Members get a daily Covid-19 topic focused on Covid in Tennessee.
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Regarding Covid, there's lots of talk right now about the FDA advisory panel's recommendation that most people not get a vaccine booster at this time. I think it's a reasoned approach, given the risks associated with challenging the immune system.
They did, however, feel very comfortable with high-risk people, such as healthcare workers and immune-compromised individuals getting a booster dose.
What is a booster?
At this point, it's nothing but a third dose of the mRNA vaccine. There is no change in formulation or dose. It reminds the body to keep making antibodies against specific regions of the viral protein with receptor-binding domains for the ACE2 receptors in our bodies.
We think, but do not know for certain, that higher antibody levels may correlate with effectiveness of immunity.
In immune-compromised people, they may have a muted response to all of the vaccine injections, and may have a more rapid decline of immunity after vaccination.
In healthcare workers, we're just more likely to be challenged by new exposures than the average person, so our risks (assuming we've not been infected already) of infection and disease are higher.
I very much hope that we do not see any mandate, and especially extended to boosters. The risk management process is, in my view, a bit more nuanced with the booster than it is with the initial dose, and so I am neither encouraging nor discouraging the general public to get a third dose.
For people in long-term care, there's a pretty good argument for a third dose, given that they are more frail and may have a high-dose exposure. There's also a reasonable argument that their frailty may put the at a more precarious point as far as dramatic effects from a boosted immune response. So it's a decision that really should be made (as it always should anyway) in conjunction with your personal physician.
Fifty-five percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. That means that 181,000,000 people in the US have been vaccinated.
Remember that denominator when looking at reaction data.
I hope you've been outside today. It's been beautiful here.
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 ...
