6th April 2020
Here is a section from the Health Service Journal (HSJ) in the UK, discussing the current fears of NHSE (NHS England). The article is behind a paywall.
NHS England is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. NHS England oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the NHS in England as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012>/p>
Exclusive: NHSE to act over fears covid-19 focus could ‘do more harm than virus’
‘NHS England analysts have been tasked with the challenging task of identifying patients who may not have the virus but may be at risk of significant harm or death because they are missing vital appointments or not attending emergency departments, with both the service and public so focused on covid-19.
A senior NHS source familiar with the programme told HSJ: “There could be some very serious unintended consequences [to all the resource going into fighting coronavirus]. While there will be a lot of covid-19 fatalities, we could end up losing more ‘years of life’ because of fatalities relating to non-covid-19 health complications.
“What we don’t want to do is take our eye off the ball in terms of all the core business and all the other healthcare issues the NHS normally attends to.
“People will be developing symptoms of serious but treatable diseases, babies will be born which need immunising, and people will be developing breast lumps and need mammograms.”…
Nuffield Trust deputy director of research Sarah Scobie said it was “a considerable worry that people are keeping away from routine and urgent health services, and also from emergency departments”.
She added: “The PHE (public health England) data suggests there could be significant problems already developing for heart disease related conditions patients, for example. Attendances relating to myocardial infarction at emergency departments have dropped right down, whereas ambulance calls in relation to chest pain have gone right [up].’
I suppose my first response would not be one of great surprise. In fact, it confirms what I have been saying for some time. When the great Swine Flu epidemic (that killed hardly anyone) created the last pandemic crisis in the UK, exactly the same thing happened. If, whatever you were suffering from, wasn’t Swine Flu, it didn’t seem to matter.
In my small part of the world a small but significant number of people were diagnosed with Swine Flu. This was done over the phone, by poorly trained operatives. These people were then prescribed the (almost entirely useless Tamiflu), they then died. It turned out that they had other conditions that could, and would, have been properly treated had we not been overcome by a massive over-reaction to Swine Flu. They died because of swine flu.
Last week, in Intermediate Care, we sent two patients into the local hospital who were seriously ill. They were both sent back almost immediately. They both died. Yes, they were ill, and may have died anyway. But I believe they should both have been admitted, and treated, and they could both still be alive. They died because of COVID.
Ambulance crews are under very heavy pressure not to admit anyone unless absolutely necessary. Some of those, not admitted, will die.
These people, all these people, are dying ‘because of’ COVID. Because of the fact that almost the entire focus of the NHS is now on COVID – to the virtual exclusion of anything else.
Our local hospital now has more empty beds than at any time in history. Elective surgery has stopped, to free up resources. There is enormous managerial pressure to clear more and more people out of hospital, out of Intermediate Care beds, back home with little support available. Some of them will die because of this.
My last blog focussed on the economic costs of the reaction to COVID. My argument was that economics, and health, do not exist in isolate bubbles. Harm to the economy will result in harm to health and vice-versa.
Equally, if you spend all your healthcare resources trying to treat one thing, everything else will suffer, because resources are not infinite. At present we have virtually shut down the NHS to deal with COVID.
I saw several patients yesterday while I was working in “out of hours”, who were not critically ill, but they were ill. Two of them, I felt, really needed to be followed up. A girl with weight loss over the last three months, a man with clear signs in his chest that could have been malignant.
They will not be followed up any time soon. If at all.
At present there is a lot of discussion about how we are categorising deaths from COVID. Anyone who dies, having been diagnosed with COVID, is considered to have died of COVID. Even if they died of something else. The died with COVID, not of COVID.
There is, I believe, an even greater immediate problem here. Which is those who are dying because of COVID. This is not just me saying this, this is NHS England:
“While there will be a lot of covid-19 fatalities, we could end up losing more ‘years of life’ because of fatalities relating to non-covid-19 health complications.”
For many years, there has been an old medical joke. It will not make you laugh out loud, but it goes like this.
‘The operation was a success, unfortunately the patient died.’
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick 
How many of the ~4000 deaths attributed to covid last week will appear as additional deaths in the weekly total? Based on the previous years, we would normally have about 11,000, so we would need to have ~15,000 to demonstrate that covid is causing additional deaths. Simplistic I know but the ONS data for this period will be very revealing (when it is eventually published).
ONS stats are published week, on week. They can be seen here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877621/Weekly_all_cause_mortality_surveillance_week_14_2020_report.pdf
Oh excellent stuff! I have been looking at this
http://inproportion2.talkigy.com
There were hardly any customers in the supermarket today so we didn’t have to wait outside. It is now set up like IKEA, you have to walk past *everything* and if like me you forget something you have to go all the way round again. There are even more shortages than last week, I noticed the Fairtrade stuff has gone, now a lot of locally produced stuff is missing: there’s almost nothing but corporate food. I find it hard to believe this is not being done deliberately. Time to look up Stanley Milgram.
See: https://off-guardian.org/2020/04/07/think-deep-do-good-science-and-do-not-panic/
This is an extract:
Ioannidis[6] estimates an infection mortality rate for COVID-19 between 0.05 and 1%. Assuming a mid-range mortality value of 0.3% and a 1% infection rate, it would correspond to 10’000 deaths for the USA. This surely is an impressive number, it would however stay buried within the noise of the estimate of deaths from usual seasonal RTIs.
The European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action[12] reveals that, till year week 13, no global European excess mortality can be seen as compared with earlier years, the death toll trend for 2019-2020 is in fact slightly lower than for earlier years.
Confirming this, the German Robert Koch Institute[13] documented end of March a nationwide decrease in the activity of acute RTIs, with the number of hospital stays caused by them being below the level of previous years and currently continuing to decline.
Roussel et al.5 remind us that every year around the world 2.6 million people die of RTIs. Today, at the end of March and of the RTI season, we may really hope that the SARS-CoV-2 strain will not be the “killer virus” which was profiled and which produced such an intense and worldwide reaction. A revealing comparison can be made with the yearly mortality of influenza infections, estimated between 0.5 and 1 million worldwide.
In Switzerland where the death toll of the flu is estimated at an average of 2’000 deaths per season, we live, like all other countries around the world, with this cyclic reality, and have integrated it fully in our personal, social and national lives (Osterloh and Frey[14]). With the COVID-19, Switzerland remains, end of March, with a lower death toll.
As of today, we have not yet a final estimation of the infection mortality rate of the COVID-19. The data described above indicate a value at or below the one of the flu. Bendavid and Bhattacharya[15] proposed indeed estimations of the infection mortality rate of the COVID-19 between 0.01 for the US and 0.06% for Italy (based on the testing of the whole population of the town of Vò), values close to the ones proposed by Ioannidis[6], and below the 0.1% rate of the flu.
Yesterday, a study purporting to show the UK as having the largest mortality rate in Europe with 66,000 deaths but with the US (with 5 times the population as the UK) with ‘only’ 85,000 or so, deaths. Yet the report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), has a 95% ERROR rate! In other words it could be 95% less or 95% more!!! Yet the report has been given major exposure in the Brit press including the Financial Times.
I quote:
Read the article here: https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/66000-uk-deaths-projected-by-institute-has-95-per-cent-uncertainty-value/
Hector Drummond does excellent work. I found his blog extremely illuminating.
https://hectordrummond.com/2020/04/08/week-13-ons-graphs-still-nothing/
Also UK Column. This video is quite long, but contains a huge amount of useful information.
https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-6th-april-2020
Thanks to all for the references. The Hector Drummond one is especially interesting, I’ve read most of his recent posts.
My daughter has been trying to get her 13 wk old son seen by a GP for the past 3 wks. One cheek was swelling – now both cheeks are swelling. Kind nurse over the road says it’s not teeth and nothing she’s seen before.
What can you do when doctors refuse treatment/referral?
Hope it’s nothing sinister!
This happened to a friend. His doctor said
“I know what it is! You’re turning into a werehamster!”
If I remember correctly it turned out to be a parotid gland infection but not mumps.
Probably easily treatable (antibiotics) IF you could get anyone to diagnose it, I wonder how common this sort of thing is.
My daughter in law had something like that, Ann. It turned out to be, as Chris says, a parotid gland infection. Needed antibiotics.
This just goes to show how myopic our focus is. Not on overall consequences for family breakdown, suicides, domestic violence, or social breakdown due to the government imposed economic crisis; not even on the narrower focus of medicine, nor even on hospitals. And not even on ICU beds, but the infra-myopic (probably not a real word) focus on flattening out the supply of just coronavirus patients to ICU beds. Even the other doctors are complaining about this attention to a tiny sub-subset of specialists! But we are destroying everything to achieve it! We expect governments to take a larger view!!
Hi Ralph: re the problem with governments is that they are composed of people, and people can make mistakes. A smart (corrupt, greedy) politician can become very rich by doing favours for corporations. Basically the government is controlled by corporations together with a biased media that is sponsored by big money. Only hope is for a few leaders willing to take a risk by exposing the corruption.
That is a very old joke – I know it so well. The trouble is, there are many who think that the situation is satisfactory. Well, I suppose it is – for anyone but the dead patient.
I would say for the family, as the dead patient couldn’t, literally, care less.
So many patients being denied their essential vitamin B12 injections. It’s bad enough some can only get it once every 3 months anyway. Pernicious Anemia Society getting lots of phone calls from desperate people who will suffer great harm from this due this single focus on Covid19. I have several family members affected by this .
I do my own B12 injections because my neurologist advised my GP to increase the frequency to once a week until no further improvement. How I laughed! The GP refused to give any whatsoever. I also source my own porcine thyroid and have stockpiled for a year until we move to a farm I have my eye on where I will keep pigs for this very purpose. Never, ever again will I be reliant on a health service that does not prioritise health.
Lorraine, are you aware of any source that is currently still shipping to U.K?
Ps I was referring to porcine thyroid meds
Hi Lesley, yes International Pharmacy still shipped them last week.
It’s extraordinary that injectable B12 is not available over the counter in the UK, yet the poisonous statins are. It is impossible to overdose on B12 so why? After all diabetics do it all the time with insulin.
And why is melatonin not available at all in the UK except a 2mg prescription from a doctor. But try to find a doctor that agrees to prescribe it. What are they afraid of?
You can buy melatonin in bulk online. But I use a milligram scale to take it.
Could money have anything to do with it?
Totally agree, I think we will be heavily criticised for this in the future. Our approach is not rational, it’s being led by the media narrative.
The child with weight loss could be suffering with Diabeties Type One. Without urgent tests she could develop DKA and die.
In this case the girl was in her twenties. I did check her urine, and there was no glucose. However, the general point stands. Unexplained weight loss is a significant red flag.
As you know bloods too including HbA1c, GADs and C-peptide could prove conclusive for DT1 especially if presenting with high ketones in urine or blood.
I read several years ago that there were about twice as many adult onset/LADA cases than childhood onset, dunno if still true. I suppose people who die NOT of Covid 19 don’t count.
Dr K I take it you checked for Graves disease? I lost three stone when I developed that.
Although Graves/hyperthyroidism is more common as a cause of weight loss, it can also occur in hypothyroidism. Unfortunately, the assumption that hypothyrodism causes weight gain can lead to this being missed.
Oh good point, yes I also lost weight when my thyroid blew up. It’s starting to go high again, really I should get it tested but how?
I couldn’t agree more. I, too, have heard stories of people not wanting ‘to bother’ the emergency services with non-Covid issues, not always with good outcomes. On a personal level, my husband has just had mid-treatment chemotherapy delayed by at least three weeks, with no firm date to restart. We both understand the risk of a lowered immune system and the potential end result should he catch the dreaded virus; it’s a balance, a juggling act, but it certainly feels as if the scales are firmly weighted in favour of Covid.
“The squeaky wheel gets the oil”.
In the past, on several occasions, I have acted as advocate for myself and for family members. On those occasions when it was clear to me that the medics were not toeing the line, I became quite vocal and insistent. It helps to have a reasonable working knowledge of the issue at hand, of course.
I got attention. I most often got an effective result as well – even if it was not quite what I’d visualized.
“The meek shall inherit the earth.”
Six feet of it.
Sad but a truth. Don’t hesitate to say; “I want to speak to the manager”; “I want to speak to the Chief Of Police”; then you find there was an option in place you only get to, if you not turn an walk away.
Of, with or because of? It’s all of them isn’t it.
Yes, we’re led by a media frenzy but Covid 19 writes it’s own chilling headlines through rate of infection and the apocalyptic scenes from treatment centres. The fact that wards stand empty is shocking to hear. Presumably decision makers would rather have that than be short of beds in the event of a huge influx of Covid cases. During the inquest that will doubtless follow sympathy will lie with the decision makers, ‘we focussed everything on fighting the virus.’ Dr K’s two patients above will be lost in the morass. And how many more?
I see that some (automobile) company has been contracted to make ventilators for the NHS but not for use on critical cases. Meanwhile, a company that makes the real thing can’t get a contract! Could it be that the chaos around supplying the NHS is connected to the ‘internal market’ and the privatisation of the NHS, of which the ‘internal market’ was the first shot across the bow of the publicly funded (tho’ not owned unfortunately) NHS?
And why the thyroid hormone T3 went up to £275 for a pack of 30 x 20mcg. Something I could buy OTC in Greece for just over a euro. I now have to buy on-line as I have moved to the UK and been refused treatment – umm. Someone is not doing their job … this is still happening in spite of meetings with government who are more than aware – but so nothing.
I honestly don’t see why the decision-makers who run our society should be so cowardly that they invariably knuckle under and obey the mass media. Especially since the latter have such an impeccable record of being wrong about almost every important issue.
What would happen to a political leader or administrator who, instead, just did what is right?
To answer that question you need to ask who owns the media. So far as I can tell, it is just the same in Europe. We have 5 corporations who own
most of our media. Those are billionaires. But of course, they have no agenda and no undue influence.
Umm, but they do donate a lot to political campaigns…
Can hospitals turn away infected or refer them to a regional centre? In Shanghai they had rigid separation of infected and non-infected, separate entrances, separate areas, separate clinics.
Q: Shanghai had special clinics you referred people with fevers to. How did that work?
A: In public hospitals they had areas that were separated from all other care. They would be seen by people wearing full protective equipment. The public hospital also has the ability to have labor and delivery in a negative-pressure room for women with respiratory symptoms who are going into labor. At our private hospital, we see patients with cough and colds (but no fever) in a separate area of the hospital with a separate entrance. Between pediatrics, internal medicine and family medicine, we send all the people with cough, cold, runny nose, sore throat — anything that could be a viral URI — to a dedicated family physician in this totally separated area. So, we’re keeping all that potential cross-contamination out of our waiting room, away from kids getting vaccinated, away from OB. We’re wearing full face shields or goggles, N95 masks and gowns in that area.
Q: What about people doing your triage? What kind of gear are they wearing?
A: We have a nurse and a security guard outside. They’re wearing N95s, eye protection, gowns and gloves. We’re basically assuming anyone with respiratory symptoms could be ill. You don’t know. We’re also triaging visitors. — https://www.aafp.org/news/health-of-the-public/20200318covid19qa.html
That is sensible. And it sounds like they’re treating regular people.
Thank you, another one to get our teeth into.
Missing out on vaccines with toxic ingredients will result in healthier children.
Marjorie, my daughter-in -law, her sister and a friend of mine all have worked in childrens’ nurseries. They all noticed permanent detrimental changes in some children shortly after vaccination, sorry, wrong term, “immunisation”.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield lost his licence to practice medicine for making such assertions, many years ago, in connection with the mmr vaccine. He has been vindicated many times over since then by a great deal of research but not in the UK.
Yes indeed. My son was diagnosed with mild autism, add, odd and pdd at the age of 4, around the time the immunisation program was completed (I’d love to know more about the production process and what controls are used to measure chemical concentration variability in the vaccines from one sample to the next). Thankfully his autism is less noticeable 7 years later but it’s taken it’s toll. Marriage breakdown, etc. I can’t believe he was prescribed risperidol for odd – that’s an anti-psychotic drug. I pretty much dedicated my time to his development – ran him rugged at the park after school thinking this would help his breathing (oxygen flow), appetite and sleeping behaviour. Seems to have paid off – he plays division one soccer, has great hand-eye coordination, fast runner/reflexes, good at maths, engaged socially, humorous, communicating more confidently although struggles to express himself and structure sentences verbally.
Christian Dandre: As for controls, at least in the U.S. there are none. Not a single licensed vaccine has been safety-tested using a control group. As far as control of ingredients, both the industry and the CDC know that different lots are variable in risk, thus they are allowed to break up lots and ship them to different parts of the country; this is the only pharmaceutical product for which this is allowed. Shipping “hot lots” to the same region would give a signal to epidemiologists. Vaccines, in fact, can be heavily contaminated, but, as far as I know, there is no testing done for this, outside of Italy, where Corvelva has made some frightening discoveries.
I understand the production is a bit hap hazard. I will post a link when I work out where I hard of it.
There are many who would find a 2-3000 word essay on your observations of value, even though anecdotal material is usually placed at the bottom of the evidence-based pile of detritus.
Seriously, have a go.
Or it might result in them getting polio, TB, smallpox…..
Chancery Stone, they don’t get polio, they get acute flaccid paralysis, usually after receiving the vaccine. Smallpox in England went DOWN in Leicester when the townspeople revolted and refused the mandatory vaccination, whereas in surrounding towns that continue to vaccinate the infections continued. Those vaccinated were shedding the pathogen. Please do some research, otherwise your assertion is merely fear-mongering worthy of the Murdock press, whose owners just happen to have a financial interest in the companies that make the vaccines. Who would have thought?
Can never get “Polio” in the US, The AMA has decreed ‘Flaccid Paralysis’ is now the description de-jour. “Polio” on the record may result in loss of licence to practice.
George Orwall rejoices in his grave.
I recently presented at a local hospital ED with renal colic. – I could not believe how sparse – EMPTY waiting room – the place was, and such abundance of bored staff . Bloods drawn, and a CAT scan done…. all within 20 minutes.!!!
Agreed. The focus on Social Distancing is going to bite us Very Hard – especially when the lockdown is extended. And worse still, so much is being done without the burden of knowledge ie, ‘fever’ not always present especially during the asymptomatic phase.
And don’t bother trying to get ahead of the pack, you’ve missed the boat. – Doctors (downunder here) have been prescribing Plaquenil for their families /themselves,,, so much so RA and Lupus patients are facing a shortage, so 4 Pharmacists told me, the other 3 merely smiled enigmatically – And I doubt if all the hoarders – er, “prepared” realize that its the zinc that upsets the virus, interfering with replication. Plaquenil is merely a zinc ionophore, shovels the zinc into the cells.
Quercetain does the same job, that and oysters washed down with a nice red (resveretrol…) may be equally useful for de-stressing and therapy.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious! I’ll keep putting my trust in zinc.
From Jill DownUnder. Lots of experts are giving advice about how to prevent COVID. None mentions quitting smoking. What is really going on?
Will that stop it spreading all over the country?
Yes. The Chinese recommend smoking cessation, stop alcohol in excess and eat more garlic, leek and onion dishes. They lastly encourage eating honey, presumably not the prohibitively expensive Månuka variety, for its anti-viral properties.
The reason for garlic, leeks, and onions, I think, is because covid presents as a “cold damp” pattern in TCM and those things clear cold and move dampness.
Garlic, leeks and onions are high in sulphur which is required to reduce contracting diseases. There is a theory that if you have low blood sulphate levels, a virus (flu) would be allowed in, and that releases sulphates from the muscles to correct the blood deficiency.
Yes, I guess two different ways to look at it. Western and Eastern
That one was Western, from Stephanie Seneff.
Best to pick your (winning) battles, there’s more chance of dietary and behavioural improvement …than “persuading” them to stop a physical and emotionally addictive habit. !
I am not so sure. Dietary addictions are, in my opinion, as strong as nicotine.
Even if it’s an addiction, I think I will survive better on eggs cheese meat and veggies than on nicotine
Plaquenil is being used in Israel to treat people who are diagnosed with Covid-19 since the outbreak started. Is this perhaps why the death rate is so low? Why are the UK health services so resistant to using it? Yesterday I read a very damning report by a journalist in a prominent daily paper about this medicine. Why? What proof? What’s the underlying agenda?
Medicine is a hugely conservative profession. There is immense pressure to follow the experts and the guidelines. Trying something new, or different, is extremely difficult. This is not a problem in times of peace, but when we move into a war footing, this is not good. The system is achingly slow. It takes years to create the level of ‘proof’ that is considered acceptable. It is a system full of blocks and friction.
And yet they are happy enough to implement severe disruptions to the healthcare system and to the economy, without first performing a randomised controlled trial to show that those disruptions are safe and effective.
This is precisely my point. Its as if the government need to rack up the COVID deaths to justify the lockdown and general craziness that has gripped the world. Otherwise healthy people need to go back to work and anyone who might be considered at risk needs to be more careful (if they so choose to). There is no exit strategy to this madness. Let along are we all going to go through the same madness come winter time when COVID19 mutates to become COVID20.
I saw a short talk by a doctor who works in intensive care looking after COVID patients. He thinks some patients are dying from fear.
Jill, do you have a link for this talk please, or the doctor’s name?
Thanks
An article about the intensive care doctor. Doctors puzzle over COVID-19 lung problems. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200407/doctors-puzzle-over-covid19-lung-problems
I’m trying to get my head around what’s actually going on inside our lungs and this article shows that something quite new is happening. Could it be that the virus is attacking haemoglobin and this releases the iron that carries the oxygen to the body, aka this censored article: https://web.archive.org/web/20200405061401/https://medium.com/@agaiziunas/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb ?
If it is this then that would explain the high altitude sickness that we are seeing in patients. But then again, other sufferers seem to be affected differently, so maybe there are at least 2 quite different strains of the virus in circulation?
Does this have any basis in fact?
It makes sense. Unfortunately, it cuts the legs from under the current treatment approach by the ‘experts’ so I suspect it will struggle to gain acceptance.
Thank you. Here are two links that address this issue (I found both here) and appear to confirm the idea. One is on WebMD:
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200407/doctors-puzzle-over-covid19-lung-problems
And there’s a link in this one to an Italian MD Gattinoni:
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928236
And on thinking about it some more, I think it’s not 2 different strains of the virus but seems to be connected to the progression of the disease and when intervention takes place.
The common problem seems to be the ventilators as in one (unnamed) hospital somewhere in Europe (maybe E. Europe?) there were 0 deaths because ventilators were NOT used in the accepted manner.
Here’s a quote from the second article:
Blockquote>In a letter to the editor published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine on March 30, and in an editorial accepted for publication in Intensive Care Medicine, Luciano Gattinoni, MD, of the Medical University of Göttingen in Germany, and his colleagues make the case that protocol-driven ventilator use for patients with COVID-19 could be doing more harm than good.
Dr. Gattinoni noted that COVID-19 patients in intensive care units in northern Italy had an atypical ARDS presentation with severe hypoxemia and well-preserved lung gas volume. He and his colleagues suggested that instead of high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), physicians should consider the lowest possible PEEP and gentle ventilation-practicing patience to “buy time with minimum additional damage.”
Similar observations were made by Cameron Kyle-Sidell, MD, a critical care physician working in New York City, who has been speaking out about this issue on Twitter and who shared his own experiences in this video interview with WebMD chief medical officer John Whyte, MD.
The bottom line, as Dr. Kyle-Sidell and Dr. Gattinoni agree, is that protocol-driven ventilator use may be causing lung injury in COVID-19 patients.
Consider Disease Phenotype
In the editorial, Dr. Gattinoni and his colleagues explained further that ventilator settings should be based on physiological findings — with different respiratory treatment based on disease phenotype rather than using standard protocols.
“This, of course, is a conceptual model, but based on the observations we have this far, I don’t know of any model which is better,” he said in an interview.
Anecdotal evidence is increasingly demonstrating that this proposed physiological approach is associated with much lower mortality rates among COVID-19 patients, he said.
While not willing to name the hospitals at this time, he said that one center in Europe has had a 0% mortality rate among COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit when using this approach, compared with a 60% mortality rate at a nearby hospital using a protocol-driven approach.
Jill M.
Thanks Jill,
I found that video extremely interesting. For the first time, I feel understand an alternative hypothesis as to what this disease does. It (usually?) doesn’t cause pneumonia at all, but attacks haemoglobin itself. This does two things, it makes the patient short of oxygen, and it releases a mass of iron from the decomposition of haemoglobin which is toxic to the body in a variety of ways.
Furthermore, Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug might work by stopping the attack on haemoglobin – but this drug has its own political problems!
Obviously Malcolm is extremely busy, and may also have other pressures placed on him not to rock the boat, but since he too has treated COVID-19 patients, it would be great to know what he thinks of this concept.
From the WebMD link:
In an interview with MDEdge, Gattinoni said one center in central Europe that had begun using different treatments for different types of COVID-19 patients had not seen any deaths among those patients in its intensive care unit. He said a nearby hospital that was treating all COVID-19 patients based on the same set of instructions had a 60% death rate in its ICU.
“This is a kind of disease in which you don’t have to follow the protocol — you have to follow the physiology,” Gattinoni said.”Unfortunately, many, many doctors around the world cannot think outside the protocol.”
Confirming what Dr Kendrick said elsewhere: “Medicine is a hugely conservative profession. There is immense pressure to follow the experts and the guidelines. Trying something new, or different, is extremely difficult.”
Hi, barovsky,
There’s a reddit thread which discusses the article.
The article doesn’t appear to be sourced, and I haven’t any info on the putative author “liberymavenstock”.I searched Google using sars-cov-2 hemoglobin and found this:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/must-read-research-reveals-that-covid-19-attacks-hemoglobin-in-red-blood-cells,-rendering-it-incapable-of-transporting-oxygen–current-medical-protoco
which references this:
https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173
This appears to be the sixth version of the paper, which has now been revised five times since 3/5/2020
The entire paper shows up in a frame at the top of the chemrxiv web page. It is 29 pages long. The authors are in China. I certainly haven’t read the whole paper (I’m a layman, after all). The “Conclusions” sections includes this info:
“The attack will lead to less hemoglobin to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. The lung cells have extremely intense inflammation due to the inability to exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen frequently, which eventually results in ground-glass-like lung images. Patients with respiratory distress will be made worse. Diabetic patients and older people have higher glycated hemoglobin. Glycated hemoglobin was reduced by the attack, which made patients’ blood sugar unstable.”
The authors also invite other laboratories to confirm their findings.
According to Wikipedia, “ChemRxiv is an open access preprint archive for chemistry. It is operated by the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and German Chemical Society.”
A thought… If fear causes anxiety and mental stress is it possible that type of brain functioning consumes serotonin ie along the lines of depression? And in the absence of serotonin there is an insnolity to produce melatonin required to fight the mechanism of the virus. Would selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) be of relevance here?
Dr Kendrick has already covered the ’emotional upset’ influence on heart disease figures, from the break-up of the Soviet Union through to your country losing the football finals.
Being in a state of FEAR, that is, Sympathetic Nervous system (fight or flight) dominance engenders a chemical mess in the bloodstream that never ends well. Then add the strain of ‘Disease’.
Exactly – there is huge pressure from the media as well to make the COVID death counts as high as possible.
“Its as if the government need to rack up the COVID deaths to justify the lockdown…”
My thought precisely. Once a leader (especially a politician) makes a committal statement or decision, his main priority thenceforth is to avoid being proved wrong.
Yes!
Also perhaps we should be more careful quoting deaths from “ordinary” flu in previous years. Now they have learned how to do a lockdown for Covid maybe we can expect it to be an annual event for flu. “Saving lives” at the expense of the economy and society in general.
This might be off topic but forgive me as I think people are being affected by the lockdown in numerous different ways. I’m in the ‘shielding’ category because I take methotrexate as well as a low dose of prednisolone. I did ask a rheumatologist over the phone a couple of months ago if I could try to continue without methotrexate and give it up altogether if my condition(s) didn’t flare. She rather grudgingly agreed that I could reduce my weekly dose from 15 mg to 10 mg. For the first week or so of the lockdown I started taking a very early morning walk (before 6.30) which I felt set me up for the day and made me feel more reconciled to the isolation. Now I can’t do that and I’m finding it very difficult. Admittedly I’m cooking some interesting meals using up all the neglected ingredients in my cupboard which is quite good fun and I’m rereading favourite books. But if this continues for more than a few weeks, I shall definitely start going up the wall. I worry about households being locked up together, even those that normally live in harmony. Where there’s already friction, there’s a high risk of crimes of violence and children being badly psychologically – or even physically – scarred.
I have a young friend who gave birth on 9th March. Fortunately she had an easy pregnancy and labour and the baby is fine. However all the usual safeguards, the daily visits from midwife and health visitor are not taking place. My friend already has two children and the baby is contented, but for new mothers or those with difficult babies, a vital service is missing. It was an observant midwife when one of my cousins was a few days old who probably saved his life.
Thank you Malcolm for the update. Your insights are very much appreciated.
I’m sadly not surprised by what you’ve written. We appear to live in such a binary world where onl simple one-dimensional answers are acceptable. Any attempt to see both sides of a problem is not tolerated.
As I responded to your last post, the politicians took the easiest option. This was in order to appease the media attack dogs (aka their real bosses) and keep their jobs.
Thank you
It is a great pity that there is such great resistance in the UK to using high dose intravenous vitamin c for people sick with Covid-19. I read that it has been very successfully used in China by Dr. Richard Cheng. There is also complete objection to using Chloroquine due to possible side effects, but I have read that when it is used together with Azythromax (an antibiotic) and Thiamine (vitamin B1) it is a very effective treatment. It is used in Israel, where the fatality rate is very low, confined almost entirely to the very elderly who also have other serious health problems.
Thank you Dr. Kendrick, as always right on the button. Please stay well – we need you, the voice of reason in a vast wilderness.
Very depressing. I know someone who should be having cancer surgery 😦
Thank you for posting this Dr K. I have attempted to explain the distinction between “with”, “because of” and “of” (in the context of cause of death) to a number of friends, family and colleagues over the years. In my experience, the harsh reality is that in most cases, eyes simply glaze over. People like simplicity, Auntie Beeb grimly announcing the latest 24 hour death toll and running total, plays well to the living dead.
I have noticed that the media don’t advise people to quit smoking. Also, a 103 year old lady went to hospital with COVID. She recovered and went home. That good news was not broadcast.
Nor will it be, for it does not fit the scripted narrative… A bit harsh ? I don’t think so. There are now too many little red flags all of which point to a long, very long term plan to deceive and condition the sheeple. – Pick your favourite vector / subversive power hungry group!
And it all comes down to people’s inability to think rationally. I suggest dropping of the subject “Rhetoric” from British (government) schools started the rot.
Whether or not he actually uttered the ‘Newspaper’ quote, Mark Twain was not far from the truth. Today, beyond his wildest dreams – especially what’s NOT reported.
https://www.azquotes.com/author/14883-Mark_Twain – about 1/3 the way down.
By the way, I wonder whether the suicide statistics between now and end of year are going to be properly listed as to ‘Reason’ in the light of ‘By’., because of and ‘with COV-19’.
Then there are our favourite “Unintended Consequences” Never mind increased – Stress/Strain leading to heart disease, there’s also Lockdown-induced suicide…. Up till now in little Australia, 6 MALES per day succeed. (Females tend to use less effective means…) and it been reasonably stable for the last few years.
jillm: Also a 103-year-old WWII vet in Oregon recovered in time for his 104th birthday. His family, including five great great grandchildren had to hold the party in the parking lot, as they were not allowed inside. Lovely news!
James DownUnder:
You have hit the nail on the head. Democracy is impossible without an intelligent, educated, involved public. (Which may be one reason why state education has been getting steadily worse for decades).
“Gentlemen, you are now about to embark on a course of studies which will occupy you for two years. Together, they form a noble adventure. But I would like to remind you of an important point. Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you in after life, save only this, that if you work hard and intelligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking rot, and that, in my view, is the main, if not the sole, purpose of education”.
– John Alexander Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Oxford University, 1914.
What a great quote.
Just as the issue of 5G was raised, I get this in my email from Children Health Defense Fund. It’s run by RFK, Jr and does lots of work around vaccine issue. The email is about a study published in IEEE journal. Maybe engineers on this blog can comment.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/child-health-topics/known-culprit/electromagnetic/electromagnetic-radiation-due-to-cellular-wi-fi-and-bluetooth-technologies-how-safe-are-we/?utm_source=salsa&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2fd38bdc-a9a8-4267-a4c9-78fb17599e7c
Despite Covid 19, l read that 2020 respiratory deaths in England and Wales are actually below the five-year average. I wonder if we are massively overreacting to this virus. There seems to be so little advice on raising your immune system, which is a missed opportunity is it not? Sad though it is to think this, l wonder if the vast majority of people dying “with Covid” may have died anyway, but just sooner. Maybe our PM, if hopefully he pulls through, will be more sensitised for the need to eat well, keep fit and manage stress as a way of strengthening your immune system. Final point, do you think the recovery rates in Eastern Europe will be better than that in the west. If so, why?
Most people seem to forget that circa 600,000 people die every year in the UK.
Why do you think the recovery rates in Eastern Europe would be better? If that’s what you think…
Anecdotally, from a Bulgarian friend, many doctors in Eastern Europe prescribe Vitamin C with all other pharmaceuticals . . .
Yes, Eastern Europe has a long standing tradition of using non-pharma methods. There’s even a branch of allopathic medicine there that can be loosely translated as “resortology” – literally, knowledge of resorts’ treatments. It is virtually non-existent in the West but is advanced in Eastern and Central Europe. Centers in Karlovy Vary or Marianske Lazne, for example, or some Hungarian and Russian centers.
I don’t l know if it will but l’m wondering if the broader approach of say Chinese medicine is closer to addressing issues of causation and improving natural immunity. This article among others prompted the question https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7098036/
Malcolm Gough: full disclosure, I practice TCM so I have a bias. However, based on my experience, the experience of many of my colleagues, and experience of many MDs whom I know personally, TCM is vastly superior to modern medicine in addressing the issues of causation and improving immunity. I suspect the same can be said of Ayurveda versus modern medicine, but I don’t know much about Ayurveda.
Modern medicine is good when your appendix bursts, for example, but it can not and will never be able to address chronic illnesses. It simply doesn’t have the required tools. In addition, TCM has a much more in depth differential diagnosis, modern medicine doesn’t come even remotely close. And effective treatment comes from the right diagnosis. The more precise your diagnosis, the more effective the treatment.
So, I think that if Eastern Europe uses Chinese formulas (even if they’re shotgun formulas) in treating covid, it will probably improve their results significantly.
Hi Sasha, I am now intrigued by TCM. My initial question was why plants have anti-viral properties. It became intuitively obvious that plants co-evolved with bacteria, molds, fungi, and viruses. Their medicinal properties are defence mechanisms that can benefit us in fighting infections. Looks like wormwood has antiviral properties. Since coronaviruses will be a perennial problem I will be planting some wormwood plants in my garden for use as a dried ingredient in tea for use in flu season. I would appreciate your opinion.
https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m606/rr-13
“Traditional medicines are potential sources of new drug candidates. The antimalarial drug artemisinin that has saved millions of lives, was extracted from traditional Chinese herb sweet wormwood.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220302011
The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0734975018300016
Beyond malaria: The inhibition of viruses by artemisinin-type compounds
Andy, another disclosure: I am not a TCM herbalist. I am an acupuncturist. So double check with a well trained TCM herbalist everything I tell you since your question is about herbs.
Assuming that the wormwood you will be planting is Arthemisia absinthium, you should know that wormwood has a strong bitter taste, if I remember correctly. As such it “clears heat” because bitter taste clears heat in TCM. That’s probably why it’s used so much in what modern medicine classifies as viral infections because they often manifest with lots of heat symptoms according to TCM classification.
I think that if you just start drinking wormwood tea, you might make yourself too cold. Especially if you don’t have overt symptoms of heat. It might create lots of problems for you down the line. Joint pains for example or diarrhea or a million and one other symptoms because cold can manifest in a myriad of ways in the body.
Learning TCM diagnosis and treatment strategies is like learning another language. If you want to approach herbs from TCM perspective, you can’t classify them as anti-viral or anti-bacterial and so forth. It’s because TCM does not treat diseases as they are understood in modern medicine. It treats PATTERNS.
So, if someone gets a diagnosis of asthma in modern medicine, they can go to a pulmonologist anywhere in the world and get a bronchodilator and a steroid. That’s pretty much it. It will manage their symptoms while making the patient progressively worse over time.
If they go to a TCM practitioner, their asthma will be differentialy diagnosed into a pattern: Lung Cold, Lung Heat, Kidney Qi deficiency, etc. There are about 5 or 6 basic patterns that can manifest as “asthma” in the body (that I can think of) and then you could have various combinations between those patterns. If a practitioner is good, they will CURE the patient’s asthma, not simply manage symptoms. That’s why I think that when it comes to chronic conditions TCM is vastly superior to anything modern medicine has to offer.
So, my general point – in my opinion, if you want to address something with TCM, find a classically trained TCM herbalist who could guide your treatments. Herbs are very powerful, approach them with caution.
By the way, if I am not mistaken, in Ukrainian the word for wormwood is chernobyl.
There are also bacteriophages instead of antibiotics, used (and pioneered) in the former Soviet Union since the 1930s, largely because they DIDN’T have big Pharma to manufacture antibiotics and apparently undergonig a resurgence. I believe an institute still exists in Georgia.
Another reason is because in Soviet Union it was known all along that AB overuse will lead to lots of problems down the road. So good doctors would find various strategies to use as little AB as possible.
Sorry, Andy, I have to make a correction. Chernobyl refers to the name of mugwort (Arthemisia vulgaris), not wormwood. But you might be planting a different plant altogether if you plan to cultivate what Chinese call sweet wormwood…
Agreed! I hardly ever catch anything nowadays, which I put down to eating lots of meat, fish, vegetables and dairy and avoiding carbs (especially wheat) and industrially produced Omega 6 seed oils. And I go out in the sun to keep my Vitamin D up. No mention in the media of doing anything to prevent infection,or ensure it is trivial.
I noticed from a map that the main areas of infection in the UK are high pollution areas, probably not as high as Chine or Italy. Maybe pollution damages the lungs and makes infection more likely.
Nurses seem to be going down like ninepins. It has been hypothesised this is due to constant high level exposure to the virus breaking through the immune system. Of course nurses are overworked, overstressed, often overweight and eat crap diets (not entirely their fault) so maybe their immune systems aren’t that hot in the first place.
I had pretty much the same hypothesis regarding air pollution compromising lung health and therefore leaving a person more susceptible. Since most of the traffic is off the roads my breathing is the best it’s ever been since I moved to the Midlands. I noticed the difference within a week of the lockdown. And it’s probably true about unhealthy nutrition amongst medical staff due to shifts, time constraints, availability etc
I don’t have too many connections to nursing, I do however work in social care, and one of main things we do is try to encourage our clients to look after their health, which is often appalling. In light of this it astonishes me how many of colleagues smoke, take no excercise and eat crap. Physician heal thyself! Wouldn’t surprise me if many nurses and doctors were the same.
If you believe the official UK government Covid-19 stats, you must believe that hardly anyone is dying of anything else at the moment. See the linked graph, which should be self-explanatory with a moment’s thought.
See also https://hectordrummond.com/ (every day) and UK Column – especially perhaps Monday’s one-hour video https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-6th-april-2020.
One hour might seem a long time to attend to an online item. But think of it as your honest and reliable replacement for all the fake and false mainstream media “news” and “current affairs”.
Is there anything unusual about the type of pneumonia COVID-19 patients get? I’m reading And The Band Played On about the early days of AIDS where pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was common in the infected. Previously it was only seen in patients with compromised immune systems like those on chemotherapy or on immunosuppressant drugs.
From what I understand, the unusual thing is that it moves in so quick and for some goes straight into the lungs.
Actually, what’s unusual for this virus and makes it spread more effectively than the SARS virus, which was more deadly, is that it doesn’t go straight to the lungs. It sits in the throat first and multiplies. During this time you are infectious but without symptoms. Thereafter it moves to the lungs and you develop symptoms and know to isolate yourself.
Here’s a good explanation by Peter Kolchinsky, a virologist now a venture capitalist and author.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1246975275021348865.html
Thank you, I will read
Hi Martin, the explanation makes sense, the covid19 virus takes longer to gain enough momentum to produce symptoms and by then is already systemic. In the meantime others can be infected.
Doubly unusual in that it appears BI-laterally, both lungs at the same time and usually, amount. Is this TWO infections marching there in unison? Or a RESULT of damage ect, occuring elsewhere and ending up manifesting itself there?
When we step back and bring other ideas into view, such as red blood cells being deprived on iron (let loose…) and thus unable to transport O2 we see similar effects as ‘altitude induced hypoxia’
Add to that the results of – of all things – Melatonin – depletion and the Suspect List becomes.. Interesting. 🙂
https://www.evolutamente.it/covid-19-pneumonia-inflammasomes-the-melatonin-connection/
This comment is about the tests. How accurate are they? I recently read Positively False by Joan Shenton. The AIDS tests were very unreliable. He who makes the tests rules the world.
AIDS tests these days are pretty reliable, except during the window period. But by the time people got PC pneumonia there were so many other symptoms the diagnosis was unambiguous, in the early days.
My point is, I didn’t know there were different types of pneumonia bug until I read the book. And knowing you had the PC bug was a good indication that you had an immune deficiency problem. I was thinking maybe COVID-19 was associated with a distinctive type of pneumonia that could be an important clue as to the origin or treatment of the infection.
The reason I raise the question is they say that X-rays of the lungs of COVID-19 patients with pneumonia present a “ground glass” appearance. Why do they mention this? Is this true of all people with pneumonia, or is there something distinctive about the COVID-19 pneumonia?
I wonder if anyone at No.10 has read this?
I’ve just noted on a more radical site, the allegation that German Authorities have recently restricted autopsies on SUSPECTED covid-19 cases, thus their death certificate can only carry ‘covid-19’ Up till now, ‘specificity’ and ‘Teutonic Precision’ may well have kept COV – 19 deaths down to where they belong.
Similar to a recent edict on the US, basically ascribing Official Confirmation to an actual “died WITH” covid-19.
Watch the media’s Orwellian use of language and the back story to its use !!!
Not sure what the point is that someone tried to make on that radical site? That Germany is overreporting cases? That is probably true and hardly radical. There has been some debate about this, and consonsensus among experts across the famously devolved structures is that while some early deaths may have slipped by, by now every suspect death at home, in hospitals, and in care homes is investigated, and in case of positive tests or symptoms and contact is attributed, rightly or wrongly, to CV.
Looking at the dashboard of the Robert Koch institute (which lags by an average of about two days because data must be reported at county and state level first), the fatality rate is at 1.6% now, not particularly low considering that, it origally being something that ski tourists brought home, only 10% of the cases are in the bracket of 60 to 79 year olds and another 5% in the 80+ group.
It is worth noting that deaths lag confirmed infections by about two weeks, and new infections are levelling off already.
Experts are indicating that the lockdown will last much longer than the 3 weeks originally anticipated. The lockdown is also intensifying. People are being fined and the army is mobilized to prevent people wandering in the streets. There is no exit strategy or date. Spring is in the air and people are frustrated by forced solitary confinement, could be a revolt brewing.
andy, lets hope. I am to old to be revolting, though my wife may disagree.
Thanks for the chuckle!
What country is this?
Getting to the heart of the matter – (MPI – maybe pun intended) APU – as per usual.
(PS just getting my revenge in for all the medical acronyms in use on this blog that I am for ever FTLU (forced to look up))
Yes, unfortunately, yes
Well, in a way it’s good. If newborns and babies aren’t vaccinated this mean they will be healthier!! Their immune system will develop normally without being assaulted with toxic adjuvants!! I’m almost happy for them. Rate of autism should go down as well as Guillaume barré syndrome and other auto immune diseases
Thank you for publishing this horror. The question remains: why? It’s almost as if they’re preparing for a pandemic than being in the midst of one.
Personally, I probably should have tried to find a doctor/go to hospital recently when I had really severe bronchitis and breathing difficulties. My temperature actually dropped to 34.5. Still recovering now. Maybe it was pneumonia, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.
Here in the US I suspect similar is happening, though I have not talked or heard news from any of the many doctors that live in my parents neighborhood. No one is gathering together and talking with each other during these times. When in the neighborhood though I see the doctors cars still at home during the afternoon. I saw the cardiologist out for a walk with his wife. The dentist couple appear to be at their house. The only doctor that seems to be not home is the eye surgeon.
With potential patients, I do know several that have expressed fear of going to a hospital during these times.
A friend of mine in NYC in late January, took his wife to A&E with low blood pressure, was there for a couple of days and a couple of days later came down with the coronavirus symptoms but thankfully survived intact.Yes, I think hospitals ARE dangerous to your health, they are the perfect incubators for disease; sealed and air-conditioned and FULL of people with bugs! Isn’t this why we have all these diseases that are unique to the hospital ecology? And I suspect that this new virus is not so new and has probably been doing the rounds for many months (I’ve read reports that people with the exact symptoms at least as far back as October 2019, in the US).
Whenever I took my mother to one of the local hospitals I would monitor her for the next few days to find out what they had given her this time. Then we wised up and used a different hospital where this didn’t seem to happen.
Once she was mortified to find she had wet herself. However closer inspection showed that the wet was only on the outside of her clothes – she had sat in someone else’s puddle.
Probably a lot of this is dependent on reducing and privatising the cleaners.
Like a lot of people I have first hand experience of medical attention needed but not available as in my 83 yr old dad, chest infection too ill to bother with the new online registration for telephone consultation and my step mum similar age getting lost with the Internet form. Thankfully from a distance have been able to help and a course abx helping.
My other concern again first hand is the lack of evidenced based advice with PPE. Check out the you tube video from the infectious diseases hospital in Naples Italy. Not one member of staff has picked up covid. My colleagues dropping like flies. when will the government realize current recommendations not adequate. We may well run out of staff to care for anybody at this rate. My friends grandson is very ill. Fit 26 yr old no underlying conditions but lots of exposure as paramedic in north London. Anyway Thanks to Dr Malcolm for all the info, let’s hope the right people pay some attention.
I’m only guessing here, but I think medical staff may be having problems as well from exposure, but due to excessive working, and consequently insufficient rest to rebuild immune system. All this is generated from a total lack of evidence based strategies, but because of demands from insecure and ignorant factions who expect “something to be done”, and the weak politicians who also know nothing but believe flawed fortune tellers.
Here endeth the rant
hi Ah: expect “something to be done” – ventilate
The whole thing has been a panic induced hysteria for which the media is largely responsible.
Mortality statistics for Italy and show nothing our of the ordinary for those under 65. For those over 65, there is a bump similar to the one that happened without fanfare 3 years ago.
In the USA, deaths from Influenza and Pneumonia are not that different from last year. The data is all here:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
And this chart makes it quite clear
Interesting article and a major problem. But… if this is just another flu then why are we losing so many health care workers and is that normal? Do they have unknown pre-existing conditions? Same appears to be happening to a small proportion of otherwise healthy young people. Are some people genetically susceptible to this virus or are they being attacked by larger doses of the virus and/or more aggressive strains? How do we get to the bottom of this? The communication by health services needs to be evidence-based, but there still appear to be many unknowns.
Have those who died had flu vaccinations? Research from Canada indicated that people who had regular flu vaccines were more likely to die from pandemic virus.
I have not read that research but it might be that people with co morbidities would be more likely to have had flu vaccination? There will be many areas to consider following this but which ones will get the funding??
Valid point: I recollect that virtually all NHS staff (& at risk groups) were heavily influenced last October, to get the ‘flu vaccine, and speaking to my daughter (Nurse) it would appear that in the North west 95% of staff were vaccinated. There is research showing evidence of increased Covid-19 severity, in this group. It is also reported that many of the deaths in Italy were associted with an earlier flu vaccine. Need to do an evidence search……
“How do we get to the bottom of this? ”
Christian, we don’t. The answers are not to be questioned. Current governments’ elected members should be deselected.
Christian, jillm, Jan and Tony, re flu vax, see another comment I made on this thread at: elizabethhart April 7, 2020 at 1:16 am, info re flu vax in Italy and China.
Also, in Australia, the people reported to be dying (with?) COVID-19 are generally elderly people in aged care facilities and off cruise ships…people who are highly likely to have had flu vaccinations, and this should be investigated. And as Tony indicates, medical staff are under pressure to have flu vaxes too.
In Australia this is the flu vaccine ‘recommended’ for people over 65: “Fluad®Quad quadrivalent adjuvanted vaccine is funded and recommended for those aged 65 years and older. This vaccine has been specifically designed to boost the immune response and provide better protection for this age group.” (This is from an email with advice for seniors.)
So this vaccine has “been specifically designed to boost the immune response…for this age group”.
Hmmmmm….
I assume “boost the immune system” is lay talk for “hyperstimulate”, or “increase inflammation”.
Hi elizabethhart: re “boosting immune response” of over 65, is a clever sales pitch
Apparently T cells also age and become lazy. A vaccine will will not boost them, it will stress them for a few days.
Keep up the good work.
Also consider the previous Canadian studies that “provided the first signal of an association between seasonal flu shots and pandemic flu illness” (H1N1). http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2010/04/new-canadian-studies-suggest-seasonal-flu-shot-increased-h1n1-risk
What I heard is that it is a double dose.
Exactly the same here, in another part of the UK. Our Cardiac Care Centre is 50% empty etc etc. Second hand report from senior clinician ex London hospital that London hospitals are actually….coping. Meanwhile the global economy is going bows under and we live in a police state.
This is interesting. It is about options. A doctor, treating COVID patients, said he thinks some patients are dying from fear. https://www.news-mail.com.au/news/controversial-call-end-this-lockdown-now/3990374/
Do you have a link to the doctor who thinks Covid patients are dying from fear please? This link appears to be about ending the lockdown.
Thanks
One needs to ask ‘what is the average mortality from “normal” season flu, compared with the numbers now. ie, what it the excess ? I don’t recall seeing many stats like that in our Popular Press stories.
And Testing. How specific is the COVID – 19 test? I understand it is not a ‘Yes / No’ result, but rather the viral load / detected antibody presence after multiple cycles. Obviously, the earlier it shows up the more likely. Somewhere there is an arbitrary number to be deemed ‘Pos or Neg. Another opening to fiddle figures,
A quickie explanation would be useful,.
Lastly, is this just as likely to be a flu variant ? though perhaps more infectios and delayed symptoms render it more effective in spreading?
This is what the Mayo clinic thinks about flu,. on the face, similar symptom presentation.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/flu/symptoms-causes/syc-20351719
Thank you, Dr. Kendrick: “More empty beds than any time in history.” That seems to be going on lots of places, with videos of parked ambulances and empty waiting rooms in hospitals widely circulating on line. I thank my lucky stars that my surgery was completed not long before the madness struck, after taking nearly five months to be scheduled. The growth was growing daily, and surely would have killed me under this current nightmare. Why have the people in charge stopped using their brains?
Here is the latest from the Swiss doctor:
https://swprs.org/a-swiss-doctor-on-covid-19/
April 6 & 7, 2020
The latest figures from a special report by the German Robert Koch Institute show that the so-called positive rate (i.e. the number of test positives per number of tests) is increasing much more slowly than the exponential curves shown by the media and was only around 10% at the end of March, a value that is rather typical for corona viruses. According to the magazine Multipolar, there can therefore be „no question of a dangerously rapid spread of the virus“.
Professor Klaus Püschel, head of forensic medicine in Hamburg, explains about Covid19: „This virus influences our lives in a completely excessive way. This is disproportionate to the danger posed by the virus. And the astronomical economic damage now being caused is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that the Corona mortality rate will not even show up as a peak in annual mortality.“ In Hamburg, for example, „not a single person who was not previously ill“ had died of the virus: „All those we have examined so far had cancer, a chronic lung disease, were heavy smokers or severely obese, suffered from diabetes or had a cardiovascular disease. The virus was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. „Covid-19 is a fatal disease only in exceptional cases, but in most cases it is a predominantly harmless viral infection.“
In addition, Dr. Püschel explains: „In quite a few cases, we have also found that the current corona infection has nothing whatsoever to do with the fatal outcome because other causes of death are present, for example a brain haemorrhage or a heart attack. Corona in itself is a „not particularly dangerous viral disease“, says the forensic scientist. He pleads for statistics based on concrete examination results. „All speculations about individual deaths that have not been expertly examined only fuel anxiety.“ Contrary to the guidelines of the Robert Koch Institute, Hamburg had recently started to differentiate between deaths „with the“ and „by the“ coronavirus, which led to a decrease in Covid19 deaths.
The German virologist Hendrik Streeck is currently conducting a pilot study to determine the distribution and transmission routes of the Covid19 pathogen. In an interview he explains: „I took a closer look at the cases of 31 of the 40 people who died in the Heinsberg district – and was not very surprised that these people died. One of the deceased was older than 100 years, so even a common cold could have led to death.“ Contrary to original assumptions, Streeck has not been able to prove transmission via door handles and the like (i.e. so-called smear infections).
The first Swiss hospitals have to announce short-time work due to the very low capacity utilization: „The staff in all departments has too little to do and has reduced overtime in a first step. Now short-time work is also being registered. The financial consequences are severe.“ As a reminder, a study by ETH Zurich based on largely unrealistic assumptions predicted the first bottlenecks in Swiss clinics by April 2. So far this has not happened anywhere.
In Switzerland, there was a pronounced wave of influenza at the beginning of 2017. At that time, there were almost 1500 additional deaths in the over 65-year-old population in the first six weeks of the year. Normally, around 1300 people die in Switzerland every year as a result of pneumonia, 95% of whom are over 65 years old. By comparison, a total of 762 deaths with (not caused by) Covid19 are currently reported in Switzerland.
The managing director of a German environmental laboratory suspects that the inhabitants of the northern Italian region of Lombardy are particularly susceptible to viral infections such as Covid19 due to a notoriously high legionella contamination: „If the lungs are weakened by a viral infection, as in the current situation, bacteria have an easy job, can negatively influence the course of the disease and cause complications.“ In Lombardy, regional pneumonia outbreaks had already occurred in the past due to evaporation cooling systems contaminated with legionella.
On the basis of information from China, medical protocols have been defined worldwide that rapidly provide invasive artificial respiration by intubation for test-positive intensive care patients. On the one hand, the protocols assume that a more gentle non-invasive ventilation through a mask is too weak, on the other hand there is the fear that the „dangerous virus“ could otherwise spread through aerosols. As early as March, however, German physicians pointed out that intubation can lead to additional lung damage and has an overall poor chance of success. In the meantime, US physicians have also come forward who describe intubation as „more harm than good“ for patients. Patients often do not suffer from acute lung failure, but rather from a kind of altitude sickness, which is made worse by artificial respiration with increased pressure. In February, South Korean physicians reported that critical Covid19 patients respond well to oxygen therapy without a ventilator. The US physician mentioned above warns that the use of ventilators must be urgently reconsidered in order not to cause additional damage.
The official US Covid19 projections so far have overestimated hospitalisations by a factor of 8, ICU beds needed by a factor of 6.4, and ventilators needed by a factor of 40.5.
Hi David: re intubation
Now I know why China sent 1,000 ventilators to USA
Yes, then there’s the Detail and Facts. A population of chronically (lung) damaged and otherwise compromised patients will be the natural prey of any fast-invading pathogen. Even the effects of 5G (acts upon the oxygen molecule’s bio-availability) become significant, for them. Enough to have the finger pointed at it, not appreciating there are more fingers on the hand…
Lombardy and Wuhan share long-term,extreme and constant air pollution and with NYCity, joins the party with similar intensive 5G rollout. Plus their superbly healthy diet….!
It would be tragic & embarrassing if its later proved the drug ( choice & lack of ?) therapies and ventilator use protocols caused significant mortality.
Janet,
Do you have a link to a reliable report that shows that 5G interacts with the body in any way other than to warm it slightly?
For years there were reports that the 50 Hz radiation from power lines caused leukaemia in children, then there have been a variety of scares regarding the existing frequencies for mobile phones. It all came to nothing. The energy in a photon of 5G radiation is still way too low to break molecular bonds, and a higher frequency radiation – infra red – simply supplies harmless warmth.
Malcolm says that he separates medical claims into the unlikely and the likely (I think he has a third category too) , so following his advice, I’d want to see some pretty good evidence to start blaming 5G in order to treat these claims as likely.
‘5G’ started life in the US military as an “active denial” weapon:
So, harmless?
David, try this https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30221-3/fulltext
Barovsky,
Thanks for replying to my comment. However, really I don’t agree because the power levels needed to cook food are obviously far higher than those planned in 5G. If you stood adjacent to a high power radio mast, I imagine it could seriously harm you, yet radio waves pass through us all the time.
I don’t understand what you mean by 5G radiation acting upon oxygen molecules to reduce the bio-availablity? Is molecular oxygen actually changed by exposure to 5G – has anyone really proved such an effect? The only way molecular oxygen could be changed would be to make another molecule such as ozone. The problem is that photons in a 5G signal aren’t anywhere near powerful to effect a chemical change.
I don’t quite understand why society needs 5G, but I don’t lose a second of sleep worrying about it.
Interesting article on effect of hypertension medicines on COVID19
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/blood-pressure-meds-point-the-way-to-possible-covid-19-treatment-67371#.Xo4IqyvioU4.facebook
Dr K. Thank you once again for an excellent informative article. The thing we all want to know is how to successfully treat this virus. There have been reports of success with Chloriquine in the alternative media, but virtually nothing in the mainstream. I’d like to know, for example, whether Boris Johnson has been given the Chloriquine cocktail of drugs and what was the result. How many others are receiving this treatment? Success rates? Our governments and media seem to be deliberately hiding the good news stories from us. Can you give us an update on successful treatments?
Chloroquine is being used very successfully in Israel since the outbreak started. Result: very low death rates. Coincidence? And now Avigan (not sure of spelling) is coming from Japan. It has not undergone trials so the UK health services will probably reject it. Watch this space.
In China intravenous high dose vitamin c is being used very successfully (see Dr. Richard Cheng). Apart from that, supporting the immune system by keeping the body alkalised, zinc (chloroquine delivers zinc directly into the cells where it combats the virus), magnesium, quercetin, vapourised propolis, and lots of other herbal remedies. Spraying your mouth, face, throat, eyes and nose with HOCL (hypochlorus) is highly effective at eradicating any Covid-19 that may be there, incubating in the throat for 5 days before going into the lungs. HOCL is used in A&E departments on a regular basis so is widely available.
Regarding Boris Johnson. I hate to point out that the UK security services have a long record of being a law unto themselves. I would hate to be in the position of Boris Johnson – he proposed herd immunity at the start. They also hate him for Brexit. Look what they are doing to Assange for telling us the truth. I think, that like 9/11, this particular rabbit hole is a very deep one. 😦
Boris needs to die, as an example to the rest of us.
(Am I really that paranoid?)
Actually I was way wrong. Boris needed to get ill so he could be SAVED by the glorious NHS. Yes the same NHS he was all for selling to the Yanks and Richard Branson.
I don’t have the exact number but let’s assume that 1 in 10,000 citizens in the UK has been hospitalised for this virus.
Do you really think that Boris Johnson was that “unlucky”?
Have checked the background of this showman? His fondness of practical jokes?
I suspect he promised a knighthood to his consultant and told him that it was in the “national interest”
BTW, there are plenty of 3rd rate celebrities in the USA and elsewhere who are playing the same silly games.
Here is a short video from ICU Doctor Kyle-Sidell in New York City questioning whether he is actually seeing viral pneumonia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EWQPgF6-UQ The majority of cases in Australia came from overseas airline passengers and cruise ship passengers which then got spread to the community.
What is the current thinking re annual flu vaccination being possibly implicated in elderly people’s experience with COVID-19?
For instance, it appears flu vaccination of elderly people is common in the UK, US and Australia, and also Italy, China and elsewhere.
Consider for example this paper about flu vaccination for the elderly in Italy dated June 2019:
Click to access 1669648958.pdf
And this article dated 30 October 2019 says: China urges flu vaccination for high-risk groups:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/30/c_138515714.htm
Also wondering if the use of proton pump inhibitors could be implicated, these have been associated with pneumonia, although some reviews have discounted this. Given the polypharmacy associated with many older people there are probably many leads to investigate.
Good points all (as usual)
What gets me is the amount of media attention given to 80+ year olds who have died from COVID when there are plenty of 80+ people dying of all kinds of nasty things all the time, which doesn’t make the news. By all accounts, the majority of the deaths in the older cohorts have co-morbidities so in most cases I guess COVID is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I agree with @Mike Smith – there is no exit strategy so when can the lockdown be relaxed? It would seem logical that the lockdown could only end if:
(a) there was a vaccine proven to prevent one getting COVID-19
(b) there were no new cases for at least 14 days (in areas where it’s easy to lock down movement across borders)
(c) the population develops herd immunity (assuming you can’t get COVID twice). One epidemiologist in Australia has said that would be once at least 60% of the population has been infected with COVID-19
I doubt any of the above will occur in the near term.
The lockdown will ensure that herd immunity is delayed. When the weather warms up, it will go away only to return in the Autumn – because of the lack of herd immunity. The imbecility of the current approach is staggering. Virus experts and epidemiologists are being ignored in favour of the politically desirable.
“Perspectives on the Pandemic | Professor Knut Wittkowski | Episode 2”
Here is another report from the off-guardian illustrating just how lax the reporting system for a COVID-19 death actually is – lax in the sense of blaming anything on COVID-19. It is frightening to read, and I assume every doctor has been given these guidelines – so if this is a lie, it is easy to check. Why on earth is this going on?
I have a hypothesis that CoViD19 was present in one form or another here in the U.K. last autumn. I am a nurse practitioner and October/November I saw a lot of patients with what I put down to a viral URTI with post nasal drip. They presented with low grade pyrexia ( above 37.5 but below 38.0 scoring 0 on NEWS2) with a persistent cough lasting several weeks, which appeared to be worse on lying down and non productive.
It also appeared to affect those with co-morbidities more than those who were otherwise healthy. The timing also coincided with the start of the university year.
Hi, John,
You are not the only one to observe things like this. Lots of stories about “unusual flu symptoms” in late 2019. Speculation that many people might have contracted COVID long before the Chinese recognized and reported it.
There is speculation this occurred in California, most populous state in the USA (more than 39,000,000). California has been spared the effects of COVID compared to NYC and Neward, NJ, with fewer total cases and far fewer fatalities, despite lots of Asian tourism. Obviously, there could be many reasons for this, but earlier exposure and some acquired population-wide immunity is possibly involved.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-california-herd-immunity/
I can’t recall where, but I have also seen speculation the very serious cases might be an “immune system rebound” which takes place after the patient’s flu-like symptoms seem to improve.
Lots of speculation and anecdote. Eventually, anecdote swells to a critical mass and becomes accepted as “data”. Then policies begin to change, and the “experts” declare, “We thought so all along”.
Dear Dr Kendrick I see your predicament and accept your conclusions that the NHS as a whole should manage it’s resources and apportion them where possible so that all patients get a fair deal when prioritisation takes place in emergencies. We have a worldwide emergency and there are no safe havens where patients could receive the assistance you recommend without the risk of infection so whether you like it or not the NHS is acting the only way it can. I hope you will forgive my observation of a failure in the UK where in addition to hospitals which can properly diagnose and treat patients after blood tests, X-rays and scans etc we have general practitioners outside hospital who are unable to process an immediate blood test, x-ray or scan and if they suspect a serious problem may then refer the patient to a specialist which takes time during which the patient either gets better or sadly dies. The problems which you say are happening because of too much attention being given to reducing virus infections already existed prior to this emergency and these frustrations are much greater for patients than for general practitioners. The UK would have a better NHS if all doctors worked in hospitals and treatment could be provided for the urgent cases you mention immediately with all patients being seen by doctors who work as a team in designated specialist areas. Your days of frustration would be over as you could either prescribe medication, send the patient for an X-ray, obtain an immediate blood test or if you wanted a second opinion ask the patient to see a colleague with greater experience along the corridor. There are such hospitals (not in the UK) where patients may have to wait a few hours but do get seen diagnosed and treated the same day and general practitioners play no part in the system, there are just doctors all working in specialist teams in a hospital which is the only logical place for all doctors to work. General practitioners may be frustrated as you describe but the NHS needs to absorb its all its doctors into hospitals to fix the overall problem. Build more hospitals and more specialist clinics, yes definitely. I am reminded of another old joke where the GP manages to get a plumber to come out to fix his toilet on a bank holiday and after asking the doctor for some aspirins drops two into the loo and says “ that should do the trick call me in three days if it doesn’t get any better.”
>>
We are in between three hospitals, all about 20 miles away. I can walk to the GP. Next question . . . actually I don’t know if this is already being imposed, my doctor left followed shortly by all but two of the others. In an area with a lot of old folks this is a disaster..
Cancer patients in Italy certainly running into issues:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/life-hanging-by-a-thread-for-italian-cancer-patients-in-coronavirus-crisis
I have seen similar reports for Germany, even to the point that some departments in hospitals and other health care providers had to send employees into short work (paid furlough) because either patients were staying away because of fear of contagion or departments had been closed down and elective procedures cancelled to make room for CV.
This is the database that hospitals in Germany can use to voluntarily report their capacity broken down by low-care ICU, high-care ICU and ECMO. They also report the current number of cases, I suspect in ICU, not in the rest of the hospital.
https://www.intensivregister.de/#/intensivregister
So far it looks as if the forecasted hurricane didn’t arrive.
I wonder if there was a great number of cancelled procedures that were not really necessary going on before this crisis or whether they have really cut down on necessary procedures this much.
I don’t think the hospitals or physicians performing those planned operations see them as unnecessary. They look at them as very much necessary. In the US, at least, lots and lots of planned procedures have been postponed. If we were to go by previous analyses listed in “Doctoring Data”, these cancellations might result in improved mortality figures down the line. Funny how that works…
I would like to know what virologist Stefan Lanka thinks about this.
Thank you
I thought this a good video by commentator Tucker Carlson. He says similar as mentioned in Dr. Kendrick’s article in that focusing largely upon the virus to the neglect of other issues is causing harm for the population.
Tucker Carlson was the one that let a lawyer peddle nonsense about the 100% cure rate on his show, which was later picked up by DT, so take with a lump of rock salt.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/hydroxychloroquine-trump-coronavirus-drug
Eric – How can you rely for your information on an article in the Guardian, written by a journalist? The paper obviously has an agenda and is peddling its own version of the truth. Just take a look at death rates from Covid-19 in Israel. They’ve very low in relation to the number infected. Why? The use of Hydroxychloroquine. It works and people get better. That’s good enough for me.
However, there are reports from doctors as far afield as Marseille and New York reporting success with hydroxychloroquine, so maybe some people respond well to this treatment.
By reading several articles in French, American, British and German publications and having a quick look at his paper. Even considering that most of the French medical establishment probably have an axe to grind, it is clear that his study was shoddy and maybe intentionally misleading.
And I have yet to see convincing data that chloroquine is beneficial. How about zinc glutamate or zinc acetate lozones in the mean time? It is less controversial that they may help several cold virusses.
@ Tina: At some point either healing sets in or things take a turn for the worse. One is always going to attribute the healing to the intervention without double blinding.
You will be nursing a typical cold for 7 days, but only a week with medication 🙂
This is a major problem as you say. So many resources are being used on tackling one virus-strain the rest of medical needs are being neglected. I am convinced there is a political global plan behind what is happening. I have touched on it in my latest blog-post.
I am convinced that a super-elite is trying to bring an overpopulated world to a state of poverty and malnutrition and weakened immune systems will lead to the spread of deadly viruses and diseases bringing back long forgotten crippling problems like rickets, at least in this country. I realise this puts me in a category whereby the brainwashed majority can point the finger and label me a conspiracy theorist or some equally innocuous but pithy meme. I don’t care. We have to rise above this name-calling for the sake of humanity.
Following conspiracy theories are on the go – take your pick.
1. Bilderberg organisation is behind it, when they reach the magic death numbers a vaccine will suddenly appear. (people in Asia have been eating exotic animals for 1,000+ yrs)
2. caused by 5G – cells weakened by radiation
3. caused by China trying to bring down Western economies,
4. caused by international network of paedophiles who have been outed by Jeffrey Epstein case & are drawing attention away from their predicament,
5. in India they are blaming a Muslim covert operation
Any body want to have a go ? Am sure there’s more.
If I had to pick one, I would go for 3. My own view…cock-up, attempted cover up in China, too late to stop it spreading to the rest of the world. I wouldn’t fall off my chair with surprise if it turned out to be a biological agent that got out by mistake. The last ever fatal case of smallpox occurred when the virus escaped from a lab in, Nottingham, I think it was. Difficult to be completely safe with things that you cannot see, smell, or otherwise easily detect.
There’s a whole book on this subject. It’s about the biological weapons lab on Three Miles Island off the coast of Long Island. And how viruses get out from there from time to time.
I forget the title but it’s interesting what the big powers develop under the radar. Interesting and disturbing at the same time.
That’s a pretty good list… I wonder which one is true?
One that is missing from the list is it is CIA THING to hobble China but it has gone wrong.
Of course also the EU
Yes, I heard that one. Not very convincing but who knows?
The book I referred to earlier ,”Lab 257″, about the bio weapons lab starts off with the historical documents of what gave start to the lab. Apparently, it was a plan by the US to kill off Soviet cattle and starve the population to submission in a possible upcoming war with the Soviet Union after the Nazi defeat.
Hi Jerome, looked up “Bilderberg organization” and came up with:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-true-story-of-the-bilderberg-group-and-what-they-may-be-planning-now/13808
Economic destruction for the “public good” by mass unemployment could be on their agenda.
Some of you are familiar with Dr Deborah Birx’s statement on “missing Chinese data”.
I don’t think it’s “China trying to bring down Western economies” as much as something SARS-like (but natural) that got way out of control.
If it were determined SARS-Cov-2 was part of a Chines bio-warfare project, I think the world’s response would largely bring down China’s economy. They would become a rogue nation for a long time.
Just my Wild Guess.
Andy. Sorry but I wont believe that until Hollywood makes a film – “Busting Bilderberg” starring Tom Cruise.
Jerome: if Hollywood is controlled by Bilderberg they will not produce the movie. Perhaps an independent producer might, but without Tom Cruise. There will be lots of material for movies from this disaster.
Scare the population into accepting mandatory vaccinations?
Apparantly Wuhans’ lab had a similar “incident’ a couple of years ago, Universal manifestation of – “Never under-estimate human stupidity”
Got to say, that assuming China didn’t deliberately do this, they have been charecteristically brilliant in their PR responses, such as DONATING ventilators to NYC hospitals, and graciously ramping up (?) production of PPE.
They’re contributing to the media’s focus on masks/gowns/ventilators, to the detriment of
Mechanism of Damage in the lungs and the surprising evidence, of all things, ‘Hypoxic damage’ That’s like finding evidence of altitude sickness…. in Holland, or Heat-Exhaustion evidence in Antarctica. The last things expected there, thus the last considered.
They’e coming out smelling of Roses.
If you permit adding and combining, I suggest (shadowy….) International Bankers in cahoots with #1 as a running – mate, against #3
BBC report on 1978 SmPox leak.
“Prof Henry Bedson headed the smallpox laboratory at Birmingham Medical School – where Mrs Parker (smallpox victim) worked – one of only a handful commissioned by the WHO to research the disease. “He was horrified, because there was little doubt that in some way the smallpox virus had escaped from his laboratory and had infected Mrs Parker.””
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-birmingham-45101091
Bill Gates who wants to force mandatory Vaccination on every human being. Sadly this is no conspiracy tho. Listening to him, we will need vaccines, to travel, to find work, etc.
Very very scary considering he is the second Largest donor to the W.H.O. behind USA.
He basically dictates the vaccines mandate throughout the world or at least try to.
Someone should take his hand, and make him meet the families of have children injured from vaccines. He might change his stupid, dangerous rhetoric on vaccines.
Gaetan, gates wouldn’t change his mind, he would blame the genome of the victim.
There is one story that was doing the rounds on the web at the start of the outbreak in Wuhan. I don’t believe it for one minute, but its combination of human poverty, greed and sheer stupidity rings many bells.
A technician at the virology laboratory in Wuhan, is supposed to have sold used experimental animals in the local food market, (which was only a few blocks away), rather than kill and incinerate them. He could not stand them going to waste!
That is so not true. But it is also so very believeable. I have been told that there are not, and never have been bats on sale in that market, which were the supposed source, at an earlier point.
Reminds me of the workers who found a dead pig in the garbage of a hospital laboratory near here. They ate it and promptly fell asleep for two days. It had been experimented on then euthanased with a massive dose of anaesthetic.
Martin Back: You live in a very interesting place! First, people are falling off ladders all the time, then they start eating anesthetized pigs!
Gary, I think it might be the other way round. They ate the pigs, then fell off the ladder.
AhNotepad: Then slept like Rip Van Winkle!
Really? Wouldn’t the heat destroy the drug? I am curious if anyone with the knowledge of pharmacology could comment…
When I see these types of conjectures, I struggle to understand the motive. So the goal of the “super-elites” is to destroy the economies that allowed them to accumulate their wealth and, in effect, destroy demand for their products and undermine the value of their own assets, so they can be poorer?
Same with number 3 below. At this point, the Chinese are completely dependent on a thriving global economy, so taking down Western economies would destroy their own.
Some industries are making huge profits from this story.
I agree Chris. I was attempting to illustrate the proliferation of theories out there. They used to say that newspapers refused nothing. Well its certainly true for the internet.
Personally I think its aliens wot dunnit !
Jerome Savage and Chris: Another perspective on this question: There is apparently something of a brushfire war going on between two more or less distinct sets of oligarchs. 1. The regular capitalists (of whom Trump is one), who wish the draconian measures to end as soon as possible to protect and increase their bank accounts, and 2. The pharma oligarchs, who have wet dreams about all 7+ billion of the humans on Earth becoming regular, dependent customers (Gates is a bit of both, but leans to the pharma side, and is up to his eyeballs in promoting its, and thus his, economic interests.)
I would doubt that anyone, anywhere, is clever enough to work out a ‘grand plan’ to get away with such an audacious crime, and of course not risk hurt themselves to boot. No one is ever going to get an RNA vaccine up-and-running. It has never been done. My guess, as the good Doctor says… a pound to a penny its most likely a cock-up. I have seen such-like cock-ups far, far too often – albeit never on this scale.
I agree, but when a crisis occurs you can guarantee a lot of vested interests will attempt to profit from it, financially or politically.
“You never want to let a good crisis go to waste”.
Obama’s Chief of Staff
It seems to me like the plan is to turn the world into a set of interlocking police states. The virus was just the excuse.
Tina B, Local doctors in Australia have understood efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for some time now,
Pharmacists have sufficient proof that they’ve spearheaded the run on that drug…prescribing months supply at a time to the point legitimate users are facing shortages. They KNOW something the media isn’t telling… It works.
One only hopes they also understand the need for dietary zinc, or supplemental form if desperate, because it’s the Zinc that impedes the virus replication inside the cell… The supplement Quercetain also is a zinc cellular, attractant, stockpiling so it can do it’s magic.
Yet Trump is being viciously attacked for promoting hydrochloroquine by the deep state media.
I am sure that if COVID-19 was allowed to spread normally, this year would have been classified as no more than a bad cold and flu season.
Nothing different from the Corona virus variants that have been around for many hundreds of years and never caused anything close to a pandemic in recorded history, at least.
I don’t think so. Whilst I think the current actions are… very much knee-jerk, and likely to cause great harm in the medium to long-term, I am seeing this thing face to face. I have not encountered anything like it before. People are quite well, then they fall of the edge of a cliff. This is, of course, in the elderly population, many co-morbidities. It is, however, weird. Very little distress, then then oxygen level crash, still with little distress. They just go spaced out on you, then they die. A few of them had previously breathed all over me. Oh well, I should self isolate, but that would mean no doctor at all. So, face masks it is.
Dr. M. suppose epithelial cells in lungs react to this virus as would the epithelial cells of the intestines, the effect could be called diarrhea of the lungs. The alveoli would quickly fill with fluids and the patient would suffocate in the worst case scenario. Intubation would not stop the process. Not sure if there is a medical term for this.
Wow. I salute your bravery! Is this consistent with current UK guidelines for medical personel to continue working after suspected exposure?
And I feel really bad about asking this, but what does it say on the death certificates?
Malcolm, there is a video of a hospital doctor somewhere on this blog, making exactly this point – he described it as being as if the patient had suddenly been moved to the top of a mountain with no acclimatisation to the change in air pressure! If there isn’t much distress, doesn’t that mean the air can still flow into and out of the lungs?
Is the any plausible way the oxygen could be blocked from being taken up by the haemoglobin in the blood?
Interesting you should mention uptake of oxygen in the heme, as I read this article today:
View at Medium.com
Got this when I clicked on the link you provided:
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Take me to Medium
From what I’ve read and heard for some years about the dangers of 5G, it seems that the 5G frequencies are what cause this deadly falling off a cliff as you call it. I suppose that those who are immune compromised will be most quickly affected although eventually I can not see how we will not all be affected. The science behind it is very solid. I do also wonder about the effects of wi-fi radiation, writing as someone who is very sensitive to EMFs. Of course, there are those who will say that there inso such thing.
I heard a podcast about it. I think it was on Super Human Radio. Seemed pretty interesting
Sorry, can’t do with no Dr K. What are older folks gonna do if you are gone eh? Take special care fella. You are a beacon for many. You, and your pals, will be really needed once all this shit passes. Besides, I do have the upmost faith in the lot of you. I’ve never really said that before, but that’s also my take on many others pitching-in to your Blog. So, thank you!
👏👏👏👏👏👏 🌹🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦
Dr K. I can only hope that should you succumb, you would recover like Matt Hancock, back working after 7 days.
Of course, your not like Boris, cake for breakfast, daily litres of diet coke, bangers, mash and mustard, with red wine, numerous far flung offspring with consequent stresses and enough alcohol to cause you to spill on your couch.
The cliff:
Addressed and, hopefully, provided with a fix:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/07/828091467/why-some-covid-19-patients-crash-the-bodys-immune-system-might-be-to-blame
Sasha – to find out more you could go to David Icke’s website or Josh del Sol’s website for starters, or find them on You Tube.
I don’t know… David Icke’s insistence that prince Charles is a lizard freaks me out…
The article Frederica linked to but is now “under investigation” is on the wayback machine
Covid-19 had us all fooled, but now we might have finally found its secret
https://web.archive.org/web/20200405061401/https://medium.com/@agaiziunas/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb
The past 48 hours or so have seen a huge revelation: COVID-19 causes prolonged and progressive hypoxia (starving your body of oxygen) by binding to the heme groups in hemoglobin in your red blood cells. People are simply desaturating (losing o2 in their blood), and that’s what eventually leads to organ failures that kill them, not any form of ARDS or pneumonia. All the damage to the lungs you see in CT scans are from the release of oxidative iron from the hemes, this overwhelms the natural defenses against pulmonary oxidative stress and causes that nice, always-bilateral ground glass opacity in the lungs.
No wonder medium.com censored the article. Who likes to be made to look like a fool? I’m no biologist but the article makes total sense to me. But how to get the info to the right people?
More on the censored article: Way back, last month? in one of the first articles I read on treatments being used in China, I read that the treatments being used were:
1. Patients in negative pressure rooms with high levels of oxygen or, if that didn’t work,
2. Whole, highly oxygenated blood transfusions.
So whoever wrote this (censored) article, knows exactly what they’re talking about!
It seems the censored medium.com article is being trashed simply because of the Trump connection. What a shame. What do the boffins here, make of the author’s argument?
Here’s Bruce Aylward, Deputy Dir. of the WHO on Chinese treatments, published 6 March 2020
https://popularresistance.org/who-expert-explains-why-chinas-cases-of-covid-19-are-declining/
BRUCE AYLWARD
It says you’re probably not way off. The average case fatality rate is 3.8 percent in China, but a lot of that is driven by the early epidemic in Wuhan where numbers were higher. If you look outside of Hubei province [where Wuhan is], the case fatality rate is just under 1 percent now. I would not quote that as the number. That’s the mortality in China — and they find cases fast, get them isolated, in treatment, and supported early. Second thing they do is ventilate dozens in the average hospital; they use extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [removing blood from a person’s body and oxygenating their red blood cells] when ventilation doesn’t work. This is sophisticated health care. They have a survival rate for this disease I would not extrapolate to the rest of the world. What you’ve seen in Italy and Iran is that a lot of people are dying. (my emph. B)
Martin, thank you for the link, I didn’t read it when it first went up, but I can see this a very important document. I have saved it as a pdf, might be a good idea if others did too.
I too read it and at first sight, it reads as logical, even though I’m not a biologist, but then you get to the end and read this:
It undermines the rest of it, making me wonder what his objective really is?
barovsky: The Chinese Communist Party is a rigidly authoritarian, dangerous thug, but then many governments around the world practice thuggery on an ongoing basis, not least the U.S. and UK. But I agree with you that this statement, a political opinion rather than a scientific argument, coming at the end of the piece, was bizarrely inappropriate.
Scary! Have you seen enough cases to suggest what the difference might be between the patients who do this and those who are only mildly affected?
Stay well and hope Rory Collins hasn’t been poking holes in your facemask.
Dr Kendrick,
This account of your experience is really interesting and informative and puts into perspective how bad things can get. Clearly, these patients are the sickest of the sick. They are very, very unfortunate people.
Your description reminded Natasha’s comment on the first COVID-19 post. She said she worked for the NHS and thought COVID was far worse than flu and would have been spotted right away as a distinct disease. Her comment and yours helped change my mind that COVID “is no worse than the flu”.
Dr K.
This article has been linked elsewhere…
http://web.archive.org/web/20200405061401/https://medium.com/@agaiziunas/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb
The problem I have (other than the politics) is that there are no ref’s to back up any statements. I liked the narrative, but as someone with little (OK, no) medical background, it makes a lot of sense. I would just like it better if there was more independent confirmation of the underlying science.
Does anyone here have any corroborating (or anti-corroborating(?) ) info w.r.t. the article’s science?
Tom
Although this is advice in the US it is disturbing to say the least. The US has the largest number of coronavirus cases according to its own figures. Medical staff dealing with death records have had some recent new advice which suggests that even if COVID-19 is only suspected it should go down as a cause of death. That’s my reading of it.
Click to access Alert-2-New-ICD-code-introduced-for-COVID-19-deaths.pdf
It appears there could be secondary checks to establish if COVID-19 is the culprit. But they don’t want that.
“However, it is preferable and more straightforward for certifiers to use the standard terminology (COVID-19).”
A rather obvious ploy to do some book-keeping. Moving “restaurant expenses” to “Traveling expenses” does not change “Total expenses”
The only way to get useful and meaningful data is to look at the total deaths from influenza and pneumonia.
John, that could be THE document I heard about.. but seemed to have ‘vanished’. I reckonn you’re correct. ANY possible exposure will result in a recorded, Official, CONFIRMED Cov-19 Caused demise, – Despite the defective parachute…
I also caught a whiff of something similar being recently introduced in Germany, previously low death rate BY Cov-19. Now, autopsies are Verbotten, so the notional “Cov-19” becomes the official, unchallenged DC narrative. I don’t like the ramifications and possible back-story, as it points more towards a powerful, high level plot.
Again, Cui Bono ???
These are the sorts of things that turn me into a conspiracy theorist.
I’m reminded about how the agenda or underlying structure informs behaviour.
When the whole agenda relates to Government’s decision about, in this case Covid-19. One could imagine all sorts of data which supports the decision is pushed and promoted to prove a point.
So, people die with Covid-19 and not because of it. Data models are rolled out which may be flawed. Feedback loops are not easy to analyse and resource allocation is misunderstood with huge detriments. Schools are closed, people lose their jobs, businesses fail etc.
Meanwhile, all our liberties are swiped away for our own good.
Even though I understand how errors in thinking creep in and even though I understand that humans don’t like to be seen to make errors, what to do about it?
These errors in thinking occur everywhere and at all times. Where it gets really tricky is when a person or people in key positions and in key institutions make errors that affect lots of people, communities and countries.
When I make a poor decision it might affect a few people. When our masters make poor decisions, we end up paying for them in more ways than one!
“the decision is pushed and promoted to prove a point.”
Correct. That is how lawyers are trained to think. They start with a desired outcome and exclude anything that contradicts it. Real scientists start with the data and work towards a hypothesis that fits the data. Obviously, governments and parliaments are full of lawyers and few if any doctors, engineers and scientists.
Here in South Africa we are not only in lockdown, but alcohol sales are banned as well. I just heard a hospital spokesman say trauma admittances are usually 60% alcohol-fuelled personal violence, 30% car crashes (many of them alcohol-related), and the balance sports injuries, falling off ladders etc.
He is seeing a drastic reduction in the number of cases. Can the lives and trauma saved be added to the positive side of the COVID-19 account?
Maybe they closed alcohol sales because they knew that people in quarantine would go nuts with alcohol consumption.
Sasha, good guess. Yes, it was to prevent anticipated domestic violence.
Even though for many alcohol is a great way to de-stress… Maybe now, deprived of alcohol, all these people will take up meditation.
NO, because it won’t fit the political narrative, but YES, however the ‘Media’ are unlikely to risk a Running Balance, like a trading bank account… They’d have no control of the facts…. too difficult to spin. We need more mortality charts like the one Dr K alluded to up the page.
I can attest the ED in our local large Aussie suburban hospital is all but empty, usually 20 to 35 in the waiting room alone, and non-urgent such as NOT cardiac or bleeders, can expect a 2 to 4 hour wait.
Last week, NO-ONE in the waiting, only 20% ED beds occupied, staff gossiping and falling over each other. Never seen that before. When several doctors *compete* for the privelege of attending…. iPPE will be safe for a long time…
Booze sales are also restricted in Australia.. should ameliorate domestic violence and the usual Saturday night gluttony…. Cops love it.
Weed sales are probably going up.
Given the over generous criteria for blaming a death on COVID-19, and the lack of autopsies on the victims, is it conceivable that there is a second bug circulating. COVID-19 would produce the usual mild symptoms in younger people, and the other bug would be an unrecognised killer? For as long as people can put the blame on COVID-19, I guess few will look elsewhere.
David Bailey,
Co-infectants. That’s a very interesting thought. And no reason there couldn’t be more than one.
Completely speculative, though. Very difficult to know for sure and prove.
When the stories about this epidemic are written in a few years, your thought might appear somewhere therein. And likely be written off as nonsense conspiracy talk.
For anyone with an interest, this information on oxygen use in adults in healthcare and emergency settings is surprisingly readable.
https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/document-library/guidelines/emergency-oxygen/bts-guideline-for-oxygen-use-in-adults-in-healthcare-and-emergency-settings/
“This evidence points to the pangolin as the most likely intermediate host for the new coronavirus, but additional intermediate hosts could be possible, the researchers say.” But the anteater does not fit exactly either. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200326144342.htm “They ended up discovering protein sequences in sick pangolins’ lungs that were a 91% match to SARS-CoV-2’s proteins.” https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/scientists-may-have-found-the-missing-coronavirus-link-between-bats-and-humans Maybe a lab as some labs alter viruses when experimenting with them.
Thought this an encouraging article. It appears in New York ICU admissions are down for 3 straight days. “And daily intubations are down two straight days, from over 300 to 69.”
New York recently began using new treatments against the Wuhan virus. If the numbers are right, the treatments appear to be working.
https://www.billionairesportfolio.com/archives/6900
Soul, and what IS this new treatment ?
hydroxychloroquine ? hydroxychloroquine and zinc? hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic?
Or IV Vitamin C ? the latter used in China in the City of Shanghai as a mandated treatment .
Janet Love – Yes, I know the malaria drugs and antibiotic are being trialed in New York. As hot of a topic that has become politically, that has been discussed quite a bit in the media. I saw a little bit the other day with President Trump mentioning that he had been talking directly with the physician in charge of the New York studies. Results were looking good the President mentioned. It’s a vague mention and no data yet provided. With that said, that same day I believe the New York governor lifted his ban on allowing doctors to prescribe the malaria drugs. Now doctors in New York can prescribe the malaria drugs for patients with COVID. Additionally a medical association for respiration diseases began recommending the malaria drugs for the Wuhan virus. I don’t recall the other medical tests being tried, but if I recall correctly there are 3 others. Hopefully more will be reported in the near future about these trials. The medical community and the press have been stingy on providing much information on results seen.
Interesting article today posted on The Truth Barrier, which includes part of an interview Celia Farber conducted with Kary Mullis (the inventor of PCR). PCR is a manufacturing technique, not a diagnostic test, yet it seems it is being used around the world to diagnose cases of Covid-19. It is not a binary test. Whether a given sample is positive or negative is determined by the number of cycles it takes to detect the targeted bit of RNA. Establishing the cutoff number (of cycles) is entirely arbitrary. This is how it is possible for a person, after multiple tests, can go from positive to negative to positive, or vice versa. Not what you would call science. That said, there is clearly a novel condition which leads to serious oxygen deprivation and can lead to rapid death. Dr. Kendrick and many others on the front lines have testified to that. I suspect that novel conditions appear from time to time (an outbreak of what was then called paralytic poliomyelitis, and is now called acute flaccid paralysis, appeared for the first time in 1893, shortly after the introduction of arsenical pesticides). Time will tell whether the overall death rate is much different than normal. My hunch is that it won’t be much different.
Officially reported on French media: 50% less myocardial infarctions (understand acute coronary syndromes) and strokes. Where are they ?
Where did they go?
No-one knows whether there were less cases or they stayed home . All myocardial infarctions (MI) don’t die ! Thanks to statins (I’m kidding)
But you can survive an MI stay hoe and no one knows until you get an ECG (we see patients with old MI signs on their ECG who never knowingly had one.
Others will developp heart failure later. Or rythm disturbances ± heart arrest.
For brain stroke, that is different, hard to imagine they stay home with an aphasia or hemiplegy.
They died with covid.
Can you face up to this?
There’s nothing like fighting for your life in a hot war to appreciate the value of hard facts and honesty.
These two guys have been there and apply their perspective to COVID-19.
This really is war:
Misinformation. Logical assumptions, but wrong. Lack of preparedness. No reserve. Profiteering. Building desperation.
. . . Inappropriate leadership.
That’s how to lose.
https://samharris.org/podcasts/195-social-cohesion-everything/
Face the reality of this situation. A lesson hard to learn.
In a war you have to identify thee enemy, and understand it. This is not a “war”. This is a predominantly a male construct which is inappropriate. The perceived enemy is accused of causing untold numbers of deaths, where the title of the blog gives a hint that we don’t know.
“With, Of or Because of………..”
AhNotepad,
Listen to it. One hour and eight minutes. (Something more pressing to do??)
Then comment in detail, if you still care to by then.
Sasha: Lots of Artemisia species, most of them called wormwood. According to (L. H.) Bailey, A. vulgaris is Mugwort, native to Europe and Asia. A close relative, A. lactiflora is White Mugwort and native to China. Lots of others, including the wonderful herb Tarragon, and that symbol of Western North America, Sage-brush. And A. Absinthium, common wormwood, which I suspect may be the bitter taste in Absinthe, though I’ve never tried it. Also Russian wormwood, A. sacrorum, and Roman wormwood, A. pontica. Altogether he lists fifteen cultivated species. Important herbs worldwide!
Gary: yes, I was attempting to answer Andy’s question about wormwood with my very limited knowledge of herbs. All these different species will probably have a slightly different taste and would most likely “enter” different meridians according to the TCM classification. If Andy was to consult a TCM herbalist, the practitioner would most likely be familiar with the actions of Arthemisia listed in Chinese Materia Medica (which is at least 1200 years old, if I’m not mistaken).
My general point was – not to just start drinking wormwood tea. It may create problems down the road because wormwood is a very strong herb.
Sasha: Right you are. Good advice. I know nothing about the medicinal uses of Artemisia nor much about uses of herbs outside of the culinary. I do know plant taxonomy and find it interesting. I have in the garden only wild zatar oregano, Greek oregano, wild marjoram, lemon balm, rosemary, three types of thyme, and a Grecian laurel. These are the only herbs I use, and I think some likely have medicinal value.
COVID-19 and Vitamin D: Could We Be Missing Something Simple?
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/covid-19-and-vitamin-d-could-we-be-missing-something-simple/?utm_source=salsa&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2fd38bdc-a9a8-4267-a4c9-78fb17599e7c
Elizabethart, I suggest YES,
Vitamin D supplementation is reccommended by all ends of the medical spectrum, from die-hard allopathics to hippie-healers. the latter preferring sunlight as the vector. – Difficult in many mid/Northern US States… Appears to be a synergist as much as an individual benefit. Bonus of sunlight-induced is perfect dose and form. 101% harmless, and the Sun has Cardiac benefits for us especially. Vit D has been accused of being a hormone is disguise, not ‘strictly’ a Vitamin
There’s also melatonin, the more the merrier. Depletes with age…
https://www.evolutamente.it/covid-19-pneumonia-inflammasomes-the-melatonin-connection/
Janet, re the pneumonia angle discussed in the article you linked to, as well as considering the possible impact of flu vaccination in the elderly and COVID-19, might also be useful to consider pneumococcal vaccines which are given to children, and adults around 65 years, could these be implicated?
Elizabeth: That was a great article. The more I read the more I too keep coming back to Vitamin D. Anyway, an idea? I play golf (sorry, very, very boring to some I know!), practically all the year round, and so I get very good levels of Vit D. (I have never, ever, used sun block creams – even when playing in Asia or in the Middle East). Now, most golfers in the UK are towards the older demographic, and also come from all walks of life, and so it would be interesting to find out how many (active) golfers have died of the virus? Furthermore, there are also many Ramblers in the UK who are also towards the critical age in respect of the virus, and they too should have been getting decent levels of Vit D. I have a friend who is a Director of England Golf, and so I will pass along this possible survey idea with him. It should be easy to get members numbers from Golf Club Secretary’s, and from the Ramblers Association pretty quickly. Who knows eh? It might be a waste of time, but we have a lot of time on our hands at the moment!
Hi Shaun, I’m a regular golfer too, and also a bushwalker/rambler. So I’m outside a lot, but always well covered up, hat etc, because of my Celtic background and very fair skin…I’d be like a lobster under the Australian sun without sunscreen and covering up. But I’m also very prone to respiratory illnesses. So I’ve been wondering in recent times if I should bear the arms for a few minutes a day and get some natural vitamin D, definitely leaning that way… Was also over-prescribed proton pump inhibitors for years (six years) after being put on them after being diagnosed with mild oesophagitis. Despite asking the specialist and doctors repeatedly if it was ok to be on them for a long period, they kept prescribing. I suspect many people are left on these for years, particularly the older generation…could this also be impacting on respiratory illnesses? It was only due to my researching other medical products (vaccines) that I came across the research indicating people shouldn’t be on PPIs for long periods, and I weaned myself off them.
To my horror I recently read that supplementing with vit D is considered Fake news according to the Dutch government. This in direct contrast to the advice on vit D of the Dutch Board of Health. What a mess. Fake news is real news and vice versa. I think I’m going to lay down now, I feel a headache coming on.
Thank you very much for writing.
Good information is good for health.
Found a paper that explains why patients seem to fall of a clif as the doc puts it.
https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173
And another one, a theory of what is actually happening in the patient with sars cov19 and how to treat it. http://web.archive.org/web/20200405061401/https://medium.com/@agaiziunas/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb
Are we seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?
Sense versus Sensibility
Whilst I feel sympathy for the NHS workers who are involved in all this, I could never clap the NHS as an institution. I do not congratulate it. Its dietary guidelines and some of its drug policies have obviously contributed to a lot of the co-morbidities that are now, as always, making people vulnerable. Then add the promoted stress to it all and what have we? I wish sense would triumph over all this sensibility.
Not much chance of that Tish, this is global terrorism, not science.
In the meantime, how are the seasonal flu deaths looking this year? I suspect they are way down, with most deaths therefrom being counted as CV deaths.
Also, this is an interesting read, though how accurate I have no idea.
https://archive.is/mEjnX
Sue Smith: Thank you for that. Fascinating read.
Yes. It does sound significant that, unlike with pneumonia, the damage to the lungs is said to be always bilateral.
And now, a gentle diversion into background information. Bet you didn’t know all of this !
James DownUnder: Thank you for posting that link. Read Kary Mullis’ own words, folks. He must be rolling in his grave at the use of PCR as not only a, but the diagnostic tool for Covid-19, as he was so critical of it’s use in HIV testing. Those wedded to the HIV/AIDS hypothesis won’t be happy, but so be it.
James, no, I didn’t know all of it, though I did know Gallo was/is an asshole.
From the link:
”The number of “cases” is often a very big number, back-lit in red. Today for example, the number of “total cases,” in the US, according to Worldometer, is 309,728. The total death figure is 8,441. “Active cases,” is 286,546, of which 8,206 are “Serious, Critical.” The number of “new deaths” is 1,037, and the number of “total recovered” is 14,741.
I’m not clear what an “active” case is. Does that mean fully symptomatic? Partially symptomatic? If the latter, it surely encompasses influenza/pneumonia, which has magically, as many have observed, dropped off a cliff for 2020.
In China, generally, they diagnose ‘Corona’ with CT scans and one or two positive PCR tests. In the US, it’s difficult to find out what makes a “case,” ie what the case definition is. Absent CT scans, we are in a bio-tech free-fall. One website offers this distressingly unclear definition: “The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has been spreading worldwide, resulting in growing numbers of infected individuals since late 2019 and increased mortality numbers since early 2020. So far, experts have seen that while there are severe cases, the infection is usually mild with non-specific symptoms. And there are no trademark clinical features of COVID-19 infection.”
<b.There are no trademark clinical features? What then, collapsed the world? I sure hope this isn’t all riding on a “test,” as bio-tech Oracle.“
Possible off label use of erythromycin to inhibit COVID-19 growth. (just the first 20 minutes).
https://roguehealthandfitness.com/interview-with-dr-michael-lisanti/
Philip Thackray
Renfrew, PA USA
Interesting. Obviously, people are not dying in droves of heart attacks and strokes outside of hospitals. So maybe a certain percentage did not really require treatment previously, and somehow patients are getting the decision right by themselves now? Doesn’t sound likely, either.
I think the medical statistics for 2020 will prove to be very strange things indeed. Man working for NHS, without any symptoms, gets positive swab for COVID, walks out of the clinic and is run over by a bus. Cause of death. COVID.
I hope in that case the bus would be causal. The poor guy wouldn’t even have had his result by then, so no reason to be distraught and walk into the street 🙂
But very seriously, are those heart attacks not occurring?
Maybe heart attacks are just an appeal for attention? And with noone to care or getting care being fraught with (perceived) danges, they just don’t happen. Doesn’t sound likely either!
Hi Eric: re mystery of missing heart attacks
Hypothesis: fever induced by the virus has beneficial effect on heart
Sauna studies have shown beneficial effect.
Might be a temporary phenomena in case of fever.
Or, more likely:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/elliebufkin/2020/04/08/decline-in-heart-attack-and-stroke-patients-alarms-doctors-n2566557
Absolutely! Isn’t this what Malcolm said in his essay! People are not going to A&E or they’re being turned away as all the resources have been redirected to this novel flu. In any case, hospitals are dangerous for your health, especially ventilators.
A similar article from what Dr Kendrick has written about, this from Daniel Horowitz on events in the US.
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/horowitz-shutdown-not-coronavirus-causing-loss-medical-personnel/
Excerpt:
How many people will die because state governments are issuing erratic orders to suspend vital medical procedures?
Call it common core science being dictated by common core math of the erratic models and simulations from Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx. Most medical care is shut down in the country to deal with the flow of COVID-19 patients predicted by their models. Then when those models fail to materialize and hospitals are empty from the mythical surge, outside of a few hot spots, medical personnel are furloughed and we are left with the worst of both worlds.
We are told by our new dictators that destroying the entire country from head to toe was worth it in order to save lives of those afflicted with COVID-19, mainly in the New York City area. But what if, in addition to the destroyed jobs and economy and all the lives being lost as an indirect result of the virus, we are also directly destroying lives of other health care patients who cannot get care because of the overbroad and arbitrary shutdown?….
In the US, it won’t be like that, though. You can’t get a test with no symptoms. At least where I am.
Saw an article, too, saying that the deaths attributed to Covid-19 are actually lower than what is being reported, as deaths at home are not being counted.
Though, based on what has happened with the flu, it’s to “everyone’s” (other than the public’s) benefit to show higher deaths. So, I could easily see these deaths not really being clearly elucidated.
Hearing this third hand, anecdotal. A nurse in a Salford hospital is relaying the opposite, alleging that Instructions have been given to record C.of D. In accordance with the underlying pathology. And of course, this is now seen by some as a conspiracy to downplay the Pandemic.
Same here, doc. In Dutchland people are now asked by doctors and specialists to keep their appointments and visit their specialist in hospital. Hmmm, first they scare the living bejezus (medical term) out of their patients and now they want them to go to those highly overrun (not) hospitals where covid virus is rife alledgedly. Makes no sense.
Cancer cases have dropped in Dutchland by 30% lately, I wonder why. Just another weird statistic.
Btw I have a question for you dr Malcolm: apparently autopsies are not performed because the bodies of deceased covid19 patients are thought to be highly contagious. If covid19 is spread by coughing, sneezing and talking, how can a deceased person spread the virus?. As far as I am aware most corpses dont talk, sneeze or cough. Is there a reason as to why the deceased are thought to be able to spread the virus?
Frankly, we should be asking ourselves if there aren’t too many conspiracy theories here, too.
There sure are
If someone had told me a month or two ago what our governments were going to be doing now, I would have dismissed it as a conspiracy theory.
Yes! And they don’t help by continuing to lie.
“There are no shortages of PPE!” well many doctors and nurses would disagree.
“There are no food shortages!” tell that to my local supermarket which has less on the shelves every week. Strangely the butchers and veg shops are unaffected.
Yet the overall death rates don’t seem to be spiking. Strange that.
Then we have police chiefs claiming the right to inspect people’s shopping baskets for “non-essential” food. There’s a lot going on that we don’t know about.
COVID-19 does not result in the typical expected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Our Doc Malcolm is seeing something he hasn’t seem before.
So has this New York ER/ICU doctor.
Ever come up from your deep dive too quickly and get the bends? How about mountain climbing and altitude sickness?
It seems that COVID patients, though they’re feeling quite sick, do not have the desperation or confusion expected of someone whose oxygen saturation has plummeted to 50% or 40% or lower.
The trick might be to get them ventilated sooner, with less pressure and more oxygen.
Waiting to ventilate as a last resort using typical SARS protocol doesn’t work very well as it is.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928156#vp_1
It appears ventilators may be causing additional lung damage since patients do not have ARDS. The virus maybe causing hemoglobin to lose its iron. Patients need high oxygen and blood transfusions to provide blood cells capable of carrying oxygen.
http://web.archive.org/web/20200405061401/https://medium.com/@agaiziunas/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb
https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173
This video contains a report by John Pilger on the UK government’s careful attention given to the NHS.
However, he mentions the failure of mass testing is detrimental to dealing with the virus. This is contentious since the test is a PCR test which was never intended as a virus presence confirmation test.
My understanding is that the PCR test (for which the inventor got a Nobel), was actually a process for duplicating RNA in sufficient quantities so that it could be studied. And yes, it’s NOT a diagnostic tool, it’s actually a manufacturing process.
Yes, in preparing for it for a takeover by private US capital! which explains why the govt wrote off the ‘debt’ of 13 billion. How can it be it debt if it’s the government’s?
https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/cynical-13bn-write-off-prepares-nhs-for-more-privatisation/
NHS is still a separate legal entity funded almost entirely by the taxpayer (Government ). It therefore can carry debt. A write off needs to be budgeted for seperatlely by the same government. The annual NHS budget is seen as sufficient at the time of making. Writing off a debt is above and beyond the normal government budget process.
Hello Dr. Kendrick and all,
I just watched a video that is really a kicker. It is by a doctor with multiple degrees. He explains that the PCR test is very inaccurate and that it is not a test for the virus itself. I’d really like to share it and see what others make of it. What worries me – and I have not been worried about this – is that if there are so many false positives with this test, then maybe those people who are getting very sick have something with a higher lethality than I had thought.
Anna,
Did you post the wrong video there – it is just a pop video?
A thought provoking blog post. Thank you.
On the matter of hospitals being cleared out of non-emergency procedures, with hindsight would it have been better to completely clear a number of hospitals and dedicate them to treating covid-19 so specialist procedures and treatments could continue in other hospitals?
WHO is not impressed with TCM
https://slate.com/technology/2013/04/wormwood-tea-to-treat-malaria-the-who-is-opposed-to-an-effective-preventive-medicine.html
“It’s hard to see what the risk to individual patients is, since many Ugandans are already using other, unproven herbs from their backyards, and the Artemisia programs have been in place for years. The tea has become widespread enough that last year the WHO published a statement opposing it for either treatment or prevention of malaria, and an online survey of malaria experts found that 72 percent were opposed to its use in prevention. Their view is that low-dose, persistent use could breed resistance, which would be disastrous. “
That’s because “drinking wormwood tea to treat malaria” isn’t TCM
Oh my, I don’t know how I did that! But enjoy, it’s funny. Here’s the real video:
Anyone got a link on the false positives the PCR test might throw?
A video about it is right above your querry.
this doc is a maverick like you … interesting
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928156?fbclid=IwAR2qZGCZTaG8_GBIwaQiSPVCZFsuJvQnu_SxIr4EgezDwAeRWncumlq2Uts#vp_2
[https://img.medscape.com/thumbnail_library/928156-thumb_800x450.jpg] Do COVID-19 Vent Protocols Need a Second Look? How what Cameron Kyle-Sidell, MD, saw in an NYC ICU prompted him to re-examine COVID-19 ventilator protocols http://www.medscape.com
________________________________
Dr. Kendrick gave us a good Wodehousian joke (though I strongly suspect it precedes P.G. considerably). Here’s another one, not as good, but a true story: Me: “Bernie pulled out.” Daughter: “When? Me: “Ask his wife.”
I have been looking for this for three days! Intensive care doctor. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2835795793319667
I am supposing that naturally aging kidneys with consequent low red blood corpuscle counts are responsible for some/much of the very elderly people’s vulnerability to the virus, bearing in mind the part that these cells seem to be playing? Perhaps it is even not necessary for there to be any other co-morbidities? Is this a reasonable assumption? Blood transfusions might help them through the infection but are unlikely to be offered?
In Denmark they have gone totally mad. By law you can now be forced into quarantine, tested on corona virus and as soon as there will be a vaccin that will be forced on danish citizens as well. Read all about it here https://www.thelocal.dk/20200313/denmark-passes-far-reaching-emergency-coronavirus-law Will it be just a question of time before this happens in all countries of the world? I sincerely hope not.
I don’t recall seeing this mentioned on this sight so thought to bring up in case it hasn’t been. On other American web chats sights I visit taking zinc to fight to Wuhan virus has been frequently mentioned this week. Last night I watch a bit of the latest update from the government concerning the fight against COVID. President Trump brought up the taking of zinc was being found helpful.
Of course taking zinc is common during flu season, at least it is common here in the US. Most stores will sell zinc candy during the flu season.
Some more on this zinc idea, along with taking the malaria drug:
“LA doctor seeing success with hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19”
https://abc7news.com/coronavirus-drug-covid-19-malaria-hydroxychloroquine/6079864/
excerpt:
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles doctor said he is seeing significant success in prescribing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc to treat patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine has been touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19 by President Trump among others, but it remains controversial as some experts believe it is unproven and may not be effective.
The drug has long been used for treatment of malaria and conditions such as lupus and arthritis but is not technically approved by the FDA for COVID-19. The agency, however, is encouraging trials and has provided limited emergency authorization for its use to treat COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Anthony Cardillo said he has seen very promising results when prescribing hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc for the most severely-ill COVID-19 patients.
“Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” Cardillo told Eyewitness News. “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”
Cardillo is the CEO of Mend Urgent Care, which has locations in Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and Burbank.
He said he has found it only works if combined with zinc. The drug, he said, opens a channel for the zinc to enter the cell and block virus replication.
He added that the drug should not be prescribed for those who are presenting only mild symptoms, as there are concerns about shortages for patients with other conditions who need to take the drug on a regular basis…..
Dr. K, There is a great deal of chat on your blog in respect of a theory in respect of heme Iron Ion is being ‘flipped’, thereby disabling proper blood O2 uptake – besides some other (…possible) consequential issues. Could you comment on this? It does sound plausible, but then many matters often do on first take. Thanks.
I am looking into it. It does sound plausible, and fits with what I am seeing. However, there is so much nonsense out there now, it is difficult to get a handle on anything.
Hi,
Thank you so much for this post! It was refreshing and validating in a world that is so overly hysterical right now.
I am a psychotherapist and I have been very concerned about people’s welfare as a result of the measures taken in response to the virus. I have been especially concerned about how closing schools and then intensifying the isolation into a complete lockdown would impact on children who are trapped at home with pedophiles and other abusers.
The numbers on child sexual abuse are staggering already (25% of girls and the numbers on boys are not clear) and these measures have just created a pedophile heaven.
The long term implications of this for mental health and therefore also physical health will reverberate for generations to come. People are being let down and I agree with you completely that the number of deaths and also the increase in mental health and other problems will far surpass whatever benefits in reduction of deaths this policy is supposed to deliver. Prioritising this virus and dropping everything else short and long term is insane and it completely lets down the most vulnerable among us.
I understand enough statistics to know when numbers are fed to the public without any meaningful context and that is what we are getting without widespread testing to put numbers in perspective. Sorry to go on. I am just really angry about this. And thanks again for speaking up.
Dr Kendrick, I believe the government probably agree with your assessment. I think lockdown time is being used to build capacity into the system to cope with excess deaths and sickness and keep it hidden away (less unpalatable for the general population). We are using our lockdown time to build huge field hospitals and morgues ( I feel it could have been better used to get on top of testing/quarantining, but it hasn’t, and maybe it’s now too late anyway.) I believe the strategy is to end the lockdown soon-ish (once over the ‘peak’) in increments, and then allow the system to ‘cope’ with this excess mortality with the new facilities that have been built. It’s awful and cynical, but doing anything else will probably result in more deaths and more damage, long term.
NY, USA: 80% of coronavirus patients on ventilators die: https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-ventilators-some-doctors-try-reduce-use-new-york-death-rate-2020-4?r=US&IR=T
I recall seeing a TV news broadcast where an Italian ICU doctor was despairing that they were giving all the right treatments, which included all of the patients being on ventilators, yet the patients were still dying.
Shaun, perhaps a new improved ventilator model providing only O2 without intubation is needed. In addition, a medication to stop the virus from replicating ( could start with malaria drug) would improve survival. Also of benefit would be d3, zinc, C, melatonin, etc. as discussed on this blog. Unfortunately for a patient this is not yet a protocol approved by the CDC, WHO, or medical organizations.
On ventilators and intubation – they’re getting it wrong??
A single dissenting voice in the failing protocol throng. (Um, sounds like our guy Malcolm.)
IS he able to see past the failing ventilator protocol to some basic truth?
OR is it another wild flash-in-the-pan??
Dr. Kendrick??
(Take your pick. He’s making some news, as some others here have seen.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=Cameron+Kyle-Sidell&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b
Dr Kendrick, I don’t know whether you have time to read all the replies to your excellent well researched and thought out articles but a large number are written by anti vaccination campaigners who still believe a lot of thoroughly disproved nonsense about harms from vaccines. They tend to hold the usual paranoid conspiracy theory ideas. Perhaps you could give them a quick dose of science and let them infest some other nests on the internet instead.
I do read the posts, if at times perhaps a bit fast. I try to allow people to put forward their point of view – and for others to argue against them if they disagree. I feel that open debate is the best way for the truth to emerge, rather than censoring views that I do not agree with. I know that some disagree with this approach, but it is my approach.
Thanks Malcolm,
My only qualification to that, would be that as a non-medic, if I make a mistake, I’d much sooner you said so on the spot – preferably by editing my post – if that is possible.
Stephen Scholem, labelling, as you do, people who have views other than yours, as anti vaccination campaigners indicated a weak position and attempt to “appeal to authority”. Your post indicates you might have a poorer understanding of science than those you try to censor. As Tish said a few days ago, If I told you six months ago we would be under near house arrest, almost all the worlds aircraft would be grounded, we would be told to stand at least 2 metres apart, and you would be put out of work and have your liberty curtailed, you would have labelled me a conspiracy theorist.
So perhaps looking in the mirror might be a good place to start.
Merck’s Pneumovax-23 contains phenol. Last time I checked, phenol was poisonous. That is the type of thing that does not give people confidence in safety. I am not anti-vaccine, but there is no other preservative they could use?
From Sigma-Aldrich MDS for pheol: https://www.chemblink.com/MSDS/MSDSFiles/108-95-2_Sigma-Aldrich.pdf
“Classification of the substance or mixture
GHS Classification in accordance with 29 CFR 1910 (OSHA HCS)
Acute toxicity, Oral (Category 3), H301
Acute toxicity, Inhalation (Category 3), H331
Acute toxicity, Dermal (Category 3), H311
Skin corrosion (Category 1B), H314
Serious eye damage (Category 1), H318
Germ cell mutagenicity (Category 2), H341
Specific target organ toxicity – repeated exposure (Category 2), H373
Acute aquatic toxicity (Category 3), H402
Chronic aquatic toxicity (Category 2), H411”
Big compensation payout in my backyard.
Some people are sceptical for all sorts of reasons. Stifling debate raises suspicions.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/woman-settles-case-alleging-swine-flu-vaccine-link-to-narcolepsy-1.4088119%3fmode=amp
Stephen Scholem,
Stay with us.
Not everyone comes here to this very open venue to specifically validate their sense of themselves as counter-culture intellectual heroes.
After a while you get ability to sense the stepping stones in the quagmire flow.
JDPatten: Agreed. By keeping an open mind, critically examining out own biases, reading Dr. Kendrick’s books and blog posts, and reading as much science as time permits in light of what Dr. Kendrick has taught us about how to read and interpret science, we can inch our way toward truth. What I have read in the past few days about this novel coronavirus has been reassuring to me; while it produces a novel clinical presentation, for which the ARDS protocols are inappropriate for many and lethal for some, the many many good doctors in this world, flying by the seats of their pants, are figuring out how to treat those seriously ill to their and our great benefit. However, the response governments have made are disastrously inappropriate, in my opinion.
Off topic but this is about good reading. “The Price of Altruism” – the book about Darwin, an American genius George Price, evolutionary biology and how altruism seems to be cooked into our genes and those of many other species.
I am reading it now. It’s fascinating.
Stephen,
I tend to resent it when someone with a particular view claims that they have the ‘science’ and the other side doesn’t. What this tells me is that you have not actually looked into the issue or you would know that there is a tremendous amount of science on the opposing view. What is needed is for the pro-vaccine people to actually answer the concerns of the anti-vaccine people. I have not seen that.
As I often point out, anyone who invokes “the science” does not understand what science is – at a very fundamental level.
“The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn sure of what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain.
“Now, we scientists are used to this, and we take it for granted that it is perfectly consistent to be unsure, that it is possible to live and not know. But I don’t know whether everyone realizes this is true. Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question — to doubt — to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained”.
– Richard P Feynman, “The Value of Science,” public address at the National Academy of Sciences (Autumn 1955); published in What Do You Care What Other People Think (1988); republished in The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (1999) edited by Jeffrey Robbins, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Tom,
Thank you. That needed saying. Who better to invoke for clarity as to what science truly is than Richard?
Ah, where are you when we need you, Mr Feynman?
He had the combination of intellect flirting with genius, commanding social presence, humor, and TRUST that mankind produces oh, so rarely.
Science has no “sides” to take. There is no particular “view” to take the side of.
It’s the job of the scientist to confect an hypothesis (likely based on previous researches) and then to rigorously test it for likelihood of representing Reality to a fair degree. No one can “know” anything for certain, because the Black Swan might be hiding in the next test not yet done.
All we can rely on is degrees of likelihood – some much much better than others.
People might well be more careful about what they call science.
It likely ain’t.
Great quote, thank you. A friend of mine used to repeat an old Chinese saying: “To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable. To be certain is to be ridiculous”.
Excellent Feynman quote, thank you
Woo-woo peoples will always be found somewhere in any ones journey.
Stephen Scholem, what’s your definition of an ‘anti vaccination campaigner’? Do you think people should be forbidden from asking questions about vaccination policy? I live in Australia where vaccination is now mandated for children to access benefits and childcare, no questions allowed – do you think this is acceptable, that children should be compelled to have any and every vaccine product and revaccination pushed by the vaccine industry? Because the vaccine industry pretty much runs international vaccination policy now… Are you aware of the many conflicts of interest in vaccination policy? I presented on this topic in mid-2018, here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atKeooIrHE8 Transcript and powerpoint slides accessible via this link: https://elizabethhart.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/conflicts-of-interest-in-vaccination-policy-e-hart.pdf
For the record, I describe myself as independent citizen investigating the over-use of vaccine products and conflicts of interest in vaccination policy.
This is likely a positive sign for the economy and the fight against the virus. President Trump is reportedly working to create a second task force, one focused on restarting the damaged economy.
With increasing talk of loosening and reopening the economy, it is likely based around a treatment that is working against the Wuhan virus. Details have yet to be provided though and one could guess why that would be.
“Trump plans to launch second coronavirus task force focused on economy”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/coronavirus-update-trump-to-launch-2nd-task-force-focused-on-economy.html
It is reported that he has been requiring the purchase by the USA of lots of hydroxychloroquine tablets, and he is today reported to have talked about the importance of zinc.
I am proud of President Trump.
Anna M,
I am also a great fan of President Trump for so many reasons, such as keeping out of the Syrian conflict (more or less), and avoiding starting other wars. I suspect his administration will lead us all out of the COVID mess, which really lacks a clear exit strategy. I very much hope he will get re-elected in November.
I copied this from an email to me: I spoke with my Dr today. If you are worried about this virus, he suggests taking Quercetin supplement. He is taking it: 500 mg 2 x /day. It may prevent the virus from attaching to your cells. Testing has shown it guards against MERS-Corona Viruses, Ebola, Sars, Zitka, H1N1 and Influenza. Also seems to help prevent Hi Blood Pressure, Dementia, Cancer, Inflammation, Allergies and control blood sugar levels. They gave it to mice and hours later subjected the mice to Ebola and the mice did not get sick.
There’s a 50% drop in people attending A&E with heart attacks!
barovsky: And after they succumb at home, they will be “tested” and thrown into the Covid pile.
It is interesting that obesity is being called an independent, stand alone factor in deaths from the virus.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/doctor-note-obesity-risk-factor-coronavirus-200406065716658.html
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.22818
https://news.trust.org/item/20200408103237-l2epf
Cranky old dodderers are really quite appalling, aren’t they?
I should know. I’m one. 😉
(My wife has a way of discerning this sort of thing.)
Do you think I’d listen to such a Cod when I don’t listen to myself?
(Whether this is tongue-in-cheek – or not – depends on exactly who’s reading!)
JDPatten: Three cheers for cranky old dodderers! Actually, I’m an only-a-little-bit-old cranky dodderer, since you’ve got four years on me. In any case, keep it up. Your writings here are usually worth reading and pondering.
A rant
I don’t expect this to be generally popular but I am pretty well past caring what others think. There is a lot of talk about physical isolation but what about those of us who feel mentally isolated from family, friends and neighbours because our points of view are so opposite?
Stupidity is masquerading as kindness and the party atmosphere clapping we witness on the television is symptomatic of brainwashing. The police are now threatening us (and I mean threatening) with stronger measures if we do not “behave”. The voices of those shouting that the emperor is wearing no clothes are being drowned. Yet a moment of simple reflection should tell people that nothing is making sense.
My husband points out that we should not be surprised when we think what the coming Easter weekend is to celebrate. A man was born over 2000 years ago to a woman who had never had sexual intercourse. He was nailed to a cross and certified dead but rose again for the sake of us all. Millions of people continue to believe this. Millions don’t but they fear to proclaim their atheism. Is it any wonder we are so easy to herd?
Hi Tish
Tis true, humans are indeed strange animals. We are not the critical thinking species we are believed to be. Most of what we do is habitual, and we will normally follow the herd.
I read a long time ago that it only takes seven steps before we become the kind of people who will do almost unthinkable things.
Whether we like it or not, our programming is set inside the structures of our brain-body with hormones gushing around making us think we are thinking!
The underlying structure will always tend to drive behaviour and it is true of almost all systems. Thinking systems, government systems, health systems, money systems, education systems and so on.
Challenging the status quo is incredibly tough. I’ve done it and it has got me fired from jobs and careers.
Some people may be able to see through the charade, some may be able to observe and seek new insights but many will not.
Yours truly has become an observer and I do ponder life on planet earth with all its quaint rules.
I sometimes joke with my wife that the government is going to issue passports to fish and birds!
The joke is of course that we were all born of this world, but we have agreed to be bound by so-called human rules. Rules which were put in place to keep us in our place and in theory maintain some sense of order.
Oh, to be a free thinker! Well, we can always dream, can’t we?
“Tis true, humans are indeed strange animals. We are not the critical thinking species we are believed to be”.
As Robert A Heinlein pithily observed, “Man is not a rational animal. He is a rationalizing animal”.
Thank you Steve. Wise words. Yes, we are all heavily conditioned aren’t we? I too have challenged the status quo and met with spite. I don’t regret trying though, eh?
Atheism. Wow, that’s loaded.
I came to mistrust magical thinking after my big sister challenged my complacency about Santa Claus.
When I almost died because of my father’s particular “Christian” beliefs, I became wary.
When, later, he actually did die because of those beliefs, I actively shed any nuance of magic from my approach to life. (Reading Harry Potter doesn’t count.)
So, if you were to search for a label to stick on me, it might seem fair to use Atheist.
OK, except for the “-ist” part. Look it up in your OED or your M-W. I’m not intellectually or emotionally constituted to be a joiner.
Entertaining Aside:
I do enjoy a certain sort of music. Each Easter I listen to this:
It’s the music! Just the fantastic music.
This recording is loaded with lessons about the frailty of human emotions and intellect.
My wife’s luthier told her that her 18th century German violin would be worth an order of magnitude more $ in the world market if the very same instrument were to “magically” 🙂 become Italian. What is that about? WWII still? Great war? ?? Something about the 17th century? Bigotry/prejudice? Something else ugly about human nature?
Not only is the violinist German, but his instruments are by Stainer, the preeminent luthier of the 1600s. German. Prejudice is stacked against.
Listen to only the music.
If you can.
Hey there! I’m with you… a bit, but what the hell are you drinking?
Shaun,
Espresso. Um . . . why? 🙂 You?
Lovely! Thank you JD. Funnily enough our son was told the same about his beautiful sounding and Italian looking German violin! He’d find it hard to replace if he lost it despite its restricted value.
On the “ist”, I do agree with Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986). He maintained that to join is to segregate, which is of course true when you think about it. I hate labels. We pile them onto children, especially in the”developmental problems” area. We think we understand a problem because we have given it a name. Krishnamurti also said that once you label a rose, a rose, you are in danger of not looking at its individuality. But alas, I ramble and we have to have some names!
I gave up Christianity at age 20 (at university) and I haven’t joined any other religion – I think they are all created by human beings who write down or invent the teachings and by other humans who ‘interpret’ them. They can also become appallingly cruel.
However, I gradually ceased to be what is known as a materialist. In other words, I have long since ceased to believe that the world that is knowable to conventional science, is complete or that it is even in principle complete.
There are lots of interesting examples of pretty well established phenomena that get dismissed as fraudulent (one way or another) simply because they are irreconcilable with conventional science. For example, occasionally people would die unexpectedly, and someone close to them (e.g. spouse) would get a strong telepathic message that their partner was in danger (this can also happen in situations that don’t involve death). When Wiki reports such incidents it likes to call them anecdotes, but before the era of telecommunications they are VERY hard to explain scientifically. They still happen, but are easier to dismiss in the era of mobile phones. For example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stockholm_Fire_of_1759
There are plenty of other phenomena – including a range of scientific experiments – that give me great confidence in my non-materialist stance. However I definitely do not want to divert conversations here on to that topic!
I would even go so far as to consider the afterlife is at least possible (read about the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences, for example).
Giving up Christianity is a very big step. Good.
However, magical (wishful) thinking goes well beyond that. 😉
If I may draw a line under religious discussions. They never get anywhere, other than people starting to get very upset.
OK, good!
So then, if you could see your way clear to drawing another line at politics per se, that would make things a lot more comfortable here as well.
David Bailey We can experiment with near death experiences by using statins.
PS Since you began quoting the Swiss Doc he has mysteriously disappeared.
Jerome,
No, statins were not bad enough to make me feel as though I was dying, though if I hadn’t stopped them, I might have botched a suicide attempt, and that could provoke one.
Very approximately 10% of people who suffer a cardiac arrest, report an NDE.
I’m with you Tish. I got divorced over the wicked madness that is religion some 20-odd years ago. It was a totally crazy, crazy born-again ballyhoo. Basically, such beam-on folk are quite simply ill, but also, if it is not that, its just that the slinking ‘others’ of their ilk are just more clearly liars, schemers, cheats, frauds, hypocrites, bigots, and thieves. At best its nothing but an interactive soap opera of the absurd, but in reality is a caravanserai of total $%£”&)^ nonsense.
Tish,
I wonder what country you live in that you are afraid to proclaim your atheism. Somewhere in the middle east?
I wonder why people feel that becoming an atheist is going against the tide. Joining a “No” is as much about joining as joining a “Yes”.
Sasha: Exactly. This is one of the main reasons I consider myself “agnostic.” Who really knows? For my mother, her faith was as foundational as bedrock, and it carried her through crises which would have crushed a lesser person, so I respect those who have it, but for me, I just can’t believe any of that stuff any more. The moral foundation I received in Sunday School has guided me well, but I can’t stand being in church.
P.S. Should we not avoid using such terms as “herd” immunity in case it encourages some with influence to think of us as their herd?
That ship has already sailed, Tish. I find the arrogance of some of “the powers that be “ simply unbelieveable. Power is an illusion. Look at the british PM. He’ s the PM , most powerful man in UK some woul d claim, but he still got corona 19. Mother Nature rules supreme, she always has and always will. Those human animals thinking they know better than her are utterly delusional.
Lockdowns, intelligent or otherwise won’t work. Covid 19 is out, a force of nature. Let it run its course while we keep the people at risk of dying from it safe. Invest more money in healthcare. Pay all peeps working in health care decent wages. Make sure that next time a virus comes around we are prepared. This time, apart from Germany, most countries were unprepaired for this pandemic. Makes me shudders to think what will happen when (yes when not if)a real killer virus rears it s ugly head worldwide.
Happy Easter, all.
Yes Yolanda. Your remarks made me think of the old favourite, Shelley’s Ozymandias :
…..And on the pedestal these words appear :
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Happy Easter to you too.
Yolanda.
I’m 70 and suffer mildly from most of the diseases on the vulnerable persons list. But I have no desire to be “kept safe”, which I regard as a delusion. I just want to go on living the normal life which I have led through many epidemics of respiratory virus infections in the past. I want the freedom to take my chances, else what is the point of living?
If I get ill, I certainly mean to stay well clear of general hospitals, as they clearly don’t have the means to prevent cross-infection. Not that they ever did have; patients with such highly infectious diseases once went to the isolation hospitals, but these closed decades ago.
In the mid -1980 s, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, there was no treatment. I remember the battle we had to get latex gloves to use when clearing up bodily fluids, rather than plastic ones which split easily along the seams. Nurses’ health was a low priority then too.
In Germany, a woman lawyer, is petitioning the Federal Constitutional Court, to declare all the Coronavirus measures enacted by the various Länder (states) unconstitutional, because she claims such blanket measures, which prevent unspecified people living their normal lives, infringe practically every fundamental clause. The high court of the Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has already declared a measure, which prevented people visiting the Baltic Coast, illegal.
Without a proper written constitution, the peoples of the United Kingdom have no redress against a tyranny imposed on them by craven politicians driven by press hysteria.
Herd Immunity, naturally acquired, is. i agree, the only feasible way to protect most people, including the most vulnerable people, from this disease. Otherwise we will face a second wave of this epidemic in the autumn. There will be many deaths either way, but the lifting of all restrictions over the next month could very well cause fewer in the long run. Once most of us are immune, we can live with this disease for the foreseeable future, One can only hope it’s not replaced by something much worse.
“Without a proper written constitution, the peoples of the United Kingdom have no redress against a tyranny imposed on them by craven politicians driven by press hysteria”.
Yolanda, I regret to point out that the USA has a proper written constitution – indeed, they never stop talking about it and how much better it makes them than us lowly primitives.
Yet the rich and powerful have never hesitated to drive a coach and horses through their precious constitution whenever it suits them. On some occasions they go to the trouble of getting venal judges to make legal decisions such as Citizens United. Mostly, though, they simply ignore the law. That is a crime which is never punished, because the rich and powerful appoint the prosecutors who decide which crimes to prosecute.
In general, words on paper (or any other medium) have no power over determined human beings.
Tom Welsh: Right you are. Our Constitution has been gradually shredded, beginning with our second President, John Adams, with the Alien and Sedition Act, in the late 18th Century, accelerated by Abraham Lincoln, with the suspension of habeas corpus, and the closing of many newspapers and jailing of their editors, and entirely finished off by the Bush/Cheney regime to ring in the new millennium. We’ve been trained from toddlerhood that this is the most wonderful place in all the world, and it is a wonderful place, full of good people and beautiful places, but so are many other spots in this world.
Yes Shirl, that is missing in the discussion about covid 19, keeping people safe (whatever that means) is one thing but, and that is a big but, only if they want it. I have no problem understanding that not everybody wants to be safe at all costs. The costs seem to be very high: social isolation and living in permanent fear is a high price to pay, IMO too high.
I most certainly do not want to live my life in fear and 6 feet apart from the rest of humanity. The Dutch PM talked about this sort of thing becoming the “new normal” last week. Idiot, that is never going to happen and we must firmly resist such idiotic notions from our goverments.
We humans are social creatures and need to be with other people, some more than others, but we all do, without exception. We need to see each other (body language), hug, shake hands, kiss, or dish out a firm kick up the behind from time to time. Normal human interaction. Without it we may just as well be pushing up the proverbial daisies.
The other excellent point you make is that suddenly we seem to be without our rights without so much as a by your leave. This is also something that I strongly object to.
Tish, thanks for that snippet of Shelley, always of the good!
Cheerio, Yolanda
Yolanda: The other day I was in our local stop ‘n’ rob. These are small stores. I stood on my designated dot, occasional good boy that I am. Then, the customer in front of me finished and left, passing not six inches from me (the dots are six feet apart)! Hilarious.
Shirley3349 wrote
“I’m 70 and suffer mildly from most of the diseases on the vulnerable persons list. But I have no desire to be “kept safe”, which I regard as a delusion. I just want to go on living the normal life which I have led through many epidemics of respiratory virus infections in the past.”
I too am 70, with one co-morbidity – high blood pressure controlled by an ACE inhibitor – and I don’t like to see younger people locked up to try to save us oldsters. Once I realised that a COVID-19 death might be a person of 80 with terminal cancer and some COVID-19 in his system (or something else that created a false positive…) I decided this lockdown was utterly absurd.
Tish: Good point, but they already consider us their herd. Moo.
Today, the German constitutional court threw out the petition to overturn all the Coronavirus measures as unconstitutional, on a technicality. It said that each regulation must first be challenged one at a time in each Land constitutional court. This would of course take months if not years. The reaction of the lawyer who brought the case, Beate Bahner, was to resign as a lawyer, on the grounds she no longer felt she could act as one, when the court was in effect, sanctioning blatantly illegal action by the police and other authorities.
I presume her resignation was designed to provoke action by her fellow lawyers. There does seem to be increasing outrage among them. Any further developments might be interesting.
By the way, I’m Shirley, NEVER Shirl. I have a nickname but it is for my siblings only.
Hi all,
I am disappointed no one commented on the film I shared. In this film he carefully explains what the PCR test really is and why is has a low accuracy. I have an argument with my sister who says we should trust the experts. She seems to think they all agree…so my question is, if what this video says is true, it is about tests and cell biology and so on. My question is, if someone has a fair amount of knowledge on the topic of medical chemistry, why would they all seem to agree that the PCR test is valid? I don’t have a problem with experts disagreeing, but how can those who are not lay public buy into something like this?
So here it is again.
RNA from coronavirus has some distinct characteristics that distinguishes it from other RNA. So unless the people that developed the test didn’t bother to use those characteristics to determine that it was viral RNA, then the test would be worthless. The discussion by the doc in the video makes a lot of assumptions and applies too many generalities. I used to run a lot of PCRs.
Additionally, they keep calling covid-19 a new virus and that our immune system has never seen it before. While technically true, it is not as if it came out of thin air. It shares the majority of its physical properties with all the other coronavirus that has been circulating on the planet for millions of years.
Thanks, but I wish you were more detailed. What’s to stop it from saying that any coronavirus is covid 19? What about his whole exosome argument? As to whether it is new or not, I don’t recall that being an important aspect of the video.
I am trying to understand your first paragraph. I thought PCR would amplify any RNA sequence. Are you saying that some RNA is amplified more easily than others?
Very interesting. Thank you Anna.
AnnaM: I did watch nearly all the way through. It seems his main point is that the Covid-19 particle identified by the Chinese researchers is virtually the same as the exosomes our cells produce on a routine basis, based upon visual characteristics alone. Not good enough for me.
Thank you for posting it Anna. I won’t be able to comment on it, but I look forward to seeing it.
Hi Anna M
I can understand that it must be disappointing/frustrating to get no feedback.
Generally speaking I find people who contribute here to be open-minded and give freely of their time. In part this is because Dr Malcolm Kendrick has created an environment which is open and people can post most comments without hindrance.
I have to balance my time, energy and money and is the reason why I can’t and don’t respond to as many posts and comments as I’d like to. A couple of teenagers, trying to find ways to get cash in etc all take their toll on my energies and time.
Watching a 38-minute video is quite long, and in my case I’d want to check who is presenting and then research if what they are saying can be verified through other independent sources (somehow)! This all adds to the time needed.
The video may be incredibly important and I may well have missed something of vital importance but that’s life. I can’t be in every place at once.
Hopefully, there may be people here who will watch your suggested video but please bear in mind that other things may get in the way of these discussions, important though they are.
Best wishes from me
Hey Steve,
Thank you for your response and of course many of us are suffering from information overload. I hardly expect any particular person to respond, but I simply noted that the first time it went unremarked entirely, and I thought it was important enough for a nudge. I’m hearing that the test is not reliable and was not even developed as a test for virus, and yet a lot of our thinking and responses are based on a certain amount of faith in the test. I keep a very watchful and suspicious eye out for media manipulation.
Anna M: Perhaps one reason for the slow response to your question is that video links usually appear as a black box, and in order to find the video, one must go back to the post and scroll down to find it, a sometimes daunting task, as the comment threads become really lengthy. That said, I very much appreciate your posting it. I did eventually find it and watch it. Interesting, but a conjecture I thought weak, very weak.
Gary, to find a post quickly, copy a phrase from the poster’s email that you receive, then go to the blog webpage and use a {something} F command to find it. I do this all the time to find something from the hundreds of posts. Just pick a phrase that will be unique.
Or having brought up all the comments,
click on the vertical three dot row top right & hit “find in page”
Enter any word, name or part thereof & search. Small horizontal bars on right mark where that word, name or part thereof appears in the replies. Click on that wee bar to source the data.
Sounds complicated as I write it but it’s not.
I watched the video to the end. His theory is that the “virus” is actually an exosome, i.e. a particle with similar size and characteristics to the alleged virus, for instance it attaches to the ACE2 receptor on a cell. Exosomes are naturally produced by our own cells as a response to some insult, like a toxin from an unsanitary fish market, or microwave radiation, or whatever.
The problem is, he cannot explain how an exosome can infect another person. We know that an infectious agent is responsible because in many cases we can actually trace the chain of infection from patient zero in an area through his or her contacts and their contacts.
Also, we now have better images of the virus than he had then. It has the characteristic spikes (someone compared them to toilet plungers!) which exosomes don’t have on the images he showed.
So I think his exosome theory is dead in the water. A virus explains the observed facts better.
A troubling interview with a Dr. Scott Jensen who is also a state Senator. He discusses the controversy over death certificates and the COVID virus, along with hospitals in America being paid more to list patients as having the Wuhan virus.
“Senator Dr. Scott Jensen: Right now Medicare is determining that if you have a COVID-19 admission to the hospital you get $13,000. If that COVID-19 patient goes on a ventilator you get $39,000, three times as much. Nobody can tell me after 35 years in the world of medicine that sometimes those kinds of things impact on what we do.
Via Ingraham Angle:”
Interview with an epidemiologist well worth watching:
“Going outdoors is what stops every respitory disease” – implying that it’s not the heat of summer that weakens the viruses including the flu but tendency of people to escape to the country given warmer temperatures.
The only comment that I might take issue with is his suggestion that this is like any other flu or virus like Corona. (There have been previous Corona Viruses) Dr. Kendrick & the NY physician who went public some days ago, state otherwise.
He predicts at the most 10,000 deaths. The CDC estimates US flu deaths in season just concluding at between 24 & 62,000.
Political parties dealing with this & “making the hard decisions” are proving popular.
Are we boosting reserve medical capacity & using this as the excuse.
Anyway, the word bonkers comes to mind in this whole episode. Police in England meanwhile apologised to a family who were “scolded” for allowing their children play in their garden. Sense & reason is out the window.
Jerome Savage: A more extended interview with Dr. Wittkowski is on this week’s Highwire. His main point is that what he has seen of this convinces him that the response to this should be no different than that to the annual flu season, with the exception of added protection of the elderly and sick. He uses the term “herd immunity” to characterize the normal curve of the increase and decline in infectious outbreaks. He’s a data guy, with decades of experience, and should be listened to. We don’t, and may never, know the actual infection fatality rate, since the CDC has advised those writing death certificates to include everyone, whether run over by a beer truck, or dismembered by an axe murderer, who tests positive for Covid-19 to be called a Covid-19 death.
Thanks Gary – Looking at the video you get the feeling he is in a sort of disbelief at what he sees going on around him. Like someone else on this blog, I am not happy with the term “herd immunity”.
Civil immunity sounds better or natural immunity !!
Jerome: Yes, but I’m afraid we’re stuck with it. Amusing, in a grim sort of way, that this descriptive term from the natural outbreaks of infectious diseases is usually trotted out by those who wish to force vaccination on all children, regardless of health or medical status, such as California’s Richard Pan, but for which it has no application at all. Yet now, with a real disease, for which the term is applicable, such an outcome is pooh-pooed by our fearless leaders, such as Anthony “Give-me-gobs-of-money-to-waste-on perfectly-useless-research” Fauci.
Are ventilators killing the patients? https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/internal_medicine/EVMS_Critical_Care_COVID-19_Protocol.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2vXp6KOuPyi9uHXRTmm3lZycHvC0zQsgLWmxNo0Ec8qfboZS-JnYXso08
Hi Jillm
This would appear to be a legitimate document and suggest that intubation really is a last resort. Many people it seems are dying when intubated.
It mentions cytokine storm, Corticosteroids, and also mentions Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine plus vitamin C and D3.
The reason I’ve highlighted these points are because a UK clinician (can’t remember his name) has also mentioned them.
Does make me wonder whether we (UK Government) are wise to focus on ventilation. My concern is based on whether people looking after patients are trusting to known protocols when they could and should be looking at the actual physiology.
If I should succumb to this particular virus and need hospitalisation, I wonder whether I should have all 18 pages stuck to me in the hope that our medical practitioners give it some thought. They may of course be aware of all these things already but I have my doubts.
An interesting document, thanks for pointing it out.
And here is what worries me if someone I love gets this – I would expect to be able to go to the hospital and advocate for them, and hopefully ask them not to intubate if not utterly necessary, that sort of thing. But under current rules the sick are completely cut off from family.
Steve, I think the focus is on ventilators because we morons, who can’t possibly comprehent the real position, can visualise a ventilator and sticking it down someone’s gullet is obviously doing something. Follows the mantra, don’t just stand there do something, that it’s the wrong thing is not important. The government is saving the NHS, which in normal times it spends all its time trying to kill off.
The sense I get is that some people are intubated very rapidly, that it’s almost a panic response on the part of those looking after them, especially if they are relatively young and their deterioration is unexpected. We know that people can go downhill fairly suddenly and I wonder how often people are intubated sooner rather than later. The problem then seems to become how to get them off the ventilator. I wonder if perhaps all the emphasis on ventilators being potentially in short supply has perhaps created an impression even among healthcare staff that they are the best way to go.
Aileen
I think the there are several challenges, and they all start with the way humans think.
We tend to embed certain concepts in our mind and these sometimes get in the way of really understanding something. I say sometimes because there are going to be many occasions in which these concepts work out.
All health systems suffer with miss diagnosing. I’m not sure of the true percentage but something like 15% of initial diagnosis is incorrect.
We then have things like protocols. Protocols are a quick way of reaching a decision and helps speed up treatment. But, what if the diagnosis was incomplete and or too many assumptions made? If protocols are adhered to but for the wrong diagnosis, then we have a problem. I.E. Wrong treatment and big problems.
I have a suspicion that some people may be tested and shown to have low blood oxygen levels and be put on a ventilator when in fact they don’t need to be put on a ventilator. Perhaps a modified CPAP machine would have been better.
Other people may also be shown to need ventilation and do well on it.
This is my somewhat long way of suggesting that ventilators and ventilating may be incorrect but not always.
I think we may have jumped to an incorrect conclusion and been too quick to scream intubate.
The point about concepts, thinking and asking questions is this. It’s far easier for people who know nothing, to ask questions because we don’t own concepts. We will have broader questions to ask before jumping to a conclusion.
By the way, I’m not criticizing clinicians in drawing sometimes incorrect conclusions. They and we are driven by underlying structures which bind them and us to a particular course of action. To change the course of action means changing the underlying structure.
Thinking, structures and systems are complex things.
Cheers from sunny Swindon!
Well said.
I’ve told my ‘children,” in their 50s and my husband that if the worst happens I WOULD NOT want to be incubated. I’d like oxygen, please, and, ideally IV VitC and if that fails, have me sedated and let me slip away. I don’t want to go but I’m getting on (a very healthy though modi3 diabetic- well controlled with HFLC) for 78. Intubation sounds like a very dodgy hell.
Just to follow up on mentions earlier, today President Trump formally announced the creation of a task force that will look into reopening the economy. It is to be a piece by piece project. Areas less effected by the virus will be looked into first. As the President mentioned this will be his toughest decision making process since being in office. I can imagine that being true,. It’s not only a medical safety issue, but will be a political exercise also. I hope the process doesn’t become overly political during this time of increased fear for many Americans.
Soul,
It absolutely will be come political as our nation is at war. By that, I mean the deep state is at war, with Trump, with freedom, with information, with the American people. And this war has now become dangerous because while Trump must absolutely try to make the best possible decisions that he can, he will be ripped to shreds no matter what choices he makes. So this is dangerous because when he clearly needs to make decision A, it will have to be criticized as awful, stupid, inept.
Anna M: How right you are. Trump has good instincts about a lot of things (and terrible ones about others). But the media and the “intelligence community” have made it very difficult for him to govern. I actually like him more each day (while I voted for him, it was more an act of desperation than anything else).
NY Times suggests that the death rate in NY City is above normal, cw graphs to prove it.
Could ventilator use be contributing to the surge + weakened immune systems – for whatever reason ? If the spike is real it’s a world first – by all accounts.
But there is a great deal of overweight and obesity in the USA. The role fatness plays is being ignored. No doubt it isn’t something to be comfortably considered by many people. It makes me wonder how many of the younger people who have succumbed were significantly overweight.
Agreed- though NY comes 42nd in terms of rates of obesity in the US at 27% compared with Mississippi at 40%.
https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/adult-obesity/
Possible, but New Yorkers are noticably less overweight than other Americans. I suppose it is because they actually go outside and walk.
Anna M: Indeed, and up and down the stairs to the subway all day long. Stephanie Seneff is proposing that glyphosate plays a role in this epidemic. One would think NYC wouldn’t have much spraying of Roundup, but I remember walking from the bus stop to the Cloisters, a marvelous extension of the Metropolitan Museum, and in walking through the heather garden along the way noticing signs warning that the parks department had done just that. Her supposition may be far-fetched (she links it to glyphosate in bio-diesel jet fuels), but it appears that there is plenty of the stuff being sprayed in NYC.
New York Times figures- begs several questions, besides the ventilator question. What drugs were these patients on ? Statins ? If so, what were their LDL levels at time of death ? What anti-hypertensive drugs were they on ? Were they on PPIs ? How many on anticoagulants and if so, which ones ? How many were obese, and the obese factor ? What other health problems did they suffer from – i.e. diabetes ? Thyroid ? Kidney ? Liver ?
There is a raft of questions that could be thrown, and need to be thrown, at these figures. Just saying.
Dump schlump lump rump trump.
No new haiku, I knew.
No rhyme!
Although, all alliteration – sublime. (Rhyme!)
Whatever it be, to me it’s euphony.
Having picked up “The Great Cholesterol Con” last night to read in one of those exceedingly rare bouts of insomnia, I got to the end of Chapter 4. Low and behold today on Mark’s Daily Apple is a link to Uffe Ravnskov’s BMJ Rapid Response of 4 April, 2020 explaining that, and why, Covid-19 patients in China have been found to have low LDL levels. He advises stopping statins for these. Three cheers for that.
One wonders IF this interesting finding : ‘Covid-19 patients in China have been found to have low LDL levels’. will be followed up by the UK, the USA and the EU …!
Apropos of nothing, it is quite some time since I picked up the phone to hear “Good morning, this is Briddish telecarm to inform you that you innernet connection has been carmpramized…” and I am suffering from degeneraion of the cuss reflex, and forgetting how to be a filthy mouthed old hag.
So lockdown has has some benefit.
Jean, don’t let your cuss reflex atrophy. We need filthy-mouthed hags now as never before. On your hour’s daily exercise you should practice filthy-mouthing everyone you see. I will do so too.
So, today 11 April, the Gaurdian tells us that, ‘Coronavirus: 980 dead in UK hospitals in deadliest day of pandemic yet’, but what would be the death rate on a ‘normal’ day? (I assume the number actually refers to yesterday, the 10th?)
I think the average death rate from all causes in the UK is about 1600 per day. The figure might be somewhat higher for this month because it is, I suppose, the tail end of the flu season. It would be very interesting to see graphs of the overall death rate month by month for this year and last. I wonder if these are published in real time anywhere?
David, try https://hectordrummond.com/2020/04/08/week-13-ons-graphs-still-nothing/
Posted originally by Tom Welsh earlier in the comments.
There is a lot of data and interpretation on the Web by now. But you must be careful, as many official sources seem to have private agendas – such as trying to exaggerate the number of cases and deaths. The following links may be helpful, especially if you follow the sites from day to day.
https://hectordrummond.com/2020/04/08/week-13-ons-graphs-still-nothing/
http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/
I also recommend UK Column’s news broadcast (three times a week): https://www.ukcolumn.org/. I found last Monday’s particularly useful https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-6th-april-2020, but they are all good.
If social distancing works for COVID-19, it should work for ordinary influenza as well. So if the death rate remains constant one can assume that increased Covid deaths are replacing decreased flu deaths, due to the greater infectiousness of COVID-19.
The average weekly death rate for the winter period starting the 1st week of Sept 2019 up to the 27th March 2020 is 1538 per week.
The average of the corresponding period over the previous five years is 1526 deaths per week.
HTHs
Roger A
Oops The average daily death rate for the winter period starting the 1st week of Sept 2019 up to the 27th March 2020 is 1538 per day.
The average of the corresponding period over the previous five years is 1526 deaths per day.
HTHs
Roger
See Richard Murphy https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2020/04/11/the-governments-misinformation-on-covid-19-deaths-is-unforgivable/ to see what a complete Horlicks the UK Government is making while trying to ‘squash the sombrero’ by manipulating the figures of Covid19 deaths.
German hospitals become COVID-19 hotspots for health care workers
How ironic
But in the US nurses are on furlough.
Encouraging to see that the country of Austria plans to begin reopening their economy next week.
“Austria Will Start to Reopen Next Week”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/austria-will-start-to-reopen-next-week-11586386670
Saw too an interview where a health advisor said Australia appeared close to defeating the COVID virus. I’ve come to view Australia as being more extreme with their health control measures in general, but thought if a health official felt their country was close to defeating the Wuhan virus their economy reopening will likely not be far behind.
Hi Soul, good news that some countries appear to have won the war on covid19. What is needed now is to count the casualties and reflect on how the war was conducted. If there is a resurgence of the virus maybe these same countries will refrain from reengaging in another all- out war against the virus in the same fashion.
Hi Andy, I agree and one can hope our countries learn from this. Ironically, with as much blame as China is receiving world wide, many countries basically took the communist China approach to combat against the Wuhan virus by shutting down the economy. I think the Swedes and a few other countries took a more sensible approach to COVID, at least from the little that I’ve read.
Soul: Sweden and Belarus. They are the control groups. Interestingly, here in California, a group of researchers at Stanford are collecting population data with an antibody test to see whether Covid-19 arrived here in the fall, long before the madness which ensued, since then it would have circulated widely, provided immunity for many, and reduced transmission (we get an average of 3 million tourists from China every year). This might explain the relatively low number of fatalities here. Meanwhile our county government has set up an overflow hospital in a convention center, which, for now there are calling storage for equipment, while our hospitals are underwhelmed by the flow of patients and have reduced hours for staff.
Covid/vitamin D thread
More lockdown reading material – this one on vitamin d deficiency in Ireland and covid implications:
Click to access Report_Covid19VitaminD.pdf
The 2 sentence conclusion includes “vitamin d is a potent immune modifying micronutrient” and “could benefit vulnerable adults in particular 70+ years and older”.
Hi Malcolm,
Can you highlight an issue that is currently coming to light? In Canada and I’m sure that in western nations the same situation is occurring. There are Covid outbreaks occurring in nursing and long term care homes with large numbers of staff and residents testing positive and dying. In Canada, half the deaths are from these homes. On top of the Epidemic, when goverment health inspectors go to these sites, they are finding neglected patients that have been kept below the standard of human decency such as not being fed, not changed for days and longer, bed sores etc. How much of this outbreak in these facilities is from the neglected patients and the biased reporting is sweeping this neglect under the carpet?
Just before this outbreak occurred, there have been numerous reports of these issues in the nursing homes. These facilites had been using restraining and trespassing orders to keep family members from visiting and seeing the state that the family members are kept in. In my city there are two facilites that have been neglecting patients so there is probably one of these in most cities.
A few years ago, the meat packing industry was generating an epidemic of food poisoning due to substandard practices. It is apparent that the FOR PROFIT industries are not capable of self regulating and need health inspections.
Boris Johnson – blood metrics/disclosure
Just mulling over the comments about low LDL levels in patients, and vitamin D levels in patients (are they being tested?) – I don’t suppose any of Boris Johnson’s blood metrics are in the public domain?
I seem to recall that when Donald Trump was elected some of his medical results were made public e.g. any president has to have a CAC scan and he was on statins as a result of the scan or high cholesterol.
I can’t remember/don’t know what is disclosed to the public and what happens elsewhere.
Try a Google search of trump calcium score
Several articles indicate his CAC rose from 34 in 2009 to 133 in 2018.
Does this reflect the ossification that has taken place between his ears too?
Just read a fascinating article by Stephanie Seneff, senior research scientist at MIT in Massachusetts, USA, in which she writes about the connection between lung damage and aerosolised glyphosate (which is in Roundup) coming from biofuels. She demonstrates that the biofuels are made of the byproducts of plants that have been sprayed with Roundup, and shows how the concentrations of Covid-19 cases are in areas that are high in glyphosate from these biofuels. Try this link – sorry I don’t know how to copy it in here.
jennifermargulis.net/glyphosate-and-covid-19-connection/
Just read a fascinating article by Stephanie Seneff, senior research scientist at MIT in Massachusetts, USA, in which she writes about the connection between lung damage and aerosolised glyphosate (which is in Roundup) coming from biofuels. She argues that the biofuels are made of the byproducts of plants that have been sprayed with Roundup, and shows how the concentrations of Covid-19 cases are in areas that are high in glyphosate. Try this link – sorry I don’t know how to copy it in here.
jennifermargulis.net/glyphosate-and-covid-19-connection/
3 people linked to Winnipeg’s (Canada) National Microbiology Laboratory infected with coronavirus. (same lab BSL4 as in Wuhan China) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/national-microbiology-lab-infection-1.5528474
Ian R Crane speaking from a hospital bed. A real inside report of what we are not told. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZxm6xUHz4
A long and fairly technical refutation of the heme iron hypothesis by an MD who is an expert on the subject. “I spent 4 years completing a PhD in Bioengineering; the focus of my dissertation was the molecular biology, biochemistry, and physiology of mammalian heme globins”
Covid-19: Debunking the Hemoglobin Story
View at Medium.com
the blog post author seems to believe the virus (which is larger than the entire hemoglobin protein) will be able to enter the pocket, kick out the iron, and bind the porphyrin while leaving the porphyrin and protein otherwise totally intact. To put it charitably, this would be an entirely novel and seemingly impossible sort of chemistry, and there is absolutely no scientific evidence that supports such a possibility. It’s this seemingly impossible interaction that forms the foundation of the blog post’s entire argument
Martin: Brilliant. Thank you. Much-needed to fight back against viral meme’s.
On the face of it, a fairly simple experiment might test this out in the lab, except that you probably need a super-secure bio-lab to even get hold of COVID-19.
Having said that, I do wonder exactly what the claim is is here, because viruses are usually not considered to ‘do’ anything except get into cells and co-opt the cell’s DNA.
On the other hand there does seem to be some empiricle evidence that the stuff works! It also doesn’t have serious side-effects.
If we’re doing size comparisons, a virus on a red blood cell is like a flea perched on a soccer ball.
There is a rebuttal to the refutation. The science is based on computer calculations of the chemistry, not actual lab tests. Also, a virus should not be interested in a RBC because a RBC cannot reproduce the virus. However, while reproducing in other cells, the virus produces various helper proteins which assist it to assemble correctly. These proteins are then discarded and they by unfortunate circumstance affect the oxygen-carrying capacity of the RBC.
At least, that’s how I think the argument goes. I confess the discussion has become too technical for me.
Martin, if it’s based on a computer model, that’s ok, after all a computer model generated by Neil (gets it wrong a lot) Ferguson to shut down the world. Wonder what will happen if he presses ctrl-alt-del.
That is very helpful Martin.
We should defend the blog author’s right to have offered a view though, however right or wrong. He has at least stimulated some debate and explanations and there are lay or amateur people who have led in the past to important discoveries.
Not quite police state but close.
Normally I use cash in the local shops, but they have asked us to use cards where possible. So that;s exactly what I did. Well tried to do. By the third shop my card was blocked for “suspicious usage” and I had to phone security to get it unlocked. How many other people will this happen to?
I’m pleasantly surprised there have not (yet) been roadblocks or other police presence here. Well they may all be down the road at Southwold and Aldeburgh keeping people off the beaches. I’m continuing to walk in places where there aren’t many people and I’ve been sitting in the sun building up my vitamin D and NO. My phone hasn’t yet reported me for sitting down when I should be exercising but it’s only a matter of time.
One pig-ignorant cyclist nearly knocked me into the hedge. The others all kept their 2m distance.
I overheard someone talking on his phone who had been trying to claim benefits and was getting the runaround both on the web and by phone. There used to be a strong local economy here, lots of small businesses, family owned shops, and self-employed people. I suspect most of them won’t recover, given the shutdown looks like continuing for six to twelve months.
I see this getting a lot worse before it gets better. I still don’t see much evidence of a spike in deaths outside of the media.
Apologies if link posted earlier: Some reality on Covid-19, by Dr John Loannidis, Stanford University, I wish (some hope) of our politicians and ‘experts’ would read:
If that is done, and it continues, it won’t be long before we have fifty lines. Never mind, we can stay in at playtime until we’ve finished them.
Here is a report claiming definite evidence that the research institute in Wuhan was working on bat coronaviruses at the time of the outbreak – using a $3 million dollar grant from the US!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8211257/Wuhan-lab-performing-experiments-bats-coronavirus-caves.html
Rather ties in with this David – from Canada –
3 people linked to Winnipeg’s (Canada) National Microbiology Laboratory infected with coronavirus. (same lab BSL4 as in Wuhan China) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/national-microbiology-lab-infection-1.5528474
http://joannenova.com.au/2020/04/urgent-new-medical-theory-on-coronavirus-hold-the-ventilators-stop-blood-clots-instead/
Sorry if this has already been asked, but does anyone know if Germany are categorising their deaths as “with” or “because of” Corona virus. As for the UK numbers not including Care Holmes…my poor Aunt slipped away last week with the doctor wanting to put it down as “old age” – she was 90 – but was told by the Coroner to put cause of death as Corona virus. The doctor was very confused. She had not been tested. Btw dying and being buried without loved ones nearby is an awful thing.
Malcolm, I see this as another example of the “authorities” being corrupt. In this case the coroner. He/she has a bright future, but had better watch it. Be sure your sins find you out. How disgusting some people are. Meanwhile the docto will get little support, and probably does her best to care for patients, within the NICE restrictions of course.
I think some have an irrational dislike of Bill Gates. I think he is doing a wonderful job in selflessly trying to save humanity. As such I support his efforts, and I am willing to sacrifice myself, and risk certain death, so he can prove his good works. Accordingly I will sign up to be one of the untreated controls that will be needed to compare vaccinated vs unvaccinated cases. I am sure the vaccinated ones will be protected and have life long immunity, while I will be condemned to a much shorter existence, but it is important I do what I can to help.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/heres-why-bill-gates-wants-indemnity-are-you-willing-to-take-the-risk/
Bill Gates, this ultra rich man, has just been on the television saying how generous the UK is, before telling us he will need our government’s indemnity insurance in case his vaccine causes severe illness, because they might need to hurry it through in 18 months instead of 6 years! The interviewer had previously praised him for his foresight, etc. (squirm). Yes, by all appearances we have pots and pots of money to throw around, dear Bill, and as you can see from our behaviour we are all pretty stupid. No wonder he is rich. Where are his scruples?
Here is one interesting perspective on Bill Gates
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/conspiracy/bill-gates-is-the-greatest-threat-to-your-future/
Tina B: Thank you for posting that. Hyperbolic, yes. Politically charged, yes. But Bill Gates is, in truth, a great danger to those of us who value truth and freedom and democratic rule, and he, unfortunately, has enough money to do, and is doing, a great deal of damage, especially to children, and in particular to children in Africa.
Yeah. Clearly the worst Evil! “The Gates of Hell”. Vaccination is the worst mankind has done to itself through History, no exception.
Just ask Ah.
And eat some nutritious food.
And, whatever you do, don’t dare look at this:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/synthetic-biologists-think-they-can-develop-a-better-coronavirus-vaccine-than-nature-could/
They certainly can, only 18 years and still no SARS vaccine so this particular other corona virus will be a piece of cake. Lets have a cheer for Bill Gates, he could be the second coming.
JDPatten: I’ve read it, and my reaction is: What incredible hubris to think we mere humans can improve on Nature. This usually doesn’t turn out well. (search Dover Airbase pilots and anthrax vaccination-we lost some good, highly-trained pilots in that debacle). Of course, they may be successful, but I wouldn’t put money on it.
Gary,
What incredible hubris the Wright brothers had!
But as with all cutting edge human endeavors, reculer pour mieux sauter.
Or, as O’Hunahan said in his corollary, “Murphy was an optimist”. 🙂
That doesn’t mean it’s not human nature’s lot to try, and try hard, and keep trying – against the hill of circumstance and that wall of stupidity.
I think it’s in the nature of most human beings (At least at their innocent beginnings) to learn, because that’s enjoyable, to use that knowledge to further their horizons, and to accomplish. Just “accomplish”. There are other rewards. A place to call just your own in society – whatever fractal level of society that might be. The sense that, in getting there, you’ve made things (Something; anything!) better. Of course there’s $, but why not, as long as it’s not tainted with abuse of $’s power.
I’m a bit more liberal with respect to optimism about the likes of Gates and what he’s doing.
You do know he’s quit Microsoft’s board, right? You might not have gotten that if you only look here for news.
I feel I’m in bonus years now. My father only made it to 75. (But you knew that, yeah?)
JDPatten: Thanks. No, I did not. Mine only made it to 32, when a massive MI took him. I’m pretty sure it was the damage WWII did to him that caused it (he was in the Hospital Corp, hauling the injured throughout the Battle of the Bulge). None of us served in the military, partly because of this, partly because my mother was raised a Quaker, but mainly because we all came of age when Viet Nam policy was tearing the country apart. We all had college deferments from the draft, which was terribly unfair to those not in college. I knew two who didn’t come back alive.
I read widely, so yes, I knew Gates had stepped down from his board, but this doesn’t really mean anything. What is frightening, and very dangerous is the insidious spread of forced vaccination laws among the states. This is orchestrated by pharma. The bedrock principle in medicine in a democratic state-informed consent for all medical procedures, the Nuremburg Code-is being taken away little by little. And it is in Democrat states where this is happening. This is why I left the Democrats in 2015, after 45 years of voting party exclusively. In California today, there are no philosophical or religious exemptions to any vaccine, and doctors are essentially intimidated into not writing medical exemptions to any of the 72 doses of vaccines state law requires. If they do so they will be investigated by the medical board. This is happening, and it is chilling. This is medical fascism, JD. Not in the land of the free and home of the brave. By now I’ve forgotten the other points in your comment, so can’t respond. Gettin’ old and moldy. Always appreciate what you have to say!
I liked this phrase in the article: “with all due respect to Nature, synthetic biologists think they can do better.”
With all due respect to synthetic biologists, Nature had 3.5 billion years (on this planet) to perfect what it’s doing. How long have they been at it?
This reminds me of the recent book I read by Dr David Sinclair (I think that’s his name) on longevity and turning back the biological clock. I didn’t particularly like the book but what amazed me was that some people involved in this were able to sell their research to Pfizer (I think) for something to the tune of 720 million dollars. Not bad, right? You identify pathways involved in longevity: mTor, sirtuins, etc and then convince a pharma company that there’s a way to design a pill where you can activate those pathways without doing the hard work (calorie restriction, exercise, and exposure to stressors – heat, cold, etc). What could be better? You sit on a couch, eat potato chips, and pop a pill once a day which makes you younger.
From what I understand pharma folded the unit they bought after a couple of years. I haven’t double checked all the facts on this but if true, it’s an amazing story.
Gary, try this, with an open mind:
New England Journal of Medicine 20-08882
Rapid Review 04-Apr-2020
Background: Off-label use of hydroxychloroquine in the SARS-CoV-2 positive population has become widespread with only empirical evidence on its efficacy. This study addresses the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine on serological and supportive care measures in a hospitalized population.
Methods: Consecutive adult subjects admitted for viral pneumonia secondary to SARS-CoV-2 (by polymerase chain reaction) during the last two weeks of March, 2020 were included. Those that were started on hydroxychloroquine and supportive care were compared to supportive care alone. The primary end points were effect of hydroxychloroquine usage on the need to escalate respiratory support, change in lymphocyte count, and change in neutrophol-to-lymphocyte ratio.
Results: A total of 63 patients were included with 32 in the hydroxychloroquine arm. Hydroxychioroquine administration was associated with a need for escalation of respiratory support level compared to those that did not receive hydroxychloroquine at 5 days (p=0.013). The same findings were observed in a baseline-matched subgroup analysis. Absolute lymphocyte change in the hydroxychloroquine group was no different than supportive care alone (p=0.413). Hydroxychloroquine use trended towards worsening neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio compared to supportive care alone (+9.59 vs +1.58, p=0.51) as well as a higher risk for intubation (pa0.051).
Conclusion: Hydroxychloroquine administration to the hospitalized SARS-Coy-2 positive population was associated with an increased need for escalation of respiratory support. There were no benefits of hydroxychloroquine on mortality, lymphopenia, or neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio improvement
zinc is apparently essential to use with hydrochloroquine.
Anna,
I believe so. I sometimes wonder why they bother with researching something which isn’t the full protocol. The results are always going to be disputed.
From what I understand which might not be much but is it possible results would have been different with a lower dose and the addition of zinc?
I can’t believe how much I’ve been exercising of late. I walked 7 miles this morning and afterwards swam for 50 minutes. I swear this COVID quarantine is going to be the death of me.
This a non-covid question.
I am 80. If i sit around and take my blood pressure it comes out as something like 135-85. If I go off and cycle for say an hour and a half, come in, drink some tea and half an hour later take my blood pressure it comes out at 125 -78. intuitively I would expect it to be say 140 -90.
Any ideas?
Mr Chris
I’m not a Doctor but do tend to be fairly active. I like to observe things including health.
My blood pressure tends to bounce around quite a bit. When I exercise it goes up and when I rest it goes down.
The slightly odd thing was when I was around 145- 85. I tried reducing my salt and nothing happened. I lost a few pounds in weight and it dropped to an average of 120-75.
It was almost as if I had a weight threshold and only a few pounds either way would make the average rise or fall quite a bit.
This is only my experience though.
Stay healthy and best wishes
Mr Chris: My understanding is this: Strenuous exercise increases BP (very high among weight lifters, for example) during the exercise. Post exercise it comes down. I kept a log of my BP during my marathon training sixteen years ago at age 55, and on training days it was sometimes as low as 100/60. Seems to me this is a healthy thing. Two other considerations: 1. BP varies depending upon what we are doing, and 2. In my experience resting BP is almost never properly done, though it is a routine measurement. For me, at this point, as soon as they get the contraption out, mine goes up. Same thing would happen at home were I to check it at home, because I have come to hate the damn thing.
Gary,
Try this exercise:
Mr Chris – Mr Prior – Gary Ogden : Taking your blood pressure.
The following was articled on Science Daily today –
Big variability in blood pressure readings between anatomical sites
Date:
April 14, 2020
Blood pressure readings taken from neuroscience intensive care unit (NSICU) patients had marked differences between opposite sides of the body and different anatomical sites in each individual.
Blood pressure readings taken from neuroscience intensive care unit (NSICU) patients had marked differences between opposite sides of the body and different anatomical sites in each individual, highlighting the significant and sometimes extreme variability of this measure even in the same person depending on where it’s taken, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center report in a new study.
The findings, published online Feb. 25, 2020, in Scientific Reports and the 100th research paper published by nurses at UTSW, could eventually impact how blood pressure information — which informs a variety of medical decisions in the NSICU and beyond — is collected.
Having an accurate blood pressure reading is essential to delivering often lifesaving care, say UT Southwestern study leaders Kathrina B. Siaron, B.S.N., R.N., a neurocritical care nurse, and DaiWai M. Olson, Ph.D., R.N., a professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and Neurological Surgery.
“For our patients in the NSICU, blood pressure often needs to be maintained in a very narrow range,” Siaron says. “Moving it one way or another could potentially harm the patient.”
It’s also a parameter that’s been measured much the same way for over a century, she explains: Patients wear a cuff around the upper arm, wrist, or thigh for noninvasive assessments, or a thin plastic catheter is inserted into their arteries for invasive measures, with arterial pressure long considered the gold standard and thought to be within 10 points of blood pressure in the upper arm. Although it’s well known that blood pressure can vary dramatically between patients or in the same patient from moment to moment, medical care providers have long assumed that there was little variation between these measures at different sites on the same patient.
To test this idea, Siaron, Olson, and their colleagues worked with 80 patients admitted to UT Southwestern’s NSICU between April and July 2019. These patients — split almost equally between men and women with a mean age of about 53 — were admitted to the unit for a variety of common serious neurological problems, including stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and brain tumors.
The researchers had these patients sit upright in their hospital beds, wearing blood pressure cuffs on both upper arms connected to different, precisely calibrated machines. Simultaneously, clinicians activated the machines to take readings, then recorded them. They then had the patients wear wrist cuffs and performed the same exercise. For the 29 patients who also had arterial blood pressure sensors, values from those devices were recorded while patients were receiving noninvasive blood pressure readings.
As expected, there were often large blood pressure differences from patient to patient. However, there were also significant differences in individual patients from site to site. There was a mean difference of about 8 points in systolic pressure (the top number in blood pressure values) between upper arms, and a mean difference of up to 13 points between upper arm and wrist systolic values.
Diastolic measures (the bottom number in blood pressure values) varied by a mean of about 6 points between arms and about 5 points between upper arms and wrists. Arterial pressure often varied significantly from each of the values — sometimes as much as 15 points higher or lower.
Although the mean differences between sites were just a few points on average, they differed by as much as 40 points between some patients, says Olson — a dramatic difference that could radically affect what type of care that patient receives.
“If we take pressure in one arm, a patient seems fine, but in the other arm, they’re in a crisis,” he says. “The values we collected were really all over the place. There was no consistency between the same arm or wrist between different patients.”
It’s unclear why these differences exist between sites, adds Siaron — blood pressure numbers could be affected by an assortment of factors, such as a patient’s posture, anatomical differences, or medical conditions that affect blood flow. The team plans to continue to study blood pressure among different anatomical sites in varying populations, such as patients in the general ICU or healthy volunteers. Eventually, they say, blood pressure might be collected using a totally different protocol, such as averaging the values between two sides of the body or accepting the highest number.
————————————————— ##
For myself, and in order to do a good check : a.m. I get nicely relaxed.. I take the pressure in one arm, three times, with a five minute interval between each take. Noting down all the numbers – systolic, diastolic, and pulse. I then do the same thing with the other arm. End up with 18 sets of numbers.
First arm : Add systolic together, and divide by 3, the same with the diastolic, divide by 3. Then the pulse, divide by 3. Then take the average for that section of the day.
Second arm, do the same thing. Then take the average.
Then take this further by getting the average for the day, both arms together !!
Do this three times per day. – For a week. Morning. Midday. Evening.
It’s a heck of a grind. But does give one a very good picture. You might note that the left arm may be several points different to the right arm. Mine can vary by as much as 30 points on the systolic and 15 points on the diastolic. Pulse is invariably the same. Sometimes the points between the two arms might only be different by 7 or ten points. Other times, silly numbers. Don’t know why.
It is an interesting exercise, and possibly worth having the data ? I use an upper arm cuff.
You could play about with numbers, doing the whole thing all over again … standing up !!
Have fun.
Blimey!
mmec7: Very interesting, but not surprising.
No. Not at all surprising. What is surprising is the fact that BP readings are all too often hit and miss. Staff, pushed to the limits of consultations minutes given, and this includes practice nurses, haven’t got a clue. The practice nurse for my last cardi did not wait between takes : was an *immediate ‘nxt’ take, press of the button squish, squish. No recovery time given ! One GP I ‘had’ was angry that I turfed up with ‘numbers, plural’. “Why so many numbers, ridiculous !” Ho-Hum. Now. I let them take my BP, keep quiet as their findings are of no interest to me. I only go by my own numbers to bring to their attention.
Both my city and state have closed all the parks. We have a neighborhood park of about two acres, which I walk through on my walks. It is between a school and a fire station, and had closed signs posted for this weekend only. On Sundays there is always a soccer game. Every day fireman run through getting exercise, people play with their dogs and walk them, and neighbors bring families for BBQ’s. Today everything was the same except no soccer game. Fireman ran through, people played with their dogs, and there is even a homeless guy living in one corner. Hilarious!
Actually there is a way out.
Convince the public that advances in treatment over the last three months have reduced the fatality rate to something acceptable.
There certainly have been advances, which is unsurprising as it would be rather amazing if the medical profession had learned nothing since first encountering the disease.
Since there has been insufficient time to prove any treatment for the disease, investigate unproven treatments thus enabling further reductions in the fatality rate.
Thus you can both reduce the fatality rate and reduce the time needed for treatment simultaneously saving the lives of Covid patients, increasing the capacity to deal with them, freeing up facilities to save the lives of non-Covid patients, allay the panic, and keep an economy capable of supporting a health service.
Have you seen this review of Acetazolamide for Covid Malcolm? Kind of backs Dr Cameron Sidell’s theory of altitude sickness. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7096066/
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Thank you Janet very much. I really appreciate your help/. Yer a gem as they say in Glasgow. Please stay well.
Helpful information. Lucky me I discovered your website accidentally, and
I am stunned why this accident didn’t happened earlier!
I bookmarked it.