New antidepressants can lift depression and suicidal thoughts fast, but don’t expect magic cures
There's no such thing as a miracle drug.
What does kindness look like? It wears a mask.
Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling has an important favor to ask of the American people.
- Michael Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health, the largest health care system in New York state. In this PSA, speaking as someone whose company has seen more COVID-19 patients than any other in the country, Dowling implores Americans to wear masks—not only for their own health, but for the health of those around them.
- The CDC reports that there have been close to 7.9 million cases of coronavirus reported in the United States since January. Around 216,000 people have died from the virus so far with hundreds more added to the tally every day. Several labs around the world are working on solutions, but there is currently no vaccine for COVID-19.
- The most basic thing that everyone can do to help slow the spread is to practice social distancing, wash your hands, and to wear a mask. The CDC recommends that everyone ages two and up wear a mask that is two or more layers of material and that covers the nose, mouth, and chin. Gaiters and face shields have been shown to be less effective at blocking droplets. Homemade face coverings are acceptable, but wearers should make sure they are constructed out of the proper materials and that they are washed between uses. Wearing a mask is the most important thing you can do to save lives in your community.
'I hope he doesn't feel too lonely' — COVID-19 hits people with intellectual disabilities hard
Prior to COVID-19, 45% of people with intellectual disabilities reported feeling lonely.
My brother was supposed to move into his first "independent" home in mid-March. In his late 20s, and a person with an intellectual disability, he had finally gathered up the courage and the will to move out of our family home and live in a group home.
Is COVID-19 really any worse than normal seasonal flu?
Answer: You don't want to get either.
- Many are suggesting coronavirus is just flu-season business as usual. It's not.
- No sensible comparison can be made anyway, for a few reasons.
- The one that's less bad — whichever that is — can still kill you.
Here’s why we can’t know which is worse
<p>There are some fundamental differences between the statistics available on seasonal flu and COVID-19, and they make a direct comparison impossible.</p><ul><li>Seasonal flu is an annual phenomenon (even though strains change). There's lots of multi-year data on rates of infection and mortality in the hands of numerous national health authorities. COVID-19, on the other hand, has been around for only about two months, and most of the available data comes from just one country, China, where it first emerged.</li><li>Related to this is that it's impossible to calculate the spread of COVID-19 from such a limited amount of data, both in terms of time and geography. The disease is now apparently racing around the globe outside China, but how fast will it circulate and what will be its final infection rate? It's impossible to know. </li><li>There are remedies and vaccines for seasonal flu strains — neither exist for COVID-19. While existing therapies are being tested for their efficacy against coronavirus, no silver bullet has yet been found and there's no way to know when/if one will. Hilary Marston, a medical officer and policy advisor at the <a href="https://www.niaid.nih.gov" target="_blank">National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases</a> says of a coronavirus vaccine, "If everything moves as quickly as possible, the soonest that it could possibly be is about one-and-a-half to two years. That still might be very optimistic." This makes a comparison of the death rates between seasonal flu and COVID-19 unfair.</li></ul><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg0MzMzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDg2MjY1N30.N6M3YZvw1ViY1XoV-nnpH3vlv4gxu5Xbr-bBLYhVB_o/img.jpg?width=980" id="37c3e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cb393555f4de618c5a834e58569e8362" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1440" data-height="960" />Image source: Brynjar Gunnarsson/Shutterstock
Things people are saying, and what's real
<p><strong>You're more likely to get the seasonal flu.</strong></p><p>Um, maybe, <em>at the moment.</em> Be aware that COVID-19 is being found in new areas pretty much every day. Harvard epidemiologist Mark Lipstich says, "I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable." </p><p>On top of that, we don't know how <em>fast</em> it will spread in the wild. If it continues to travel at the rate it has in the last two months, hoo boy. However, contagion doesn't usually remain linear. So it could get better. Or worse. Will seasons affect it? Proper sanitation? Other factors? With only two months of data, we can't possibly know, but Lipstich predicts 40% to 70% of us will get it.</p><p><strong>COVID-19 is 20 times more deadly than seasonal flu.</strong></p><p>Sorry. It's likely a lot worse than that. Last week, COVID-19's mortality rate was thought to be 2.3%. Now it's considered to be 3.4%, or .034 of the total number of infections. The CDC estimates the seasonal flu mortality rate this year is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm" target="_blank">.001%</a> — the number of deaths divided by the number of total infections. So, as of March 4, the latest figure for COVID-19's mortality rate is <em>34 times greater</em> than seasonal flu, nearly double what you've been hearing.</p><p>Of course, the lack of effective treatment is a key factor in COVID-19's mortality rate. When/if one is identified, that rate will go down.</p><p><strong>Most people get through COVID-19 just fine.</strong></p><p>This is true, However, while in one sense it's great that the vast majority of people who contract COVID-19 get over it easily, it also means that a lot of people have the coronavirus without realizing it and are continuing to spread the infection. In stark — and tragic — contrast, one of the reasons Ebola eventually stopped infecting people was that most of its victims typically died before they could spread the disease. COVID-19, on the other hand, can travel quite invisibly far and wide before being recognized.</p><p>Epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo tells <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/northern-californian-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-in-first-us-case-with-no-link-to-foreign-travel/2020/02/26/b2088840-58fb-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html" target="_blank"><em>The Washington Post</em></a> that the recent U.S. diagnoses confirm "what we have long suspected — that there is a good chance there already are people infected in this country and that the virus is circulating undetected. It points to the need for expanded surveillance so we know how many more are out there and how to respond. It's also likely that person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in the United States."</p><p><strong>BONUS: You should stop drinking Corona beer to avoid/protest COVID-19.</strong></p><p>Seriously, no.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjg0MzM0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDYyOTAwMX0.tZrJ-q7xwTDm2vrQvUcqvE1KOUhpnDBDxVF3KPxv3TE/img.jpg?width=980" id="e9322" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f128203dccc1484b5c51c684c577367" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1440" data-height="1018" />Image source: DenisMArt/Shutterstock
So stop comparing and just be safe
<p>Regardless of which disease is worse, they're both potentially dangerous, so be safe and follow safety guidelines. Take hand-washing seriously: Rub your hands together with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. (Sing the alphabet at a moderate speed and you'll be about right.)</p><p>As for the question "How worried should I be about Coronavirus?" We'll let Oliver have the last word: "A bit."</p>Health care should be a basic human right in America, says Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon recently criticized the state of the U.S. healthcare system as part of his work with The Elders, an international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.
- Ki-moon served as secretary general for the United Nations from 2007 to the end of 2016.
- He said special interests are blocking the American government from pursuing universal healthcare.
- 30 million Americans are not covered by insurance. A 2018 poll shows that more than half of Americans would support a single-payer healthcare plan.
A snapshot of the U.S. healthcare system
<p style="">The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, even though, as Ban mentioned, some 12.2% percent of American adults <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-health-insurance-survey-20180116-story.html" target="_blank">lacked health insurance at the end of 2017</a>, up from 10.9% at the close of 2016. According to 2016 data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:</p><ul> <li>The U.S. spent $3.3 trillion, or $10,348 per person, on healthcare.</li><li>Healthcare spending accounts for about 18% of U.S. GDP.</li><li>Americans spent about $1.1 trillion on private health insurance and $328.6 billion on retail prescription drugs.</li></ul><p><img src="https://assets.rbl.ms/18657636/980x.png"></p>Corporate interests inhibit quality of life in America
<p style="">Ban told <em>The Guardian</em> that the sectoral interests of pharmaceutical companies and hospitals "inhibit the American government" and prevent it from working toward universal health coverage.<br></p><p>"Here, the political interest groups are so, so powerful... Even president, Congress, senators and representatives of the House, they cannot do much so they are easily influenced by these special interest groups," adding that he hopes some progressive states pave the way for publicly financed healthcare.</p><p>"It will be either California or New York who will introduce this system," he said. "Then I think there will be many more states who will try to follow suit. I think that's an encouraging phenomenon we see."</p>Do Americans want single-payer healthcare?
<p>In recent years, there have been growing calls from the left and from some progressive politicians to implement <a href="https://bigthink.com/brandon-weber/new-study-claims-medicare-for-all-would-ruin-the-usa-financially-ummm" target="_blank">Medicare For All</a>, a single-payer plan that would guarantee <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/single-payer-healthcare-pluses-minuses-means-201606279835" target="_blank">health insurance and necessary healthcare to all Americans</a>. And while most Democratic lawmakers have shown mixed feelings about pursuing a single-payer plan, a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2018/04/12/National-Politics/Polling/release_517.xml?" target="_blank">Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation</a> poll from February showed that 51 percent of Americans would support a single-payer plan.</p><p>However, passing such legislation remains virtually impossible as long as both chambers of Congress are controlled by Republicans, many of whom not only oppose Medicare For All outright but also have tried to chip away at the less expansive Affordable Care Act.</p>