Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/I75VfxvHtWc

Taking a weekly dose of semaglutide, branded as Ozempic and Rybelsus, helped drive a 15% drop in body weight over close to a year and a half, and may be the dawn of a new era in therapeutic weight loss.  An international collaborative study of 1961 obese subjects was just reported in the New England Journal.

The average weight loss per person was nearly 34 pounds while 35% of the treated group lost more than 20% of body weight.  Those taking the semaglutide along with lifestyle changes also enjoyed an improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors and physical functioning.

Semaglutide offers an alternative to bariatric surgery for initiating a serious reduction in body mass.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183

#obesity #semaglutide #ozempic #rybelsus

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/I75VfxvHtWc

Taking a weekly dose of semaglutide, branded as Ozempic and Rybelsus, helped drive a 15% drop in body weight over close to a year and a half, and may be the dawn of a new era in therapeutic weight loss.  An international collaborative study of 1961 obese subjects was just reported in the New England Journal.

The average weight loss per person was nearly 34 pounds while 35% of the treated group lost more than 20% of body weight.  Those taking the semaglutide along with lifestyle changes also enjoyed an improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors and physical functioning.

Semaglutide offers an alternative to bariatric surgery for initiating a serious reduction in body mass.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183

#obesity #semaglutide #ozempic #rybelsus

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3qjJcoyqcbI

Facemasks of any construction can increase the humidity of the air you’re breathing by a factor of 2 to 3.  Other studies show that increased humidity reduces spread of respiratory viruses like CoVid, and NIH investigators now report which masks humidify the best.

Comparing N95 masks, surgical masks, light cloth, and heavy cotton mass, the studies showed that N95 masks did the best job of both filtration and humidification more than doubling  the humidity.  Heavy cotton masks increased the humidity better but did not filter as well.

As manufacturing has increased, authentic N95 masks are more available online.  Many are labeled as non-medical, but they do filter out a high proportion of viruses including CoVid.

https://www.cell.com/biophysj/pdf/S0006-3495(21)00116-8.pdf

#humidity #filter #n95 #surgical

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3qjJcoyqcbI

Facemasks of any construction can increase the humidity of the air you’re breathing by a factor of 2 to 3.  Other studies show that increased humidity reduces spread of respiratory viruses like CoVid, and NIH investigators now report which masks humidify the best.

Comparing N95 masks, surgical masks, light cloth, and heavy cotton mass, the studies showed that N95 masks did the best job of both filtration and humidification more than doubling  the humidity.  Heavy cotton masks increased the humidity better but did not filter as well.

As manufacturing has increased, authentic N95 masks are more available online.  Many are labeled as non-medical, but they do filter out a high proportion of viruses including CoVid.

https://www.cell.com/biophysj/pdf/S0006-3495(21)00116-8.pdf

#humidity #filter #n95 #surgical

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/pYqQJE28Lpg

The debate about egg safety continues.  Some say that ingesting cholesterol-rich eggs plugs your blood vessels while others insist that the dangerous cholesterol is manufactured in your own body due to saturated fat intake.

A huge Chinese study using the American NIH-AARP database looked at more than 521,000 persons reporting their dietary choices over 16 years.  Those wolfing down the most egg had 16% higher risk of a cardiovascular death and a 23% higher risk of cancer death.

The study does have shortcomings as the egg eaters also smoked more, exercised less, and didn’t take daily aspirin.  

The winning formula is healthy eating, avoiding smoke, and regular aerobic exercise.

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003508

#egg #heart #cancer #exercise

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/pYqQJE28Lpg

The debate about egg safety continues.  Some say that ingesting cholesterol-rich eggs plugs your blood vessels while others insist that the dangerous cholesterol is manufactured in your own body due to saturated fat intake.

A huge Chinese study using the American NIH-AARP database looked at more than 521,000 persons reporting their dietary choices over 16 years.  Those wolfing down the most egg had 16% higher risk of a cardiovascular death and a 23% higher risk of cancer death.

The study does have shortcomings as the egg eaters also smoked more, exercised less, and didn’t take daily aspirin.  

The winning formula is healthy eating, avoiding smoke, and regular aerobic exercise.

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003508

#egg #heart #cancer #exercise

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/dW8MMcuLm-Y

States and countries that strictly limit public activity in the face of CoVid spread enjoy dramatically lower mortality rates.  Johns Hopkins researchers now report 4 fold lower rates in the States and an 11 fold lower rate in Scandinavia.

Comparing strictly-controlled Washington State to laissez-faire Massachusetts showed an 80% mortality rate drop and a 67% case fatality rate reduction.  Comparing locked down Norway with wide open Sweden revealed a 91% mortality reduction and a 70% case fatality rate drop.

Population density differences explain much of the difference (WA/MA=87% lower; N/S=77% lower), still the relative crowding in Massachusetts and Sweden argues even more strongly for strict measures.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251580v1.full.pdf+html

#publichealth #mandatory #voluntary #CoVid

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/dW8MMcuLm-Y

States and countries that strictly limit public activity in the face of CoVid spread enjoy dramatically lower mortality rates.  Johns Hopkins researchers now report 4 fold lower rates in the States and an 11 fold lower rate in Scandinavia.

Comparing strictly-controlled Washington State to laissez-faire Massachusetts showed an 80% mortality rate drop and a 67% case fatality rate reduction.  Comparing locked down Norway with wide open Sweden revealed a 91% mortality reduction and a 70% case fatality rate drop.

Population density differences explain much of the difference (WA/MA=87% lower; N/S=77% lower), still the relative crowding in Massachusetts and Sweden argues even more strongly for strict measures.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251580v1.full.pdf+html

#publichealth #mandatory #voluntary #CoVid

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/4Lm_3oFj-us

There is some good news from an early study looking at immunity of CoVid survivors against the virus variants that emerged in the UK, S. Africa, and Brazil.  Investigators at the NIH and Johns Hopkins estimate that CoVid survivors would mount an effective cell-mediated response to the mutated strains in 98% of cases.

Studying the blood from 30 recovered patients, testing revealed that their CD8+ T killer cells would react to 44 of the 45 antigens found in the new strains thereby effectively killing these mutant CoVid viruses.  Will the cellular immune responses elicited by our CoVid vaccines kill the mutants also? Fingers crossed!

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251585v1.full.pdf+html

#cellularimmunity #CoVid #cd8+ #variants #vaccine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/4Lm_3oFj-us

There is some good news from an early study looking at immunity of CoVid survivors against the virus variants that emerged in the UK, S. Africa, and Brazil.  Investigators at the NIH and Johns Hopkins estimate that CoVid survivors would mount an effective cell-mediated response to the mutated strains in 98% of cases.

Studying the blood from 30 recovered patients, testing revealed that their CD8+ T killer cells would react to 44 of the 45 antigens found in the new strains thereby effectively killing these mutant CoVid viruses.  Will the cellular immune responses elicited by our CoVid vaccines kill the mutants also? Fingers crossed!

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251585v1.full.pdf+html

#cellularimmunity #CoVid #cd8+ #variants #vaccine