clearest statement regarding Coronavirus from a doctor

Marc Serota (one of our former allergy fellows at Children's Mercy) posted this on Facebook. I think it is the clearest statement regarding Coronavirus I have seen per one of our Current Asthma/allergy Doctors:

From an MD immunologist:

I don't post a lot on Facebook but I would like to give my perspective and context on the coronavirus outbreak. I hope I can be a more reputable source of perspective as a physician who specializes and is board certified in immunology (as well as pediatrics, allergy and dermatology).

1. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses. "coronavirus" is not unique to this particular strain. Everyone reading this has likely had another different coronavirus infection. This particular strain has been named COVID-19.

2. Every upper respiratory virus has the potential to be lethal. Patients unfortunately die from many upper respiratory viral infections every year - most prominently the influenza virus. 30,000 people died from the influenza virus in 2019. The media didn't report each one. They have reported all 11 coronavirus deaths. Not telling us about the people lost but rather keeping a death "toll".

Let me repeat that: 

-Coronavirus: 11 deaths (US in 2020), 3300 deaths (China in 2020).  

-Influenza: 30,000 deaths (US in 2019). 

*Influenza pandemic of 1918: 675,000! (US), 20-50 MILLION!! (worldwide) <---these annual="" been="" favor="" flu="" font="" have="" i="" in="" of="" people="" receiving="" their="" think="" vaccine.="" would="">

This is not meant to minimize any of these deaths but rather to give context and put some facts to the hysteria.

3. If you're healthy, there is no need to walk around wearing a mask. In addition to looking silly and most of the time wearing/taking them off wrong - which would actually make you more prone to acquiring an infection, they don't prevent you from getting sick. If you're actually sick stay away from people and then, sure, wear a mask so you aren't spreading respiratory droplets every time you cough/sneeze. In medicine we don't wear the masks you're buying and we wear other protective equipment - not just a silly looking mask you found on Amazon. When you see doctor's walking around the world wearing a mask then you should too. Until then, stop.

4. The symptoms are that of the flu. As doctors we don't test or know about most people with mild or moderate flu symptoms. That means most people will probably get it and just think they had the flu. That means you're only going to hear about the cases that get serious - not all the minor ones which will be the vast majority of cases.

5. When it is said that people who are older or have other medical conditions are most likely to die - that is equally true for EVERY upper respiratory virus. There is nothing unique about that to this particular virus. It does mean that the only cases we tend to know about are the severe ones. Once a case is severe it then makes sense to test the patient to find out what virus in particular they have. That means you can easily overestimate how severe or lethal the virus is because the only cases you end up knowing about are the serious ones.

In summary 30,000 people died from the flu last year. Another 30,000 died in car accidents.  

I remember: H1N1 (2009), MERS (2012), Ebola (2014), Coronavirus (2020).  

Take it from me: The poor resident who stood at the door of the ER to triage people in 2009's swine flu (H1N1) hysteria. The over reaction is exponentially worse than the actual problem and in 2020 the over reactions I'm seeing are remarkable. In cold and flu season you'll probably get sick once or twice for about a week each. You might even get this particular coronavirus and most of you won't even know it. I've seen people raiding supermarkets, major meetings and sporting events getting cancelled and fear/racism towards Asian people. These reactions are totally unnecessary and panic based. Just do what you've always done during cold/flu season. Stay away from other people when you're sick, wash your hands and keep them away from your face, and only go to the ER if you feel your symptoms are more severe than a bad cold/flu (shortness of breath, high fever, etc.). And also realize you can't live on earth and not get viral illnesses from time to time. It's a part of nature.

Please don't ask for antibiotics (those treat bacteria - not viruses). That's like asking for a fire extinguisher when you're drowning. It can be a life saving device - but the wrong one for the problem at hand. Some doctor's don't want to fight about it when patients insist on antibiotics so they just prescribe them - but it doesn't mean its actually helping you and in some cases they can be harmful (resistance, infections, allergic reactions just to name a few). If you're one who asks for antibiotics every time you're sick, again, take it from me: ask for a flu shot each year and a doctor's note to stay home from work when you're sick instead. You will be much better off.

The government is very proud that testing will be available to every American. Remember, we don't test for any respiratory virus other than the influenza virus routinely. The reason is thats the only virus that has a treatment (pill) you can take to shorten the duration of severity of the illness. I suspect if we start testing everyone with cold symptoms for coronavirus we're going to find lots of it. It's not going to change the recommendations to stay home and rest. And its not going to predict the small percentage of people who may develop more severe symptoms. Essentially whether someone has coronavirus 19 or some other cold/flu virus isn't going to matter to your doctor. What it will do is slam urgent cares, ER's and hospitals with every patient who has a cold so they can be tested. It is much more sensible to reserve testing for patients requiring hospitalization or more advanced treatments. Even that wouldn't change their management but would be more to confirm the diagnosis and to not waste time looking for other causes of the patients symptoms.

In conclusion, yes there is a novel virus that our immune systems haven't seen yet so to get immune to it you will have to get infected - at least until a vaccine is developed to bypass the getting sick part and just jumping straight to immune. Most people's immune systems will do that effectively and be fine. A small percentage of unfortunate patients (primarily elderly, immune compromised etc.) will not be able to do that effectively and will need more advanced care. This is true of the cold/flu viruses we deal with every year. Follow normal cold/flu precautions and seek medical care if you feel your symptoms are severe. No need to get hysterical.

These outbreaks can be instructive for overall knowledge of public health. In particular showing your immune system the uniform of a potential invader (virus) so that if it ever sees a soldier wearing that uniform it will immediately attack and neutralize it without you ever getting sick. That is a wonderful thing and probably the single biggest achievement in medicine throughout human history. That is what vaccines are. The benefit to risk ratio of them are off the charts in favor of vaccines. If viruses like coronavirus scare you, then stay up to date on your vaccines and your immune system will be running the latest software.

If you still think you should be scared consider this: Doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff are going to hospitals every day. Crowded buildings with tons of sick people. They aren't walking around the halls of the hospitals wearing masks and they haven't stopped going to work. And they are all rolling their eyes at everyone else right now.

Marc Serota, MD

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Gene editing may treat lethal lung diseases before birth

Scientists have used a gene editing tool to thwart a lethal lung disease in animals in which a harmful mutation causes death within hours after birth.

The proof-of-concept study, showed that in utero editing could be a promising new approach for treating lung diseases before birth. 

"The developing foetus has many innate properties that make it an attractive recipient for therapeutic gene editing," said an investigator.

"Furthermore, the ability to cure or mitigate a disease via gene editing in mid- to late gestation before birth and the onset of irreversible pathology is very exciting. This is particularly true for diseases that affect the lungs, whose function becomes dramatically more important at the time of birth," he said in a statement.

The lung conditions the team is hoping to solve --congenital diseases such as surfactant protein deficiency, cystic fibrosis, and alpha-1 antitrypsin -- are characterised by respiratory failure at birth or chronic lung disease with few options for therapies.

About 22 per cent of all pediatric hospital admissions are because of respiratory disorders, and congenital causes of  respiratory diseases are often lethal, despite advances in care and a deeper understanding of their molecular causes.

Since the lung is a barrier organ in direct contact with the outside environment, targeted delivery to correct defective genes an attractive therapy.

"We wanted to know if this could work at all. The trick was how to direct the gene-editing machinery to target cells that line the airways of the lungs," said a Prof.

The researchers showed that precisely timed in utero delivery of CRISPR gene-editing reagents to the amniotic fluid during fetal development resulted in targeted changes in the lungs of mice.

They introduced the gene editors into developing mice four days before birth, which is analogous to the third trimester in humans.

The cells that showed the highest percentage of editing were alveolar epithelial cells and airway secretory cells lining lung airways. In 2018, a team identified the alveolar epithelial progenitor (AEP) lineage, which is embedded in a larger population of cells called alveolar type 2 cells.

These cells generate pulmonary surfactant, which reduces surface tension in the lungs and keeps them from collapsing with every breath.

AEPs are a stable cell type in the lung and turn over very slowly, but replicate rapidly after injury to regenerate the lining of the alveoli and restore gas exchange.

In a second experiment, the researchers used prenatal gene-editing to reduce the severity of an interstitial lung disease, surfactant protein C (SFTPC) deficiency, in a mouse model that has a common disease-causing mutation found in the human SFTPC gene.

One hundred per cent of untreated mice with this mutation die from respiratory failure  within hours of birth. In contrast, prenatal gene editing to inactivate the mutant Sftpc gene resulted in improved lung morphology and survival of over 22 per cent of the animals.

Future studies will be directed towards increasing the efficiency of the gene editing in the epithelial lining of lungs as well as evaluating different mechanisms to deliver gene editing technology to lungs.

"The current research is a proof-of-concept study highlighting the exciting future prospects for prenatal treatments including gene editing and replacement gene therapy for the treatment of congenital diseases," he said.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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New painkiller pill set to kill people as soon as it hits shelves!

A new FDA-approved painkiller isn't set to hit pharmacy shelves until next month, but critics are already warning that popping just two pills could be lethal.

Zohydro, which the FDA gave the green light in October against the advice of its advisory panel, will serve as a powerful pain pill for those who can't get relief from what's already out there.

It contains the same basic ingredient (hydrocodone) as Vicodin, but it has 5 to 10 times the power, Forbes noted, and without the added acetaminophen.

As an expert on the advisory board who voted "no" told NBC News, that acetaminophen deters savvy addicts from loading up on Vicodin for fear of liver damage.

Like OxyContin, Zohydro is a "pure narcotic"; but unlike OxyContin, the Zohydro set to be released isn't tamper resistant, and can easily be crushed, then snorted or injected. 

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

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Protein can lead to drug treatments for chronic pain

Scientists have created a new bio-therapeutic molecule that could be used to treat neurological disorders such as chronic pain and epilepsy.

Scientists from 11 research institutes, created and characterised a new molecule that was able to alleviate hypersensitivity to inflammatory pain.

By separating elements of clostridium botulinum and clostridium tetani neurotoxins, commonly known as Botox and tetanus toxin respectively, the scientists were able to develop a model to re-join the molecule proteins yielding new biomedical properties, without unwanted toxic effects.

While the Botox element is able to block neuronal communication - and therefore pain signals - for months, the tetanus component targets the engineered toxin to the central nervous system, rather than stopping at exterior neurons that are the normal target of Botox.

The combination of the two effects is of great interest for neuroscience and can be applied to the treatment of several neurological disorders, particularly chronic pain conditions.

Botox and tetanus neurotoxins hold great promise for clinical applications, but since they are the most lethal proteins known to man, their paralytic activity was a stumbling block until now, researchers said.

"The toxins were split into parts so they were unable to function. Then later they were reassembled using a 'zipping' system so they can operate in a safe way," said  one of the lead authors of the study.

"The re-engineered chimera toxin has very similar characteristics to Botox and is still able to block neuro-transmission release, but the paralytic effect is a lot less. We then added a tetanus molecule which targets the chimera to where the pain signals travel towards the central nervous system," he said.

Preliminary data on animal models has now been collated  and future clinical trials are expected to fully characterise the new bio-therapeutic.

"Many painkillers relieve the pain temporarily and have various side effects. The selling point of this molecule is that the pain relief could last up to seven months, in a similar way that Botox injections for removing wrinkles last for several months," he said.

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

ps- those interested in recipes are free to view my blog-

http://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/

for info about knee replacement, you can view my blog-

http://Knee replacement-stick club.blogspot.com/

for crochet designs

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Grapefruit may be heart's best friend

A new research has revealed that grapefruit, which contains health-promoting biomolecules, could help prevent cardiovascular diseases.

The study,  has found out that biomolecules could be used to reduce the inflammation that is the main cause of various heart problems.

This research may give rise to a new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs that are cheaper and less lethal than some existing therapies. 

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

ps- those interested in recipes are free to view my blog-

http://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/

for info about knee replacement, you can view my blog-

http://Knee replacement-stick club.blogspot.com/

for crochet designs

http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com/

I've not given details about designs, but those interested are free to mail me for the same.