Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/YuYpoIHu81c

Wearing masks reduces a healthcare worker’s risk of infection by 80% and the general public’s risk by 55%.  This from a Chinese meta-analysis of 21 eligible studies.

A deeper dive into the numbers reveals that no health care worker wearing an N95 mask contracted the virus.  At the other extreme, family of an infected loved one at home have a 60% chance of infection since mask wearing turns out to be inconsistent.

This study screams, “ Wear a mask outside your home and religiously if you have virus in your home!”  Even so, you must physically distance to reduce your infection chances from 55% to a bare minimum.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.03.20051649v1.full.pdf

#covid19 #coronavirus #mask

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/YuYpoIHu81c

Wearing masks reduces a healthcare worker’s risk of infection by 80% and the general public’s risk by 55%.  This from a Chinese meta-analysis of 21 eligible studies.

A deeper dive into the numbers reveals that no health care worker wearing an N95 mask contracted the virus.  At the other extreme, family of an infected loved one at home have a 60% chance of infection since mask wearing turns out to be inconsistent.

This study screams, “ Wear a mask outside your home and religiously if you have virus in your home!”  Even so, you must physically distance to reduce your infection chances from 55% to a bare minimum.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.03.20051649v1.full.pdf

#covid19 #coronavirus #mask

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Uj_TiSZN1v4

Cold brew coffee is the latest fad but it contains fewer of the antioxidants that help us prevent heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory ills, and neurologic deterioration.  Researchers at Philadelphias Thomas Jefferson University studied hot and cold brews of light and dark coffee roasts.

Their studies show that hot brewing dark roasted coffee extracts the most antioxidants from coffee.  Cold brewing dark roast or brewing light roasted coffee hot or cold fails to deliver these desirable compounds but yields more caffeine.

So you can enjoy coffee brewed hot or cold.  If you drink coffee with your health in mind, go ahead and brew it in the old-fashioned way with boiling hot water.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402134618.htm

#coffee #antioxidants #coldbrew #hotbrew

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Uj_TiSZN1v4

Cold brew coffee is the latest fad but it contains fewer of the antioxidants that help us prevent heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory ills, and neurologic deterioration.  Researchers at Philadelphias Thomas Jefferson University studied hot and cold brews of light and dark coffee roasts.

Their studies show that hot brewing dark roasted coffee extracts the most antioxidants from coffee.  Cold brewing dark roast or brewing light roasted coffee hot or cold fails to deliver these desirable compounds but yields more caffeine.

So you can enjoy coffee brewed hot or cold.  If you drink coffee with your health in mind, go ahead and brew it in the old-fashioned way with boiling hot water.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402134618.htm

#coffee #antioxidants #coldbrew #hotbrew

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/pnIqIxyUzA8

Those infected with CoVid19 but asymptomatic could spew virus as they speak.  Aerosol engineers at UCDavis raise this possibility as the result of their studies of respiratory particles generated by speech.

Their studies reveal that particles spring from lung fluids, waft up airways, and spew out the mouth as you speak.  Louder speech generates more particles.  Droplets spread farther as they dry.

The droplets generated would be stopped by N95 masks but many go right through simple cloth masks.  There’s no proof yet that such droplets have virus, but chances are.....

The bottom line: stay up to 30 feet from non-family.  A mask or bandana helps but won’t completely protect you.

Sima Asadi, Nicole Bouvier, Anthony S. Wexler, William D. Ristenpart. The coronavirus pandemic and aerosols: Does COVID-19 transmit via expiratory particles? Aerosol Science and Technology, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2020.1749229

Sima Asadi, Anthony S. Wexler, Christopher D. Cappa, Santiago Barreda, Nicole M. Bouvier, William D. Ristenpart. Aerosol emission and superemission during human speech increase with voice loudness. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38808-z

Sima Asadi, Anthony S. Wexler, Christopher D. Cappa, Santiago Barreda, Nicole M. Bouvier, William D. Ristenpart. Effect of voicing and articulation manner on aerosol particle emission during human speech. PLOS ONE, 2020; 15 (1): e0227699 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227699X

#covid19 #coronavirus #speaking #shouting #aerosol

ing

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/pnIqIxyUzA8

Those infected with CoVid19 but asymptomatic could spew virus as they speak.  Aerosol engineers at UCDavis raise this possibility as the result of their studies of respiratory particles generated by speech.

Their studies reveal that particles spring from lung fluids, waft up airways, and spew out the mouth as you speak.  Louder speech generates more particles.  Droplets spread farther as they dry.

The droplets generated would be stopped by N95 masks but many go right through simple cloth masks.  There’s no proof yet that such droplets have virus, but chances are.....

The bottom line: stay up to 30 feet from non-family.  A mask or bandana helps but won’t completely protect you.

Sima Asadi, Nicole Bouvier, Anthony S. Wexler, William D. Ristenpart. The coronavirus pandemic and aerosols: Does COVID-19 transmit via expiratory particles? Aerosol Science and Technology, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2020.1749229

Sima Asadi, Anthony S. Wexler, Christopher D. Cappa, Santiago Barreda, Nicole M. Bouvier, William D. Ristenpart. Aerosol emission and superemission during human speech increase with voice loudness. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38808-z

Sima Asadi, Anthony S. Wexler, Christopher D. Cappa, Santiago Barreda, Nicole M. Bouvier, William D. Ristenpart. Effect of voicing and articulation manner on aerosol particle emission during human speech. PLOS ONE, 2020; 15 (1): e0227699 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227699X

#covid19 #coronavirus #speaking #shouting #aerosol

ing

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/LYEluacRGEI

Cellex of North Carolina has developed the first rapid test for CoVid19 antibodies circulating in the bloodstream.  This test is 95% accurate, delivers a result in 15-20 minutes, and has won FDA emergency use authorization. The Mayo Clinic developed its own antibody test.

These antibody tests, unlike the CoVid19 RT-PCR virus RNA tests, determine if the virus has stimulated a patients immune system.  It may not become positive as quickly as the viral test, but it could predict if a given person has become immune to CoVid19.

Such information will help us determine when we can safely relax lockdown and which newly-protected persons may return to work. 

https://www.fda.gov/media/136622/download

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928150 

#covid19 #coronavirus #antibody #testing

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/LYEluacRGEI

Cellex of North Carolina has developed the first rapid test for CoVid19 antibodies circulating in the bloodstream.  This test is 95% accurate, delivers a result in 15-20 minutes, and has won FDA emergency use authorization. The Mayo Clinic developed its own antibody test.

These antibody tests, unlike the CoVid19 RT-PCR virus RNA tests, determine if the virus has stimulated a patients immune system.  It may not become positive as quickly as the viral test, but it could predict if a given person has become immune to CoVid19.

Such information will help us determine when we can safely relax lockdown and which newly-protected persons may return to work. 

https://www.fda.gov/media/136622/download

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928150 

#covid19 #coronavirus #antibody #testing

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/KEvEg0yTHgk

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin or Zithromax, currently being tested as both prophylaxis and therapy for CoVid19 infections, work together to induce dangerous electrocardiographic changes.  This the conclusion of NYU cardiac electrophysiologists studying 84 CoVid19 patients treated at their hospital.

After 3-4 days of therapy with this drug cocktail, 11% of CoVid19 patients developed a prolonged QT interval of greater than 500 milliseconds.  This EKG change is associated with sudden cardiac death due to severe arrhythmias.

These drugs may turn out to be lifesaving but they are not for do-it-yourselfers.  Their use requires careful and repeated cardiac monitoring.  Using hydroxychloroquin and Zithromax yourself may prevent CoVid19 but only because you die first. 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.02.20047050v1.full.pdf 

#covid19 #coronavirus #hydroxychloroquine #zithromax #azithromycin #arrhythmia #qtinterval

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/KEvEg0yTHgk

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin or Zithromax, currently being tested as both prophylaxis and therapy for CoVid19 infections, work together to induce dangerous electrocardiographic changes.  This the conclusion of NYU cardiac electrophysiologists studying 84 CoVid19 patients treated at their hospital.

After 3-4 days of therapy with this drug cocktail, 11% of CoVid19 patients developed a prolonged QT interval of greater than 500 milliseconds.  This EKG change is associated with sudden cardiac death due to severe arrhythmias.

These drugs may turn out to be lifesaving but they are not for do-it-yourselfers.  Their use requires careful and repeated cardiac monitoring.  Using hydroxychloroquin and Zithromax yourself may prevent CoVid19 but only because you die first. 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.02.20047050v1.full.pdf 

#covid19 #coronavirus #hydroxychloroquine #zithromax #azithromycin #arrhythmia #qtinterval