Alzheimer's Awareness Month

September marks International Alzheimer's Awareness Month which aims to raise awareness and challenge the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Dispelling the misconception, dementia is an umbrella term for a multitude of degenerative conditions affecting the brain in which AD is the most prevalent out of 200 subcategories, with a national prevalence of 4%. Known as a disorder categorized by disorientation and confusion, its side effects are not exclusively felt by the individual but ripples through the loved ones surrounding them.

Remember: Alzheimer's affects the entire family.

Book Pick of the Week: COVID Lockdown Insanity

In his data-based, eye-opening book, COVID Lockdown Insanity, biochemist and immunologist Hugh McTavish, Ph.D., takes a fascinating, deep dive into “lost time of life” from deaths of despair and time spent depressed caused by the lockdown response — numbers rarely examined or talked about during the past two years. He shares his findings related to pandemic mitigation measures in hopes of influencing an enlightened approach for future crises.


“Lockdowns were just a catastrophic mistake — one of the worst public policy disasters and mistakes ever,” Dr. McTavish said in a recent interview. “They threw 1 in 5 Americans, 19.3 percent to be precise, into moderate to severe depression.”

Calling the dramatic uptick in depression, drug overdoses and suicides “entirely predictable,” Dr. McTavish delivers an unflinching look into deaths of despair, “lost time of life” and other unsettling consequences of the lockdown response in his new book, COVID Lockdown Insanity. In it, Dr. McTavish reveals the staggering human toll of long-term isolation coupled with the shuttering of lifelines like churches and workplaces.

Dr. McTavish’s careful examination of the scientific evidence related to COVID-19 transmission and his analyses of both the human and economic costs of the lockdown strategy illuminate the dysfunctionality of the government’s policy response. In the end, he lights a path toward making more enlightened decisions that offer hope of real solutions.

In the book, Dr. McTavish dissects the data that shows:
 

- The COVID lockdowns threw 63 million Americans into major depression.

- All evidence suggests that the lockdown response to COVID failed to decrease COVID deaths at all.

- Even if the lockdowns prevented 200,000 COVID deaths, which they probably did not, the lockdowns caused three times more loss of life in increased suicides, drug overdose deaths, cancer deaths and heart disease deaths than they saved in prevented COVID deaths.

- For every 1 COVID death prevented, the lockdowns caused these harms: 1/3 of a death of despair (suicide or drug overdose); 316 people thrown into major depression; 127 people out of work; 350 students out of school; 1,640 people denied the right to live their lives as they wish and made at least a little less happy.

- Mask wearing has “little or no effect” on COVID cases or deaths.

- Hand washing and hand sanitizer use is the best intervention and could dramatically reduce COVID deaths, but this was underemphasized.

- Asymptomatic people very rarely spread COVID.

- Children do not spread COVID, and closing schools had no effect on COVID spread at all, and we knew that by the summer of 2020, and CDC staff wrote a paper saying so in January 2021.

 Draw your own conclusions, but this book will ask and answer a lot of questions.

Kindle Pick of the Week: The 21st Century Man

Every man over 35 needs to own and read this comprehensive health guide for men. 60 board-certified doctors and men’s health experts offer advice and insider secrets that men over 35 need to recover and maintain their physical, mental, and sexual health to feel great, look good, and have better intimacy. Emphasizing prevention and early intervention, The 21st Century Man has sections on the most common causes of mortality, nutrition, exercise, aesthetics, addiction, mental health, relationships, lifestyle and health insurance. There is an extensive section on sexual health and sexual medicine written by an all-star cast of physicians.

Lead author, Dr. Judson Brandeis, voted best urologist in the SF Bay Area for a decade, is a researcher, physician educator, and a caring clinician and surgeon. A graduate of Brown University, Vanderbilt Medical School, UCLA Urology residency, and Harvard for research, he specializes in the emergent field of men’s sexual health and rejuvenative medicine.

A great read to start the year.

The NFL's Successful COVID-19 Testing

NFL COVID-19 MONITORING TESTING RESULTS
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The National Football League today announced the COVID-19 monitoring testing results for August 12 – August 20.

During this period, players and Tier 1 and 2 personnel were tested daily. Tier 3 individuals were tested weekly. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 follow the joint NFL-NFLPA Treatment Protocol. They are immediately isolated, not permitted to travel with the team, access club facilities, or have direct contact with players or personnel. Club medical staff are in regular communication with individuals who test positive to monitor symptoms.

Monitoring Testing results for August 12 – August 20:   

​58,397 tests were administered to 8,573 players and personnel.
 
23,260 tests were administered to players; 35,137 tests were administered to personnel.

There were zero positive tests among players and six new confirmed positives among other personnel.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Chicken Soup for the Soul Inspiration for Nurses

For all our hardworking medical workers.

Free this week!

Becoming a nurse is a calling—it’s a tough job but a rewarding one. This collection of 101 heartwarming stories will encourage, inspire, and reassure you that your patients and their families appreciate your compassionate service.

Every nurse can use a little pick-me-up these days, and this collection of personal stories will remind you why you became a nurse. All types of nurses share their experiences, their emotions, and even some great tips that will help you make a difference in the lives of patients and their families.