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!
Over the past year and a half, I've run into a number of situations that boggled my mind.
The first was when the WHO denied that there was a reason for the US to close travel from China when the SARS-CoV2 outbreak first was recognized.
The second was when the CDC gave cover to hospitals for them to prohibit routine mask wearing by nurses. I remember watching while administrators told nurses on the front lines that routine mask wearing was not to be practiced, and that N95 masks were to be reused for up to 2 weeks if worn.
The third that I recall was about the malaria medicine/zinc/azithromycin triple therapy that was heralded by a physician in France. I'm being indirect here to keep from being censored. We knew that the virus was triggering uncontrolled immune responses, and we also knew that the malaria drug was used in certain autoimmune diseases as an immune modulator, and so it wasn't surprising that it might help.
But study after study that was trotted out as showing that one or another of the components of this treatment had no effect had obvious flaws in their design. Never, as far as I know, did any of those studies truly follow the treatment plan of the French doctor, but instead would only use one or maybe two of the drugs, never all three, and the studies were limited to patients that had severe disease.
To this day I am bothered by the way that protocol was "studied."
But tonight I ran across, on the FDA website, a document entitled "Emergency Use Authorization of Medical Products and Related Authorities - Guidance for Industry and Other Stakeholders."
In the document, from 2017, I found the following sentence:
"For FDA to issue an EUA, there must be no adequate, approved, and available alternative to the candidate product for diagnosing, preventing, or treating the disease or condition."
Folks, I am making no claims here, because it's just putting clues together, and nothing more. But those who argue that there is an agenda to push forth vaccination as the only alternative are not without some supporting evidence.
Even then, I encourage each of you to discuss vaccination with your physician, evaluate your risk factors (including social risk) and get vaccinated if it makes sense for you.
Let's not be blind followers. Be intentional in your actions. But don't write vaccination off just because the evangelists of mistrust and fear emphasize risks over benefit, and ignore the very real and much higher risks of contracting Covid-19.
Also, I'm told that Medicine Shoppe in Johnson City is giving antibody treatments now.
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 ...
