Bharat Ganrajya

Re: Health and Fitness

2021-01-03T23:13:51

Received the Pfizer vaccine a few weeks. No significant side effects apart from more soreness the site of injection. Perhaps a little bit more fatigue but even this may be related to other factors. I think the distribution with regard to the Pfizer vaccine sorely limits its reach with regard to hospital distribution with it needing to be stored at -90° plus temperatures. Most of my colleagues seem to have gotten the Moderna vaccine which is really ramping up in its distribution chain to local clinics.
All in all looking for normalcy soon…

Looking forward to new data coming out with regard to India’s Covaxin as well as its efficacy

https://www.bharatbiotech.com/covaxin.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... ou5cO.html

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:13 pm

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-12-13T07:58:31

I’m not really great with statistics. However, looking at multiple sites, it seems that India’s death rate is far below the US or other European countries. It can’t be a matter of simply testing. India seems to be doing well on several counts with regard to not only testing per thousand but also having a value of less than 5% positive rate. I find this actually quite incredible. Here in the US, the rates seem to be only increasing. What you think that might be the reason for such a cause?

This last week I took a shift in the hospital, really on the Covid ward. What I saw there really shocked me. Mostly elderly people in their 50s, but their chest x-rays look like a bomb went off. Not only that they were on high flow oxygen of approximately 20 to 30 L and still struggling to breathe.
You’re all dressed up in plastic coverings gloves shield as well as a mask. Yet still with the patient coughing there, you really don’t feel safe.

In any case it is another success story I feel with regard to India that should be really told more. Testing rates are noted to be quite impressive as well as low positivity rates as well.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/int ... comparison

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:58 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-07-06T05:52:30

What to say regarding this coronavirus? India continues to explode with cases but thankfully the death rate is nothing like what we have seen here in the US. Because of the stupidity almost with regard to southern states as well as lack of mask wearing, states like Florida with only half the population of California have a higher number of cases over the last few weeks. Same can be said for Texas too. It already seems that another second wave is ongoing. Thankfully for some of us here in the Pacific Northwest, we have really not felt the full brunt of the situation.

What should have been really federal effort unfortunately has been left the states to pick and choose right down to which County should be wearing masks or not. It has led to a situation where several states are staring at another period of lockdown again. Real idiocy.

Another lockdown would be devastating for small businesses and I’m sure will continue to kill any form of recovery. What is surprising though, is how many businesses have been helped by the PPP federal loan for small businesses. I’ve heard of several small businesses taking advantage and receiving tens of thousands and well into six figures and beyond with federal loans. From what I understand these are all forgivable loans but it begs the question regarding how much as the government actually invested during this time.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Mon Jul 06, 2020 5:52 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-06-01T06:20:39

I thought to post a few lines on what I see personally when it comes to treating addiction medicine. Apart from regular patients that I see, I also see and treat those that have substance use disorders. This ranges from opioid use including heroin use, to methamphetamine as well as much more common excessive alcohol intake. What is surprise me that even stable patients on medications to treat opioid use disorder including heroin use or even those that struggle with alcohol use disorder have largely returned to much more increase levels of usage during Covid 19.

Large economic factors including loss of jobs as well as strained financial income and much more increased stress has led to huge increases with regard to returning to use of substances. It is led to a a lot more counseling as well as motivational interviewing.

What is however increasingly worrying is the amount of fentanyl that is contaminating the drug supply. Even methamphetamine which you would not normally associate with overdose, is now largely tainted with fentanyl leading to much higher rates of overdose. Increasingly I am prescribing Narcan to those who are currently using methamphetamine as well.

In any case’s these are some of the additional concerns when it comes to trying to practice medicine in America.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:20 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-03-24T05:53:18

This Covid 19 situation seems to be going from bad to even worse. With the current lockdowns, it means that many small businesses without much of a reserve will be financially strapped. Normally see anywhere from 25 to 30 patients a day and today I got to seeing five.

You think it would be the reverse when it comes to doctors and the coronavirus pandemic. However what we have tried to do is really limit all patients with a cough to one section of the building. Also to prevent infections we are basically asking the high-risk patients to stay away. Also it means that other patients are just not willing to come and get exposed in the clinic. So far our community is not really felt the effects of the coronavirus directly. However, many are anticipating that this is the calm before the storm.

Nurses are being laid off as they are just not enough patients for them to attend to. All businesses have basically shut down and are in lockdown. The only places that are really open not just grocery stores. Unfortunately this will continue to play out where it seems eventually the economy will just take a nosedive.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:53 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-03-18T05:59:40

Things seem to be changing on a daily basis with regard to the coronavirus. I think news coming out of Italy and Lombardy has scared the rest of the Western world. Their complete overwhelming of medical and health services has only given the taste to what might be coming.

Previously what we thought is only the sick and those with comorbidities might be affected. However, whether it be social media or word-of-mouth, there is real fear of the coronavirus infecting even young healthy adults and causing massive viral pneumonia.

Here on the West Coast, drive-through testing has become somewhat of the norm. However, the turnaround time with regard to Covid 19 testing is still noted to be around 3 to 4 days. There is a huge demand for personal protective equipment. Not only this, but the whole city really seems to be in shutdown.

You would expect huge numbers of patients visiting the doctor; however, we are barely seeing our regular patients coming in and those that are high risk are also being called and told to stay at home. Majority of cases are quickly being rushed through the urgent care or drive-through’s for testing.
Went to one of the major retail grocery stores being the Costco the other day and for the first time, you can only by one item of each to prevent hoarding by families. I.e. this usually means one gallon of milk or one batch of eggs or one pair of loaves.

Truly this seems to be more of a war scenario. They are also rumors on the air of Trump effectively quarantining the whole US for approximately two weeks.

Really incredible.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:59 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-03-09T02:32:52

Two months on, it seems that there is no end Insight as yet for the coronavirus panic. The case fatality rate for coronavirus at this time seems to hover around 3%. Usually for the common flu, that number can be around 0.2%. A decade ago during the SARS outbreak, the fatality rate was much higher at that time around 10%. While the numbers may change for coronavirus, the level of panic that I see is far exceeding what I remember during the SARS outbreak.

In Oregon here another emergency has been established by the state in view of new cases found. Levels of panic buying are on an increase especially what I hear from online agencies such as Amazon.
Everybody seems to be canceling any big gatherings or conferences which is usually around the time that these start to occur.

Coronavirus really seems to affect the elderly as well as the immunocompromised. Some of the data suggests that for healthy younger individuals, case fatality rates are much lower hovering around the flu rate as well.

Of course some of this data may change in the coming weeks, but what I thought to post was the coronavirus seems to be eliciting fear on a massive scale for levels that are really unprecedented.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Mon Mar 09, 2020 2:32 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2020-02-16T15:59:35

A thought to post a few lines on what I think about the Novel coronavirus 2019 coming out from China.
As far as we know this really seems to be a droplet transmitted illness. It's original strain might exist in an animal model, with some initial reports stating that it might come from a pangolin.
If this really is true, then it really is a story of karma coming back to the Chinese for the amount of massacre of pangolin's that the Chinese natural market has called for.

They are multiple videos on the illegal trade of pangolin's. That aside, it is yet to be proven. It could equally be coming from any number of rare zoonotic viruses that can jump from animal species to humans.
Perhaps not just jump, but viral DNA can rapidly shift to new strain that humans have yet to build a tolerance too.

I have read of animal markets in Wuhan, where you can buy anything from live wolf cubs to snakes, bats and pangolin's. The virus quickly infects the upper respiratory tract being the respiratory airways as well as the lungs. It quickly causes the massive inflammatory response causing the lungs to leak fluid because of the inflammation in fighting the infection. This quickly means that you care a massive response to lung damage as well as a significant drop in oxygen levels. With the right kind of supportive care, this should not be a problem.
No treatment apart from supportive treatment I'm afraid. Give the body enough time to recognize that the infection is really viral related before starting to develop the massive inflammatory response to fight off the infection.

Some people initially might need ventilatory support before we hope that the body can get adjusted to and fight off the infection.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sun Feb 16, 2020 3:59 pm

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-08-22T20:18:07

There is a great deal of work being done in the field of life-extension, or more aptly, healthspan extension. Google has a subsidiary called Calico, the explicit purpose of which is to find the means to extend human life beyond the present. They don't say it openly, but I believe the idea is to make humanity immortal. yes, it is not Sci-Fi. The thought is that at some point, human life or the essence of it - the memory of your existence so far - can be stored digitally and it can learn new experiences and memories of a cyborg like being. For the present, it is possible to live up to or even beyond 150 years according to preliminary data.

There are many new drugs and many old ones that have shown a lot of promise, metformin being one. Nir Barzilai is a leading authority on this, currently the Director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein in New York. Here is a video from NatGeo on YT and a paper which goes into the technical details.

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5943638/

Statistics:Posted by Primus — Thu Aug 22, 2019 8:18 pm

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-08-22T14:54:55

Muns, the opioid crisis in the US is indeed an epidemic and the sad part is that it is now the biggest killer of young people among all drugs. Sadly, suicide remains the no.2 cause which in itself is a terrible indictment of our society.

For all those who are into medicine or have an interest in health, I highly recommend listening to podcasts on the topics. Here is a fantastic one on sleep and why we neglect this so much in our society. Mathew Walker has an amazing way of speaking and discussing this. His book (Amazon) titled 'Why we Sleep" is fascinating.

Just a little snippet from the interview. BTW, the interviewer, Peter Attia is another great source.

We move our clocks forward by one hour every year in Spring ('spring forward) due to our Daylight Savings Time policy. Did you know that on the Monday following the time change in March, there is a 28% increase in the incidence of heart attacks in the US? Reverse, on the Monday following the 'fall back' by one hour in October, there is a 21% reduction in heart attacks.

All of this due to the lack of sleep or increase in sleep. Humanity is killing itself by not getting enough sleep, the data is staggering.

Listen to the podcast to make up your minds:

#47 – Matthew Walker, Ph.D., on sleep – Part I of III: Dangers of poor sleep, Alzheimer's risk, mental health, memory consolidation, and more.
https://peterattiamd.com/matthewwalker1/

Statistics:Posted by Primus — Thu Aug 22, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-08-18T05:06:43

I thought to post comments on something that I am more familiar about. This really deals with the ongoing opioid crisis that exists not US but usually across India as well. We all know that there is a huge opioid crisis resulting in a large number of fatalities. Opium which is the initial drug that has been readily changed by numerous pharmaceutical companies to morphine and various derivatives of morphine, initially intended for pain relief have been readily now used by patients who have been addicted.
I think most of us have seen the crisis with regard to India and Punjab. The opium crisis often makes its way across Pakistan to the borders of India where packages are readily thrown across the border and picked up by receiving agents. Within half a day these packages are in the heart of the capital supplying the drug trade.

As a result, there is a huge crisis in Punjab and slowly making its way to major metropolitan centers India. It is a huge crisis here in the US with fatalities now as a total over the years far eclipsing all of the personnel that have died in all of the wars that the US has fought. We are still looking at approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United States. However, to some extent there has been a recognition of the crisis and many physicians are now becoming licensed towards a drug called buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine is what we call a partial opioid that binds to the same opioid receptors at but does not cause the same stimulatory effect that one would get from opium. It also prevents people from going into the acute and regular withdrawals regarding chronic users who have been using heroin or pain medications regularly.

Often times the diminishing effect of using opioid medications means that patients start to really take the drug just to feel normal and to prevent themselves going through the constant cycle of withdrawals.
Unfortunately, from what I understand no such buprenorphine treatment program really exists in India. This is another feature for what India aware is slowly trying to raise awareness regarding.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:06 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-08-04T23:13:49

I did a quick article below on top five oral medications for diabetes. Of course this is really just a slimmed-down version to give just a general understanding. Metformin has always been the initial primary medication but recently these new medications that block sugar uptake by the kidney are showing various benefits from not only diabetes but also prevention of damage done by diabetes to kidneys and even cardiovascular benefits as well. Lot of exciting trials going on.

Top five diabetic drugs that you can take orally

https://www.india-aware.com/uncategorized/17612/

Metformin; there is really no better drugs then metformin for control of type II diabetes. It is a great drug for taking when diabetes is mild and can even promote some weight loss as well. It is relatively well-tolerated apart from some mild diarrhea in a few people. It really works by making your body more sensitive to the insulin that you are producing. Oftentimes, we tend to use it as a weight-loss medication as well for those people that are in the prediabetic hard early diabetic range.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sun Aug 04, 2019 11:13 pm

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-08-03T06:02:39

Well I will say for one thing stopping smoking helps with anything! no seriously.
I don't think they are any studies to prolong vision in the healthy patient. However there are some reliable studies for those people with macular degeneration that antioxidants along with multiple vitamin supplements help with slowing the deterioration in age-related macular degeneration. This involves multiple vitamins including vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc sulfate as well as lutein to slow the deterioration in macular degeneration.
Again I'm not saying that taking the supplements will help anybody with a good diet in a healthy patient. Just really for age-related macular degeneration.

Statistics:Posted by Muns — Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:02 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2019-04-22T06:08:58

Apart from drinking lots of water and eating carrots, any other natural remedy for improving eyes / vision of growing age? Or any suggestions for vitamins or supplements?

Statistics:Posted by rahulraj — Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:08 am

Re: Health and Fitness

2018-07-14T12:58:18

Misra wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 14, 2018 3:43 am
yoga is the antithesis of belief

both how yoga is transmitted and how it is received are of paramount importance. so a) the guru and the method/tools he/she imparts/teaches must have great integrity and b) the seeker must be truly receptive for the methods/tools to work well. traditionally there are five centers of receptivity:
- sleep (nidra)
- memory (smriti)
- imagination (vikalpa)
- wrong knowing (viparyaya, includes misconceptions, perversions, distortions etc)
- right knowing (pramana)
which center is active when receiving yoga will make all the difference for the seeker

I am sure the real Yoga is quite different from what we see advertised in the West and practiced by most people around the world, i.e. it is both physical and spiritual. I agree, the right teacher would make a huge difference as would the attitude of the student, which is usually what it is with most such disciplines.

as i mentioned before i am a baby when it comes to yoga and not qualified to impart what i have received. indeed i will be doing you a great disservice by attempting to do so. i can say that i practice what’s known as the ‘shambhavi mahamudra’. i have found it to be a simple but powerful intro to classical/formal yoga. i do it every day without modification—usually at home but also at airports during extended travel, in hotels, in friends’ and relatives’ homes

Thank you, I have very little personal knowledge of Yoga - have never studied it but I will look this up and see if I can follow it. I do a set of formal exercises twice a week but something that can be done during my travels (which I do a lot of) would be very useful.

some of the results i listed in the post above (like lower cholesterol, better skin/teeth) could be attributed to the diet i designed for myself based on the principle that anything i consume should make me feel active and energetic and not lethargic or dull. while this works great for me i will not recommend it to anyone else:
- two meals a day
- no snacks
- mainly fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, honey, beans, pulses, grains
- drink water only and only when thirsty
- strictly no alcohol/meat
- somewhat less strictly (since i have a family): no eggs (only in desserts), onions, garlic, sugar, tea, coffee, soda, potato, eggplant, other nightshades etc
my doctor is happy with my blood work. my wife, a physician herself, is much less incredulous now than a year ago

I suspect your diet certainly would be contributing. I am at an age where I need a lot more protein and it is harder as I am largely vegetarian. Plus, over the years I've developed a fondness for good wine and whiskey. Loathe to give that up - after all, what do you live for

However, as I was alluding to in my previous post, how you think and what you believe makes a big difference. The old saying, "eat with family and friends in a happy environment and walk/exercise for the sake of it and it will do your body good" has a lot of truth in it. The same work done as a mindless chore and done with an understanding of the benefits of exercise can make a significant difference in its effect on the human body.

Ellen Langer, a professor of psychology from Harvard is well known for her research on 'mindfulness' and her experiment with hotel maids is a classic study, among many others, including the much replicated and televised 'counterclockwise' experiment from 1979. Of course there are skeptics but I believe there is a large area in human physiology and psychology that is still unknown. The mind, which very few in the present scientific world really understand, is indeed a powerful thing.

Here is the hotel maids study from Langer's group which is quite fascinating: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/hand ... sequence=1

Statistics:Posted by Primus — Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:58 pm