These Italian Kids Are Going to School Online During the Coronavirus Lockdown
Until two weeks ago, Leonardo Bruti Liberati’s weekdays consisted of racing to school in Milan, and after class, to his piano lessons, Boy Scouts sessions, rock climbing and swimming. In late March, he was meant to travel to the United Nations in New York, with teenagers from across the world, to participate in the Model U.N. session for youth.
Then in late February his life was drastically upturned, along with millions of others, when Italy’s government put the north of the country on lockdown in an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On Sunday, Italy extended the lockdown to the entire country, shutting all schools and severely restricting the movements of some 60 million people—the biggest quarantine outside China since the coronavirus crisis erupted in January. As of Wednesday, 631 people had died of the virus in Italy.
Now, the 16-year-old is confined to his three-bedroom family apartment in Milan. Yet while his private school, Famiglia e Scuola, is shut, classes still continue under quarantine, in an ongoing experiment in remote learning.
On Wednesday, Leonardo let TIME watch how the quarantine schooling works, as students logged into Google Hangout to attend their regular morning class in Ancient Greek. For Leonardo, it was a welcome chance to see his friends, from whom he has been isolated for weeks. One hitch: The teachers have bluntly told him that his adored golden retriever, Dag II, is no longer welcome to sit on his lap during lessons.
The classes are a distraction from the more serious concerns about the outbreak. “I worry about my grandmother,” Leonardo says. “She is 101.”
But there are many other daily complications too to life under quarantine — it has taken days to find a clinic still open and capable of attending to Leonardo’s brother Frederico, 12, who broke his hand while skiing last month, during the glorious days before the virus hit Italy.
The family also needed to find an open clinic capable of extracting a ball from Dag II’s stomach — the hound swallowed one during a rare walk in the park.
from Health – TIME https://ift.tt/2TZeIcF
Why Public Health Experts Say Trump’s Travel Ban Won’t Curb the Spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night that travel from Europe to the U.S. will be largely suspended for 30 days starting Friday in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. But public health experts say the travel ban — which does not apply to American citizens or permanent legal residents and their families — is unlikely to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in the U.S.
“This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history,” Trump said in his nationwide address just hours after the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement that coronavirus is now a pandemic. “I will always put the wellbeing of America first.”
Under the new regulation, all 26 countries in the Schengen area are subject to the same restrictions, despite great variation in the number of cases amongst European countries. The ban also does not apply to the United Kingdom, which has more cases than many European countries, raising questions about how the U.S. government went about deciding what nations would and would not be banned.
But public health experts warn that even with the travel ban, the virus will still spread. And travel bans risk discouraging people from disclosing their previous countries of travel. The WHO says that denying entry to passengers arriving from affected countries are “usually not effective in preventing the importation of cases but may have significant economic and social impact.”
“We’ve known from the start that travel bans are not effective,” Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia told TIME. “I don’t think there is any scientific justification for them and I don’t think it will reduce the disease burden in the U.S.”
While Francois Balloux, a professor of computational systems biology at University College London tells TIME that travel bans can be effective, that’s only when there’s no local person-to-person transmission already in place. The U.S. has at least 1, 323 cases in 38 states, which experts say make the proliferation of the virus inevitable
“The U.S. has more cases than some of the countries they are banning,” Balloux says, noting that the ban is “completely ridiculous.”
While Trump has promised to make health services and testing more readily available, there have been widespread reports of people struggling to get tested. Experts say it is likely that many cases in the U.S. have already gone undetected. “I think it’s likely, though not for certain, that the American estimates are lower than the actual disease burden,” Hunter says. He adds, “the U.S. problem is not anymore about trying to reduce virus importation. It’s about how on earth are you going to manage the spread within your population.”
“I really resent this idea that there is a trade of between managing epidemics and paying economic costs,” Balloux says. “That is a misunderstanding: if you want to save lives, you have to keep the economy afloat.”
The U.S. government’s drastic measures have elicited condemnation by European politicians, who were reportedly not given forewarning of the travel ban.
In a statement, the European Commission, the governing body of the European Union said, “the coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” adding, “the European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation.”
Experts say that in the case of a pandemic, which necessitates global cooperation, nationalist approaches to governing can be dangerous to disease prevention and response. “If you antagonize your key partners, you send a signal that there is no global coordination response,” Baloux says.
Rather than a travel ban, experts say the U.S. government should be focussing its energy on providing adequate testing and care for its citizens. Unlike most European countries, the U.S. does not have universal health care or paid sick leaving, increasing the likelihood that people will not get tested and go to work infected, further spreading the disease. “If you have a system where a large portion of the population cannot be tested because of the costs involved, Hunter says, “then you are never going to control this.”
from Health – TIME https://ift.tt/3aRi9cg
10 Ways to Stop Secretly Sabotaging Yourself
“I’ll start eating healthy again on Monday.”
“I’m not really a gym person.”
“I’ll probably gain the weight back anyway.”
I hear statements like these all the time. If any of them sound remotely like something you’ve said recently, there’s a good chance you’re secretly sabotaging yourself. You might not even know that you’re doing it—but what you do know is that nothing in your life is changing. That probably sounds a little harsh but hear me out.
Self-Sabotage Is Part of Human Nature
I’ve worked with hundreds of clients who’ve battled their self-sabotage demons and you can, too. It starts by understanding the science behind why you do it. When your logical, conscious mind has a goal (like swapping bacon and eggs for fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt) is at odds with your subconscious mind (the side of you that believes fruit, cereal, and low-fat yogurt are part of a nutritious breakfast), your subconscious or “inner critic” tries to protect you and keep you safe from potential failure by sabotaging your efforts.
This phenomenon is so common that psychologists conducted a study where college students were instructed to choose between a drug that allegedly interfered with their performance on a test and one that enhanced it. They found that participants were more likely to choose the performance-inhibiting drug, so they could purposefully set themselves up for failure and eliminate the fear of not succeeding.
In light of this research, and all of you who might be in this camp right now, I’m going to show you 10 ways to stop sabotaging yourself so you can start working toward your goals.
Recognize your inner critic
We all have one, me included. But you always have a choice whether or not you listen to the thoughts your inner critic thrashes you with. Your mind’s job is to interpret the world around you, creating stories based on limiting beliefs or stories from your past. And… it’s just trying to keep you safe, so it might say things like, “Who do you think you are?” or “You’ll never be able to stick with this.” Know that you are not your thoughts. Just acknowledge your inner critic, thank it for trying to protect you, and move on.
Forget about perfection
If you always jumped ship when things didn’t go as planned, you’d never get anything done. It’s not going to be perfect. Nothing is. That’s why I believe in progress over perfection. So maybe you ate some of your kids’ Valentine’s Day candy. So what? Just think about all the times you got it right! Focusing on the things you didn’t do won’t get you anywhere, so ditch the perfection mentality and aim for progress instead.
Get clear on your priorities
You’ve got to want it more than you don’t want it. That means resolving any inner conflict that may be going on. You might feel great when you have a whole week’s worth of groceries in your fridge, but you hate taking the time to make a list and meal prep. I hear you. But do you hate having nothing to eat and ordering a pizza (something that works against your goals) more than meal prepping? That’s for you to decide.
Step outside your comfort zone
Even if your habits are less-than-healthy—grabbing a muffin on the way into work, sleeping in instead of journaling, waiting for the elevator versus taking the stairs—they probably feel comfortable to you. Repeating the same behaviors over and over again gives you a false sense of safety and security since you’re used to doing them. And that can lead to unconscious self-sabotage because you want to avoid any uncomfortable feelings or situations that a new behavior might bring. Now is the time to get comfortable with a little discomfort!
Know that you deserve this
Worthiness and self-esteem play a huge role in self-sabotage. You might feel like you don’t deserve to be healthy, fit, or successful. Or you’ve failed before, so why try now? If your imagination is working overtime (and coupling up with that inner critic) you might come up with a million scenarios about why you’re not worth working toward your goals. But trust me, you are. Everyone deserves good health.
Create realistic expectations
Sometimes people try to overcompensate for their feelings of inadequacy by setting extremely high and unrealistic expectations. If you’re one of those people, pick one thing that you want to work on instead of attempting huge, sweeping changes all at once. Major changes to your diet and lifestyle can be hard to maintain, so get started by making small, doable changes that build your self-confidence rather than tear it down.
Set yourself up for success
One of the easiest ways to prevent self-sabotage is to set your environment up for success. Limit the time you scroll social media during the workday by taking Instagram and Facebook off of your phone. Or cut down on the amount of sugar and processed food you eat by removing from the house and shopping for high-quality proteins and fresh veggies instead.
Realize you don’t have to know it all
No one knows everything, so don’t let that keep you from working toward your goals. You may not know the best way to lose fat, how to get out of the “diet mentality”, or where to buy the best grass-fed beef, but there’s so much information out there about anything you could want to know. And if you can’t find it, you can always turn to one of our Primal Health Coaches for help.
Understand that fear is normal
Whether you’re in your first full week of paleo or committed to getting a solid eight hours of sleep, it’s natural to experience a little anxiety. You may fear the unknown or the unfamiliar, what others will say or think, that you may fail, or even that you’ll succeed. But just like your inner critic that you can listen to or ignore, you can choose to move past your fears with an understanding that the unknown is a normal part of the process as you move on to bigger and better things.
Reframe failure
Growing up, we’re taught that failure is something to avoid at all costs for fear of shame, guilt, or ridicule. However, failure is a necessary step for success. Just think about all the famous inventors, authors, and actors who failed several times before successfully getting to where they are now. If you hit the snooze button every day this week, ask what you can learn from it. If you indulged all week on vacation, don’t punish yourself—simply remember how far you’ve come.
10 Steps to Stop Self-Sabotage
Two of the most important questions you can ask yourself are: “Why am I self-sabotaging”, and, “How am I doing it?” Knowing why and how you’re getting in your own way can help you get past the obstacles that hold you back. Self-sabotage might be part of human nature, but you don’t have to let it derail your goals. Here’s how:
What Climate Change Can Teach Us About Fighting the Coronavirus
The slow global response to climate change shows the cost of inaction in global crises. Health https://ift.tt/2U0iBht
Exclusive: Here’s How Fast the Coronavirus Could Rapidly Infect Over 1 Million Americans
As the novel coronavirus saturates the news, forcing colleges and sports leagues to shut down and infiltrating Hollywood, many Americans are understandably wondering when it will arrive at their doorstep. While the number of known cases in the U.S. appears to be comparatively low as of now, the figures are almost certain to spike very soon, as both testing and exposure increase. While COVID-19 has unquestionably spread further than officially known, it is poised to round the curb and spread widely across the U.S. By the end of April, there will be no dispute that COVID-19 is not a “foreign virus.”
To better understand outbreaks like this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consults a network of academics and industry experts who specialize in modeling the spread of contagious diseases. One of those outside groups, the Laboratory for the Modeling of Biological and Socio-technical Systems at Northeastern University, provided TIME with exclusive access to 100 of the different coronavirus scenarios it has generated in its efforts to support the CDC.
For the following interactive, TIME picked five of Northeastern’s potential scenarios that most closely align with the growth of COVID-19 cases we’ve already seen in the U.S. These models vary from detection levels of about 40% of those who contract the illness (under the “High” scenario) to 25% (in the “Low” scenario). They also account for the fact that the actual number of infected individuals is and will continue to remain significantly higher than the number of confirmed cases. That’s because not all infected individuals will exhibit symptoms or be tested, even though they remain contagious.
To create this interactive, the Northeastern team provided TIME with potential day-by-day growth in COVID-19 cases across 483 U.S. locations, organized around transportation hubs and dating from the emergence of the virus through April 30. This feature, which TIME produced in-house with the consultation of the researchers to ensure accuracy, will continue to be updated as the model adapts once more is known about the virus’ behavior — for instance, whether it might be highly seasonal, like the flu.
The purpose of this visualization, and of Northeastern’s research more broadly, is not to predict what will happen, but rather forecast what could occur under a variety of conditions that remain unknown or unknowable. But the conclusion the models offer is clear: The degree to which the U.S. government and the healthcare industry can coordinate efforts to test individuals more effectively — a process that has been confusing, slow and riddled with errors — could mean the difference between tens of thousands of cases over the next six weeks, or well over a million.
“What we’re seeing now is really just the tip of the iceberg,” says Alessandro Vespignani, the director of the Northeastern lab, who worked alongside colleagues Matteo Chinazzi and Ana Pastore y Piontti on this research. “That’s the problem of not doing extensive testing. Because testing has been limited here, I would be inclined toward the worst case scenarios.” (The researchers also provided TIME with a catastrophic scenario in which virtually no one is tested, which is not visualized here because attempts to produce images of the outcome repeatedly crashed this reporter’s computer. Suffice it to say the entire map quickly becomes completely orange.)
Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clickinghere.
The model that produced these scenarios consists of two streams of information. The first is what Vespignani called “the ‘business as usual’ of the world.” This includes a vast amount of data on global populations gathered from each country’s version of the Census Bureau (as well as many other sources), with a focus on population density and mobility, from daily commuting patterns to the volume of international travel.
The second set of parameters fed into the model involve the nature of this coronavirus, which at this point is much less well understood. The challenge with a “novel” coronavirus, after all, is that it’s new. Every communicable disease behaves differently, which poses a problem for gaming out the transmission of one that wasn’t known to exist until very recently.
“For the flu, or ebola, or more regular diseases, we have quite a good understanding of the mechanism of transmission and so forth,” Vespignani said. “For [COVID-19], the problem is we didn’t know anything until two months ago. Now, every day that goes by we add a little piece to the puzzle and we can fill the model with those numbers.”
The most important factors that researchers like Vespignani need to consider include a virus’ “reproduction number” (a value that represents how contagious it is) as well as its incubation time (the period between infection and the onset of symptoms). Given that COVID-19 can produce minor or no symptoms in healthy individuals, the models in this case must also account for the detection rate.
Even if the coronavirus was better understood, the most complex simulations in the world would still produce scenarios with a wide variety of severity. Like all models, whether for election outcomes, sporting events or the path of a hurricane, there is variability that cannot be predicted or packaged into a variable — a margin of uncertainty known as “stochastic” events that exhibit random behavior.
“Let’s imagine you are sick with COVID, and you go into a coffee place. You might sneeze there or sneeze two minutes later when you get into the car and you are alone,” Vespignani said. “Unfortunately, nobody will ever be able to model for that. For this reason, all models are stochastic models.”
It is natural to wonder, then, why so much effort goes into computing models that produce such a range of outcomes. Again, the power of the discipline is not in correctly predicting what will occur, but demonstrating how the possible scenarios change based on different inputs. As the maps provided here demonstrate, the effective use of widespread testing, even of asymptomatic individuals, will be critical in mitigating the potentially catastrophic impact. Every variable is a clue, and every adjustment to its value — picture a giant machine with hundreds of levers in different positions — offers another hint as to what can contain a pandemic.
Please send any tips, leads, and stories tovirus@time.com.
from Health – TIME https://ift.tt/2Qc9CZr
Finding Signs of Health Woes in Facebook Postings
Analysis of Facebook posts from as early as 2.5 months before those patients' emergency visits revealed that most had changes in their language before seeking emergency care.
from WebMD Health https://ift.tt/2wTZ9ed
Cancer Death Rates Continue to Fall in U.S.
The annual decline was slightly larger among men (1.8%) than women (1.4%), according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer.
from WebMD Health https://ift.tt/2Q8ev5I
The World Has a Plan to Fight Coronavirus. Most Countries Are Not Using it.
The World Health Organization is supposed to coordinate the global response to epidemics. But the U.N. agency cannot force countries to play by international rules. Health https://ift.tt/33ea8LZ
Coping with coronavirus anxiety
Worrying about all the news on the new coronavirus and the illness it causes? Well, that makes good sense. If you’re wondering how to cope with anxious feelings that are surfacing, this blog post can guide you through steps that may be helpful to many people.
If you often struggle with anxiety, worries about your health, or obsessive thoughts and actions, you might need additional assistance, as I’ll explain in a later post.
Steady yourself around worries about the new coronavirus
Knowing how to manage your own anxiety always takes a little thought. Ask and answer these questions:
What typically happens to your body when worries mount?
How worried are you?
What do you fear the most?
What usually helps you handle worries?
When anxiety rises because we’re facing a distressing threat like the new coronavirus, we need to focus on what tends to work for us to ease anxiety — that, plus doing a little bit more of some actions and a little bit less of others.
Keep these thoughts in mind. You’re fully prepared to help yourself. You can take steps to calm and steady yourself. Remember what works for you — because as fellow humans we’re not so dissimilar, but we do tend to have our own preferences and best practices.
Try doing these things more
Connect with friends and loved ones through video chats, phone calls, texting, and email. It really helps to feel the strength of your connections to your friends and loved ones, even though you may not be with them in person.
Stick with sources of credible medical information, so you can avoid misinformation about the virus and the illness it causes.
Try doing these things less
Please don’t overdose on hype or worry or misinformation. I get some regular updates from credible sources in the morning and check again briefly toward the end of the day. There’s no need to stay tuned in 24/7 — it can actually make your anxiety much, much worse.
Take practical steps to lessen risk of catching the new coronavirus
Three healthy, sensible steps we can all take:
Avoid unnecessary travel and crowds.
Wash your hands often with soap and water (or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer) for 20 seconds (see video).
Keep your hands away from your face, especially your eyes, mouth, and nose.
Many people infected by the coronavirus develop symptoms like a fever and dry cough during the incubation period. However, some people may not seem symptomatic. The virus can spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Viral droplets that travel several feet through the air may be breathed in or — much more likely — may land on surfaces that other people touch, such as a door handle or elevator button.
We do have to be careful and cautious. But once we adopt key precautionary measures, we can take a deep breath and do our best to calm ourselves. It’s not necessary or helpful to be on high alert all the time. This will wear you down emotionally and physically. So try to adjust your level of alertness to your immediate surroundings. Then once you come home, wash your hands really well and find ways to relax and feel safe. Safety is a basic need for all of us.
How can you relax despite coronavirus worries?
Here are some tried and true ways to relax:
Yoga. Not a yoga person? No need to start now unless you’d like to try it. Sometimes trying new things and discovering new activities you can benefit from and enjoy can be a welcome, healthy distraction. Yoga Studio and Pocket Yoga are good apps to consider.
Meditation. Regular meditation is very calming. Many apps teach simple forms of meditation, such as Headspace or Calm.
Controlled breathing. One simple technique is called square breathing. Visualize your breath traveling along a square. As you follow the instructions to inhale, hold your breath, or exhale, count slowly to three on each side. Try it now. Inhale up the first side of the square. Slowly count one, two, three. Hold your breath across the top. One, two, three. Exhale down the other side of the square. One, two, three. Then hold your breath across the bottom. One, two, three. After a few minutes of this you should be feeling calmer and more centered.
Tap into other ways you like to relax, too. Maybe you like reading a good book or watching a good comedy. Eat the familiar foods that you always enjoy. Stay in contact with your friends and loved ones. Reaching out can help you and help them.
We’re all on this journey together. News about the virus will likely grow worse, then grow better. Listen to public health experts who can help us navigate the path ahead. Take sensible steps that can help us all: get your bearings, practice good hygiene, use calming strategies that work for you — and maybe try something new. Making healthy, reasonable choices about what to do and what not to do will make a big difference in being able to stay as safe and as well as possible.
Trump’s Travel Ban Leaves Americans in Europe Scrambling to Get Home
With little clarity on the rules of the 30-day suspension set to take effect on Friday, many are feeling stranded and confused. Health https://ift.tt/2wTwUwd
Top 10 | Best in Show: Instagram
The 2019 WEGO Health Awards turned out to be our biggest celebration yet! With over 6k nominations and 130k endorsements, we were able to celebrate more Patient Leaders than ever before.
The program celebrates the top 5 finalists in each of the 15 WEGO Health Awards categories, but with so many nominations, it’s nearly impossible to shine a bright light on all these deserving nominees! In hopes of recognizing even more nominees, we’ve compiled the Top 10 Patient Leaders in each category based on community endorsements.
WEGO Health Awards Best in Show: Instagram Award
These Top 10 Instagram Patient Leaders are leveraging the media sharing platform to raise awareness for their condition area. Through pictures, videos, and stories, these leaders are cultivating a community of support, transparency, and encouragement. For anyone looking to bring their advocacy to Instagram, these are the ones to watch for strategy, inspiration & engagement tactics!
Taylor Marae, registered dietitian in integrative and functional medicine, owner of the instagram account @health_anxiety and creator of @anxietytoolkit / anxietytoolkit.org. After going to extreme panic disorder, health anxiety, depression and agoraphobia, Taylor found her way to recovery and made it her life goal to help others struggling with mental health issues feel less alone. During her worst anxiety days she felt so alone like no one understood, she made it her goal to never let someone else feel that way. Today, she freely speaks about her advocacy for mental health and has shaped her career around mental health. Now, gaining over 84,000 followers she is helping so many people feel less alone. Since, she has opened up Anxiety Toolkit which provides people with boxes full of anxiety fighting products to help find peace during your peak of panic.
“My husband and I have been going through infertility for almost 5 years and we have shared it on social media for over 2 years. We have done multiple fertility treatments (meds & ti, IUI, and IVF). We have also experienced the heartbreak of child loss twice. Our biggest goal is to help others feel less alone, educate in the best way we can, while also sharing that you can still find joy in the journey. We are sooo grateful to have a platform and to be a voice for others.”
This account offers a satirical look at life as a cancer patient. It’s relatable and funny memes bring much needed laughter to the challenges of a cancer patient journey.
On October 10th, 2018 (World Mental Health Day), Dr. Christina Iglesia launched the #therapyiscool mental health action campaign. Dr. Iglesia launched this initiative after several patients disclosed how they don’t disclose the fact that they participate in therapy, even to the closest people in their lives. Statements shared, like “My parents don’t believe in therapy” or “People would think I am crazy or something” continued to make their way into the therapy room. The theme of these conversations kept coming back to stigma, this implicit agreement that mental health issues are not to be talked about. It became clear to Dr. Iglesia that people will continue to suffer in silence until we make it socially acceptable to partake in mental health treatment, such as therapy. It is with this in mind that Dr. Iglesia created the #therapyiscool mental health action campaign, with the intent to encourage authentic and open conversations about mental health.
After being diagnosed with the most deadly psychiatric condition (Anorexia Nervosa) at the age of 15, Millie went against all odds to become the inspiring young woman she is today. Born and raised in a little South Yorkshire town in England, Millie personifies the “she may be but little, but she is fierce” quote by Shakespeare. Since creating her Instagram account to go in-depth about her mental health struggles, Millie has amassed over 11.5K followers, as well as finding love through her account too. Millie explains the ins-and-outs of having anorexia, whilst also going into the nitty-gritty areas which are too “taboo” in society, such as the physical effects of eating disorders, the hardships that arise from weight restoration and the suicidal ideation; but, Millie manages to twist this into a positive, encouraging her followers to fight against the cruelty of eating disorders, revealing what her life is like with the illness (mostly) not in her life anymore.
“There were moments in that hospital bed I thought I would never be where I am at today – running my own business, helping other women with IBD and connecting with the most AMAZING IBD community on Instagram. But most importantly, I’ve learned that an autoimmune disease doesn’t make it harder to reach my dreams, it adds TO my dreams because without ulcerative colitis I wouldn’t have found my passions, I wouldn’t be a holistic health coach, I wouldn’t have the amazing community that I now have and I wouldn’t be able to change other IBD patients’ lives, and that is truly priceless.”
Arafa’s biggest advocacy aim is to move toward a sickle cell-free Africa in future generations. In the meantime, she promotes healthier, stronger, and more supported living with sickle cell disease. Specific objectives include country-wide pre-marital sickle cell testing, promoting literacy for young people with sickle cell, and increasing the standards of sickle cell care. Through instagram, twitter, facebook, youtube, and other social media platforms, she is able to build a large digital community that can work together toward these aims. Her digital media advocacy also offers inspiration, education, and advice for Tanzanians living with sickle cell disease. Her hope is that her efforts will lead to a brighter future for the next generation of Tanzanians.
“Becoming an advocate for EDS happened by chance. My journey began in Sept. 05′ at 16. I can’t believe 1 decision changed the trajectory of my life forever. I’ve endured 35 surgeries due to EDS with the next 1 scheduled for Sept. 19′. Due to limited resources I wrote about my journey in the hopes to connect with others. I want to be a small part of the solution for EDS treatments. It’s classified as rare but it really isn’t. No two cases of EDS are the same. This can make diagnosis difficult because there’s no “face” to EDS. We are all unique individuals with our own unique presentation of symptoms. As I wrote, to my surprise, people responded to what I was sharing.”
“When I was first diagnosed, even though I knew it wasn’t true, I just felt like the only person in the world who had this disease. I didn’t realize that there were other people out there who were fighting battles so similar to one that was waging war within my own life. One day, I made the random decision to make an Instagram account to find some gluten-free food inspiration. That day, I also found myself searching the hashtag “Crohn’s Disease.” That day, I realized that, all along, I had never really been alone.”
321: Detoxification, Mitochondrial Health, Biophysics, and Figuring Out Your Optimal With Caleb Jennings
Caleb Jennings is a former extreme sports athlete with an incredible background. After sustaining an injury that ended his career, he set out on the path of holistic biohacking, trying anything and everything to get better. Today, he’s a world-renowned health coach and expert in health at the micro-cellular level. There’s so much we could …
‘Human Nature’ Review: We Can Now Alter Our DNA. But Should We?
Adam Bolt’s new documentary focuses on Crispr technology, which can edit genes, thus giving people the ability to change human, animal and plant life. Health https://ift.tt/3aSf7oe
My Top 5 Practical & Easy Natural Remedies (I Couldn’t Live Without)
I’ve written about my extensive natural “medicine cabinet” before, but I’m always asked what my favorites are, and which remedies are really worth the money if you have a limited budget. When I thought about it, it wasn’t hard at all! These are the go-to staples I always have on hand no matter what. These …
Hospital emergency rooms have been overcrowded for years. The new coronavirus will drastically compound the problem. Health https://ift.tt/33ckuvz
Here’s the Biggest Thing to Worry About With Coronavirus
We don’t have enough ventilators and I.C.U. beds if there’s a significant surge of new cases. As with Italy, the health system could be overwhelmed. Health https://ift.tt/2vZAGUU
Trump’s Payroll Tax Cut Would Dwarf the 2008 Bank Bailout
President Trump is pushing a nearly $1 trillion fiscal stimulus that some economists say would not be well targeted to offset damage from the coronavirus. Health https://ift.tt/38D06Fa
Omega-3s Show No Overall Benefits for Heart Health or Cancer Prevention
Two analyses found no overall harms or benefits from taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements. Health https://ift.tt/2UcAutJ
Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump Restricts Travel and Tom Hanks Tests Positive
The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. President Trump banned travel from most of Europe to the United States. Italy is under lockdown and the N.B.A. suspended its season. Health https://ift.tt/39Lv1Ai
Why Wearing a Face Mask Is Encouraged in Asia, but Shunned in the U.S.
Cheryl Man is usually the only one wearing a face mask on her New York City subway train. She notices this, but other people on the train notice, too. Usually she just gets odd stares from other commuters. But on Tuesday morning, when she was walking to school, a group of teens jeered at her and coughed in her direction.
“I felt very humiliated and misunderstood,” says Man, a 20-year-old student and research assistant who is ethnically Chinese.
Man also feels the stigma at her workplace, where she keeps her mask on. None of her colleagues wear a face mask, and some of them have asked her if she is sick.
“Why do they think it’s about me? It’s a civic duty,” she says. “If I have a mask on, and if—touch wood—I’m infected, I could cut the chain off where I am. That could save a lot of people.”
That’s what health experts in Hong Kong, where Man was born and raised, say, and it’s advice she trusts. Nearly everyone on Hong Kong’s streets, trains and buses has been wearing a mask for weeks—since news emerged of mysterious viral pneumonia in Wuhan, China that was later identified and named COVID-19. The Hong Kong government and leading health experts also recommend wearing masks as a way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which the WHO declared a global pandemic on Wednesday.
Paul Yeung—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesOffice workers wearing masks carry take-out lunch orders while walking towards in Admiralty, Hong Kong, on Mar. 2, 2020.
While wearing a mask has become the norm in many places in Asia, the mask frenzy has hit nowhere as hard as Hong Kong. At the height of COVID-19 panic, residents lined up overnight outside drugstores to buy face masks. South Korea, Singapore and Japan have distributed face masks to residents. Taiwan and Thailand have banned the export of masks to meet soaring local demand.
Yet, in the U.S., wearing a face mask when healthy has become discouraged to the point of becoming socially unacceptable. The U.S. government, in line with World Health Organization recommendations, says only those who are sick, or their caregivers, should wear masks.
A tweet from Surgeon General Jerome Adamssums up the argument: “Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”
Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!
They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9
As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, it has become clear there are two schools of thought in regards to face masks for the public.
On the one hand is the view shared by Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in Vanderbilt University’s Division of Infectious Diseases, who says that medical masks commonly worn by members of the public do not fit snugly around the nose, cheeks and chin.
“And if there’s a general recommendation that people wear face masks, we won’t have enough supply for healthcare workers,” he says, adding that his colleagues have already beenreporting shortages. “The priority should be face masks to use in the healthcare environment, rather than in our community.”
Spencer Platt—Getty ImagesA man wears a medical mask on the subway in New York City, New York on Mar. 11, 2020.
He calls the evidence supporting the effectiveness of the general public wearing masks “scanty.”
But, David Hui, a respiratory medicine expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studied the 2002 to 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) extensively, says it’s “common sense” that wearing a mask would protect against infectious diseases like COVID-19.
“If you are standing in front of someone who is sick, the mask will give some protection,” Hui says. “The mask provides a barrier from respiratory droplets, which is predominantly how the virus spreads.”
He also says that the role of a face mask may be especially important in the epidemic due to the nature of the virus. Patients with COVID-19 often have mild or even no symptoms, and some researchers believe it can also be transmitted when patients are asymptomatic—meaning patients can be contagious and don’t know they’re sick.
Hui adds that the lack of solid evidence supporting the effectiveness of masks against the virus is no reason to dismiss its use, because there may never be definitive scientific proof. A properly controlled study would be impossible to conduct ethically, he explains. “You can’t randomize people to not wear a mask, and some to wear a mask, and then expose them all to the virus,” he says.
Different cultural norms
But even before the coronavirus outbreak, masks were a common sight across East Asia—worn for a variety of reasons. It’s common for people who are ill and want to protect the people around them to wear masks. Others wear masks during cold and flu season to protect themselves.
In Japan, people wear masks for non-medical reasons ranging from wanting to hide a swollen lip or a red nose during allergy season, to keeping warm during the winter, says Mitsutoshi Horii, a sociology professor at Japan’s Shumei University, who works in the United Kingdom. Masks in Japan come in cloth and printed variations, and can also be worn for style. They can also be seen on the streets of Hong Kong.
The difference in perception of the mask comes down, in part, to cultural norms about covering your face, he says. “In social interactions in the West, you need to show your identity and make eye contact. Facial expression is very important.”
Japanese trainee teachers he hosted at the U.K. campus where he works at had a first taste of the cultural difference when they arrived. Horii says the university explicitly advised them not to wear face masks when teaching at local schools.
“If they wear masks, the kids could get scared,” he says.
The shadow of SARS 17 years ago also helps to explain the prevalence of masks, especially in Hong Kong. Perhaps nowhere in the world was hit as hard as Hong Kong, where almost 300 died of the virus—accounting for over a third of official SARS fatalities worldwide.
“It was largely the shock of SARS that shaped this local etiquette,” Ria Sinha, a senior research fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s Center for the Humanities and Medicine, tells TIME. “Although the younger generation do not remember SARS, their parents and grandparents did experience the fear and uncertainty of a novel infectious disease, and the loss of daily normality.”
Wearing a mask, she explains, has become a “symbol and a tool of protection and solidarity”—even if research proving their efficacy is lacking. “Mask wearing is not always a medical decision for many people, but bound up in sociocultural practice,” she adds.
The social pressures of wearing a mask (or not)
But Man and others in the West are finding that wearing a masks represents can also draw unwanted attention, and even make them targets. Even as COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have surged to more than 1,300 (Hong Kong currently has 129 confirmed cases, about 100 fewer than the New York area), Man says about a quarter of her friends from Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea won’t wear masks over concerns aboutracism and xenophobiathat has risen with the virus.
And while most people in Hong Kong are masked up, there are outliers. Andy Chan, 29, says he thinks city-wide mask-wearing is fueling unnecessary panic.
“People look at me funny because I don’t wear a mask,” Chan says. “But I think the only thing that’s laughable is everyone buying into this excessive fear. People are being led by emotion, not science.”
Still, Charlotte Ho, a 55-year-old stay-at-home mother in Hong Kong, represents the majority view. She says she wouldn’t even leave her building to buy groceries without a mask.If she sees somebody not wearing a mask, she says she would stay away—”just in case.”
“Wearing a face mask is just common sense. It creates a barrier, so nothing can touch your nose and mouth. Why wouldn’t I wear a face mask?” Says Ho.
from Health – TIME https://ift.tt/2xxyjcn
How Right-Wing Pundits Are Covering Coronavirus
Conservative media stars aren’t worried. Neither is President Trump. Health https://ift.tt/2Q9F3DP
Coronavirus Has Caused a Hand Sanitizer Shortage. What Should You Do?
Using hand sanitizer helps prevent the spread of coronavirus. So what do you do when it’s sold out? Health https://ift.tt/39LNzR5
How U.S. Hospitals Are Preparing for the Coronavirus Outbreak
With the number of reported Covid-19 cases rising, health care facilities are moving to treat an influx of patients and to secure protective equipment for staff members. Health https://ift.tt/2xqg4FC
What Does the Coronavirus Do to the Body?
Here’s what scientists have learned about how the new virus infects and attacks cells and how it can affect organs beyond the lungs. Health https://ift.tt/2IEcdqW
Should You Track Sleep?
Tracking certain things makes sense, if you go for that sort of thing. Tracking step count is hard without a device. No one’s going to count every step they take in their head. You’d quickly go mad doing that. Same with pulse rate and heart rate variability—you could count the number of beats for 30 seconds and double it to get BPM, but that gets unwieldy after awhile and HRV requires a special device. But tracking sleep? On the surface, sleep tracking seems futile and pointless. If there’s anything you should know intuitively without having to measure, it should be whether or not you got a good night’s sleep. You wake up and see how you feel.
Are you groggy? Irritable? Did you just crack an egg into the coffee maker, brush your teeth with light roast beans, kiss your dog good morning and let your spouse out to pee? You probably didn’t sleep very well.
Are you rested? Full of vim and vigor? Can you perform basic bodily functions without requiring a mug of coffee first thing? You probably slept fine.
Many people are fine with that much information. I’m one of them, actually. If I slept well, I slept well. But the argument for sleep tracking is more nuanced than that. It’s not just about knowing how well you sleep from night to night (which you can usually tell just from how you feel).
It’s about tracking how your daily actions, behaviors, exercise patterns, light exposure, food timing, and alcohol intake correlate with the quality of your sleep using actual numbers.
It’s about identifying the amount of deep sleep, REM sleep, and non-REM sleep you’re getting every night—and then using that information to make necessary changes.
Yes, with accurate sleep tracking, a person can do lots of things:
You can run experiments.
If you think something you’re doing, eating, taking, or implementing might be affecting your sleep, you can test it out. Eat the food/have the meal at said time/take the supplement/do the workout/etc. and track how you sleep. Remove the stimulus and track sleep again. What happened?
You can reinforce better behavior.
Sometimes it’s not about the accuracy of the device or the specific features of the device. It’s the simple act of measuring your sleep, thinking about your sleep, focusing on your sleep that compels you to get serious. It’s forking over a few hundred bucks on a sleep tracking device that finally gets you committed to a consistent sleep schedule. It’s the sunk cost of both attention and money.
You can discover triggers you weren’t even looking for.
When I asked people on Twitter about their biggest takeaways from using sleep tracking devices, one of the most popular answers was discovering a behavior, food, or exercise pattern that was hurting their sleep. Some named alcohol after 6p.m. Some named eating too large a meal after dark. Others mentioned too much exercise, or too little. The point is that people were using these devices to learn something about their own bodies. About what made them tick. They were gaining actionable information.
If you don’t have a strong intuitive relationship with your sleep, you can learn to develop it.
Many people have lost touch with their bodies. Using accurate trackers (like sleep trackers) can provide solid data that you can use to “sync up” with your subconscious intuition. Biofeedback can really help you become more intuitive, a better “body listener.”
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. That’s assuming the device you’re using is accurate. Are they?
A 2017 paper compared the accuracy of an OURA Ring to traditional polysomnography (the gold standard for tracking sleep cycles, waking, and sleep time) in a group of teens and adults.
The OURA ring was pretty good at tracking total sleep time (87.8% accuracy) and waking after sleep onset time (85.4% accuracy).
It faltered when tracking light sleep (65% accuracy), deep sleep (51% accuracy), and REM sleep (61% accuracy).
Overall, it’s good as a total sleep time tracker, but not as impressive as a sleep cycle tracker.
In teens, researchers compared the accuracy of a FitBit Alta HR and a Philips Respironics ActiWatch2 (two wrist wearables) to traditional polysomnography. Both consumer devices were accurate in tracking sleep duration but not sleep staging, which, “would benefit from further refinement before these methods can be reliably used for adolescents.”
In adults, the FitBit Charge 2 was compared to polysomnography. The FitBit:
Showed 96% accuracy to detect sleep, 61% accuracy to detect wake, 81% accuracy in detecting light sleep, 49% accuracy in detecting deep sleep, and 74% accuracy in detecting REM sleep.
Overestimated total sleep time by 9 minutes and light sleep by 34 minutes, and underestimated deep sleep sleep by 24 minutes.
Accurately estimated REM sleep duration.
Another study had similar findings, concluding that commercial sleep trackers are good enough for tracking sleep time and time in bed.
Some of these devices track more than just sleep duration and cycles (however accurately). For instance, the OURA ring also has a body temperature sensor, a heart rate variability monitor, and a heart rate tracker because all three biomarkers—body temp, HRV, and HR—can give insight into how a person is sleeping. Are they accurate?
According to a recent study in women, the OURA Ring could detect menstrual shifts with 72–86% accuracy and ovulation periods with 83% accuracy by using nocturnal body temperature readings.
A newish wrist wearable called WHOOP was recently tested against polysomnography and actually did quite well:
It tracked deep sleep with 85% accuracy and REM sleep with 74% accuracy.
It got breathing rate within 1 breath per minute and pulse rate within 1 BPM of reality.
Plus, the adults using WHOOP reported improved sleep quality.
There are definitely problems with most of the current devices. They’re not as accurate as medical trackers. They rarely muster up to polysomnography. But they’re good for tracking overall sleep duration, and they’re getting better at tracking sleep stages. I imagine at some point in the near future we’ll have consumer devices that rival the medical ones.
And some of the newer ones, like the OURA Ring and WHOOP, can also track respiration rate and heart rate variability, which give insight into not just how you’re sleeping but also general preparedness and stress tolerance. I’ve explained the merits of HRV in the past, and although I’m not a devoted HRV-tracker, I recognize its usefulness. If I were an athlete again, I’d get a lot of use out of tracking my heart rate variability and having a “readiness” number waiting for me upon waking.
But overall, I’m not sold on their necessity.
Imagine this: You get the newest, bestest tracker to finally figure out what makes a good night’s sleep. Except things get weird.
On the days you feel exhausted, your tracker reports the previous night’s sleep as having been exemplary.
On the days you feel rested, your tracker reports poor sleep.
Who are you going to believe? The tracker or your own experience?
This mismatch can throw off your ability to derive value and insight from the device. On the day you feel exhausted but should be rested according to the tracker, you ate a large meal at night with a glass of wine. On the day you feel rested but should be exhausted according to the tracker, you ate a small supper and had sparkling water instead of wine. Which nighttime routine will you pursue? Will you trust the numbers of your own intuition?
How you respond to this disagreement—who or what you believe—will have major ramifications for the rest of your day.
If you feel rested but the tracker says you slept terribly, you just might be inclined to believe the tracker. Do that often enough and you could become conditioned to feel dissatisfied with “good sleep.” You could nocebo yourself out of appreciating a good night’s sleep, or worse.
In one sleep study, what the researchers told participants about the quality of the sleep they’d had the night before had a greater influence on cognitive performance than how they actually slept. If they slept well but were told they slept poorly, they performed poorly. If they slept poorly but were told they slept well, they performed better.
Or—and I’ve seen this happen—you could become wedded to the numbers. That if you’re not able to track and validate a good night’s sleep and post the results to your Instagram account, it didn’t happen. I’ve heard from people who end up waking up in the middle of the night, stressing out over the quality of their sleep. Will the dog waking me up to go pee show up in next morning’s report and ruin my record for the week?
I have my leanings. As I said earlier, if I were a competitive athlete again, I’d probably be more inclined to give a sleep tracker a shot, especially if it had great accuracy and HRV capability. But this isn’t about me. It’s about what’s right for you.
Are you an intuitive who likes to feel things out and go with the flow, listen to your body?
Are you a number-cruncher who likes quantifying as much of the human experience as possible?
Most of us are a mix of both. It all depends on you—what makes you tick, what gets you going, what your goals are.
So, tell me, folks: Do you use a sleep tracker?
What do you get out of it?
What don’t you like?
Can you recommend any specific devices or apps?
Sell me on it. Or do the opposite. Make your case!
Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care and be well.
“I’ll start eating healthy again on Monday.”
Tracking certain things makes sense, if you go for that sort of thing. Tracking step count is hard without a device. No one’s going to count every step they take in their head. You’d quickly go mad doing that. Same with pulse rate and 
compared with polysomnography in adults
Posts
