Members get a daily Covid-19 topic focused on Covid in Tennessee.
Supporters are part of a self-improvement sub-group where value is dispensed daily on personal growth in all aspects of life, informed by many sources. New members welcome!
Tennessee's Covid numbers today:
New confirmed positive SARS-Cov2 infections: 5,463
New Covid deaths: 57
Total hospitalized today: 3,565
Positivity: 21.62%
Viruses are hard to fight.
When I first entered healthcare, it was 1990, and the list of anti-viral medications was a short one, and most of them couldn't eradicate a virus.
HIV has stimulated a lot of research into the mechanisms a virus uses, and into how those mechanisms can be interrupted, but we still can't cure HIV.
We also can't cure herpes, influenza, or the common cold.
As far as I know, we only have one virus that we can get rid of with drugs, and that is hepatitis C.
The treatments available for herpes and HIV are not curative. They simply suppress the virus.
So it's not a surprise at all that our experience with a novel coronavirus capable of causing overwhelming immune overreaction in some cases has been somewhat chaotic.
We have known since the basics of the virus were understood that it would have variants. It's an RNA virus, and RNA viruses are more prone to mutation than DNA viruses. The surprise to me is how it hasn't mutated any faster than it has.
It has become clear to me that many people evaluate arguments not on merit but on their impression of the speaker. "I don't know anything about topic X but the person who thinks Topic X is a good idea has changed his story several times over the years but the guy who thinks Topic X is a bad idea is sure of himself and so I will go with that guy and oppose Topic X."
In a nod to the millions of people who see the entire reaction of our "leaders" as one big power grab, I share your concern, and I expect the government to continue to consolidate power using Covid as an excuse. To understand how far it can go, one need only look at how the Australian government has transformed itself into a representative tyranny in the name of keeping its citizens safe from Covid. They seem to have taken their cues from China.
Our physicians and other direct-care professionals are increasingly traumatized by the current spike in cases. Almost uniformly, the patients are unvaccinated, and the majority of severely ill patients are obese. There's a sense that this could be avoided, and that adds to the frustration that many feel.
It's a bad time to be sick or injured right now. Please be extra careful to avoid trauma and illness. We are now reaching the point where we are developing plans for the rationing of care. That means that humans have to decide, directly, who lives and who dies. And I can assure you that all of us want to have nothing to do with the rationing of life-saving and life-sustaining care.
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 ...
