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 Covid update:
Hospitalizations: 1,622
Deaths: 29
Positivity: 37.85%
Christmas appears to have given us a remarkably strong spike in SARS-CoV2 infections. We'll be seeing hospitalizations accelerate over the next week or so, I expect, and I would guess that we will see cases begin to decline in a couple of weeks. As always, I could be wrong.
You probably heard that the CDC made a big adjustment in their reporting on omicron prevalence from several weeks ago, significantly reducing its percentage of reported cases. I don't have details on why the change, but I find it troubling because many people have been denied monoclonal antibody treatments because of the high estimate of omicron prevalence.
Lots of people around me are testing positive right now. So far, nobody has progressed to severe disease, though I'm concerned for some I heard of tonight who have steadfastly refused vaccination. I swear that certain religions render many people incapable of accepting good advice and prone to believing conspiracies.
Yes, if you're careful about your health, you are improving your odds. But if you get a huge viral dose when you spend your Christmas celebration in close proximity to other people, your health may not matter as much as you'd like it to.
As a reminder once again, it is the novelty of the SARS-CoV2 virus to our bodies that makes it supremely dangerous. It overwhelms our bodies before our immune cells know how to respond.
The point of any vaccine is that our bodies are no longer blindsided by a novel virus, but instead have a heads-up on what might be coming.
The antibodies are one of our first lines of defense, and if they are already present in our mucus and blood on exposure, we may not even get infected. But if you get a million virus particles from exposure, or if antibody levels are low, you will probably still get infected. Once infected, the B cells in our various tissues make more antibodies to neutralize the invading vaccine, and our T cells start dividing and producing more T cells trained to recognize and attack SARS-CoV2 viruses. Between the antibodies and the T-cells (T lymphocytes), and with the help of other kinds of cells and molecules, eventually the virus is beaten back. If virus numbers in our bodies become astronomical, like they might in a non-immune individual, though, the immune system goes off like a bomb, damaging tissues like the linings of our blood vessels, the alveoli in our lungs, and the muscle cells of the heart, among others.
Unrelated, the world lost a light today. Ms Betty White passed on, only 18 days before her 100th birthday. She was a wonderful and positive public figure who brought smiles and laughter to many of us.
Happy New Year to all! Here's to a much better year in 2022.
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 ...
