findings often lead to more questions. Scientists from the Medical University of Vienna described how COVID-19 left changes in the immune systems of patients 10 weeks later and therefore left a question for future research: “so what?” The numbers of different immune cells including…
Vaccines are notorious for needing repeated doses and the flu vaccine may be the most notorious. There are many reasons for needing repeat doses. The childhood vaccines require a series of injections to stimulate enough response for protection throughout childhood. Even then, the tetanus vaccine wears off years later. Of course, even a natural infection…
Science fiction thrillers fill our nightmares with deadly viruses mutating to the point of human annihilation. While possible, this scenario is highly unlikely and research indicates that SARS CoV-21 does not appear to be gaining transmissibility super powers either. Researchers from the University College of London Genetics Institute evaluated over 40,000 strains of the virus…