2 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Oat milk is solid for coffees FWIW.  I know it's trendy and kinda ****y but personally I like it more than almond. 

I tried it once and wasn’t super impressed. It tasted like Cheerios cereal milk and dirt. I might give it another shot with another brand. We picked up macadamia nut milk from Costco that I’m curious to try. But paco stocks us up on everything like we are preppers so I have cases of almond milk to get through first lol. 

6 minutes ago, binkybink77 said:

I don’t eat anything with artificial sweeteners which I think most sugar free puddings have. I would rather just have berries or peaches. Ice cream on occasion. I haven’t consumed artificial sweeteners since I went cold turkey on Diet Coke 6 years ago. 

Then have you have had Zevia Soda and do like it? Some say it is too sweet for them, but I like it. 

Just now, DaEagles4Life said:

Then have you have had Zevia Soda and do like it? 

I just drink carbonated water and squeeze lemons into it. Sometimes we will get Spindrift from Costco if it’s on sale or Kirkland sparkling for me to take to work. I have a soda stream and paco makes me carbonated water all the time. I really don’t like sweet drinks anymore which is crazy considering how addicted I was to Diet Coke 

26 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

When we lived in the city we were two blocks from the largest gym chain in town and I did a ton of spinning all winter.  I can see myself getting back into that.

I'm mostly limited to long brisk walks and saunas for five months out of the year.  We have a sauna in our cellar area so quite convenient.  Not exactly a workout but it does help to take away stress, etc.

Yup, definitely would recommend a peleton or some kind of variant for you if that's the case.

On a side note I am really trying to convince the wife that the addition plans should include a sauna in the basement.  Criminally underrated thing in the States unfortunately.

9 minutes ago, binkybink77 said:

I tried it once and wasn’t super impressed. It tasted like Cheerios cereal milk and dirt. I might give it another shot with another brand. We picked up macadamia nut milk from Costco that I’m curious to try. But paco sticks us up on everything like we are preppers so I have cases of almond milk to get through first lol. 

Hey if you found something you like why mess with it? Mostly I'm just jealous since we have no Costco nearby.  

1 hour ago, paco said:

Matt is the scrawny guy that reminds you that he coached competitive cyclists and has you do part of the ride with one leg every single ride right?

 

Yeah, I avoid his.

Yeah, he does the single leg pedal strokes in his low impact classes to work on pedal stroke consistency. My nutritionist is a former pro cyclist and got me focused on Wilpers Power Zone rides. It is the closest thing to what professionals do to train. Matt and Christine are the pro cyclists who teach - Christine is more of a sprinter since she does indoor track racing, while Matt does long rides. Try a PZ class. 

59 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

I'll definitely check it out.  Mostly been doing the HIIT rides because they tend to be the ones that kick my arse the most but still figuring out the instructors/ride types that work best.  

I like Cody 

Doesn't kick my arse as much as some of the other rides but sometimes it's fun to workout to crappy 90s-2000s pop.  And unlike Dennis I'm not worried he's going to turn my skin into a lamp.

I described this before, but PZ rides are made up of long, sustained intervals as opposed to short spikes in HIIT classes. My ride today was a 12 minute warmup followed by 3 intervals - 18 minutes, 9 minutes and then 14. Long, sustained efforts. 

1 hour ago, EaglesRocker97 said:

Variolation?

 

Just saw your second post. We smart 😃

So, every variolation is an inoculation, but not every inoculation is a variolation? Or the terms are interchangeable, but Jenner coined the latter?

Ya I think inoculation is the broader category that variolation is a part of, but I'm not sure.

1 hour ago, binkybink77 said:

This happened to me too! I totally cut out dairy on the recommendation of my fertility specialist. Gluten too. When you get into that lifestyle you tend to sub a lot of coconut milk for dairy. I was literally putting it in my coffee everyday and everything else. I have thyroid disease which causes me to have elevated cholesterol even on the strictest of diets. My cholesterol and my liver enzymes went through the roof. I cut out red meat to only once every other week and cut out all the coconut milk and oil and my liver enzymes went back to normal. My cholesterol is still higher than ideal but it’s not as bad. 

You guys asked for it...   

i kid binky

20 minutes ago, SNOORDA said:

You guys asked for it...   

i kid binky

  not gonna lie this second shot jacked me up.. but I’m already starting to feel better and from everyone I’ve talked to whose had it, by tomorrow I should be good. The sense of relief to have this vaccine protection is worth it. 

2 hours ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Be careful with consuming to much coconut oil it has some good fats in it but it also has a lot of saturated fats. When that became a big thing my dad was using coconut oil for a lot of things and his bad cholesterol went through the roof. I was also just advised to stay away from it as well with my cholesterol. It's not considered so healthy anymore.

Yep, that ish is awful for you. Easy rule of thumb for fats is to stay far away from anything that's a solid at room temp. So avoid coconut oil, butter, bacon grease, etc. 

5 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Yep, that ish is awful for you. Easy rule of thumb for fats is to stay far away from anything that's a solid at room temp. So avoid coconut oil, butter, bacon grease, etc. 

I never got super into the coconut oil, I don't like everything to taste like a freaking almond joy lol. I've always been a big user of extra virgin olive oil. Especially since I joined costco and can get a quality organic jug of that sheet for a great price lol. 

I gave up butter a year or so ago... I miss it but, I get some of the veggie based spreads that aren't completely terrible even though some of those also are no good. 

I also found out over the last year how much sausage is waaaayyy worse then bacon. Bacon is absolutely horrible for you but sausage is even worse then that

2 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I never got super into the coconut oil, I don't like everything to taste like a freaking almond joy lol. I've always been a big user of extra virgin olive oil. Especially since I joined costco and can get a quality organic jug of that sheet for a great price lol. 

I gave up butter a year or so ago... I miss it but, I get some of the veggie based spreads that aren't completely terrible even though some of those also are no good. 

I also found out over the last year how much sausage is waaaayyy worse then bacon. Bacon is absolutely horrible for you but sausage is even worse then that

Yep tons of fat in sausage. But a summer without sausage and peppers on the grill is no summer at all.

Just now, we_gotta_believe said:

Yep tons of fat in sausage. But a summer without sausage and peppers on the grill is no summer at all.

I love breakfast foods I can handle all the health foods from lunch on. Breakfast though? I can't help myself I way over eat for breakfast especially on my days off. Nothing better then getting up early and just cooking up a great filling breakfast. 

My go to grill food is baby back ribs lol. I do like a good sausage griller every now and then though. 

12 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I never got super into the coconut oil, I don't like everything to taste like a freaking almond joy lol. I've always been a big user of extra virgin olive oil. Especially since I joined costco and can get a quality organic jug of that sheet for a great price lol. 

I gave up butter a year or so ago... I miss it but, I get some of the veggie based spreads that aren't completely terrible even though some of those also are no good. 

I also found out over the last year how much sausage is waaaayyy worse then bacon. Bacon is absolutely horrible for you but sausage is even worse then that

Their kirkland brand of olive oil is very highly rated too.

1 hour ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Ya I think inoculation is the broader category that variolation is a part of, but I'm not sure.

I think I've figured it out. They're all basically he same but also different in certain ways that make them all technically accurate but one of them more appropriate in certain contexts. Their Latin roots and prefixes can help provide some insight. Our understandings of the terms were somewhat muddled because their separate origins also the result from mixing up different linguistic features that indicate different qualities but essentially refer to the same action. They both contain a stem with a prefix and base indicating how and why they are done.

Inoculation would suggest that the former refers specifically to injecting or inserting a small piece of something into a target (-in=into/on and oculus=eye (target/bullseye), like directly implanting something in a cell, relevant to the example DEagle mentioned. So, like he said, inoculation is basically just a targeted injection of a cell.

Variolation was literally coined by Jenner from the Latin word for smallpox, variola as used to mean "spotted," referring to pockmarks associated with the disease, since it was specifically developed for smallpox. There's only one virus that calls for the use of variolation; all the others require vaccination. Jenner seems to have either accidentally or intentionally created a new word for his invention that reflects marketing and branding strategies used today. Furthermore, since it can also can be understood in the more common use of -var to mean "change" to indicate making changes to the immune system for protection against the virus. In an era where academic works were published in latin and literacy was taught by reading the Classics, the word used familiar terms that not only told people specifically what it was used for but also what it would do, and it gave the practice an original sound and structure that made people automatically associate the term with a specific disease and the scientist who invented the practice used to guard against it.

Finally, the term vaccination is derived from the same roots and structure, but it has a unique modifier. The term follows traditional nomenclature like the others but substitutes a prefix derived from a noun that serves as a specific reference word in deference to a relevant scientist, which matches modern naming practice used by scientists to credit a person or something otherwise influential of a method or discovery.

So, I think we're both kind of right here. Variolation came first, which was a primitive form of inoculation and the first vaccination, but the process was specifically used for the smallpox virus,  as indicated by the prefix. So, when we're talking generally about the act of introducing pathogens or genetic material into cells, inoculation is the appropriate term. While inoculation can be used to refer either to vaccination or, more generally, applied to any practice used in lab research or medical practice to inject cells, vaccination is more technically appropriate for a cellular injection that would only be done to provide immunity from a virus. If I had to guess, I'd wager that scientists started using inoculation after they developed treatments for other viruses, but once the practice became more common and widespread in the early 20th century, a time when standardization of everything from car parts to language, they adopted an official term for the process that honored its inventor.

6 minutes ago, paco said:

Their kirkland brand of olive oil is very highly rated too.

I knew if I posted that you or binky would comment lol. It is good stuff though I get a jug everytime I go there. 

I stopped using olive oil when cooking eggs and now use avocado oil spray [insert CA jokes here]. Zero calories and the same effect. 

We get avocado oil spray from Costco. I cook with a lot of olive oil but avocado is good too - it has a really high smoke point 

36 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I stopped using olive oil when cooking eggs and now use avocado oil spray [insert CA jokes here]. Zero calories and the same effect. 

 

32 minutes ago, binkybink77 said:

We get avocado oil spray from Costco. I cook with a lot of olive oil but avocado is good too - it has a really high smoke point 

This is important. Health benefits of individual oils are are big yes, but you also have to look at the smoke point. It makes a great dressing sure, but you can't use EVOO to do a high temperature sear otherwise it starts to break down causing worse flavor and worse nutrition.  Not sure how much I buy the free radical argument with smoking oil but there's also that. 

10 hours ago, rambo said:

@bobeph is 4'10" and 671 pounds and he survived COVID. 

Damn ukn’ right I did!

29 minutes ago, bobeph said:

Damn ukn’ right I did!

I'm Fing stoned.  When we hanging out? 

14 hours ago, IFB DOG said:

Do you understand how mRNA, tRNA, etc. work?

Do you understand the difference versus, say, the MMR vaccine?

One immediately creates antibodies (vaccine). The other changes your messenger RNA to learn how to create antibodies when faced with a virus. 

It's definitely interesting science. But it requires an expansion of the word "vaccine" from historical examples/definition.

It's not fake or therefore ineffective or (GASP!) tracking devices, if that's what you're questioning my inference with that statement. Its just not what we've historically accepted as "vaccination".

Yeah that’s just false.  It’s a vaccine.  Yes, I understand how an mRNA vaccine works, and yes it’s a vaccine.  
 By your logic, a Tesla isn’t a car because the process that gets it moving is different than gasoline powered cars.

A portable telephone isn’t a phone because the process to operate it is different than the old phones with the hand dial thingy.  
Fiber optic internet isn’t internet because it’s different than a dial up 56k.

And so on and so forth.

The wife and I finally bit the bullet and bough the Nordic track rower.  I’m so out of shape right now it’s bad, with very limited time to workout due to our schedule.  So i really need to start carving out any time I can to start working out again, and rowing will be a good total body workout.  
I want to hang a heavy bag in the garage but am getting resistance from the boss

7 hours ago, binkybink77 said:

I tried it once and wasn’t super impressed. It tasted like Cheerios cereal milk and dirt. I might give it another shot with another brand. We picked up macadamia nut milk from Costco that I’m curious to try. But paco stocks us up on everything like we are preppers so I have cases of almond milk to get through first lol. 

Uh yeah you’re preppers. At least paco qualifies  in any case. 

Today is a 2-fer as I forgot to post last week's update:

3/7/21 update

https://www.nothingbutthetruthmd.com/2021/03/3721-covid-19-update.html

The variants and vaccinations have continued to occupy the news most recently.  We hear of the potential scourge that lies ahead, while simultaneously hearing of cautious optimism amidst improving numbers.  We are all anxious to resume some form of normality but some leaders rush ahead with reckless abandon as if Covid -19 is no longer infectious.

 

There are only three ways to contain a viral pandemic; 1) drugs, we only have one class of successful

therapeutics, with a very narrow therapeutic window, 2) vaccines, being distributed, 3) biocontainment - mitigation procedures which are tiresome and not used with sufficient compliance, but that is the reality of the situation.

 

THE POTENTIAL FUTURE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.  WILL SARS-CoV-2 BECOME A RECURRENT SEASONAL INFECTION?

CHRISTOPHER JL MURRAY, MD

PETER PIOT, MD

JAMA 3-3-21

 

The authors are skeptical that the US will achieve herd immunity, and the protection that the concept of herd immunity promises.  They site as reasons, the number of people who are not eligible to receive the vaccine (currently those under the age of 16) the significant number of people who will refuse the vaccine (currently estimated to be about 21-29%) and the lack of efficacy of the vaccines.  

 

The mRNA vaccine remain about 95% effective against symptomatic disease even for the wild type variants.  The adenovirus vaccines are only about 70% effective.  For the three vector vaccines tested against the B.1.351 variant (the South African Variant), Jansen/J&J, Novomax and AstraZeneca, reported effectiveness estimates against symptomatic disease are 57%, 49% respectively, and the AstraZeneca vaccine was no better than placebo.

 

The authors are concerned about continued compliance with mitigation strategies going into the winter of 2021-2022 and reason that, with decreased compliance, another surge, not as significant as that just seen, could occur.

 

In coming to this conclusion, they make assumptions that have yet to be proven.  It is too early to accurately predict how many people will refuse to be vaccinated.  Clinical tests are currently being run that will hopefully prove that it is safe to vaccinate children down to age 12 and then possibly down to age 6.

 

Most problematic are reports that there are increasing numbers of people who have been previously  infected with an ancestral type Covid-19 virus,  who are now being re-infected with B.1.351.  Let us assume for purposes of discussion, that the reports on the surface are accurate.  The idea that previous Covid-19 infection may not be protective against a variant can be based on two possibilities.  One, we believe that immunity from infection to Covid-19 will not be life long, in fact it may be rather short lived.  There are now several studies showing the loss of measurable antibodies after 60 days in a significant number of well documented previously infected individuals.  Occurrence of reinfection in this population would be totally different than, two, reinfection in individuals who currently have measurable antibody.  The latter would be really concerning.  The former would mean that we have to learn how to pick up the pace of vaccination.  We now have the doses available, we need to get them into the arms of people faster.

 

The ability to sequence is a mixed blessing.  We are able to see the evolution of the Cvoid-19 virus but to understand the significance of this evolution necessitates detailed studies which have not yet been produced.  We can look only at history to see that past pandemics, with variants as part of their evolution eventually died a natural death.

 

CONVERSATIONS WITH DR. HOWARD BAUCHNER

Guest - Christopher JL Murray

Director of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Seattle

JAMA 3-3-21

 

During this pandemic IHME has produced some predictive curves that have been at serious odds with what actually occurred.  For the past two weeks specifically, the IHME projections are significantly higher than what we are actually experiencing.

 

We are currently increasing our ability to sequence which is crucial to understanding virus evolution, the variants, transmission and the clinical significance, if any, of these variants.

 

As it relates to one dose versus two doses of the mRNA vaccines, Dr. Murray believes that we conduct clinical trials for a reason and we should be adhering to the specifics of the clinical designs of the trials and their proven outcomes..  He points to real world results in the UK and Israel as reasons to follow what has been proven by clinical trial.  Dr. Murray believes we should only change strategy if new trials designed to specifically examine the utility of single doses are successful.

 

He is concerned about the number of people in the US who may refuse to accept vaccination and he points at efforts that are beginning in Israel to link certain access to public events/privileges' to proof of vaccination and he believes that the US should be carefully watching this develop because he believes that  we may want to do something very similar to what  Israel is doing, in this country, to increase vaccination rates.

 

ASSCOATION OF STATE ISSUED MASK MANDATES AND ALLOWING ON -PREMISES RESTAURANT DINING WITH COUNTY LEVEL COVID-19 CASE AND DEATH GROWTH RATES - UNITES STATES,  MARCH - DECEMBER 31, 2020

WMMR

3/5/21

Gery Guy, et al.

 

In March and April, 49 sates and DC prohibited any on premises dining at restaurants, by mid June all states and DC had lifted these restrictions.

 

Mask mandates were associated with decreases in daily Covid-19 cases and death growth rates relative to mandate implementation and reopening dates.

 

Mask mandates effected case and death growth rates from day 20 after implementation and on.

 

Allowing any on premises dining at restaurants was associated with increasing daily Covid-19 growth rates from 41 days on and in increases in daily Covid-19 death growth rates from 61 days onward.

 

REDUCTION IN COVID-19 PATIENTS REQUIRING MECHANICAL VENTILATION FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF A NATIONAL COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAM - ISRAEL, DECEMBER 2020 - FEBRUARY 2021

WMMR

3/5/21

Ehud Rinott, et al.

 

By February 2021, 2 dose vaccinations coverage was 84% among persons aged >70 and 10% among persons aged < 50.

 

The ratio of Covid-19 patients aged >70 requiring mechanical ventilation to those aged < 50 declined 67% from October-December 2020 to February 2021.

 

Prior to vaccination 5.8:1

Post vaccination 1.9:1

 

NUMBERS

 

Vaccinations - we averaged 2.16 million doses per day this week.  I was hoping we would do a little better, but we did hit 2.9 million daily  doses yesterday.  Hopefully we will average closer to 3 million doses per day in the coming week.  We received approximately 20 million new doses of vaccine this week.  We now have 87.9 million people who have received at least one dose and 29.8 million who have received two doses. Hopefully by the end of next week we will have over 120,000 million first doses given

 

Deaths - 524,262 (12,280 new deaths this week, down from 14,414 new deaths the week before)

 

Daily new cases - up 1.5% for the week, but down from 1.7% the week before.  In the month of February we averaged 109,511 cases per day.  For the first days of March, we averaged 60,510 new cases per day.  The numbers continue to improve.

 

Hospital bed utilization - 41,401 (down from 48,870 the week before)

 

Case fatality rate - calculated from 10-15-20, 1.46, up from 1.40 the week before

 

Enjoy the day

 

Live safer

Be well

 

 

3/14/21 Update

The more things change.....

 

During the 1792 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, there were no cures, but there were strong opinions amongst medical providers as to treating patients.  Some believed in trying to poison their patients with mercury or bleed them to near frailty.  Some non-people made note of the fact that patients recover only after doctors have run out of medicine.  Quarantine and isolation were common (as were the debates over economic costs) , newspapers ceased publication (how lucky they were) all shops and taverns were shuttered, farmers refused to bring food into the city, those who could leave, left, despite the fact that surrounding communities frequently barred admittance.  After several months emotional fatigue had set in amongst the survivors.  When it was over, the medical community (who had treated the sick and dying)  and the civilian authorities were at odds over the death toll.  Fortunately for us today, vaccines have became available little over a year after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Fortunately, Clorox never really took off as an after dinner drink!

 

NEW CDC GUIDELINES FOR THE FULLY VACCINATED - defined as two weeks after completing both shots with the mRNA vaccines or one shot with the J&J vaccine.

 

Preliminary, but rapidly increasing evidence suggests that fully vaccinated individuals pose little risk of transmission of Covid-19 to unvaccinated people.  Vaccinated people who do become infected have a much lower viral load than those who have not been vaccinated, thus lowering the risk of transmission.

 

GUIDELINES

1.  fully vaccinated people can visit indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks or physical distancing

2.  visits with unvaccinated people from a SINGLE household who are at low risk for severe Covid-19 (for instance do NOT have diabetics, obesity, heart disease, pulmonary disease) can take place without wearing a mask or physical distancing.

3. refrain from quarantine or testing after contact with known covid-19 individuals unless symptoms develop.

 

RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SARS-CoV-2 SEROPOSWITIVITY AMONG US HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL

J. Jacob, MD et al

JAMA 3-10-21

 

Among 24,749 healthcare personnel (HCP) most who were under 50, (70%), 78% female, 61% white, 50% reported work place contact with Covid-19 patients.  Nurses represented 31.6% of the sample and inpatient staff represented 35.9% of the sample.  

 

Cumulative incidence of Covid-19 in the community per 10,000 up to one week prior to serology testing ranged from 8.2 to 275.  Eighty one percent of the HCP reported no covid contact in the community.

 

Seropositivity was 4.4%.  Community Covid-19 contact and community Covid-19 cumulative incidence were associated with seropositivity, workplace factors were not associated with seropositivity.

 

HCP younger than 30 had an increased risk

Black HCP had twice the odds

HCP who reported known contact in the community had increased risk compared with HCP who reported no contact

Increased risk was associated with increased community prevalence

 

This study suggests that exposure outside of the workplace rather than exposure to patients with Covid-19 may be a major driver for SARS-CoV-2 infections among HCP in the US.

 

This was similar to non-published findings reported Dr. Atul Gawande in an article in The Atlantic, that he authored about six months ago from Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

Since mid March of 2020, masking was mandated and enforced in hospital environments for both the the patients and the HCP.  In those situations when masks were not possible for the patients, N95 masks, respirators or face shields were frequently utilized by HCP along with other PPE.  These findings are no surprise to me, but do provide further proof of the efficacy of masks.

 

BODY MASS INDEX AND RISK FOR COVID-19-RELATED HOSPITALIZATION, ICU ADMISSION, INVASIVE MECHANICAL VENTILATION AND DEATH - UNITED STATES, MARCH - DECEMBER 2020

L. Kompaniyets, PhD et al.

WMMR

3-12-21

 

Obesity here is defined as a BMI over 30.

 

Obesity may be related to chronic inflammation that disrupts immune and therapeutic responses to pathogens as well as impairs pulmonary function.

 

Obesity effects 42% of the US adults

 

148,494 positive Covid patients at 238 US hospitals between March - December 2020 made up the study sample.  28.3% were overweight and 50.8% were obese.

 

Overweight and obese patients were at risk for mechanical ventilation.  Obese patients were at increased risk for hospitalization and death particularly among patients under 65.  Risk for mechanical ventilation increased over the full range of BMI from 15 - 60.

 

71,491 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19, 42% required ICU admission, 13.3 % required mechanical ventilation and 11.7% died.  Obesity was over represented in all populations.  The overall case fatality rate was 5.62%.

 

The percentage of patients requiring hospitalization, and the case fatality rate in this case sample are high.

 

NUMBERS

 

Vaccinations - we averaged 2.54 million vaccinations per day this week, a great week.  We now have 36.9 million people who have completed a vaccination regimen, and we have 105,768,000 who have received at least one shot.  The Federal Government received 19,433,020 vaccines this week which can be distributed to the states.

 

Variants continue to dominate the news, but I believe that in the end, they will be of academic interest, great copy for the tabloids, but of little clinical relevance.  I must admit, that each night, I mumble something that might be construed as prayer, that this be true.

 

Deaths - 534,277 (10,015 for the week, down from 12,280 the week before)

 

New Cases - We had 363,896 new cases this week, averaging 51,985/day.  For the first six days of March we averaged 60,150/day.  Hopefully as the weather warms more people will spend more time outside and reduce even further the transmission rate.

 

Case fatality rate -  calculated from 10/15/20, 1.48

 

Have a great day

 

Live safer

Be Well

GET VACCINATED