Tag Archive: COVID-19

Covid, Acute, Long, Women and Work

Posted on 18 March 2021 by Michael Ash in News

As the roll out of vaccination and the staged end of lockdown appear to be coalescing into a shift in planning and return to work, there are numerous questions and challenges to be answered and resolved.

The Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome (Long COVID)

First and foremost, is that emerging data suggests that the effects of infection with SARS-CoV-2 are far reaching, extending beyond those with severe acute disease. Specifically, the presence of persistent symptoms after apparent resolution from COVID-19 have frequently been reported throughout the pandemic by individuals variously labelled as “long-haulers and long Covid sufferers”. Incredibly, some evidence is indicating that between as many as 10-30% of survivors of Covid-19 say they still experience symptoms. Just reviewing the implications of this sheer number implies that a review of the mechanisms and treatments is urgently required as this is likely to be a significant drain on health care resource. In the UK in February 2021 a small financial sum of £18.5million has been awarded for 4 research studies. Read the rest of this entry »

Is A Post Covid-19 Re-Set Something We Can Progress?

Posted on 03 March 2021 by Michael Ash in News

It may be helpful to view the last 12 months from a broad historical perspective for us to see the way forward from this pandemic. At this stage, many people strongly believe that the terrible toll it has taken demonstrates humanity’s helplessness in the face of nature’s might. But taken on review, 2020 has shown that humanity is far from helpless. Science has demonstrated, that given time the events of a pandemic induced crisis can be managed, even if political oversight/skill has been found wanting. One reason for the gap between scientific success and political failure is that scientists co-operate globally, whereas politicians tended to feud, and ideological beliefs compound strategic implementation. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaccine and wild type immune preparedness

Posted on 17 February 2021 by Michael Ash in News

Ayurvedic proverb:

“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need.”

The shift in messaging since the allocated timeline for 15m vaccinations was achieved in the UK, is a fascinating process of dialogue and development. One can imagine that numerous pressures are being experienced from scientists, physicians, economists, business owners and us as to how to look ahead and to present a changing landscape of risk analysis.

Back in the reality of what we can each do to ensure resilience in the face of exposure and or recovery from Sars-Cov-2 (and its variants) the key message is still being stifled. Non pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) remain an important part of transmission risk reduction. However, outside of the familiar refrains, relatively little, to non-existent discussions are directed towards nutrition and lifestyle imperatives. There are many explanations and accusations as to why, but the reality is probably far less menacing than some would like us to believe. Read the rest of this entry »

Belief or Not in Science and By Circumstance Sars-Cov-2 and Related Suggested Management

Posted on 21 January 2021 by Michael Ash in News

In the late 1650’s, the French polymath and renowned scientist Blaise Pascal, having undergone a religious experience that transformed him into something of a zealot, suggested the following logical strategy regarding belief in God: If there is a God, then believing in him will ensure you an eternity of bliss, while not believing in him could earn you an eternal sentence to misery.

On the other hand, if there is no God, believing in him anyway will cost you very little, and not believing in him will mean nothing in the non-existent after life. Therefore, the only sensible bet is to believe in God. This has come to be known as Pascal’s Wager.

The wager has a surprising number of applications beyond concerns for a comfortable afterlife. There are many things for which the value of believing something or not can be utilised as a ‘cost-versus-likely-benefit’ wager, often without regard to the actual truth of the matter.

Since science does not profess to have a final truth, and in many areas freely admits its incomplete knowledge, Pascal’s wager can provide a useful method of deciding between two alternatives. In this article it is the validity of the Sars-Cov-2 virus as a causative agent of global illness and the benefit or not of two of the most common non-pharmacological strategies and lifestyle proposals for its related management. Read the rest of this entry »

Long COVID-19

Posted on 03 December 2020 by Michael Ash in News

As we progress towards a staged release of constraint on movement, interaction and social engagement, there are quite naturally discussions about the potential impact and risk of increased exposure.

Mortality rates have dominated discussions, so far, the global death toll of Covid-19 is estimated at 1.4m. Deaths are now running at a little under 10,000 a day or about 3.5m a year. If this were maintained, cumulative deaths over the first two years might reach close to 5m, or just over 0.06 per cent of the global population. To put this in context, the Spanish flu, which emerged in 1918, lasted 26 months and cost somewhere between 17m and 100m lives, or between 1 and 6 per cent of the then global population. However, as feedback from infected people who survive builds, there is a growing appreciation for the impact of post infectious morbidity, duration and intensity.

Substantial long-term morbidity is at least possible, as the Sars Cov-2 virus enters pulmonary and brain tissue and causes cardiac dysfunction. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaccine Preparedness

Posted on 19 November 2020 by Michael Ash in News

On the 9^th November 2020 promising results from a vaccine candidate against Covid-19 were announced by Pfizer and its partner, the German company, BioNTech. They stated that their candidate vaccine (BNT162b2 (modRNA)) was “more than 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants”.

Whilst there have been substantive funds poured into vaccine development in the UK, EU and USA, Pfizer were quick to clarify that they funded the research with their partner independent of governments’ support. In July, Pfizer negotiated a $1.95 billion deal with the US government’s Operation Warp Speed, the multiagency effort to rush a vaccine to market, to deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine. The arrangement is an advance-purchase agreement, meaning that the company will not be paid until they deliver the vaccines. Delivery itself appears to be a significant challenge as the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

A week later, the 16^th November, Moderna presented similarly promising preliminary results. Moderna recruited 30,000 volunteers across the United States to participate in its trial. A quarter of the participants are 65 years or older. White people make up 63 percent of the volunteers; 20 percent are Hispanic; 10 percent are Black; and 4 percent are Asian Americans. The United States government provided $1 billion in support for the design and testing of the Moderna vaccine and an additional $1.5 billion in exchange for 100 million doses if the vaccine proved to be safe and effective. They have proposed that theirs requires less stringent temperature controls. Read the rest of this entry »

A Common Theme in Metabolic Syndrome And Covid-19 – Behaviour Change

Posted on 02 July 2020 by Michael Ash in News

Few will have missed the photograph of Boris Johnson this week (June 29^th, 2020), allegedly performing push ups in No 10. Ostensibly demonstrating his intent to modify his body shape considering his well-publicised experience of the symptomatic response to Sars-Cov-2 infecting many of his cells.

Prior to this, a number of  the established newspapers also heavily indicated that there was going to be a top down approach to steer people away from practices that foments weight gain, to weight management and where appropriate loss and a healthier lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »