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!
In Tennessee today, 1,409 people had new confirmed positive SARS-CoV2 infections, 11 people were reported to have died from confirmed Covid-19, and hospitalizations continued to rise, with 811 people now hospitalized with Covid-19. Positivity was 13.66% today.
It's been a while since I explained how I get my numbers and why I choose to report the ones I do.
All of the numbers I report above are from the Tennessee Department of Health Covid-19 info page.
I report PCR-positive results for confirmed positive. It's not a perfect number, as it's not a perfect test. FDA regulations have prevented tests from reporting cycle count thresholds for their tests, so it's not a particularly accurate number. I continue to use it because it is useful for tracking trends.
As PCR tests do not diagnose disease, I report these numbers as new infections, not new cases. Physicians diagnose based on their synthesis of available information about the patient, including history, physical exam, and lab and radiographic studies.
Deaths that I report are deaths of PCR-positive patients. Suspected or presumed Covid-19 deaths are not included in the figure I share here.
Hospitalizations are total hospitalized patients who have a diagnosis of Covid-19. This may or may not include patients who are hospitalized for other reasons and have positive Covid tests. The mechanism of this reporting to the State is not clear to me.
Positivity is the percent of PCR tests administered that come back positive on a given day. Like all of the other numbers, it isn't a perfect number, and I only pay attention to the trend. If you have large testing drives, you'll have a high total test number, and so the positivity can be pushed down. Holidays and weekends without organized testing outreach will have a lower number of tests, but a higher likelihood that those who sought out testing were sick, so these days may have a higher positivity.
So those are the basics of the numbers I report.
A most interesting article entitled "Association Between Mood Disorders and Risk of COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" was published in JAMA Psychiatry today. Among its findings, people with pre-existing mood disorders were 31% more likely to require hospitalization and 51% more likely to die compared to people with a diagnosed mood disorder. I invite you to look it up and especially read the "discussion" paragraphs.
I've talked about the interconnectedness between the mind and the body in the past. This report is compatible with that paradigm.
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 ...
