Archives for May 2021

Hello everyone: Premature deaths in the United States from drugs, alcohol and obesity-related causes became a public health crisis that set the stage for COVID-19 challenges, a new report finds. Yet there is scant attention paid to the fact that the vast majority of severe Covid illnesses and deaths are related to these well-known co-morbidities. A co-morbidity is the simultaneous presence of one or more chronic diseases. We all know that those that are the most vulnerable have these chronic health conditions, such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, drug problems, alcohol issues, and that these public-health crises existed before the pandemic and continue to be a major driver. Not only that, these same conditions are also resulting in a slow erosion of life-expectancy in the U.S. And it is this background of chronic illness and disease that is itself a pandemic in our ... Read more

Hello everyone: According to new research, about one-third of post-Covid infection cases report a new neuropsychiatric diagnosis within 6 months of the initial infection. It did not seem related to how mild or severe the infections were as the risks were raised in both the hospitalized and non-hospitalized groups with the hospitalized group showing greater incidence of problems. Furthermore, many did not have any prior history of neuropsychiatric issues such as anxiety or depression mood disorders. About one in 8 had no previous history, however, 7 out of 8 did have an issue with mood disorders before getting Covid-19. The most common diagnosis was anxiety plus the illness seemed to aggravate or progress other conditions like cognitive decline and dementia. This group also included stroke and other neurologic disorders. Additionally, the presence of co-morbidities was strongly ... Read more

Hello again everyone: Sadly, the predominant narrative that is being broadcast everywhere seems to almost completely ignore what we can do to protect ourselves against any type of infection both now and for the future. This is sad because we know that the vast majority of those getting severe Covid related illness and/or death have at least 1 to 5 co-morbidities. It is also known that about 80% of those co-morbidities are diet related and can be improved with simple and direct lifestyle upgrades. Furthermore, this is not a secret and is well documented in the research literature. What surprises me every day is that I meet people who are not optimally well and have multiple co-morbidities (the simultaneous presence of 1 or more chronic conditions or diseases) and over the past year, no one has mentioned to them that it might be an absolutely fabulous idea if we all used this ... Read more

Hello everyone: Every day I look at the results of lab tests that I have ordered here for patients, and every day I find most of us are actually very low in Vitamin D. I would have hoped that by now the word would have gotten out that everyone should be taking Vitamin D as a part or component of their overall strategies to build immune strength and resiliency. It is still important to understand that Vitamin D is considered adjunctive care and not primary care. However, it is without question that adjunctive therapies can assist primary care therapies and should be a part of our total efforts. For a great perspective, take a look at this review paper (1) and some of the highlights: “As the world's attention has been riveted upon the growing COVID-19 pandemic, many researchers have written brief reports supporting the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency is related to the ... Read more