Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/PzA8TI7x0xc

A new CoVid antibody test is better able to detect antibodies that actually can protect you from the virus.  University of North Carolina researchers now announce this test and its benefits in the journal Science Immunology.

Most commercially available CoVid antibody tests measure antibodies to the nucleocapsid or N antigens, while this test measures spike protein antibodies, the receptor-binding-domain, or RBD.  These antibodies neutralize CoVid by spike protein cell attachment and viral entry and are the ones that vaccines must trigger.

This RBD antibody test, particularly if routinely used to report numeric levels of anti-CoVid antibodies, should finally tell us if an individual is CoVid immune.

https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/5/48/eabc8413

#covid #covid #spikeprotein #nucleocapsid #vaccine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/PzA8TI7x0xc

A new CoVid antibody test is better able to detect antibodies that actually can protect you from the virus.  University of North Carolina researchers now announce this test and its benefits in the journal Science Immunology.

Most commercially available CoVid antibody tests measure antibodies to the nucleocapsid or N antigens, while this test measures spike protein antibodies, the receptor-binding-domain, or RBD.  These antibodies neutralize CoVid by spike protein cell attachment and viral entry and are the ones that vaccines must trigger.

This RBD antibody test, particularly if routinely used to report numeric levels of anti-CoVid antibodies, should finally tell us if an individual is CoVid immune.

https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/5/48/eabc8413

#covid #covid #spikeprotein #nucleocapsid #vaccine

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/rRP7CxfS7XM

Administration of common vaccines are associated with lower CoVid infection rates.  Researchers at the Mayo Clinic report this observation after their study of immunization records of some 137,000 individuals.

Their data show that immunizations with the commonly used vaccines including polio, HIB, pneumococcal, influenza, and hepatitis are associated with lower risks of CoVid for up to 5 years.  HIB vaccine reduces the risk by 47%, polio vaccine cuts it by 43%, pneumovax by 38%, flu vaccines by 36%, and hepatitis vaccines by 20%.

The study isn’t perfect, and CoVid prevention is not the best reason for receiving these vaccines.  It is is yet another incentive for getting indicated vaccinations on a timely basis.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.27.20161976v1.full.pdf

#covid #vaccines

covid, vaccines

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/rRP7CxfS7XM

Administration of common vaccines are associated with lower CoVid infection rates.  Researchers at the Mayo Clinic report this observation after their study of immunization records of some 137,000 individuals.

Their data show that immunizations with the commonly used vaccines including polio, HIB, pneumococcal, influenza, and hepatitis are associated with lower risks of CoVid for up to 5 years.  HIB vaccine reduces the risk by 47%, polio vaccine cuts it by 43%, pneumovax by 38%, flu vaccines by 36%, and hepatitis vaccines by 20%.

The study isn’t perfect, and CoVid prevention is not the best reason for receiving these vaccines.  It is is yet another incentive for getting indicated vaccinations on a timely basis.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.27.20161976v1.full.pdf

#covid #vaccines

covid, vaccines

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/71h3KlD0Y0c

Wearing a face mask does not prompt people to omit physical distancing or hand washing.  This the conclusion of a British investigation that reviewed 22 studies.

Six studies of more than 2,000 households show in the aggregate that those wearing masks are not more likely to aggregate in large crowded groups or dispense with commonsense hand washing.  Three studies actually showed that people tend to move away from those with masks thereby maintaining distancing.  Six studies showed mask wearing fails to negatively impact hand sanitizing.

Wearing a mask, distancing, and washing are the three keys to stopping CoVid and getting back to normal living.  MDW!

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2913

#covid #masks #distancing #washing

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/71h3KlD0Y0c

Wearing a face mask does not prompt people to omit physical distancing or hand washing.  This the conclusion of a British investigation that reviewed 22 studies.

Six studies of more than 2,000 households show in the aggregate that those wearing masks are not more likely to aggregate in large crowded groups or dispense with commonsense hand washing.  Three studies actually showed that people tend to move away from those with masks thereby maintaining distancing.  Six studies showed mask wearing fails to negatively impact hand sanitizing.

Wearing a mask, distancing, and washing are the three keys to stopping CoVid and getting back to normal living.  MDW!

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2913

#covid #masks #distancing #washing

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zYzhxGwPRYU

The way to fight CoVid while ensuring your health and happiness and that of your loved ones is to VOTE and compel anyone you know to VOTE.  That vote must go to those who can responsibly manage us out of this pandemic both in terms of public health and economics.

Most advanced nations achieved these goals, but we Americans have failed miserably.  More than 150,000 of our friends and family have died.  We need a change at the top, and for the next 3 months I will suspend these reports and use all my energy to make it happen.   In this CoVid emergency, the first responder is YOU, the voter. 

#covid #voting #politics #publichealth

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/zYzhxGwPRYU

The way to fight CoVid while ensuring your health and happiness and that of your loved ones is to VOTE and compel anyone you know to VOTE.  That vote must go to those who can responsibly manage us out of this pandemic both in terms of public health and economics.

Most advanced nations achieved these goals, but we Americans have failed miserably.  More than 150,000 of our friends and family have died.  We need a change at the top, and for the next 3 months I will suspend these reports and use all my energy to make it happen.   In this CoVid emergency, the first responder is YOU, the voter. 

#covid #voting #politics #publichealth

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/ozRY5Fj2CMw

Endurance running with a resistance band connecting your shoes can increase your running efficiency by over 9%.  Mechanical engineers at UC-Santa Barbara clocked runners with and without latex surgical tubing connecting their feet.

The tubing stores kinetic energy as the legs move past one another, and that energy helps power the next cycle.  The result: shorter, quicker steps jacking up the average stride from 90 steps/min to 100.  

The tubing also reduces the effort to bounce on the feet, and these band-powered runners feel light and fast.  Their average running efficiency increased about 6%. 

Buy the surgical tubing online and cut it to 25% of leg length.  Then give it a try.

Cole S. Simpson, Cara G. Welker, Scott D. Uhlrich, Sean M. Sketch, Rachel W. Jackson, Scott L. Delp, Steve H. Collins, Jessica C. Selinger, Elliot W. Hawkes. Connecting the legs with a spring improves human running economy. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019; 222 (17): jeb202895 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.202895

#Running #resistanceband

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/jTLu0SqTsrw

If you’re pressured to answer a question, you will answer with a response designed to please the questioner even if its a lie.  UC-Santa Barbara psychologists draw this conclusion after testing a total of 3,000 participants.

Research shows that the human mind has two processing components: the higher functioning, rational section and the more instinctive, animalistic section.  Time pressure and stress spark visceral brain output which is often irrational and downright false.

We should all be aware that our human impulse to answer quickly can get us in deep trouble with our families as well as the law.  When in doubt, the 5 most important words you can use are “let me think about it!”

John Protzko, Claire M. Zedelius, Jonathan W. Schooler. Rushing to Appear Virtuous: Time Pressure Increases Socially Desirable Responding. Psychological Science, 2019; 095679761986793 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619867939

#Impulsivity #lying #stress