Members get a daily Covid-19 topic focused on Covid in Tennessee.
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Today's Tennessee Covid numbers:
PCR positive infections: 5,051
Covid deaths: 29
Hospitalizations: 3,036
Positivity: 18.16%
Novel.
New. Not before seen.
This is one of the aspects of SARS-CoV2 that makes it so incredibly dangerous compared to other viruses.
We get exposure to lots of viruses on a regular basis. Most of them we've seen before, or at least one of the same family.
The Novel Coronavirus-2019, the initial term for SARS-CoV2, is a type of coronavirus that most Americans outside of farmers had never been exposed to in the past.
The novelty of the virus meant that this virus, optimized for human ACE2 receptors, could easily infect and begin to massively reproduce before the body's immune cells recognized the virus and figured out a way to fight it.
Understand that the human immune system has to, on a molecular level, synthesize proteins that fit parts of the SARS-CoV2 spike protein, and then mass-produce in the body in order to respond to this never-before-seen infection.
And that process and the processes that follow take time.
The point of masks was and is to avoid getting a huge number of virus particles on your first exposure, which would put the virus at an even greater advantage over your immune system. We call that dose the initial inoculum.
The vaccines that we use now make the virus no-longer novel. The immune cells do not have to start from scratch in their response to the invading virus, but instead have already spooled up at least one strain of antibodies that then go to work on defending us.
As one of my doctor friends said recently, we're trying to avoid Covid pneumonia. This is when the lungs have a terrible immune response, fill with water and hyaluronic acid gel and white blood cells and render the patient unable to get enough oxygen.
Of course, this isn't the only thing we're trying to avoid, but it's the most likely bad outcome.
So when I hear the argument that the vaccines are not preventing all infections, I must point out that if you've avoided the ICU, you've benefitted.
Our vaccines are not "sterilizing" vaccines for SARS-CoV2. The virus encounters target cells for its spike proteins as soon as it enters our noses, and so it's difficult to have an immune response that prevents that from occurring.
Even now, with current variants, Pfizer is still preventing initial infection in 60% of people, as of the last numbers I heard, and the only vaccinated patients we're getting in the ICUs are immune compromised or very frail.
It's the weekend.
Go outside.
Stay healthy!
I'm on a weekend night call schedule this weekend, which always leaves me feeling under-rested and generally icky.
But I wanted to remind you that outdoor exercise without screens is really good for your mental health.
Go outdoors, preferably into the woods.
Get in tune with those surroundings, the sights, the sounds, the smells, even the movement of air and the varying temperatures as you walk.
We were made to be outdoors.
We were definitely not made to work in cubicles.
One Degree!
What you want from your body will dictate what you need to set as goals, and the goals will determine what you'll end up having to change to attain them.
I've spoken many times about systems being better than goals, and my position has not changed.
But goals are easier to discuss and to understand, so for this week, we'll be very specific about goals.
Do you want more muscle mass?
Do you want to be stronger?
Do you want to run faster?
Do you want to gain weight?
Do you want to lose weight?
Do you want to improve general fitness?
Do you want longevity?
Do you want strong bones?
Do you want to earn a Black Belt?
Understanding the benefits and costs of each particular goal may help you decide what you want.
For example, if you want to compete in body-building competitions, you'll not be doing the same thing as if you were focused on longevity. Same with strength competitions.
But general fitness and longevity go fairly well together.
Running is great but will increase the likelihood of needing knee or hip ...
I'll make this one short and to the point.
Spring time change is hard on all of us. Having to get up an hour early doesn't make going to bed an hour earlier much easier.
Yes, it's nice to have more productive time in the evening.
But it's at the cost of forcing us out of be an hour earlier, as we all know.
Our challenge is to adjust our circadian rhythm to match the world's expectations around us.
My main strategy is supplementing with a dose of melatonin about a half hour before I need to be asleep. It helps most people fall asleep more readily.
If you need a nap during your day, take it between mid-morning and early afternoon. Limit it to 20 minutes.
Taking a longer or later nap may make it even harder to get off to sleep in time.
All of the other normal advice applies even moreso:
- Take a 20-minute walk after supper.
- No screen time for the last hour before bed.
- Listen to calm music after supper.
- Don't eat for 2 hours before bed.
- Don't have conflict-laden conversations ...
