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!
Since Friday in Tennessee, hospitalizations have risen to 1,157 Covid-19 patients and 25 people have died with Covid-19.
New confirmed positive SARS-CoV2 infections were 2,397 on Saturday, 1,505 on Sunday, and 1,338 today. Positivity today was 15.48%.
There's an interesting report released by GOP members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that provides their evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the introduction of SARS-CoV2 into the general population. Look it up for details. To be honest, I have a hard time being terribly skeptical of these claims, as I think that conclusion is a given, but that's just me.
I'm still looking for real information about the risk of serious illness, long-term effects, and death for healthy young people and children from the delta variant. If you run across anything that carries some weight and shines a light on this, please share below.
One of the obstacles to good information on this topic is that most Covid testing provides no information about what variant is found, and so only representative sampling for sequencing is currently of any great value at this point. Given the speed with which these variants develop and spread, and the time it takes to develop and mass-produce tests that would classify variant presence, it is not shocking that there is a dearth of info. It's just frustrating.
One of the latest ways to rile the masses being spread by the anti-vax propaganda machine is the claim that vaccines are producing the variants. So let's play with that for a moment. Vaccines are programming the body to recognize a particular protein that happens to be the spike protein of SARS-CoV2. This protein has mostly stayed the same on its business end, or else it might not be able to function.
Variants are mutations that were able to thrive in the host. RNA, the data storage of the SARS-CoV2 virus, is less stable and more prone to mutation than DNA, the data storage molecules of our cells. It mutates on a regular basis randomly, and most mutations destroy the function of the product virus. But, randomly, one may advantage the product virus over others.
In order to have mutations, you have to have replication of virus actively occurring.
The way to not have mutations is to not have virus replicating, and that means fewer hosts and stronger immune systems.
So vaccinations, while they do not prevent infection, greatly reduce replication and spread.
So to argue that the vaccines produced the variants ignores the basic process that creates variants.
Given that most of the people getting seriously ill are unvaccinated individuals, vaccines still are our most powerful defense against any of the known variants.
One other point: receptors and spike proteins fit together in a way similar to a lock and a key. While there can be some variation in the shape of a receptor, in order for it to work, it still has to be pretty close to the right shape, on a molecular level, in order to work.
The antibodies produced from vaccines and infections teach the body to recognize that specific shape.
So, at least in theory, if the virus is able to work, the vaccine should have taught the body how to recognize it in order to trigger the immune response.
If your child is obese, that is not your child's fault, but it is a significant risk factor for severe Covid-19. Address obesity. It is the most modifiable of risk factors, in children as well as adults.
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 ...
