Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/9ws7humxWQQ

Early in the CoVid pandemic, concerns arose about using ACE inhibitors and angiogensin receptor blockers (ARBs) since the ACE2 receptor is the entry point for the CoVid virus into human cells.  A just published study from the University of Pennsylvania suggests that these drugs are safe and perhaps even helpful.

Penn investigators studied 152 CoVid patients being treated with various blood pressure meds.   Their data showed that discontinuing those drugs had no positive effects on need for ventilation, incidence of organ failure, or death rate.

If you are on anti-hypertensive drugs in the ACE inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocking classes, don’t stop taking them if you develop CoVid. 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30558-0/fulltext

#covid #aceinhibitor #arb

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/9ws7humxWQQ

Early in the CoVid pandemic, concerns arose about using ACE inhibitors and angiogensin receptor blockers (ARBs) since the ACE2 receptor is the entry point for the CoVid virus into human cells.  A just published study from the University of Pennsylvania suggests that these drugs are safe and perhaps even helpful.

Penn investigators studied 152 CoVid patients being treated with various blood pressure meds.   Their data showed that discontinuing those drugs had no positive effects on need for ventilation, incidence of organ failure, or death rate.

If you are on anti-hypertensive drugs in the ACE inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocking classes, don’t stop taking them if you develop CoVid. 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30558-0/fulltext

#covid #aceinhibitor #arb

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/pa5lAcnIG04

Those taking drugs to prevent transplanted organ rejection or the scourge of autoimmune diseases do as well during hospital treatment for CoVid as non-immunosuppressed patients.  Researchers at Johns Hopkins report this finding after studying 2121 patients.

The immunosuppressed patients compared with non-immunosuppressed controls had similar outcomes including lengths of stay, rates of ventilator use, and mortality rates.  A larger, nationwide study is now underway to assess the effects of various immunosuppressant medications.

This good news for patients with immune system handicaps does not preclude their need to take all precautions to avoid contracting the virus including mask-wearing, distancing, hand-washing, and, when available, CoVid vaccination.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210107135651.htm

#immunocompromise #immunosuppression #covid #hospitalization

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/pa5lAcnIG04

Those taking drugs to prevent transplanted organ rejection or the scourge of autoimmune diseases do as well during hospital treatment for CoVid as non-immunosuppressed patients.  Researchers at Johns Hopkins report this finding after studying 2121 patients.

The immunosuppressed patients compared with non-immunosuppressed controls had similar outcomes including lengths of stay, rates of ventilator use, and mortality rates.  A larger, nationwide study is now underway to assess the effects of various immunosuppressant medications.

This good news for patients with immune system handicaps does not preclude their need to take all precautions to avoid contracting the virus including mask-wearing, distancing, hand-washing, and, when available, CoVid vaccination.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210107135651.htm

#immunocompromise #immunosuppression #covid #hospitalization

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/GOEHV368bss

With the CoVid pandemic raging and shortages of PPE once again occurring, you will want to know how to effectively recycle your N95, KN95, or HEPA masks.  From NY’s Columbia University come do-it-yourself methods that safely and economically eliminate virus while maintaining mask integrity, fit, and filtration parameters.

The investigators found that placing masks in breathable paper bags in a Cuckoo rice cooker with a stable temperature of  70˚C (160˚F) for one hour worked better than immersing masks protected by waterproof ziplock bags in water at 160˚F or in boiling water.  

 If you have an oven or toaster oven that maintains a stable temperature, use that.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.05.20248590v1.full.pdf

#masks #heat #recycling #fit #filtration #covid

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/GOEHV368bss

With the CoVid pandemic raging and shortages of PPE once again occurring, you will want to know how to effectively recycle your N95, KN95, or HEPA masks.  From NY’s Columbia University come do-it-yourself methods that safely and economically eliminate virus while maintaining mask integrity, fit, and filtration parameters.

The investigators found that placing masks in breathable paper bags in a Cuckoo rice cooker with a stable temperature of  70˚C (160˚F) for one hour worked better than immersing masks protected by waterproof ziplock bags in water at 160˚F or in boiling water.  

 If you have an oven or toaster oven that maintains a stable temperature, use that.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.05.20248590v1.full.pdf

#masks #heat #recycling #fit #filtration #covid

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Area-r3AMeQ

Will you soon have a chance to get either the Moderna or the Pfizer mRNA vaccine?  If so, here are some nitty-gritty things that you will want to know about these 95% protective vaccines courtesy of the CDC.

Each vaccine consists of a small fragment of RNA specially formulated so that your body won’t produce an immune response to it.  This RNA is packaged in a fatty nanoparticle that permits your white cells to swallow it up and begin producing pure and non-infectious CoVid spike protein.  Your lymphocytes then produce antibodies to that spike protein.  These antibodies prevent infectious CoVid virus  from entering your cells.

The RNA in a fat ball must be stored at subzero temps in freezers and transported in dry ice. An antifreeze, polyethylene glycol (PEG) prevents damaging ice formation.  It’s this antifreeze, similar to that used in cars, that some people have a deadly allergic reaction against.

Each vaccine requires two doses for optimal immunization.  For the Pfizer, 30 ug in 0.3 milliliters is given and repeated in 3 weeks.  For the Moderna, 100 ug in 0.5 milliliters is injected and repeated in 1 month.  You must receive the same vaccine twice; you can’t mix and match.

Vaccination is safe for those who have CoVid.  Those with only a positive CoVid test, vaccination may begin 10 days after that positive test.  For those with symptoms, vaccination should be delayed about 3 weeks.

If you have just been exposed to CoVid, wait until your 14 day quarantine period is over to begin vaccination.  Beginning CoVid vaccinations will not prevent CoVid if the virus has just entered your body.

Persons who are immunocompromised including those with HIV may be vaccinated.  Persons with stable HIV were included in vaccine trials, but effectiveness data about this group is not available.  Those with autoimmune diseases may receive the mRNA vaccines.

The mRNA vaccines are considered safe for pregnant and breast-feeding women.  They may also be given to adolescents 16 years and older.

After vaccination, there is an 80-90% chance that you’ll experience pain, swelling, redness at the side and/or swollen glands in your armpit.  There is a 50-80% chance you’ll get a fever, headache, fatigue, chills, muscle aches, or joint pains.  Most symptoms are mild to moderate and occur within 3 days of vaccination.  Reactions are more common after the second dose.  You can take Tylenol, acetaminophen, for pain and fever control.

A severe allergic reaction may occur in .001 percent of cases or 11 in one million which is a very low risk but 10 times higher than with the flu vaccine.  81% of those developing such post-vaccination reactions with the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer had a history of severe allergies.  All recovered with prompt m

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Area-r3AMeQ

Will you soon have a chance to get either the Moderna or the Pfizer mRNA vaccine?  If so, here are some nitty-gritty things that you will want to know about these 95% protective vaccines courtesy of the CDC.

Each vaccine consists of a small fragment of RNA specially formulated so that your body won’t produce an immune response to it.  This RNA is packaged in a fatty nanoparticle that permits your white cells to swallow it up and begin producing pure and non-infectious CoVid spike protein.  Your lymphocytes then produce antibodies to that spike protein.  These antibodies prevent infectious CoVid virus  from entering your cells.

The RNA in a fat ball must be stored at subzero temps in freezers and transported in dry ice. An antifreeze, polyethylene glycol (PEG) prevents damaging ice formation.  It’s this antifreeze, similar to that used in cars, that some people have a deadly allergic reaction against.

Each vaccine requires two doses for optimal immunization.  For the Pfizer, 30 ug in 0.3 milliliters is given and repeated in 3 weeks.  For the Moderna, 100 ug in 0.5 milliliters is injected and repeated in 1 month.  You must receive the same vaccine twice; you can’t mix and match.

Vaccination is safe for those who have CoVid.  Those with only a positive CoVid test, vaccination may begin 10 days after that positive test.  For those with symptoms, vaccination should be delayed about 3 weeks.

If you have just been exposed to CoVid, wait until your 14 day quarantine period is over to begin vaccination.  Beginning CoVid vaccinations will not prevent CoVid if the virus has just entered your body.

Persons who are immunocompromised including those with HIV may be vaccinated.  Persons with stable HIV were included in vaccine trials, but effectiveness data about this group is not available.  Those with autoimmune diseases may receive the mRNA vaccines.

The mRNA vaccines are considered safe for pregnant and breast-feeding women.  They may also be given to adolescents 16 years and older.

After vaccination, there is an 80-90% chance that you’ll experience pain, swelling, redness at the side and/or swollen glands in your armpit.  There is a 50-80% chance you’ll get a fever, headache, fatigue, chills, muscle aches, or joint pains.  Most symptoms are mild to moderate and occur within 3 days of vaccination.  Reactions are more common after the second dose.  You can take Tylenol, acetaminophen, for pain and fever control.

A severe allergic reaction may occur in .001 percent of cases or 11 in one million which is a very low risk but 10 times higher than with the flu vaccine.  81% of those developing such post-vaccination reactions with the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer had a history of severe allergies.  All recovered with prompt medical therapy.  

Those with a history of a severe allergic reaction to a previous mRNA vaccine or another vaccine, polyethylene glycol (PEG), or polysorbate, should not receive these mRNA vaccines.  Just recently, the FDA reported that 3 individuals who had undergone injection of so-called facial filler material to erase wrinkles suffered severe allergic reactions to the Moderna vaccine.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html

https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/17/moderna-vaccine-fda-panel/

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7002e1.htm

#covid #vaccine #mRNA #peg #polyethyleneglycol #polysorbate

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZFWgbAtZs9A

In two cases, cancers in a mother’s cervix were passed to their newborns during a vaginal delivery.  These reports from Japanese pediatric oncologists appeared in a recent New England Journal of Medicine.

One mother was belatedly diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell-neuroendocrine cervical cancer 3 months following her delivery, and her child developed a neuroendocrine carcinoma just prior to a second birthday.  The second mother was found to have a cervical adenocarcinoma, and her child developed a lung adenocarcinoma at age 6.  Genetic studies demonstrated link between maternal and child cancers.

Pregnant women with known or suspected cancerous or precancerous cervical or vaginal lesions should opt for c-sections.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2030391

#cancer #cervical #vaginal #transmission

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ZFWgbAtZs9A

In two cases, cancers in a mother’s cervix were passed to their newborns during a vaginal delivery.  These reports from Japanese pediatric oncologists appeared in a recent New England Journal of Medicine.

One mother was belatedly diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell-neuroendocrine cervical cancer 3 months following her delivery, and her child developed a neuroendocrine carcinoma just prior to a second birthday.  The second mother was found to have a cervical adenocarcinoma, and her child developed a lung adenocarcinoma at age 6.  Genetic studies demonstrated link between maternal and child cancers.

Pregnant women with known or suspected cancerous or precancerous cervical or vaginal lesions should opt for c-sections.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2030391

#cancer #cervical #vaginal #transmission