Tag Archives: covid

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #81 – John Wherry, PhD – Covid, What Did We Learn?

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Today, we are honored to have Dr. E. John Wherry, a leading expert in the field of immunology, joining us. Dr. Wherry is the Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also directs the Institute for Immunology. His undergraduate degree was obtained at Penn State University before completing his PhD in Immunology at the Thomas Jefferson University.

A thought leader in T cell biology and immune memory, Dr. Wherry’s work has been instrumental in improving therapies for viral infections, vaccines, and immunotherapy treatments. His discoveries in the field of immune exhaustion have had a profound impact on the way we approach treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Widely published in top academic journals including Nature, Cell, and Science, Dr. Wherry is a heavy contributor to Covid research and especially the understandings of long Covid.

Today, we discuss Covid and the current state of the science regarding vaccines, long covid and what we can do better next time there is a pandemic.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

 

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 36

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Section I

Literature Review

1) Long Covid in children – the symptoms are getting more clarity in who has what . From JAMA: 898 school-age children (751 with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and 147 without) and 4469 adolescents (3109 infected and 1360 uninfected) were included in the analysis. The time between infection and symptom analysis was 1.5 years. In models adjusted for sex and race and ethnicity, 14 symptoms in both school-age children and adolescents were more common in those with SARS-CoV-2 infection history compared with those without infection history, with 4 additional symptoms in school-age children only and 3 in adolescents only. These symptoms affected almost every organ system. The cumulative data shows us that neurocognitive (Headache, attention concerns, sleep dysregulation), pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms in school-age children were common, but changed to loss of smell and/or taste, body aches and pain, focus struggles and fatigue related symptoms in adolescents. (Gross et. al. 2024) Age has a huge effect on these outcomes as the older population has more frequent and problematical disease findings. Mood disorder is highly associated with worsened findings. I suspect from the historical data set over the last four years that children with chronic mental stress, poor quality diets, sleep issues, and poor activity levels at baseline have worsened acute and long term prognosis.

Plus a section on a book review for Change Your Genes, Change Your Life.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 34

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Literature Review

1) Does oral health affect your life if you are sick and in intensive care? According to a new study in JAMA, the answer is yes. From the study: 10,742 patients – “toothbrushing was associated with significantly lower risk for Hospital Acquired Pneumonia and ICU mortality. Reduction in pneumonia incidence was significant for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation but not for patients who were not receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. Toothbrushing for patients in the ICU was associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation and a shorter ICU length of stay. Brushing twice a day vs more frequent intervals was associated with similar effect estimates….Non-ICU hospital length of stay and use of antibiotics were not associated with toothbrushing.” (Ehrenzeller et. al. 2024)

Why does this matter? In effect, what this study shows is that patients with oral hygiene needs that are not met will have increased bacterial burdens leading to infectious disease risk via systemic inflammation and possibly bacterial translocation. At the end of the day, oral hygiene is very important to lower the total burden of inflammation in everyone, but especially in the most ill patient. It is super important for everyone to brush 2-3 x daily and floss daily at night…..

Plus a discussion on Back to School.

Enjoy, Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 33

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Sleep Part IV

Continuing the sleep education from a few weeks ago.

Sleep is a most special event that we all need to continue to focus heavily on in order to live a healthy and long life. It may be the single most important event that we do daily.

Here are a few more quick hits on sleep from the Matthew Walker’s Book and other publications.

1) Aim for a minimum of 7 hours nightly to maintain adequate memory consolidation, immune health and emotional regulation. Young children and teens need 8-14 hours depending on age.

2) Do not eat close to bedtime. Stop eating three hours before you plan to go to sleep. Avoid rapidly digesting refined carbohydrates as they turn into energy quickly raising core temperature which makes it harder to fall asleep as we need our body temperature to drop 3 to 4 degrees F at night to fall asleep. Heavy protein meals at night are not a great idea. Eat the heavier proteins early (before 6 pm) if at all in the evening….plus a section on summer Covid surge.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Audiocast Newsletter Volume 14 Issue 29

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Sleep Update for 2024
Sleep has always been a necessary function of everyday life for all mammals. From an evolutionary perspective this cannot be a mistake as during the period of sleep you are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, there has to be a really good reason for mammals to sleep for extended hours. What is that reason? Why are toddlers and frankly all of us more cranky when we do not sleep enough? Why are our genes tied so tightly to circadian rhythms? Why are people so metabolically unwell when they are sleep deprived?
…plus updates on heat exhaustion and covid.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 48

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Covid 19 Post Mortem Part II
The story of the Standard American Diet and its directional connection to death from Sars2 – Covid.
Post Covid population health data has shown us that humans that chronically consume more meat, sugar, animal products and highly processed foods were associated with more death and morbidity if they contracted early versions of Covid19. The effect of consuming sugar products on mortality was considerable, and obesity has affected increased death rates and reduced recovery rates. (Kamyari et. al. 2021) (Greene et. al. 2021) (Merino et. al. 2021) – also a Recipe of the Week.
Enjoy
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 47

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Covid 19 Post Mortem
As you all know, after reading countless articles that I have posted about COVID and the policies that were put in place by “well meaning” bureaucrats, I have been highly critical of the events that took place and the US Government’s failure on so many fronts. There are two seminal articles that have been written on these topics to date: 1) COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab, 2) COVID Lockdowns Were a Giant Experiment. It Was a Failure. A key lesson of the pandemic. 3) The third and equally critical article that remains unpublished is the story of the Standard American Diet and its direct connection to death from Covid…..also conversations on picky eaters and a recipe of the week.
Enjoy, Dr. M

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