Tag Archives: Health

Health, Media, News

Social Distancing: 3-D Simulation Of How Respiratory Droplets Spread Coronavirus

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From The New York Times (April 14, 2020):

Face Mask Disrupts trajectory of cough New York Times April 14 2020
Face Mask Disrupts trajectory of cough New York Times April 14 2020

But as this simulation suggests, and scientists have argued, droplets can travel farther than six feet. And small droplets known as aerosols can remain suspended or travel through the air before they eventually settle on surfaces. This is how they could disperse over the next 20 minutes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people to stay home. If you must venture out, you should stay at least six feet away from others. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of three feet of separation.

Scientists are learning about the novel coronavirus in real time, and those who study similar respiratory illnesses say that until it is better understood, no guideline is likely to offer perfect safety. Instead, understanding the possible transmission routes for the virus can help us see why keeping our distance is so important.

View 3-D simulation

Health, News, Videos

Coronavirus/Covid-19: “Face Shields” Are Best In Preventing Transmission Says Epidemiologist

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From web post by Michael B. Edmond (April 11, 2020):

Our goal should be to have a face shield for every person in the country. It should be worn anytime a person leaves their home, while in any public place, and even at work. From news reports, it appears that face shields are already being more commonly worn in other nations, particularly in some Asian countries. 

The advantages of face shields are their durability allowing them to be worn an indefinite number of times, the ability to easily clean them after use, their comfort, and they prevent the wearer from touching their face. Importantly, they cover all the portals of entry for this virus–the eyes, the nose, and the mouth. Moreover, the supply chain is significantly more diversified than that of face masks, so availability is much greater.

Some are critical of any strategy that isn’t perfect. But let’s think about the influenza vaccine. Although the effectiveness varies from year to year, on average it’s 40%. We push this vaccine hard in the hospital and in the community. Could we expect that face shields are at least 40% effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19? I think so. Universal shielding would bend the curve more quickly and accelerate the ability to reduce social distancing and restrictions on movement.
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Face shields are a simple solution that if implemented universally would have a major impact on public health. Until we have a vaccine, this may be our best intervention for preventing transmission in the community.
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Michael B. Edmond, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA is the Chief Quality Officer and Associate Chief Medical Officer for University of Iowa Health Care and Clinical Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He previously served as the Richard P. Wenzel Professor of Internal Medicine, Chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Hospital Epidemiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Art, Health, Sleep, Sleep Health

Society: Sleep Industry Helps Consumers “Sleep Less, More Productively” As Their Health Worsens

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From a The Architectural Review online article (April 9, 2020):

The Long Sleep by Briton RiviereThe sleep industry caters to a working consumer’s wish to sleep less, yet sleep more productively, and accommodates transnational industry which has joined the state as a custodian of biopolitics. Jonathan Crary’s 24/7 spells out in detail how the state and a capitalist economy are encroaching stupendously on the private sphere, in which sleep was one of the last vestiges of unfettered time.

About 15 years ago, someone calculated the financial loss US companies incurred through workers’ illicit practice of sleeping on the job. Indeed, the trope of the lazy sleeper is an old one, resignified at present in our more than callous attitude towards the homeless, whose sleeping bodies punctuate many a journey to and from work.

Even in this most passive stance – someone simply disregarding normative codes and regulations by giving in to a physical need – sleep seems suspiciously subversive. Less an act than a way of being, the sleeper, by sleeping when and where it is not condoned, challenges everyone else, who is doing/working/functioning/functionalised. Contrary to the tree falling in the forest, the sleeper in the workplace or in public space affects and thus ever so slightly transforms those around them.

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Culture, Health, News, Society

Coronavirus / Covid-19: How Social Gatherings Were “Rocket Fuel” For Spread Of The Pandemic

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From a The Guardian article (April 9, 2020):

The Cluster Effect How Social Gatherings were Rocket Fuel for Coronavirus The Guardian April 9 2020A hundred days after a Chinese government website announced the discovery of a “pneumonia of unknown cause”, it has become clearer that the dynamics behind the virus’s rapid expansion across the globe has relied heavily on such “cluster effects”.

Each of the countries most heavily hit by the pandemic has reported similar stories of social, cultural or religious gatherings where large numbers spent numerous hours in close company – holding hands, kissing, sharing drinks from the same glass – which then turbo-charged the spread of the pandemic.

“Most infections didn’t take place in supermarkets or restaurants,” Streeck said of his preliminary findings. In Heinsberg, his team of coronavirus detectives could find scant evidence of the virus being transmitted via the surfaces of door handles, smart phones or other objects.

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Aging, Health, Lectures, Old Age, Videos

The Elderly & Dementia: “Managing Daily Activities & Fall Prevention” (UCSF)

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Presented by Sarah Dulaney, RN, CNS, a nurse at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, and Helen Medsger, a family caregiver and LBD support group leader, as part of the Lewy Body Dementia Caregiver Webinar Series supported by the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and the Administration for Community Living.

Diet & Nutrition, Food, Reviews

Diet & Nutrition Health: Benefits Of “Turmeric And Chili Pepper” Spices (BBC)

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From a BBC.com article by Jessica Brown (April 6, 2020):

Red chili, black pepper and turmeric at local market
Red chili, black pepper and turmeric.

“The major findings were that higher intake of spicy foods is related to a lower risk of mortality, particularly deaths due to cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases,” says researcher Lu Qi, professor of nutrition at Harvard’s school of public health.

Many researchers believe the health benefits of spices actually come from what we eat them with. For example, there’s a tendency to use them to replace salt, says Lipi Roy. “Spices make food delicious and flavourful, and they can be a healthier alternative to salt,” she says.

BBC Future logoSpices have been a part of our diets for thousands of years – it’s second nature to sprinkle our chips with pepper, sip on ginger tea and add chillies to our meals. But recently, some spices have been unofficially promoted from everyday culinary staples to all-healing superfoods.

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Health, News, Podcasts, Science, Technology

Coronavirus/Covid-19: Francis Crick Institute On “Large-Scale, Reliable Testing” (LRB Podcast)

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London Review of Books logoRupert Beale talks again to Thomas Jones about his work at the Francis Crick Institute, where he’s helping to set up a testing lab for Covid-19.

He talks about the challenges of creating a scalable process, explains why a successful antibody test could be hard to achieve, and finds some reasons to be hopeful.

You can find a full transcript of this episode HERE.