Drinking Cow Urine to Prevent COVID
https://www.rt.com/news/524020-india-cow-urine-covid19/
As if it’s not hard enough to fight a pandemic in the hospitals, we also have to fight false claims on the internet too. The amount of misinformation on the internet is exhausting. Not only is there no scientific basis for this, but the possibility of picking up other infections is true reality. If you want COVID advice, listen to the experts not politicians who have no medical background.
—Salim R. Rezaie, MD
I’ll bypass my normal snarky remarks and just say ineffective treatments, founded on either bad research or beliefs are best countered by respectful dialogue and humility in presenting counter information.
– Mark Plaster, MD, JD
It’s sad to see people with sincere belief systems being led down a false and possibly harmful path. This is not unique to India — we don’t have to look beyond our own backyard to find evidence of false claims and snake oil.
– Evie Marcolini, MD
What an udderly ridiculous idea. What did this brainiac do for a control study to prove his theory? Drink horse urine? Some people will do anything to milk this pandemic. Mooooving right along…
– William Sullivan, DO, JD
Hospital food kills?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735109721009384?via%3Dihub
Someone should study the effect of hospital food on medical students, residents, fellows and faculty.
– Evie Marcolini, MD
Of course low sodium diets help heart patients. But should every hospitalized patient have to endure these diets?
– Mark Plaster, MD, JD
This isn’t just a malnutrition issue. Patients with decompensated heart failure were half as likely to die or have major cardiac events at 30 days if they got individualized nutritional support rather than standard hospital food. Another study showing that diets affect much more than our “love handles.” Draw your own conclusions about hospital food. I bring my lunch to work with me.
– William Sullivan, DO, JD
This is not a news flash in my humble opinion. Patients with malnutrition are going to have an associated increased mortality, regardless of the cause of death. It does however emphasize the importance of malnutrition screening at the beginning of hospital admission and the monitoring throughout hospitalization. From a patient’s perspective, you probably don’t want to eat when you are not feeling well.
—Salim R. Rezaie, MD
CDC moves goalposts when determining COVID-19 breakthrough cases
Welcome to life in a pandemic when big business and government make medical decisions. Let’s ratchet up the cycle thresholds for COVID testing for those getting the virus without the vaccine and ratchet down the cycle thresholds for those already vaccinated. I believe the vaccines work in reducing mortality, however, is this simply a move to bolster public confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines?
—Salim R. Rezaie, MD
I’m surprised that we clinicians are rather accepting of the fact that government science experts would manipulate results to sustain a public narrative that is not founded in fact. Shouldn’t we be forcing this out into the mainstream of public discussion? If we don’t, the truth will finally come out and we will look like we have been complicit in a government misinformation campaign.
– Mark Plaster, MD, JD
Lowering the cycle threshold of testing in “only” those patients who received a vaccination to make it harder to declare COVID positivity in that patient subset is unscientific, unethical and deceitful. Talk about “moving the goalposts.” If the CDC is distorting this data, what other data is it distorting and why? A better question is why the medical establishment isn’t objecting to the CDC’s actions.
– William Sullivan, DO, JD
Caffeine doesn’t help sleep deprivation
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-dont-caffeine-deprivation.html
So, let me get this straight…if you are sleep deprived you are more prone to errors and caffeine doesn’t help with that? No surprise to me. The best treatment for sleep deprivation is well…sleep.
—Salim R. Rezaie, MD
Even though this is true, it will take a lot more than knowledge to change our habits. Don’t take away my double esspresso machiato! Great read: “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker.
– Evie Marcolini, MD
I just worked last night and I’m pounding coffee. I don’t think I could right this centence without my cafe. ZZZZZ!!
– Mark Plaster, MD, JD
The study showed that caffeine helped people stay awake, but it didn’t do much to improve performance or lessen errors. In that sense, it’s kind of like alcohol — the drug makes you think you’re performing better than you really are. It does worry me a little when I think of all the people who need a couple slugs of Joe every morning to get them primed to see patients.
– William Sullivan, DO, JD
