Category: Vaccinations

Diagnosis: Diabetes

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Diagnosis: Diabetes

A diagnosis of diabetes can be a scary thing, but with life-style changes the condition can be improved, or even reversed. Patients do not need to face years of fear, guilt, and drugs.

Diabetes is a scary diagnosis. Make some life style changes and change the prognosis.

Diagnosis: Diabetes

By D.S. Mitchell

A Public Health Emergency

One in ten Americans is living with Type 2 diabetes; that’s approximately 38 millions people. Some might call that a public health emergency. With diabetes comes other life altering diseases; cardio-vascular disease, kidney failure (dialysis), stroke, neuropathy, blindness, and lower limb amputation.

Medical Treatment

Many diagnosed diabetics are on high doses of injectable insulin and multiple oral anti-diabetic medications. Insulin is a hormone that transports sugar out of the blood and into the body’s cells. With diabetes the body can’t manufacture the hormone (Type 1-sometimes called childhood diabetes) or the more common Type 2 diabetes, where the body becomes resistant to insulin’s effects. In both cases, insulin injections are the standard fallback treatment.

Change Your Tactics

It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of accepting the “inevitable” some patients decide to implement strategic behavioral tactics that have shown to improve the condition and even reverse it. Said more simply, if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you can turn it around. What follows are seven behaviors that can make a difference in your life and your battle with diabetes.

  1. Lose Weight: Do not under estimate the impact of gaining, (or losing), even a few pounds. The physiology of diabetes causes the body to ineffectively regulate blood sugar levels because at the heart of diabetes is “insulin resistance.” With insulin resistance the pancreas is forced to manufacture more and more insulin in an effort to transport sugar from the blood to the cells. What is often misunderstood is that insulin whether manufactured in the body or taken as a medication promotes fat storage and weight gain. It becomes a vicious circle, gain a few pounds and the weight gain will force the body to produce more insulin which in turn causes more weight gain-and so it goes. The good news, however, is that even a 10% weight loss can improve insulin sensitivity by 60%.
  2. Keep Up Your Fluid Intake: Hydration is a pretty big deal, don’t ignore it. With dehydration comes a concentration of sugar in the blood.  Studies show that patients who drink less than a half liter of water per day increased their risk of elevated blood sugar compared with those who drank more. Water, milk, herbal tea all work. Caution for coffee lovers; caffeine is dehydrating, limit the intake to a maximum of three cups per day.
  3. Stay Vaccinated: Many believe that COVID is behind us. Well, for folks with immune suppression, over the age of sixty, obesity, and diabetes the threat remains serious. In fact, studies indicate that COVID damages the pancreas and causes system wide inflammation, which in turn increases insulin resistance. New studies link COVID to new cases of diabetes. If you are in one of the high risk groups get vaccinated and stay boosted. Vaccinations lead to milder cases of the disease which should indirectly result in decreased COVID impact on pre-existing diabetics.
  4. Increase Protein Intake: Protein at every meal, not just dinner. Protein maintains muscle and contributes to blood sugar regulation. Fill your plate with fish, white meat chicken, lean cuts of beef and plant based protein sources such as beans, nuts, quinoa.
  5. Bite-sized Bits of Activity: “Exercise snacking” means spreading short bursts of activity throughout the day. A fifteen minute walk, two or three times per day, may do more to help control blood sugar than one long workout. Remember the 10,000 steps recommendation? In that study there was a link between exercise and improved diabetes control. The goal is to mix various types of exercise. Schedule exercise periods for yourself each day. You might start the day with a fifteen minutes block of strength training, using weights, resistance bands and body-weight moves. Mid-morning do fifteen minutes of aerobic activity such as fast walking, swimming, jogging, or tennis. After lunch try fifteen minutes of stretching which improves joint flexibility, balance, and reduces chances of injury.
  6. Read Labels: Do not focus on sugars, but rather read labels for the “Total Carbohydrate.” This term incorporates both naturally occurring sugars and those added. Women should aim for 30-45 grams of total carbs per meal, and men 60 to 75. A typical reaction after hearing a diabetes diagnosis is to eliminate sugar and carbs. Such behavior can result in nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and dangerously low blood sugars. Consider talking to a Registered Dietitian and setting up a realistic eating plan. Many insurance plans pay for such training. Ignorance is not helpful, your quality of life depends on understanding how you can best help yourself.
  7. Finally: Losing weight, changing eating patterns, and exercising, are things that a newly diagnosed diabetic, or a long time diagnosed diabetic can do to reverse the disease. However, even with all those interventions, there may still be times when insulin and other diabetic medications have a role to play. Pregnancy is such a situation. Pregnancy frequently elevates the expectant mom’s typical blood sugars, just proving insulin has a secure place in the treatment of diabetes.

 

3 Gremlins Facing Health Care In The U.S.

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3 Gremlins Facing Health Care In The U.S.

Americans are taking too many prescription meds

3 Gremlins Facing Health Care In The U.S.

By D. S. Mitchell

On The Front Line

Writing for www.CalamityPolitics.com allows me a grass root platform to discuss health care, and every other area of our political spectrum, for that matter. It does not give me the right to say anything I want about the issues. With that said, I have ground level experience in health care. Because of that experience and exposure to trench warfare in hospital health care I have strong opinions. Client care and results need to be discussed and evaluated for effectiveness. I have a passionate interest in health care, and in this area, I believe my street level experience gives me the right to discuss the issues. Bringing common sense thinking to health care should always be welcomed. I am an RN, and have worked for 38 years in hospitals in Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada.

The Sickest

My two primary areas of specialty are Crisis Psychiatry and Cardiac Intensive Care. Whether the issues are mental, behavioral, or cardiac emergency, many of the issues facing the caregiver, and the client are the same. Despite the obvious differences in the front line needs of the clients, both of these populations are often the sickest in the hospital. One thing I know, is that the health of the American citizen should not be decided by a politician in Washington, D.C. Sadly, that’s where this battle always shows its ugly underbelly.

Gremlin 1: Big Pharma

Suitcases Of Medications

For the first twenty-five years of my career, when I admitted a patient that came to the unit with a suitcase of medications, I believed it was because they were incredibly ill. Like physicians I had been trained to believe in  pharmaceuticals.  Once I was an old nurse, my thinking transformed into, the patient is sick because they are taking so many prescribed medications. I can hear the protests from the audience now. Don’t believe me, just read the labels. These are chemicals and they are toxic and poisonous.

Side Effects

Truthfully, every pill has the potential to cause side effects, some known and some unknown.   When a person complains to his doctor that he is uncomfortable due to the side effects of the medication he is taking, his doctor writes him another prescription to help deal with the side effects.  The patient has pain so his doctor writes him a prescription for an analgesic. When he complains that the pain medication makes him constipated, he is given a prescription.  You can see where this is headed, right?

Advertising Medications

In America, television is the best friend of the pharmaceutical industry.  Constant television marketing has convinced viewers that there is a pill that will fix anything and everything. Unfortunately, many Americans now believe that there is a pill that will make everything in their life better.  Health care policy makers need to take this issue very seriously. I realize drug manufacturers want to make a profit, but I also believe constant repetition creates a need that previously did not exist.

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OPINION: Anti-“Reasons” From Anti-Vaxxers

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OPINION:

Anti- “Reasons” From Anti-Vaxxers

OPINION:

Anti- “Reasons” From Anti-Vaxxers

Editor: This is a reminder to get vaxxed.  It’s importance for us as a nation to increase our vaccination level. We’re doing good, but we can and need to do just a bit better. So, here again, for those who missed the message, Anna and Wes Hessel’s take on COVID anti-vaxxers.

 

By Anna Hessel with Wes Hessel

 

To Vaxx or Not to Vaxx, That Shouldn’t Be A Question

I admit I had qualms about the COVID-19 vaccine when it first came out.  I am an anaphylactic, and side effects concerned me, but shortly after the vaccines became available, I talked to trusted friends and medical professionals, did some research, and then did the right thing by getting vaccinated.  My spouse and myself are fully Pfizer vaccinated. We’ve had our first booster, and are planning on having the second booster because we are both over 50.  We are both happily vaxxed and proud to show our vaccine cards as proof that we took a stand against this deadly virus.  Some of the worst excuses for refusing to get vaccinated follow:

Unsafe “Shortcuts”

  1. “I would rather take a horse de-wormer,” a product not intended for humans – this speaks for itself.
  2. “I would rather drink bleach” – this is toxic and has never been proven to prevent COVID. When President Biden was campaigning, he made a comment that he couldn’t believe he had to say it but, “Don’t drink bleach”.

But It Will…No, It Won’t

  1. “The vaccine will make me infertile.” Then why are fully vaccinated women getting pregnant?
  2. “There are side effects.” I will admit, I was very afraid of side effects when the vaccine first came out. I, however, did the right thing and got my two shot Pfizer vaccine along with my spouse, and got my booster, too.  My side effects were minimal, even having more than one autoimmune disease, and I not only protected myself with the shots but am helping to protect others from getting COVID-19.  Some minor symptoms are much better than in a hospital on a ventilator, having a tracheotomy, or worse.  Getting the vaccine is the right thing to do.
  3. “There will be sudden serious side effects years down the road.” There is no proof of this, and it is paranoid to think this.  If there were horrific side effects, they would have shown up by now.  The COVID vaccines have been repeatedly tested for safety.  Those of us who are vaccinated have not grown a tail or get radio frequency in our arms.

Misleading “Faith”

  1. “God is protecting me; I choose faith over fear.” As a devout Christian with Jewish heritage, this attitude appalls me.  God protects those that protect themselves and do what is right to help themselves and others.  This misuse of the “faith over fear”-type statement smacks of the misleading rhetoric of cult-like groups such as “Christian Scientists”, or the also not-Biblical tenets of the so-called “health and wealth gospel” adherents.  I listen to actual science; God gives aptitude and wisdom to medical professionals.  If you need surgery, or have other illnesses, do you go to a doctor?  Most Christians will say yes, so there is no difference between this and a vaccine.  If you don’t have polio, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), TB (tuberculosis), pneumonia, chicken pox, or shingles, it is because of vaccines.  Vaccines are effective.
  2. “It is a sin to get vaccinated.” Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication of this.  A popular gospel singer had COVID, and she spoke out in favor of vaccines, posting a photo of her getting the shot on social media.  Many of her fans were outraged, spewing hateful comments on her page.  Again hypocrisy, because the Word of God teaches us that we should not judge, lest we be judged and to love one another unconditionally, as we love ourselves.  And it is certainly not sinful behavior to listen to science.  Listening to science is listening to the God who created it and gave the knowledge of it to people He chose.
  3. “It’s ‘the mark of the beast’.” Well, I do agree Donald Trump is an anti-Christ, but check the Book of Revelation in the Bible, the war of Armageddon had not yet even begun, this prophecy has not yet come to pass, so the mark of the beast has not begun.  The Bible indicates this mark to be on the forehead, not in the arm.  The idea of any chip being inserted with a very thin fine needle and a clear liquid vaccine is ludicrous.  Technology may exist to do this, but it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, to do so, and there is no way that the government would spend this money on so very many people, when they have your cell phone number.

Big Brother or Big Business

  1. “The vaccines contain magnetic government implantation and/or “mark of the beast” inserts.” I feel the way President Biden felt about warning against drinking bleach.  I don’t believe I need to say this, but the syringe is full of a clear, see-through liquid and the needle is far too thin to contain anything but the clear thin liquid.  The so-called metal that magnets supposedly cling to is either adhesion caused by sweat and body oils on the skin or, even less likely, the iron and other metals found naturally in the bloodstream.  No magnets or implants; it’s a vaccine to prevent COVID, nothing more.
  2. “The government has no right to tell me what to do with my body” – this comment is mostly made by the same individuals that claim denying a woman’s right to choose is not telling her what to do with her own body. I am not making a pro-choice or a pro-life statement here, but simply pointing out hypocrisy.  No, the government is not “trying to control me”, the government is trying to control COVID-19.
  3. “This vaccine is just a way for pharmaceutical companies to make money.” Just like any for profit company, drug companies do need to make money to stay in business and bring us medicines.  I agree that they often gouge prices, but the vaccines are free of cost, including the boosters, so consumers are not paying out of pocket for the vaccinations.  Democrats and our current administration are trying to get large corporations to pay their fair share in taxes also – this is in direct contradiction to the idea that liberals who agree with vaccines are simply trying to put money into the deep pockets of the drug manufacturers.  Yes, this vaccine took a shorter period to create than other vaccines but with the number of COVID-19 deaths, time was of the essence, an emergency situation and worldwide pandemic.  When Jonas Salk created the polio vaccine, he refused to patent it to make it as widely and swiftly available as possible.  Medical technology is far better today than it was when other vaccines were being created, allowing those working tirelessly to create a safe and effective vaccine much more quickly.  The competing cooperating research units of the pharmaceutical companies means the groups who develop safe, effective vaccines first make the most profit from the paid for vaccinations.  Conversely, a group creating a vaccine which has serious side effects or high risks would open that corporation to the vulnerability of liability and the associated lawsuits. In the end costing them hundreds of millions or more, so it behooves them to make a product that will help, and not harm.

Selective Science

  1. “Vaccines should not need a booster shot.” Flu shots are annual, and for the same reason as the need for coronavirus booster shots: COVID-19 is a virus, which means it mutates quickly, making it harder for the body to adapt to fighting variants.  I will gladly get additional jabs to avoid a ventilator and death.
  2. “The vaccines were created too quickly.” With millions of people dying from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was imperative to act fast.  We have medical technology that is far more sophisticated today, than yesteryear when the other vaccines were created. We have the ability to create safe vaccines much faster than scientists did back in the day.  When Jonas Salk and his team had created the polio vaccine, the testing was done over one year – 1954 to 1955.  Computer modeling and so many other medical research improvements have occurred in the 65 years since then.
  3. “Having COVID-19 will cause you to have better immunity against it.” Again, like many of the anti-vaxxers arguments, this is not proven and there is the little factor of if you don’t actually die from COVID involved here or suffer from long-term effects from the virus which are becoming apparent.
  4. “Getting the vaccine will change or destroy my DNA”- this again makes no sense. It’s a vaccine, to save lives just like the ones for polio, diphtheria, shingles, or chicken pox.  It is not DNA altering, it is just a weakened or “killed” virus which protects us from getting COVID or getting a worst case scenario bout of the virus.
  5. “COVID-19 is not really a pandemic of the unvaccinated’” – yes, it is. Even with some vaccinated individuals getting Omicron or other variants.  While “breakthrough” infections will occur, studies continue to show that vaccinations, especially boosted, significantly reduce death and hospitalizations.
  6. “COVID is just like the flu”, as many anti-vaxxer, anti-maskers want to believe – scientific fact proves otherwise. WHO estimates about 1 billion people get influenza every year, with around 290,000 to 650,000 flu-related deaths per year (presumably the fluctuation due to the flu variants prevalent at the time).  Per Johns Hopkins online COVID-19 statistics (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6), as of the morning of April 5th, 2022, there have been over 494 million identified cases of the coronavirus, and over 6.17 million related deaths worldwide.  In the United States alone, there have been almost 81.5 million cases of COVID, and approaching one million connected deaths.  Reasonable people with intelligence recognize this truth and get vaccinated.  Those refusing to believe this do often end up dying or hospitalized from the virus but anti-vaxxers choose not to see reason.  This frightening belief among those refusing to do their part to eradicate COVID is alarming.  People who insist that we should just enjoy one another and live life without regard to COVID-19, in my opinion, are lying to themselves.  I find their attitudes to be irresponsible and appalling, especially when it is done in the name of the Lord.  It is certainly not possible to simply enjoy life or one another if you are dead or on a ventilator.

But…

  1. “I don’t have time to get vaccinated” – the reality is, it takes a little waiting time, a few minutes for the actual shot, and 15 minutes for safety observation after. If you don’t get vaccinated, you will lose all time after your death, or the time eaten up in a hospital.
  2. “I hate needles” – so do I, very much. But presumably, you had other vaccinations when you were young, and you got through it.  Focus on the good it does for you, rather than the little pinch.  Also, my husband cued in the nurse who did our first injections, and she chatted me up while in the process.  The distraction of conversation or the like can also help.
  3. “I don’t want to.” Ultimately, this is what almost all the so-called “reasons” to not get the vaccination boil down to justifying – selfishness.  The idea in psychology of “the personal fable” strongly applies – that is the concept of denial which says, “it won’t happen to me”, and these days it seems, the “me” is all that matters.  This isn’t borne out in the number of COVID-19 infections, and the significantly stronger likelihood of serious complications if you are unvaccinated.  Not to mention in general, if everyone is only looking out for “me”, then all the other “me’s” are at risk, which sooner or later will lead back around to your “me”.  And as a Christian, I see the Bible via Jesus’ words to be clear: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

Religious or true medical reasons aside, most human beings have no legitimate reason to not vaccinate.  So, let’s not continue to focus on the self in this or any other way, because to do so will eventually seriously threaten oneself.

“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

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“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

“Just Dave” 09/19/2021

Today, Dave is talking about the unvaccinated. The current epidemic is one of the unvaccinated. How come suddenly people would rather die on the battleground of stupidity than take an incredibly safe deterrent. Nothing is perfect, and that includes vaccines. Yet when tossing the dice the odds of surviving the vaccine far outweigh surviving COVID. How could anyone in their right mind want to take the chance of being paralyzed with drugs, have a tube shoved down their throat, a catheter shoved into your bladder, turned every hour so you don’t get bed sores? Now this isn’t going to be a two hour or two day affair. This could go on for months, until you die, or improve. If you die, most likely your last moments will be alone.  If you are lucky there may be a nurse there to hold your hand as you pass. So unnecessary.

Please, stop the silly nonsense and get vaccinated. Do it for yourself, your community, and the country.

David Shadrick “Let’s Get Vaccinated”

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David Shadrick “Let’s Get Vaccinated”

David Shadrick “Let’s Get Vaccinated”

Since Joe Biden’s inauguration the federal government has put 100,000,000 COVID-19 vaccines in arms of Americans.  Some people don’t want to get it because Trump has been publicly “anti-vaccer.” But now even this last week the fat orange one told his people to go get the vaccine, after it came out that Melania and Donald got their vaccines, a couple months ago in secret. Well as usual Donald is a day late and a dollar short. Let’s stay focused folks, let’s don’t break ranks now, we are so close to having this Pandemic behind us. Do the patriot thing, wear a mask and get vaccinated, it’s the American thing to do!

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2019/01/02/value-of-vaccinations/

The Value of Vaccinations

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The Value of Vaccinations

By Michael Leonard Douglas & D. S. Mitchell

History

Have you ever heard of the Black Death? Only in text books I’m sure. This was a time before vaccinations. In 1347 The Black Death arrived in Europe. Over the next five years the devastating epidemic would kill 20 million people in Europe alone. Prior to reaching Europe The Plague is believed to have taken the lives of over 200 million people worldwide.  The first recorded “pan epidemic”. It was one of the most devastating periods in human history.

A Scratch Or A Cut

I have wondered what it would have been like to live in a world without vaccines.  I’m sure I would have died at an early age as did most people before the modern era. The first efforts to inoculate a human being against disease was in China as early as 900 BCE. At that time smallpox was rampant in China. It was observed that if a person survived smallpox they would be immune to further outbreaks of the disease.

Chinese Physicians

To protect people from infection, ancient Chinese physicians would cut or scratch the skin of healthy people and then rub powdered smallpox scabs or fluid from pustules into the cut in the skin. Another method was to blow powdered smallpox material up the nose of a healthy person. This exposure to live bacteria and viruses was called inoculation or variolation. This was a precursor to modern vaccination. In 1700 the wife of England’s ambassador to Turkey, Lady Montagu, brought news of this Eastern practice to England.

Smallpox an Ancient Problem

Smallpox was a disfiguring and often fatal infectious disease that plagued humanity for at least 5,000 years.  In 18th century Europe smallpox was widespread and was believed to kill 3 out of every 10 people who contracted it. Of the 30% that died most were young children, making smallpox a death sentence for the most vulnerable. Many survivors were left terribly disfigured from scars from the rupturing skin pustules.

Enter Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner was an English country physician.  Dr. Jenner observed that dairy workers who had been infected with cowpox, were immune to later smallpox outbreaks. This observation led him to inoculate a boy with cowpox. Later, Jenner would infect the same boy with fresh smallpox and when no disease developed Jenner concluded that the boy was protected against smallpox. His work would lead to what would become **”attenuated vaccines”. In 1801 Jenner published his findings in his treatise, “On the Origin of the Vaccine Inoculation” Jenner summarized with the hope that “annihilation of  smallpox, the most dreadful scourge of the human species, must be the result of this practice (vaccination).”

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