My name is Rick Davis. This summer, I interned remotely for Medivizor from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am a sophomore studying finance and economic consulting at Indiana University. As much as the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted my life, its impact was not fully realized until a member of my household tested positive for the virus. My father...
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Most people are taking statins to lower their cholesterol, right? It’s about reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke. Well, now there is some recent research that finds an association between taking statins and survival of a colorectal cancer diagnosis. This research is a review of almost 30,000 medical records from the National Veterans...
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Recent research presented at a virtual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 1 indicates the need for greater care and continued social distancing for those who are in treatment for cancer and – in one study that was presented – those who have a recent history of cancer (the research looked at people from 2015 to the...
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We are surrounded by glass but most people don’t know the first thing about it. Glass is a strange substance: It is partly a solid and partly a liquid. What does this mean? The atoms of solids are packed close together. If they are crystalline, they are in regular, repeating patterns. The atoms in liquids are not in a regular pattern and move...
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The protrusions on the Coronavirus are a group of three “S” proteins also call “Spike” proteins. These proteins bind to ACE2 receptors on the membranes of cells in the body. This has been a target of many of the over 120 vaccines that have been in production since the pandemic began. A recent intermediary report on one of the...
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What is hypoxia? When you find out you will wonder why anyone would called it “happy”? Hypoxia is low blood oxygen levels. When your lungs are healthy they keep the body and your blood saturated with oxygen. Your pulse oximeter reading would be 95-100%. However, if your pulse oximeter readings are lower than 90%, it is time to...
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The Pew Research Center released findings of a survey on mask wearing in the United States. Who could have guessed that wearing a mask to prevent illness would be made into a political issue? In answer to the question, “In the past month, how often, if ever, have you worn a mask or face covering when in stores or other businesses?” where...
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One of the causes of death for those infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) is an immunological phenomenon. As you can see from the image below, this occurs in phase 3. See Reference 1 Image simplified from reference. A phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-center clinical trial to assess the efficacy and safety of Ruxolitinib...
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My mother was an ob-gyn who, after spending many year raising her daughters, returned to medicine in the capacity of a quality assurance medical director at a local hospital. In that work, one of her main concerns was reducing the number of patients that developed decubiti, or bedsores. Bedsores occur when a patient cannot move themselves and lay on the...
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There are many states in the US that are reopening, some in a phased manner, others have just opened everything. On May 18, Massachusetts’ government unveiled a plan that stated that true “normalcy” would not really be attained until there was a treatment or vaccine. At the time of the report, there were over 86,000 confirmed cases....
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You may not realize it but your diabetes medication, metformin extended release, has been recalled. One of the places to look for information on recalls of medications is the Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page on the FDA website. The recall, on May 28, is for Metformin Hydrochloride Extended-Release Tablets, USP 500mg by a...
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When Heidi Larson worked for UNICEF as an anthropologist, much of her time was spent ferreting out the rumors that influence public opinion. In 2003, she went to Northern Nigeria where political and religious leaders had decided to stop supporting the vaccination of children against polio. They told parents that the vaccines were contaminated with...
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